Death in Damascus: A 1920s Murder Mystery with Heathcliff Lennox

by Karen Baugh Menuhin

  ‘Did you not ask him?’ she shot back.

  Damn it, it was like drawing blood from a stone. ‘Yes, he said he’s one of the last Phoenician’s and he collects Phoenician artefacts.’

  ‘He was telling the truth,’ she replied. ‘There is a society of them, although there are only a few remaining; they are similar to the Knight’s Templar but of greater antiquity. One of his men discovered the whereabouts of the house of Hanno some weeks ago. Qarsan let it be known that the location was available at a price.’

  ‘And his price was the medallion?’ Swift put in.

  ‘It was,’ she replied.

  ‘If he’s so keen on Phoenician whatnots, why would he let Langton or anyone else in it?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s hardly going to suffer any damage, Major,’ she replied as if talking to a ten year old. ‘One is simply going to observe the information it contains.’

  I restrained a curse and carried on. ‘Well, if Qarsan’s men are swiping artefacts all the time, why didn’t they get the medallion for him?’

  ‘This country has an abundance of ancient artefacts, Major, but the medallion happened to be held by the British Museum and that is considerably beyond Qarsan’s reach.’

  ‘The British Museum?’ Swift repeated in astonishment.

  ‘You stole it from the British Museum?’ I asked, imagining Lady Maitland holding the curator at gunpoint.

  She found that amusing. ‘It is quite unnecessary to commit theft, gentlemen. The Foreign Office simply placed pressure on the trustees to return it to its place of origin and eventually they agreed.’

  ‘Good Lord,’ I muttered, though rather pleased that at least one mystery was solved.

  Swift leaned in with a question. ’But Britain is not the only power interested in Hanno’s map, is it?’

  ‘Considering the presence of foreign agents in this building, I think that is self-evident, Inspector,’ Lady Maitland replied witheringly.

  ‘But…’ I raised a hand. ’How did they know? The foreign agents, I mean, Josephine and the rest?’

  ‘Please do pay attention, Major Lennox,’ she retorted. ‘I have already said that Qarsan let it be known what he had discovered in the house. He engendered a price war between the national powers to see what they were willing to bid. There was considerable jockeying to offer up treasures, but we knew he was primarily interested in Phoenician artefacts. As we held the medallion, we won.’

  I digested this for a moment. Whatever was in Hanno’s house must be of enormous value, although, quite frankly, I couldn’t imagine what on earth it could be.

  ‘So.’ Swift’s mind was moving more quickly than mine. ‘Josephine set up Langton by falsely accusing him of attempted murder and Fontaine locked him up to try to force him to hand over either the medallion or the location?’

  ‘Yes, as you say.’ She stood up and held out her hand. ‘Now, Major Lennox, the paper?’

  ‘Is with Miss Carruthers,’ I gave her my best smile – it fell on stoney ground.

  She snapped a retort. ’Gentlemen, if you impede this mission, I will see to it that you share Langton’s plight. And there won’t be any ridiculous Gallahads coming to rescue you from your folly.’

  She stalked off, Genevieve cast us a wry grin and followed.

  Swift and I looked at each other.

  ‘Better wait until the coast is clear before we try to see Persi,’ I suggested.

  ‘Hum,’ came the reply, as Swift leaned back in his seat with his hand over his eyes.

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘Hangover.’

  ‘Serves you right!’

  ‘Lennox, I am merely…’ he was interrupted by a cast shadow.

  ‘Ah. Good morning, sir,’ Greggs appeared at my side.

  ‘Greetings, Greggs!’ I was rather pleased to see my old retainer.

  ‘Mrs Vincent has informed me we will be departing within the hour for a day of filming.’

  ‘So you’re off once more into the burning desert, where shifting sands, roving bandits and scorpions await you.’

  ‘Scorpions, sir?’

  ‘And snakes.’

  ‘Snakes!’

  ‘And crocodiles,’ Swift chipped in.

  Greggs stared round eyed, then frowned. ‘I believe you are pulling my leg.’ He sucked in his paunch with mild affront.

  We laughed good-heartedly.

  ‘I assume you would like to take Fogg on your adventures, old chap?’

  ‘If you permit it, sir.’

