Free The Eye of the Serpent by Philip Caveney

truth or you can get out of this automobile and start walking.’
    Llewellyn’s expression turned to one of alarm.He reached into his inside pocket and produced a leather wallet, which he flipped open and held out to Ethan. ‘You must forgive me, Mr Wade. As you say, I am not a reporter but a private detective. I have been hired by the parents of Mr Thomas Hinton to investigate the circumstances surrounding their son’s disappearance.’ He withdrew a letter from the wallet and handed it over. ‘That’s from Mr Hinton,’ he said, ‘explaining the situation. I had hoped that my little deception might help me to obtain information.’
    Ethan studied the letter for a few moments in silence. Then he shrugged and handed it back. ‘Why didn’t you just tell the truth?’ he said. ‘I don’t appreciate being lied to.’
    Llewellyn frowned. ‘In my experience, Mr Wade, most people have a tendency to distrust detectives, but will tell newspapermen just about anything.’
    â€˜Yeah, well, I ain’t most people. I hate reporters but I’ve got a lot of time for private dicks.’
    â€˜I beg your pardon?’
    â€˜Detectives. One of my favourite uncles is in the business. Obadiah Wade – operates out of Boston. Maybe you heard of him?’
    Llewellyn shook his head and his cluster ofchins wobbled alarmingly. ‘I’m afraid not,’ he said. ‘Sorry.’
    â€˜That’s OK.’ Ethan looked at Alec. ‘That explains how he knows about the tomb. When I informed Tom’s parents that he’d gone missing, they asked for more details, and I had to tell them about the new discovery.’
    Alec looked at Llewellyn. ‘So Tom’s parents told you about the tomb?’
    Llewellyn nodded. ‘They’re very worried about their son. They want some answers.’
    â€˜That’s perfectly understandable,’ said Ethan. ‘Tell you the truth, I wouldn’t mind a few myself.’
    â€˜You surprise me,’ said Llewellyn. ‘From what Mr Hinton’s parents told me, you haven’t exactly been yelling about his disappearance from the rooftops.’
    â€˜The rest of the team made a pretty thorough search for him before I even got here. They drew a blank. The local police didn’t seem to want to know about it. And when I first got here, I made enquiries about Tom too – discreet enquiries.’
    Llewellyn frowned. ‘Why so discreet?’ he asked. ‘It’s almost as though you don’t
want
to find Mr Hinton.’
    â€˜That’s not true – of course we want to find him! But the thing is, I couldn’t open it up too wide: we’d have had the newspaper reporters at the site and then Sir William’s great discovery would be splashed over every paper from here to Chattanooga.’ He stared at Llewellyn for a moment, his arms folded. ‘So what do we do with you, Llewellyn? I confess, my first instinct is to leave you here, and if the rest of those hyenas come back, that’s just tough.’
    Llewellyn stared at Ethan in horror. ‘Mr Wade, I have apologized for my deception. Please, I beseech you, you cannot abandon me to such a fate.’
    Ethan scowled. ‘I must be getting soft in my old age, but I’m going to give you one chance. Just one, mind you! You can come with us to the dig and you can even ask questions. But I’m warning you – you ever lie to me again and you’ll be heading back to Luxor with my boot up your backside.’
    Llewellyn was evidently outraged by this remark and Alec had to smother a laugh at the expression on his face, but after a moment he nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Wade. I was just trying to do my job.’
    â€˜And I’m trying to do mine.’ Ethan thought for a moment. ‘How long is it going to take, this questioning? You need me to assign you a spare tent?’
    Llewellyn looked