Free A Dead Man in Athens by Michael Pearce Page A

Metaxas. ‘It’s just that they think they apply only to other people.’
    A cooling puff of breeze went through the square sending up little ruffles of dust. Dr Metaxas put a hand over his glass. When the ruffle had passed there was a thin film of dust on the table. Not far from where they were sitting was a small garden planted with orange trees. The oranges were covered with dust too.
    ‘Among the things I’ve been looking at today,’ said Seymour, ‘is how the poison could have got into the harem.’
    ‘Still on that cat?’ said Dr Metaxas.
    ‘Yes. You see, once you’re in the harem, you’re not allowed out. So you couldn’t have gone out and got it. You would have to find some means of bringing it in. And the trouble about that is that no one is allowed into the harem either. The poison would have to have been given to the eunuchs at the door, in the same way as everything else, even food.’
    ‘They might have brought the poison to Athens with them,’ objected Dr Metaxas.
    ‘Even if they had acquired it in Salonica, the constraints of the harem would still have applied. And the same is true if they had acquired it in Istanbul. So I have been trying to find a way in which poison could have entered the harem.’
    ‘And have you found it?’
    ‘It could have come in in the guise of medicine. The ladies of the harem are presumably allowed to ask for medicine. They might even have got a doctor to provide it. And there have been plenty of opportunities recently, with all the doctors who have been called in for the Sultan, for them to see a doctor.’
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘You, yourself, for instance, have been called in.’
    ‘True, but I did not prescribe poison.’
    ‘No, of course not. But what you prescribed might have been switched. Poison for medicine.’
    ‘Well, I suppose it might,’ said Dr Metaxas. ‘But –’
    ‘Could you tell me about what happened when you were called in? The procedure?’
    ‘It was barbaric. Ridiculous! I wasn’t even allowed to see her. She stood behind a curtain all the time!’
    Aphrodite laughed.
    ‘No, it’s true!’ Dr Metaxas insisted. ‘I wasn’t allowed to examine her. All I could go on was her description of her symptoms.’
    ‘And could you proceed on that basis?’
    ‘I did proceed. A physician, as I’m sure you’ve spotted, is a man with principles. And one of the principles is never to refuse a good fat fee.’
    ‘Did you, in fact, prescribe something?’
    ‘I did. For constipation. I assumed that her problems were largely the same as those of the cat. In fact, I detected considerable similarities with the cat.’
    ‘It’s monstrous,’ said Aphrodite. ‘Keeping women like that!’
    ‘The results are much the same,’ said Dr Metaxas. ‘Neuroticism, obesity –’
    ‘You wrote out a prescription, presumably?’
    ‘I did.’
    ‘And then what? Did you give it to her? Personally?’
    ‘I didn’t get close enough to give her anything. As I say, she remained behind the curtain all the time. I handed the prescription to one of the eunuchs.’
    He smiled ironically.
    ‘So,’ he said, ‘is that what you wanted? An explanation of how it got into the harem? Something at least for you to investigate. If you have nothing better to do.’
    He made a dismissive gesture.
    ‘Pah!’ he said. ‘Eunuchs, harem, poison – and this in Athens! An enclave of Ottoman backwardness in a city of cars and flying machines! Cat!’ he said scornfully. ‘You are wasting your time, Mr Seymour.’
    Seymour felt inclined to agree with him.

Chapter Five
    Seymour had a deep scepticism for government, and that scepticism grew as he walked up the drive to the Sultan’s residence the next morning. The increase in guards promised at the meeting he had attended looked as if it had been implemented. The Greek guards had grown in numbers and now spread right across the road, which was obstructed by a hastily erected road block. Further up the drive the Ottoman soldiers,