“Of course, but I would feel more comfortable if we did as well.”
Redvers raised an eyebrow. “Don’t trust the local constabulary?”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Well, not really, to be honest. And it’s my neck on the line.”
Without a word, Redvers’ eyes flicked to the part in question. A flush immediately began creeping up, and I cursed my inability to control it. His eyes met mine again, and I fought to maintain a neutral expression. It was impossible to tell how successful I was.
“I’m fairly certain he’s down at police headquarters now,” Redvers said. For a moment, I couldn’t remember what we were discussing. “It will be some time before we can talk to him.”
“And what are your plans until then?” I asked.
“Do you have some for me?” There was a distinct twinkle in his eye.
Is he flirting with me? I gave up the battle against blushing, and wondered if I should work on a sunburn as a permanent cover for them. Especially since it seemed they were becoming a permanent affliction.
Casting my eyes to the sky, I shook my head. “I was just wondering if you would be heading downtown again.”
“I do, in fact, need to head back into town. If you’re lucky, I’ll dig up more information on the police investigation.”
I hoped I would be lucky.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
After we finished breakfast, Redvers boarded the electric tram that stopped at our hotel and ran into Cairo several times a day. I marveled that a country so steeped in ancient history had such modern conveniences. I was still hoping to get the chance to experience both.
Since Amon was still in police custody, I thought about what my own plan for the day should be. I doubted Millie would be looking for my company, since I was still a suspect. I hadn’t seen Charlie and Deanna at breakfast, but I could use the boost from their cheerful company. I would look for them at the pool later.
Before that, however, I decided to pay an impromptu visit to the house doctor. Perhaps I could learn something about the man and his missing gun.
As I neared the lobby, I clutched my stomach and moaned, slowing my walk to a near crawl. I drew up to the desk and held on to it as though my life depended on it.
“Ma’am! You seem unwell!” The poor lad at the desk looked alarmed. My face was glistening with sweat, which added to my performance. Unfortunately, I was coming to accept that it was simply how my face looked in this oven-temperatured country.
“I think it was something I ate,” I moaned. I was probably overdoing the drama, but he seemed readily convinced.
“You need the doctor, I think. I will call him for you.” His hand reached for the telephone—I assumed the doctor had a line directly to his chambers for emergencies.
“No, no. Please don’t trouble yourself. If you’ll just point me to his rooms, I’m quite sure I can make it there.” I started to worry I might have overplayed my hand. The poor boy looked ready to have me carried off on a litter. I straightened a bit. “See? Not so bad. Just uncomfortable.”
“But you look terrible, ma’am. Are you sure I should not call him?”
I was slightly annoyed at his assessment of my appearance since I wasn’t actually ill, but I let it go. His hand was still on the telephone and I hurried to appease him.
“No, no. I can make it.”
“We don’t usually send people to his rooms directly.” The clerk was still touching the phone, fingers now tapping the receiver.
“But do you know, I think a walk will help. And I’m sure the doctor won’t mind. Which way is it?”
The young man still looked doubtful, but removed his hand from the phone and instead pointed uncertainly in the opposite direction of the dining room. He told me which turns to make along the way, and I had him repeat the directions twice. The hotel had many corridors and short staircases, and it would be easy to get lost without finding your destination. The original structure had been built as a hunting lodge, and when it was renovated into a luxury hotel, numerous additions were made. The additions brought a great deal of charm, with multiple heights and wood balconies encompassing the original building, but it also made it a trick to navigate. I repeated the clerk’s directions to myself like a mantra.
The twists and turns took me to a secluded area, but still part of the main hotel. Most of the long-term staff, including the gardeners and dragomen, came from Mena Village. Small and self-sufficient, the village was tucked away from the view of the guests, but still officially a part of the hotel. Apparently, the village could be seen if you took the time to walk across the golf course—so I would probably never see it, at least not from that vantage point. I counted myself lucky that the doctor was kept closer at hand.
