I gazed at the placid water of the Nile, awaiting inspiration. It eluded me. “Mr. Buddle has been monitoring the excavation since its inception. I shall ask him if anyone from the embassy visited the site and found reason to go to the dig house, but it does not seem probable. That leaves Buddle himself and Dullard, the hirsute missionary.”

“I cannot imagine Mr. Buddle as a cheerful drinking companion,” Nefret said wryly. “He is as rigid as a stela, and he may write his notes in hieroglyphs.”

“He could have gone to the dig house to ascertain that all the artifacts were properly listed, but that does not explain how he could have put this MDMA in the bottles of schnapps. Nor does it explain how he came to possess it. I suppose the attaché might have bribed him—or claimed that it was a vitamin supplement to keep Morgenstern healthy.” I recalled previous conversations. “Buddle does not strike me as gullible or unintelligent. He is dedicated to defending his patron’s financial investment.”

“That leaves Mr. Dullard, who certainly can be congenial with adequate alcohol consumption. He and Morgenstern are friendly.”

“He admitted that he accompanied Morgenstern to the dig house after the bust of Nefertiti was uncovered. They surely celebrated. When Morgenstern came up with the idea of going to Cairo so that Harun could make a copy, Dullard followed him. He claimed that he did so in order to protect Morgenstern from thieves. After he heard his so-called friend order a cab to the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, he said that he checked into a cheap hotel and departed the following day for Deir el-Mowass to present gifts to the Copts. We could attempt to verify that, but I am skeptical that we will hear the truth.”

“How did Morgenstern know about Harun?” asked Nefret.

I was reluctant to disenchant her, but I could think of no way to ignore her question. “Many Egyptologists are aware of his skills. I cannot say whether or not any of them have used his services, but it is likely that a few museum pieces are forgeries. Emerson and I have heard rumors since we first came to Egypt. I would never malign our fellow Egyptologists by mentioning their names.”

“Morgenstern must have heard the rumors, too. Did he intend to keep the original?”

I shrugged. “This morning I asked him, and it seemed as if he illegally wanted to keep the original and leave a copy in its place here in Egypt. According to others, including Harun, he was more than passionate about the bust. He was obsessed with it.”

“So,” Nefret said pensively, “Mr. Dullard could have induced Morgenstern to drink schnapps and suggested the possibility of a duplicate. Dullard followed him to Cairo and then kept supplying him with laced schnapps. When you spotted Morgenstern across from the hotel, he was dazed and in horrific physical shape from wandering around the city without food or shelter. After he spent some time without access to the drug, he became rational, if confused about what had happened. Memory loss is one of the symptoms.”