Free The Khamsin Curse by Anna Lord Page B

mission to see to.”
    “Yes, yes, if someone were to
sabotage the dam it would be a disaster. In fact, a double disaster
- Egypt and Britain.”
    Major Nash looked anxiously
upriver and it was clear that he was thinking the same thing. “The
sooner we get to Aswan the better.”
    A commotion on the wharf had
them both swinging round. Ali Pasha arrived in a calash that
stopped just short of a stack of watermelons. The antiquities
expert traded furious insults with the watermelon vendor before
charging up the gangway.
    “Go down and see what his beef
is,” instructed Major Nash. “I’m guessing he’s gunning for Mr Lee.
I’ll stay here and keep the demoiselles amused. They are heading
our way. I’ll rendezvous with you later tonight. Do you know where
the lion fountain is in the garden?”
    Dr Watson nodded.
    “I’ll meet you there at
midnight. Hurry.”
    Dr Watson arrived at the door
of Mr Lee’s cabin in time to overhear an angry altercation.
    “It’s not enough! If you think
you can rob me…”
    “Calm down,” rebuked the cattle
king. “I’m not out to rob you. It’s just the first payment. But I
want to know it’s the real thing I want value for money.”
    “Value for money!” spat the
trader. “What do you think you are buying! Bifsteaks! What I give
you is…”
    “Yes, yes, but how do I know
you aren’t robbing me blind?”
    “You question me! You question
Ali Pasha! If you do not wish to pay I will do business with…”
    “Don’t be hasty. I never said I
wouldn’t pay. I’ll give you five hundred greenbacks now and the
rest when I get back from Aswan.”
    “You think I am a fool! Pay all
now! Or we are finished doing business!”
    “All right! All right! But you
will have to settle for promissory notes. All my greenbacks went to
settle some, er, gambling accounts. I have more greenbacks coming
from Khartoum but they are being delivered straight to Aswan by a
private courier organized by the bank. I was planning to purchase
some antiquities from the professor, you see. You can have the
money as soon as I get back from Aswan.”
    “Mallisham will sell you fakes!
You want genuine treasure – you buy from Ali Pasha! I go to Aswan
too! You pay then or we are finished!”
    “Well, yes, certainly, if
that’s what you want, I cannot stop you going, but you will have to
make your own way there. The Sekhmet has a full complement.”
    “I go by train. I will see you
in Aswan. And you will pay me or I speak to…”
    “No need to make threats, Ali
Pasha. You will get your money.”

6
Perfumed Garden
     
    Dr Watson replayed the argument
between Mr Lee and Ali Pasha over and over in his head as he
hurried back to the hotel. The thing he couldn’t understand was why
Mr Lee had lied. They had a spare cabin. Mrs Baxter said so. There
were twelve cabins and only eleven of them were occupied. Ali Pasha
could have travelled with them to Aswan. Clearly, Mr Lee did not
want the antiquities trader on his floating ranch.
    Later that evening, when the
doctor was strolling with the Countess through the jasmine-scented
garden, and he recounted the heated discussion, something else
occurred to him.
    “The other person who lied,” he
said morosely, “was Mrs Baxter.” This disturbed him more than Mr
Lee’s dissembling and that’s probably why it had taken longer to
sink in. “During a tour of the paddle-steamer, Mr Lee ordered the
steward to make sure to put the boxes of caftans out of sight so
that his daughter wouldn’t see them, presumably so as not to spoil
the surprise birthday. But Mrs Baxter told me she was going to buy
the caftans less than two hours beforehand. She must have been
lying because she must have already bought them earlier in the day.
I think she was keen to rendezvous with Colonel Moran and wanted to
give me the brush-off.”
    The Countess picked up on his
aggrieved tone. “Or else she might have been quick with her
purchase and the trader might have boxed them up immediately