The Snake, The Crocodile, And The Dog Part 37

"Wait," I said, catching hold of him to emphasize the order. "And keep calm. There are only two of them, and they would not approach so openly if they- "

A cry from Abdullah and a sudden movement, not from either of the men ahead, but from behind me, stopped my speech. Abdullah fought to free his arm from my grasp. "Let me kill it, Sitt," he gasped.

"It is a demon, an afreet, as I told you. See- it goes to greet its master."

The cat had leapt from the wall where it had been sleeping in the sunlight. The man stooped to greet it as it ran up to him. It b.u.t.ted its head against his hand, but when he would have picked it up it avoided his grasp and sat down a few feet away.

I reached for my pistol. "Stand perfectly still, Abdullah," I ordered. "An impetuous advance might bring you into the line of fire."

"Excellent advice," said a voice behind me. "Though the only safe place is flat on the ground behind a large rock. Put the gun away, Peabody, before you shoot someone."

"I intend to shoot someone, if he gives me the slightest excuse to do so. What the devil does he mean, walking coolly up to us this way? You know who it is, don't you?"

"Certainly," said Emerson. "I beg you won't shoot him until we hear what he has to say. I am immensely curious."

Cyrus and the other men had gathered around. "Me too," said Cyrus. His voice was flat and level, his eyes were narrowed, his hand was in his pocket. "Let him talk, Amelia. I've got the drop on him."

"So have I," I replied, aiming at the center of Vincey's chest. He had stopped ten feet away, his empty hands extended.

"I am unarmed," he said quietly "You may search me if you like. Only allow me to speak- to clear away the misapprehensions under which you understandably labor. I only learned of them a few days ago, and I have spent every hour since then gathering the evidence which will prove I am not the man you believe me to be."

"Impossible," I cried. "I saw you with my own eyes."

"You could not have seen me. I was in Damascus, as I told you. I have brought my alibi with me."

He indicated the second man, who had now caught him up. His face was round and red and adorned with a set of superb mustaches curled like the horns of a water buffalo. Whipping off his helmet, he bent at the waist in a stiff formal bow.

"Guten Morgen, meine Freunde. To greet you at last is my pleasure. I could not in Cairo do so, for To greet you at last is my pleasure. I could not in Cairo do so, for I was in Damascus."

"Karl von Bork!" I exclaimed. "But I thought you were in Berlin, working with Professor Sethe."

"So it was," Karl said, bowing again. "Until the summer, when a position with the Damascus expedition to me offered was. Egyptian reliefs had been found- "

"Yes, now I remember," I interrupted, for Karl, like my son, would go on talking until someone stopped him. "Someone- the Reverend Sayce, I believe- mentioned it when we dined with him in Cairo. Are you telling me that Mr. Vincey was with you?"

"Ja, ja, das ist recht. With a fever I was ill, and I feared would not be soon recovered. A subst.i.tute was necessary to carry on my work. The good G.o.d sent me health sooner than I had hoped, and when Herr Vincey telegraphed to me that the police had accused him of terrible crimes I hurried at once to clear his name. I had heard, with what shock and distress my tongue fails me to say, of the Herr Professor's accident, but never would I have supposed- " With a fever I was ill, and I feared would not be soon recovered. A subst.i.tute was necessary to carry on my work. The good G.o.d sent me health sooner than I had hoped, and when Herr Vincey telegraphed to me that the police had accused him of terrible crimes I hurried at once to clear his name. I had heard, with what shock and distress my tongue fails me to say, of the Herr Professor's accident, but never would I have supposed- "

"Yes, Karl, thank you," I said. "Then the police have accepted your story? I wonder they have not informed me."

"It was only yesterday they told me I was no longer under suspicion," Vincey said. "We set out at once for Amarna, for I was even more anxious to clear myself with you than with the police." He started to reach for his pocket, and then gave me a quizzical smile. "You will allow me? I brought other evidence- train tickets, dated and stamped, a receipt from the Sultana Hotel, affidavits from other members of the expedition."

"Karl's evidence is good enough for me," I said. "He is an old friend whom we have known for years- "

"Hmph," said Emerson, who of course had no recollection of ever having seen Karl before.

"All the same," I went on. "I trust Karl will not take offense if I call another witness, and if I request Cyrus to keep you covered (that is the phrase, I believe?) while I go in search of her."

"Good idea," said Cyrus. "Not that I doubt your word, von Bork, but this is the doggonedest story I ever heard If it wasn't Vincey, then who- "

"That will all be gone into at the proper time," I said. "First- where is Bertha?"

There was no need to search for her, she was there, a few feet behind us. Rene was at her side, his arm encircling her slim shoulders. "There is nothing to fear," he a.s.sured her. "This villain, this sc.u.m, cannot hurt you now."