  ‘Fine, but no pink ribbons, Greggs,’ I warned. ‘He was thoroughly embarrassed, you know.’

  ‘As you say, sir.’ He reached down to retrieve Foggy, who was sitting at my feet watching us with cocked ears and bright spaniel eyes. ‘I wish you good day.’

  ‘And you,’ I replied.

  ‘Oh and, Greggs…’

  ‘Yes, sir?’

  ‘You don’t happen to have a spare toothbrush do you?’

  ‘I’m afraid not, sir.’

  He went off, smartly turned out in a freshly spruced tailcoat and tie with Foggy in his arms, who was looking rather doubtful about the day’s adventure.

  Silence fell as Gregg’s footsteps receded. I dug out my fob watch, noted the hour and addressed Swift.

  ‘Swift.’

  ‘No, I don’t.’

  ‘Don’t what?’

  ‘Have a spare toothbrush.’

  ‘That wasn’t what I was going to say.’

  ‘What then?’ He was again leaning back in his chair.

  ‘The murder of Josephine…’

  He sat up. ‘Yes?’

  I had been thinking about Sherlock Holmes, and the art of deduction. ‘There are two possible motives.’

  ‘The betrayal of Beatrice, or the secret of Hanno’s house,’ he replied.

  ‘Exactly,’ I refrained from using the word elementary. ‘But whatever the motive, it could only be one of the Vincents or Bing, or Dreadnaught, because of the missing gun.’

  ‘Or Persi, because she needs to find the secret in order to release Langton. And she hated Josephine.’

  ‘Swift, it wasn’t Persi.’

  ‘Lennox, it’s about logic.’

  I decided I needed to read more of Sherlock Holmes’s dictums. I sighed and said. ‘Do you think the coast will be clear and we can see Persi now?’

  He didn’t reply because Mammie arrived at that moment.

  We rose to our feet to welcome the lady.

  She was bright and chirpy. ‘Good morning to you both! Major Lennox, I really must commend you on your butler! Such a dear man, and the doggy too.’

  I thanked her and helped her settle in a chair between us.

  A waiter appeared, she informed him loudly that she never took breakfast, so he returned with more tea.

  ‘I hear you are setting off to make movies, Mrs Vincent,’ Swift continued.

  ‘Oh my, yes. But we will film within the walls today. We were almost overrun with hoodlums yesterday,’ she rattled on. ‘And we must leave as soon as Pappie is able to rise from his bed. You kept him out very late last evening, you naughty boys.’

  ‘Well, he didn’t have to come,’ I remarked.

  Swift frowned.

  I switched tack. ‘Mrs Vincent… Mammie.’

  ‘Yes?’ She twinkled.

  ‘Do you know who gave Josephine a gold and diamond bracelet?’ I was certain it was Qarsan, but thought I’d start softly.

  She laughed delightedly. ‘Oh, it was so romantic.’

  ‘Really, what happened…?’ I uttered encouragement.

  ‘Wellll…it was all such a secret. She was very fond of secrets, but she’s gone now, so…’ she gave a small shrug. ‘We had a day’s break from filming, it can become quite tense, you know, and Josephine a
nnounced she was going to the souk. Dear Harry offered to escort her, but she was determined to go alone. And when she returned, I could see she was very pleased with herself. The very next day a huge bouquet of flowers arrived – the perfume was simply divine. Gardenias, roses, jasmine – simply beautiful,’ she added in a fulsome tone. ‘After filming that day, she slipped off again, this time in the Rolls Royce. I teased her when she came back, in a kindly sort of way, but she wouldn’t say a word.’ She laughed again. ‘I just knew she had a new amour – she positively glowed!’

  ‘And the bracelet?’ I cut in, before we had any more romantic nonsense.

  ‘That arrived two days later. Well, I was agog to hear the details, after all, who could have possibly sent it? She wouldn’t tell me, but then I just happened to mention it to Mr Midhurst and he knew!’ she exclaimed in triumph.

  ‘Who was it?’ Swift asked before I did.

  ‘The Sheik, the real Sheik. The Chief of Chiefs! Just like in the film. Can you imagine anything more romantic? And after that, she saw him most days until… well, until she was…’ Her voice trailed off.

