I embraced her and sent her away. Despite the archaeological fever that Emerson’s new find had sparked, I felt duty bound to find out who was behind the problems at Amarna and the source of Herr Morgenstern’s erratic behavior, and resumed perusing my notes. Dullard, I concluded, was the most likely candidate to have spiked the bottles of schnapps. Subsequently, he had followed Morgenstern to Cairo and continued to supply him with the wicked drug until his victim had slipped away into gloomy and dangerous alleys. What I could not explain was why Dullard had been provided with the drug in the first place. Morgenstern had shown no peculiarities until he had taken the bust of Nefertiti to the dig house to gloat over her serene beauty. Dullard had encouraged him to partake of the schnapps; therefore Dullard already had the drug with him. No one could have anticipated the remarkable discovery. The most perplexing question was why the attaché had given him the drug and for what purpose. I realized that I needed to visit the Coptic village, but I would have to wait until the morning.

I had a more compelling mission for now, which was to alert Fatima of the predawn arrival of Ramses and David. Our breakfast would be lavish, as well as lunch, tea, and dinner in the foreseeable future.

Eighteen

From Manuscript H

Ramses was unable to sleep despite the soothing rhythm of the train as it rattled through the darkness. The students were slumped in their seats, and although the elderly woman remained erect, she was snoring loudly. Latif was sprawled across David’s lap; both were lost in their dreams.

Bored and a bit hungry, Ramses left the carriage and walked through several more to the service bar. It was closed. He remembered that David had put chocolate bars in a paper bag that was now in the trunk with their clothes and the five Nefertiti busts. As he walked back toward their carriage, he spotted a conductor dozing on a stool. He gently shook the man’s arm and in Arabic said, “Excuse me, but can you tell me how much longer it will be before we get to Minya?”

After a jerk, the man opened his eyes and took out a pocket watch. He squinted at it, and then said, “Less than an hour, Brother of Demons, unless a herd of camels wanders onto the tracks. That will cause a delay. The engineer has been told of your presence and will stop at your usual place after Minya. Is there anything I can do for you?”

There were times when Ramses would have preferred anonymity, but in this case he was pleased that he would not be obliged to go to the front of the train to have a word with the engineer. He thanked the conductor. It would be more than an hour and a half before they departed the train. Loading the trunk and crossing the Nile to the dahabeeyah would require another hour. After the train had left the Cairo station, David had gone to the service bar to purchase warak enab and shawarmas for dinner. Latif’s appetite for the stuffed grape leaves and sandwiches had left his spectators in awe. There was not so much as a crumb on the floor of the compartment.