"But it is not he," Bertha said.

"I would like to beat him as he- " Rene's jaw dropped. "What is it you say?"

"He is not the one." Bertha moved slowly forward, out of the protective circle of his arm. Her wide dark eyes were fixed on Vincey. "They are alike as sons of the same mother, but this is not the same man. Who would know better than I?"

"So it was Sethos after all," I said.

We had retired to the shade and I had asked Selim to brew tea. With such overwhelming evidence to support his claim it hardly seemed fair to exclude Mr. Vincey from our company, but I noticed Cyrus kept his right hand in his pocket and held his cup in his left.

"The conclusion is forced upon us," I continued. "Who else but a master of disguise, as we know the Master Criminal to be, could have imitated Mr. Vincey's appearance so precisely?"

In a dangerously soft voice Emerson requested eludication of this speech. I obliged in general terms, omitting certain details of our former encounters with Sethos. When I had finished, Emerson studied me pensively before speaking.

"I had begun to believe you suffered less from woolly-mindedness than other members of your s.e.x, Peabody. I would be sorry to learn I was mistaken, but this farrago of nonsense, this piece of sensational fiction- "

"There is such a man," Vincey said. Emerson's critical gaze moved to him and he flushed faintly. "Anyone who has been involved with the illegal antiquities trade knows of him. The unfortunate incident in my past, which I bitterly regret and which I have endeavored ever since to live down, brought me in contact with that trade."

"Ja, ja," Karl nodded vigorously. "I too have heard such stories. One is inclined, natiirlicb, to dismiss them as idle rumor, but no less a distinguished individual than M. de Morgan- " Karl nodded vigorously. "I too have heard such stories. One is inclined, natiirlicb, to dismiss them as idle rumor, but no less a distinguished individual than M. de Morgan- "

"Balderdash!" Emerson shouted, his countenance reddening. "It seems necessary to admit that someone took advantage of Vincey's absence, but let me hear no more nonsense about master criminals. You credulous fools may sit here and spin fairy tales all day if you like, I am going back to work."

And off he went, with Abdullah close on his heels and the cat close on the heels of Abdullah. Vincey smiled ruefully. "I have lost the allegiance of Anubis, it seems. Cats are unforgiving creatures, he blames me for leaving him, I suppose, and will accept no excuses. I hope, Mrs. Emerson, that you are more merciful. You do believe me?"

"No reasonable individual could doubt your evidence," I replied, glancing from the little pile of receipts and statements- which I had of course examined carefully- to the solemn face of Karl von Bork.

"And the misunderstanding has given me the pleasure of seeing Karl again. How is Mary, Karl? We heard she had been ill."

"She is better, I thank you. But- the Herr Professor . . . It is true, then, what we heard from friends?

He did not seem to know me."

"He has suffered a temporary loss of memory in some areas," I admitted- since it would have been folly to deny it. "But that fact is not generally known, and I hope you will be discreet about mentioning it- especially to Walter, if you have occasion to write to him."

"We communicate less often than I would like," Karl said. "A scholar of the most profound brilliance is Mr. Walter Emerson, in my own field of philology he is the brightest star. He does not know of his most distinguished brother's- "

"We expect a complete recovery," I said firmly. "There is no need to distress Walter. Much as I would enjoy chatting with you, Karl, I had better return to my duties. Will I see you later? Perhaps you will both dine with us this evening on Mr. Vandergelt's dahabeeyah."

I glanced at Cyrus for confirmation of the invitation. Still preoccupied with the problem of drinking tea left-handed, he nodded brusquely.

"It would be better not, I think," said Vincey. "You are a kind, just woman, Mrs. Emerson, but you cannot be wholly comfortable in my presence just now, it must recall too many painful memories. We will spend the night at Minia and be on our way next morning. Karl must return to the dig, he has already given too much of his time to my affairs. As for me, I am at your disposal at any time and for any purpose."

"Where will you be?" I asked.

"At my apartment in Cairo, engaged in the same business as yourself." His face hardened. "My good name has been tarnished, rny reputation impugned. That stain will remain until the blackguard who defamed me is caught and punished. My motive for tracking him down is not as compelling as yours, but I hope it will comfort you to know that I am bent on the same object."

I embraced Karl, which made him blush and stammer, and shook Mr. Vincey's hand. Cyrus did neither. He did not remove his hand from his pocket until the two retreating forms were blurred by distance and blowing sand into ghostly images of men. Then he said, "I guess I'm just a hardheaded old Yankee, Amelia, but I'd just as soon not turn my back on that fellow Vincey."

"You have known Karl as long as I. I would no more doubt his word than I would that of Howard Carter or Mr. Newberry."