  ‘How did Midhurst find out about this?’ Swift had pulled out his book and was making rapid notes.

  ‘Oh, it was his job to discover things, poor man,’ her voice faltered for a moment, then she continued. ‘Josephine really was quite extraordinarily beautiful. I know you didn’t meet her while she was alive but she could captivate even the most hardened of hearts.’

  ‘Talking of Midhurst…’ Swift began, but Mammie put up her hand to stop him.

  ‘Colonel Fontaine has interrogated me to exhaustion on that subject. Please dear boy, I really can’t bear to talk about it again.’

  Swift wasn’t ready to give up. ‘You knew Josephine well though. Could she have killed Midhurst?’

  ‘As I said, Inspector, she could captivate even the hardest of hearts, and she could do that because she didn’t have one. Yes, I believe she could have killed him and I think you know why.’

  I was about to blurt out ‘Hanno’ when Swift kicked me under the table.

  ‘Well.’ She gathered herself together. ‘If you will excuse me, dear boys, I simply must go and wake Pappie.’

  ‘Just one more question,’ I had a number of questions, actually. ‘You told Dreadnaught that Josephine Belvoir betrayed Beatrice Langton, didn’t you?’

  Her face froze. ‘I… I, really, Major, how insensitive.’

  ‘But how did you know?’ Swift enjoined.

  She shifted uncomfortably. ‘Because she told me herself.’

  ‘Why?’ I asked.

  ‘It was after Langton arrived here, she became frightened and,’ she stuttered. ‘…And she confided in me.’

  ‘Did she say why she did it?’ Swift asked, his pen poised.

  ‘She said it was by accident. One of the people in Beatrice’s group was a traitor and Josephine denounced that person, but somehow it led to them all being captured. She didn’t learn what had happened until a long time later.’

  ‘Did you believe her?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t know. Really, Major Lennox, I am most upset at your questioning, these are unpleasant memories and I do not know why you must drag them up.’

  I must say I felt a bit of a heel.

  Swift was made of sterner stuff. ‘Can you prove any of this?’

  ‘No, and why should I?’ Her mouth quivered and she stood up suddenly. ‘Now, I refuse to stay any longer. The Colonel was very unpleasant about Mr Midhurst and now you have interrogated me about Josephine. I bid you good day, gentlemen.’ She walked off.

  We watched her go.

  ‘Do you believe her?’ I asked.

  He looked down at the notes he’d just made. ‘I have no idea, it sounds plausible on the face of it.’ He bit his lip. ‘Qarsan isn’t just the head of a bunch of tomb robbers, is he? He actually is a real Sheik and he’s probably a very powerful one.’

  Having met him, this didn’t come as much of a surprise to me.

  Swift swore. ‘Hell and damnation! Every time I think we’re getting a grip on this, it spins further away.’

  Chapter 19

  Vincent arrived. He was unshaven and looking a great deal the worse for the late night revels. He growled a greeting.

  ‘Lennox, payday.’ He tossed a bundle of notes in my direction.

  I muttered a quiet thank you in return, feeling rather churlish for the way we’d treated his wife.

  ‘You seen Mammie?’ he asked.

  ‘Just missed her. And, erm, I rather think we’ve upset her, old chap,’ I confessed.

  ‘Yeah, well she’s mad at me too. That lawyer’s dead, the French are plaguing her with questions and she don’t like me going out drinkin’ and dancin’ without her.’ He shambled off before we could explain.

  ‘The ladies will have spoken to Persi by now. I suppose they’ll be going to find the house shortly,’ I remarked.

  Swift had returned to making notes and didn’t bother to look up from his writing. ‘It doesn’t make any sense. It must be thousands of years old, how can it possibly be standing?’

  ‘I doubt it’s standing at all,’ I replied. ‘Persi said it was underground, so it must be the remains of his house.’

  ‘Well, the ladies were hardly dressed for digging,’ he responded tersely.

  I assume his hangover was still bothering him.

  I stood up. ‘I’m going to follow them.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Lady Maitland and Genevieve.’

  ‘What?’ He finally looked at me. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, she’ll pull a gun. And there’s much more to this than we understand, you could jeopardise everything.’

