Tomb of the Golden Bird - Elizabeth Peters [111]
“I’ll stay until Aziz gets here,” Ramses said.
His father nodded. “Quite right. The rest of us may as well go. I prescribe stiff whiskeys all round, especially for you, Peabody.”
“They will be welcome, though not necessary, my dear.” She patted her forehead delicately with a folded handkerchief. “Should not the other ibn Simsah brothers be told of Farhat’s demise?”
“I suspect they know already,” Emerson said grimly. “Come along. Cyrus, Jumana, Bertie…Nefret?”
“I’m staying too.” Nefret moved closer to Ramses. “Mr. Aziz may want to consult me.”
“Ah,” said her mother-in-law, giving her a thoughtful look. “Quite. À bientôt, then, my dears.”
Left alone with his wife (except for Reis Girigar and a dozen soldiers), Ramses said, “You needn’t stay to protect me, darling. Everything is under control.”
“Like hell it is. Was that an accident?”
“I don’t suppose he deliberately blew himself up,” Ramses said. “Here’s a nice flat stretch. We may as well be comfortable; it will take Aziz a while to get here.”
The nice flat stretch was just out of sight of the tomb and the guards. Ramses put his arm round his wife, who nestled into his embrace.
“Alone at last,” she murmured. “We don’t get many such chances.”
“And in such romantic surroundings,” Ramses said sardonically. “With a mutilated corpse nearby.”
She turned her face toward him. In the dusk her hair shimmered silvery gold. “‘Every year another dead body,’ as Abdullah used to say. I don’t mean to sound callous, but one does become accustomed to it.”
“I’m the luckiest man in the world,” Ramses said.
Nefret laughed. “What brought that on?”
“I don’t say it often enough. Not many women could adapt to the bizarre life this family leads—and seem even to enjoy it.”
“‘Enjoy’ isn’t precisely the word. I think I might miss it, though, if it ended.” Smiling, the contours of her face softened by shadows, she looked like the girl he had fallen in love with in the caves of the Holy Mountain. He tightened his grasp and she leaned against him.
She was right—too right. They had few moments of quiet, without the demands of children or parents. Someone was always around, or about to be. There never seemed to be time enough to tell her how much she meant to him. Their relationship had its ups and downs, but that only made it more precious. Nothing is perfect except the works of God. An old woodworker of his acquaintance had said that once; he always left a little flaw in each piece of furniture.
All at once Ramses came to a decision he had been putting off for weeks. He’d talk to Nefret about it—but not now, not when her warm weight pressed against his body and her soft breathing rose and fell. He was almost sorry when a hail from Girigar betokened the arrival of the police.
Aziz ran a tight ship. His men, immaculate in white uniforms, made the soldiers in their dusty, ill-fitting black look even shabbier. The area in front of Tutankhamon’s tomb was brightly lit, a security measure Ramses could only approve. He shook hands with Aziz, whose bearded brown face held a certain suppressed satisfaction. The job of guarding the tomb had been given to the army, not to him. He was on the job now, and meant to display his superior efficiency.
Nefret and Aziz were well acquainted; she had assisted the police on a number of occasions. She had a high regard for him, and Ramses had always suspected Aziz’s feelings for her were a trifle stronger than admiration. Always the gentleman, he bowed over her hand before getting down to business.
“Tell me what you heard and saw. The facts only, please.”
Ramses had had time to organize his thoughts. When he had finished his brief account, Aziz nodded approvingly. “Now show me.”
The cliffs of the narrow side wadi cut off light from the stars and rising moon. Illumined by the light of torches, the scene of death looked even worse, a kaleidoscope of grisly images.
After a quick, comprehensive survey, Aziz stroked his neatly trimmed beard and said, “I fear it will be difficult to take photographs. We will try, however.”
Nefret let out