Daoud lowered his head. “The reeds are beset with huge ra’ad fish, the electric catfish, as well as crocodiles. Once he fell in and was shocked by the fish that are more than two and a half feet long, he was done for. What the fish did not destroy, the crocodiles surely would. It would have been futile to attempt to retrieve any of his body parts. Aware that the heaving mass of fish and crocodiles could flip over my boat, I retreated with haste.”

I bit my lip. The Nile had claimed two victims, neither of whom could be deemed saintly. I was appalled by the violent nature of their deaths. Emerson put his arm around my shoulder.

Nefret had gone to the railing to stare at the rippling brown water. Ramses stood up as if to join her, but sat down again and downed the contents of his glass. David glanced at him and then went to her side.

“Remember that Miss Smith had come here to kill me,” I said, breaking the silence. “Dullard’s scheme would have resulted in bloodshed and the loss of lives. We cannot blame ourselves because their wickedness resulted in their deaths. In a day or two, I will go to Cairo and meet with Mr. Russell.”

Emerson bounded to his feet. “Once again, Peabody, you have forgotten the existence of the fifth assassin. You will go nowhere without me.”

“And me,” Daoud asserted firmly.

“I do believe it is time for dinner. Fatima has toiled all day in the kitchen. We owe her the respect of dining at a fashionable hour.”

No one protested. We went to the dining room and took our seats at the table. I winced as I regarded the forgeries of the Nefertiti bust, currently down to four. I observed that all of us, with the exception of Latif, kept glancing at them as we ate.

“What are we going to do with the damned things?” Emerson said as he served brandy.

Ramses scratched his chin. “We can’t allow them to go back into circulation. Supposedly, Borchardt has not yet discovered the original.”

“It would be difficult to explain the existence of the forgeries,” David said, “although we deserve a souvenir after all that we have been through to retrieve the copies from Harun’s slimy hands.”

“We could keep one,” I suggested. “Not here, of course, but in our house in England. The Service des Antiquités has permitted us to retain a few pieces from our excavations over the years.”

Emerson arched his eyebrows. “It will be less complicated if it travels in one of our trunks. I do not intend to spend hours in Maspero’s office, trying to explain its origin.”