Her avowal of grief was convincing, I decided as I glanced around the relatively spacious interior of the tent. On one side was the cot with a pillow and a light cotton blanket. Clothes were folded neatly in an open suitcase. The contents of a second suitcase had been spilled on the floor, and appeared to be female apparel. A table had been constructed from planks of wood resting on mud bricks; a chair made with the same materials looked precarious at best. I held back a gasp as my eyes focused on a stack of notebooks on the table. “Goodness gracious,” I said lightly, “I do believe that’s a chamber pot behind the suitcase. Surely he did not bring it with him from Germany. What do you think, Liezel?”

“How should I know? Why are you here, Frau Emerson? Were you planning to steal some of Eric’s possessions?”

The growl from behind me implied that Daoud was not pleased with her impertinence and was likely to shake her until her teeth clattered. I gave him a stern glance. “Don’t be ridiculous,” I said coldly, my arms crossed. “I am well known in the field of Egyptology and held in high esteem. I came to find an explanation for Herr von Raubritter’s presence here. From what I have been told, he claimed that Herr Morgenstern, who had left for Cairo, instructed him to take charge of the excavation. That was a falsehood. Your so-called colleague knew nothing about archaeology. What was his profession?”

Liezel looked down at the sand-strewn canvas floor. “He was a researcher, but he was interested in archaeology. He had several books with photographs of Egyptian temples, tombs, and hieroglyphs. I know nothing about his relationship with Herr Morgenstern. Maybe they met at some time and Eric was invited to this hot, filthy, dreadful place to observe the operation.”

“A researcher? Please be more specific.”

“It’s complicated—and boring. Eric admitted as much. He loved to travel around the world and was eager to come to Egypt—it was more exciting than his research.”

I gave her a piecing stare. “Cairo is crowded with tourists, but very few of them set up tents in Amarna. Herr Morgenstern claimed not to recognize Herr von Raubritter’s name or even a photograph of him. You have said that his work was too complicated to explain, but I am neither uneducated nor ignorant. What was the application of his research? I am quite sure it was not Akhenaton.”