Once I identified his room, I stood before the door a bit uncertainly. I put a hand to my gut, which was now roiling with nerves. If the doctor wanted a listen, he would certainly hear something kicking up a fuss. I could have let the young man call the doctor to the lobby, but I wanted to see where the doctor lived—or more truthfully, I wanted to see the room his gun had been stolen from. And if I wanted a look, I would need to knock.
One hand glued to my stomach, I raised the other and gave a tentative rap.
Nothing.
I raised my hand again, this time pounding with some vigor, and I finally heard some movement. The latch clicked over and the door swung wide, revealing a stocky man in a state of undress—shirt unbuttoned and pulled untidily over a yellowing undershirt, reddish brown hair mussed. It looked as though I had roused him from bed, despite the late hour. Judging from his bloodshot eyes level with my own, he had not been asleep long. My overactive imagination filled in all sorts of possibilities for where he might have been until the wee hours of the morning. None of which had to do with his medical profession.
“Yeah.” In that one word, his Australian accent was unmistakable.
“Dr. Williams?” He nodded and I continued. “I have a stomachache. I think it was something I ate. Do you have something for it?”
His eyes narrowed. “They don’t usually send ’em here to me room.” He paused for another moment before disappearing into the gloom, leaving the door standing open. I knew it was not an invitation to enter, but he hadn’t closed it, either. I stepped inside.
It was a sitting room about the same size as my own, but the air hung thick and close. The closed shutters had a thick layer of dust, and I wondered if they had ever been opened to let the room air out. Probably not. Squinting in the dim light, I could make out that the room was quite tidy, which came as a surprise.
A rustling in the corner drew my attention, and I quickly turned my head, unable to make out the noise. The doctor was still rummaging in the back, so I crept farther into the room to get a better look. The rustling grew louder and my hands came up to chest height, balled into fists, ready to strike out.
The sight stopped the doctor in his tracks.
“What . . .”
“I heard something,” I said.
He gave a bark of laughter. “That would be my quail.” I squinted again, and was now able to make out a cage on the floor. “She was wounded and I’m nursing her back to health. They like the dark.”
Feeling foolish, I dropped my fists. It was a silly way to fight a quail.
“Mix this powder into some water. It should help with indigestion.” He handed over a small packet. “And who are you now?”
“Jane Wunderly. Thank you for this.” I gestured with the packet. In the frenzy over the quail, I had forgotten my playacting. I returned one hand to my stomach and smiled weakly. I hoped I hadn’t ruined my charade entirely—I still had some questions for the doctor.
“Aren’t you the one what found the dead girl?” Recognition from the previous day sparked in his eyes.
With all the activity around the discovery, I was surprised he remembered me at all. My own memories of the morning were a bit of a blur—with the multitude of officers and men swarming the sce
ne and the multitude of questions I had been pressed into answering. I didn’t remember him very clearly, although I did recall his distinct accent, and the sight of him tearing down the hall toward us.
“Yes, I am. Did you know Anna, Dr. Williams?” I fully expected him to deny it.
A leer spread across his face. “I knew her. She was out for a good time, that one was.”
It took a lot of self-restraint to keep my lip from curling. A parade should have been thrown in my honor, frankly. “She did seem to enjoy a good party.” I was careful to keep my tone mild.
The doctor snorted. “She knew how to party. It’s a bloody shame she won’t be doing any more of that.”
This line of questioning was getting me nowhere. I already knew Anna was a bit . . . wild. I changed tactics. “I hear you were a doctor here during the war. That must have been difficult.”
“You hear a lot of things, miss.” His eyes narrowed, but then his ruddy face softened as he gazed past me. “It was a hard war. We lost a lot of men.”
“I hear you also lost your gun.” My eyes widened slightly. I couldn’t believe I had actually said that out loud. I fully expected Williams to order me out, but the doctor surprised me once again.
