“Eric was a nice chap,” I commented as we went up the steps. I told her about his journal and its reference to the drug. “He did not clarify why he came to Egypt instead of . . . some other country whose ambassadors had been in the laboratory. He ended up in Amarna because M. Maspero repeated rumors that Morgenstern had been behaving strangely.”

Nefret made drinks and handed one to me. “Liezel told me that he chose this country because he suspected the ambassador to Egypt or one of his attachés had stolen a quantity of MDMA. You told us that Ramses and David had an encounter with an attaché at the embassy. If he is the guilty party, how could he have put the drug in the bottles of schnapps?”

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.