  ‘I’ll be careful. I do go stalking you know, I’m not entirely useless.’

  ‘Shooting game in the woods is a world away from following practiced spies through the streets of Damascus!’ he countered. ‘For heaven’s sake, Lennox, don’t be so naive.’

  ‘Nonsense.’

  ‘Damn it!’ He put his pen down. ‘I’ll have to come with you.’

  Now it was my turn to argue.

  ‘No, you should go and see Persi. Ask her what this secret is about, and the murder, and – well all those questions you’ve been writing down.’

  ‘I don’t think…’ He was set for an argument, so I cut him short.

  ‘Swift, someone has to be here. Fontaine will have eyes and ears everywhere, he’s bound to know what’s going on and he may try to use Persi as a bargaining point.’

  ‘Considering he has her under lock and key, that won’t be difficult,’ he countered.

  ‘Um, yes.’ I hadn’t thought of that. ‘Well, find a way to smuggle her out.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll think of something,’ I remarked and strode off to track down the lady spies. I got as far as the bar where Harry Bing was sampling a liquid brunch.

  ‘What ho, old chap,’ he called from his stool. ‘I’ve been sacked, you know. Vincent didn’t seem to think my lapse was terribly amusing.’

  ‘He’s right, it’s not funny,’ I told him. I declined a drink from the ever attentive bartender. ‘Bing?’ I leaned over. ‘Haven’t seen Lady Maitland and Genevieve have you?’

  ‘Upstairs,’ he pointed with his thumb. ‘Are you sleuthing?’

  ‘Yes, but don’t tell anyone.’

  Swift had pocketed his notebook and followed me, ready to continue the argument. ‘Lennox, I really think you should wait until we’ve spoken to Persi.’

  ‘No… look, old chap, we agreed.’

  ‘You mean you did.’ He sighed in irritation and turned to Harry. ‘Bing?’

  ‘What ho, Mr Policeman!’ Bing grinned, waving a glass of whisky in Swift’s direction.

  ‘Would you go upstairs and distract the guard again.’


  ‘Again? Ha, marvellous! You fellows do know how to have fun, don’t you.’ He eyed a bowl of fruit over on a marble-topped side table. ‘I’m jolly good at juggling you know, as well as miming and acting, not that I’ll be doing that any more. I might join a circus.’ He wobbled off to gather up some pomegranates from the bowl, and came back with an armful. ‘Right. Ready when you are, old bean.’

  I spotted the ladies coming down the stairs, they had changed into robust looking loose pants and shirts, although Genevieve still wore the same straw hat. I ducked down into the surrounding jungle of potted plants. Harry followed me into the undergrowth, dropping a pomegranate en route.

  ‘I say, you’re taking this very seriously,’ he whispered.

  ‘Bing, try to be quiet, would you.’

  ‘Right oh.’ He popped up to see what was happening. ‘All clear. They’ve gone.’

  I stood up brushing my knees. ‘Swift, I’m off,’ I told him and aimed for the gateway. I didn’t get very far, I was intercepted by Jamal who emerged from a recess.

  ‘Effendi,’ he bowed in my path.

  ‘Busy, Jamal.’ I tried to sidestep past him.

  ‘Widow number two is here, effendi.’ He waved in the direction of the shadows where I could just about make out a figure, draped in black. She looked to be the exact same proportions as yesterday’s widow.

  ‘I must apologise for my temerity, effendi. I merely try to honour the wishes you proclaimed.’

  ‘Right, yes, sorry.’ I thrust a hand into my pocket, placed a bundle of bills in his fist and escaped into the sunlit streets.

  I spotted Genevieve’s straw hat through the melee. They were quite a way ahead and I was about to break into a trot when I noticed someone else was on their trail. It was the French sergeant, he was smartly uniformed as usual and peering around a corner with his back to me. I didn’t think much of his snooping skills, he stood out like a sore thumb and was gathering curious glances from the local passers-by. I followed in stealthier style.

  I hung back a bit, stepping behind pillars and posts, and even a camel at one point, without losing sight of them. We came to the milling throng in the souk where it became much more difficult and I almost lost them. I wove this way and that before glimpsing Genevieve’s hat some way off.