“Can you believe that? Years I go with that service pistol, and someone nicks it from my rooms. I’d like to get my hands on the bloke that done it. I have no idea how they got in here, either.” He looked around as if he expected to find the person lurking behind an armchair.
I needed to cut this interview short before my luck ran out and my mouth got me into more serious trouble. I wasn’t sure I had learned anything of value—other than the doctor was unpredictable. I edged toward the door.
“Well, thank you again for this.” I held up the powder packet and gave another weak smile. The closeness of the man and the thick air was making me feel ill at ease. As was the continued rustling in the corner. Standing in a darkened room with an unpredictable man suddenly didn’t seem like my brightest idea. Especially since there was nothing to say Dr. Williams hadn’t used that gun on Anna himself. He sounded genuinely upset at its loss, but who could truly tell?
Hand to my stomach, I finally reached the threshold and hurried back out into the light. I heard the door close firmly behind me and I had only taken a few steps before I heard his muffled voice. I looked back for a moment. The doctor was either talking to his quail or he had made a phone call. I assumed it was the latter—he was most likely taking the clerk to task for allowing me to come to his suite. It’s what I would have done in his position.
I kept my pace slow and measured until I had turned the corner, safely out of view of the doctor’s rooms. Then I trotted back to my own.
I had more investigating to do.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Back in my rooms, I gave some thought as to whom I should talk to next. Unfortunately, the list was a short one. Reviewing our list of suspects was a task that only took a moment. I didn’t believe the colonel was responsible, and the police had yet to find the young man we had seen with Anna that last night. The highest person on my list was Amon, and until both he and Redvers returned from the city, I was at loose ends. Since I had no idea when either of the men would return, I decided to stick with my original plan and fritter away time by the pool. With any luck, I would find Deanna and Charlie there.
I stowed the pill packet given to me by Dr. Williams in my toiletries case and changed into my bathing costume. By the time I reached the pool, every chair was occupied and I was disappointed to see that neither of my newfound friends was in sight.
I would have thought guests would leave once they heard about the murder, but if anything, there seemed to be even more people poolside, clustered into little knots of gossip. I was finally able to snag a lounge chair by hovering in the area until a middle-aged woman wrapped in a long caftan packed up her things and headed back toward the hotel. I swooped in, immediately pulling the chair into the shade of a large umbrella nearby. No need to bake myself. I made sure my sun hat was secure and settled in for a read. I had yet to finish my novel, and despite my disappointment at not finding Deanna and Charlie, I was happy to spend some time alone with my book.
Once again, quiet reading was not meant to be. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever finish the book. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amon arrive and I discreetly watched him over the top of the pages. He was dressed in a white bathing costume, and as he scanned the guests gathered poolside, I wondered if he was looking for someone in particular. I had pulled my book up in an attempt to hide my face, but his eyes found me—studiously attempting to ignore him—and he made a beeline in my direction. Before I knew it, the sound of a chair’s legs scraping across the patio stone greeted my ears as he pulled a chair next to mine. I wondered how he had managed to scare up a seat so quickly. A quick glance to my right told me the answer; two women were now sitting awkwardly together on one lounge chair.
Unbelievable.
“Mrs. Wunderly,” he said. “I’m so glad that I’ve found a friendly face.” Since my face was currently anything but friendly, I assumed he was speaking figuratively.
“Mr. Samara.” I marked my place and put the book down. I had decided earlier that it would be best if Redvers and I talked with Amon together, especially after my episode with the doctor. But Amon had presented me with a neatly wrapped gift, and it would be foolish to waste the opportunity by discussing inane topics such as the weather. That would be a short conversation, anyway, since it was mainly just hot. Whatever I learned from Amon now, I could fill Redvers in on later.
Amon seemed preoccupied—even after he sat down, his attention continued to wander around the area as though his eyes couldn’t find anywhere comfortable to rest.
