Andrus had sat down on the cushion opposite him. He was a thin, severe man in his late fifties with a gaunt face and prominent eye-sockets. His eyes looked very tired, which was not surprising if, as Owen supposed, he had spent the whole night at his prayers.
Well, Andrus, he said, let us begin. And let us begin with what happened last night. Speak to me as one who knows nothing.
Very well.
Andrus paused to glance round the ring of onlookers, as if to make sure they were all attending.
We came here to pass the night of the Eed el-Gheetas, he said, as we usually do. You are aware of our custom, Captain Owen?
Owen registered, as he was intended to, the correct use of his name and rank.
We come here on feast days and also on some other occasions to honour our dead. I was especially anxious to come on this occasion as it is the anniversary of my fathers death. He died four years ago. We spend the night in the house-
Not in the tomb?
Not in the tomb, no. We go there in the morning. First we have to prepare ourselves. We do that by keeping vigil.
All through the night?
All through the night. We start at dusk.
Did you go straight to the house? When you arrived, I mean? Or did you visit the tomb?
The others went to the house. There was a touch of disapproval in the words. I went to the tomb.
And you saw nothing untoward?
Not at the tomb, no.
Or anywhere else?
There are always Moslems about in the necropolis nowadays, said Andrus coldly.
But they werent doing anything untoward?
No, said Andrus, with the air of one making a concession.
How long did you stay at the tomb?
Not long. I paid my respects and then went on to the house.
Where you stayed all night?
Yes.
And again you saw and heard nothing untoward?
We were praying, said Andrus tartly.
Of course. But you might have-
We did not.
Ordinarily, Owen would have probed but there was an impatient finality about the words. He moved Andrus on.
Then in the morning-?
We went to the tomb.
Where you found-?
Andrus made a gesture of disgust as if he could hardly bring himself to speak of it.
Where you found-? Owen prompted again.
A dog! Andrus spat out. At the very door of my fathers tomb!
He glared round dramatically. Totally involved, the crowd gave a sympathetic gasp.
I feel for you, said Owen tactfully. I feel for you. But He hesitated and chose his words with care. Is there not a possibility-I ask only to make sure-that the dog came there by accident?
Accident? said Andrus incredulously.
There are lots of dogs in the cemetery, said Owen, and some of them are old and sick. Might not one of them, knowing that its time to die had come-
Have dragged itself across the graveyard until by chance it arrived at my fathers tomb?
Yes.
-and then, with its last breath, climbed up a flight of six steep steps and forced open the heavy door that was barred against it? Pah.
Andrus made a gesture of derision. The crowd laughed scornfully.
First, it was a joke. Now it is a fairy tale.
Owen went patiently on.
The door was barred?
Yes.
Not locked?
I unlocked it the night before when I came first to the tomb.
But left it barred? Are you sure?
Surer of that, said Andrus, with a sidelong glance at the crowd; than that the dog lifted the bar itself.
The crowd laughed with him.
The point is important, Owen insisted. If the door were open, the dog could have come there itself.
It was brought, said Andrus, by other dogs. Moslem ones.
It was brought, said Andrus, by other dogs. Moslem ones.
Where did you find the dog? Inside the tomb?
In the doorway. Half inside, half out.
And dead?
Quite dead, said Andrus.
You say it was Moslems.
I know it was Moslems.
Did anyone see them?
Andrus hesitated. No one has said so.
I will ask. And I will ask more widely. It may be that someone saw them bring the dog into the cemetery.
There are dogs in the cemetery enough.
Owen shrugged. I will check, anyway. I will also ask those in your house.
I speak for them.
It may be that one of them heard something or saw something that you did not.
Now it was Andrus who shrugged his shoulders.
It may be that no one saw anything or heard anything. They came like thieves in the night.
It is important, however, to check. Then we might establish whether it was indeed Moslems.
Who else could it have been?
Copts. Have you any enemies?
Only Moslems, said Andrus.
He seemed stuck on this. Owen could not tell whether it was some personal bitterness or whether it was the general bitterness which he knew Copts felt for Moslems. If it was the latter, he was surprised at its intensity. If that was widely shared, then it was worrying. There was the possibility of a major explosion. And any little spark could set it going.
Even the death of a dog.
He understood now why Nikos had been so insistent that he come.
And what the hell were you doing while all this was going on? asked Georgiades.
I am in the office, Nikos said with dignity. I leave the other stuff to you.
He paused impressively, looked through the sheaf of papers he was holding in his hand, pulled one out and laid it on the desk in front of Owen.
All I can find out about Andrus, he said.
Owen glanced at it, but then looked back at Nikos.
Tell me, he said. It would be sensible for Georgiades to hear.
A zealot, said Nikos.
Extremist?
Not in your sense, no, said Nikos coldly. He was himself a Copt. Just very religious. You would consider excessively so.
Nikos liked to get things exactly right.
But not politically active?
No known Nationalist connections, if thats what youre asking.
I wasnt. Not specifically. I was wondering if he was active in politics generally?
How can a Copt be active in politics generally?
The Copts, although the direct descendants of the Egyptians of the pharaohs, were now in a minority in Egypt. They numbered less than a million. There were over eight million Moslems. Since before the days of the Mamelukes Egypt had been a Moslem country. Successive sultans, and the generals who had governed Egypt for them, had not even thought of sharing their rule with the Copts, nor had more recent khedives seen any reason to depart from that tradition. Even the new Western-style political parties which were springing up had restricted Coptic participation.
You know what I mean, said Owen. Behind the scenes.
But although Copts had been effectively excluded from direct participation in government they participated indirectly in very considerable measure. They were prominent in the civil service. Indeed, you could almost say that the civil service was run by them. Even in what was called in other countries parliamentary politics they were not without influence. They were energetic and skilful lobbyists. One thing they were not, thought Owen, was inactive in politics.
I know what you mean. Nikos caved in, having made his point. No, he is not. He confines his public activities to church work, of which he does a lot.
The Mar Girgis?
Yes. Thats right.
What sort of church is it?
Fundamentalist. Conservative. Ascetic.
That figures.
Yes, said Nikos, hes like that, too.
Anything else?
A prominent figure in the local Coptic community. Name any committee and hes on it. Any list of subscriptions and hes at the top.
Where does he get the money?
Hes a businessman. Soft fruit, raisins, grapes, that sort of thing. He imports them and exports them. His main place of business is really Alexandria, though he prefers to live in Cairo himself, which is where his family have always lived and where his father built up the family business.
His father is dead?
Yes. Hed been in ailing health for some years. He suffered badly in one of the massacres.
Massacres?
Of the Copts. By the Moslems.
I see.
Yes, said Nikos, I thought you would.
Among the papers which Nikos had brought in were the office accounts. These made gloomy reading. They were still some weeks from the end of the financial year and already Owen was almost spent up. He decided he would have to see Garvin about it. Garvin was the Commandant of the Cairo Police and although not formally Owens superior was the man he in practice reported to. Garvin had very good links with the Consul-General.
He was also the person in whose budget, for administrative convenience, Owens accounts were included, so any application for an increase would have to be cleared with him.
Owen was not expecting any difficulty. The Mamur Zapts budget was relatively small and the work important. Since Cromers time, however, the Ministry of Finance had been sticklers for financial probity and formal permission would definitely have to be obtained. The British Consul General had been brought in specifically to clear up the Egyptian financial mess and by the time he had left, two years ago, the Governments accounts had been transformed. Some were saying, the new English Liberal MPs among them, that Britains work in Egypt was now completed and that there was no excuse for them staying further. It had, after all, been thirty years.
Before going to Garvin, however, Owen was anxious to check the accounts. A previous Mamur Zapt had been dismissed for corruption not so long previously that Owen could afford to ignore criticism. He was deep in calculations when the phone rang.
It was one of the Consul-Generals aides, a personal friend of his.
Hello, said Paul, I was trying to get you earlier but you were out. I need some help.
Yes?
Visitors. Important ones. Ones who need special handling.
So?
I at once thought of you.
No, said Owen. Definitely not. Much too busy. Quite out of the question. No.
It is not I alone who thinks so. The Consul-General thinks so too.
You put the idea in his head.
We reviewed the possibilities together. I may have suggested there was a need for some dexterity. Political dexterity.
You rotten sod.
I have your interests at heart. Also my own. We dont want this to go wrong.
Im sorry. Ive got more important things to do.
You havent. This has priority. So says the Consul-General.
Bloody hell! Ive got a lot on just now.
Then put a lot off.
Who the hell are these visitors?
You only need to bother about one of them. Well, lets say one and a half. He has a niece with him. He, John Postlethwaite, is one of the new intake of Liberal MPs and has chosen to make a speciality of Egypt. This is because none of the other committees would have him. Retrenchment, reform and Boltons backyard is all he really knows about. Oh, and accounts. He took Cromer to task over his and made something of a name for himself. Thats what gave him the idea. Of specializing in Egypt, I mean. He wants to come out and see things at first hand. The accounts, that is.