“You seem upset, Mr. Samara. Have you had a trying morning?” He’d requested that I use his given name, but I didn’t want him to assume we were developing a friendship. Or a relationship of any sort, for that matter, so I returned to using a formal address.
He gave a dramatic sigh. “It has been terrible, Mrs. Wunderly. I have been at the Cairo police station for hours—through breakfast and then lunch. You cannot imagine how terrible the food is.” He said this last part so gravely that I almost laughed. But I also hoped that I would have no reason to find out for myself.
“I presume the police were asking you questions about Miss Stainton?” I needed to get confirmation for my hunch that he had known Anna.
“Yes, but I hardly knew the girl. There was little I could tell them.”
“Really? Then why did she have your cuff links?” The words were out before I could ponder the wisdom of admitting that I knew about them, but I managed to maintain a neutral expression.
Amon looked at me appraisingly for a long moment, as though reassessing whatever assumptions he had made about me. He clearly was not expecting a woman immune to his charms. And willing to challenge him, besides.
“How do you know about the cuff links, Mrs. Wunderly?” His voice had changed—not dramatically, but enough that it was noticeable. There was now a rough edge to it, and I wondered how much of his cultured speech was a deliberate act.
“The police mentioned them while they were questioning me. And I remembered that I had seen you wearing them the other night.” I was improvising. I didn’t want him to know that I was the one who had found them.
“You remembered my cuff links?” He sounded skeptical.
“Well, at the dance the other evening, I couldn’t help but notice them. They were very eye-catching.” That much was true. “Although, I thought it was strange they had different initials than your own.” Hopefully, he wouldn’t realize that I couldn’t have seen the initials unless I’d been at the table with him.
“You have great powers of observation, Mrs. Wunderly.” He paused, and for a moment I worried I’d been caught in my lie, but he continued on. “They belonged to my grandfather—a family heirloom.” It was an easy response, and I couldn’t decide if he was telling the
truth or was a practiced liar.
I thought it was safe to assume the latter.
“How did Anna come to have them, Mr. Samara?” I refused to let him off the hook so easily. And I sincerely wanted to know the answer, although I doubted he would give me the truth.
“I’m afraid our Miss Stainton had light fingers. She had a habit of pocketing attractive items that did not belong to her. Much like those birds that collect shiny things. Um, a magpie?”
I thought that over. I had seen Anna’s personal effects, and she did not appear to want for money. It was doubtful that she would need to steal things when she could simply purchase them outright. Of course, I also knew there were people who did such things for the thrill and not for monetary reasons, but I couldn’t see Anna looking for that type of excitement.
Of course, she’d had my brooch in her room, so perhaps there was a pattern after all. Although it didn’t explain why she had gone to such lengths to hide the cuff links, or when she had taken them. I doubted it was as simple as her “pocketing an attractive item.” Anna had to have made quite some effort to steal the cuff links and then sew them into her dress in the short time between when I’d seen Amon wearing them and the time she was killed. I decided that my brooch was a completely separate matter.
With a mental grimace, I resolved to try a more flattering approach, letting him believe that I had finally given in to his “charm.”
“Well, I’m sure it was not every day that Anna met someone as handsome as you.” I nearly gagged on my own words. “Perhaps she wanted a token of yours.”
His eyes softened. “Perhaps. We have known each other since she was a young woman. Anna was so lovely, and such a pleasure to be around.”
I disagreed, but at least I was finally getting somewhere.
“But in the saloon the other evening, she didn’t even speak to you. And you said you barely knew each other.”
“Mrs. Wunderly, the truth is, we were in love. But she wanted to hide it from her father, who did not approve of the match.” He gazed thoughtfully at his own hands. As I watched, he began massaging the knuckle of his index finger. “We had a quarrel about it when I arrived, and that is why she was carrying on with those young men. She was trying to make me jealous. I did love her, Mrs. Wunderly.” He finally looked up and made eye contact with me. “You must believe me.”
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