But you saw nothing? No man fleeing the spot, for instance?
It was dark, Effendi. And, besides, he would have come through the gardens, where there are trees and bushes.
There are other watchmen?
There are watchmen on all the dams when the river rises. But, Effendi, they would have been watching the dams and the banks.
They would have been watching against the river and not against people?
That is right. What need is there to watch against people? To strike against the river is to strike against oneself.
And yet last night someone did.
What could have possessed them, Effendi? asked the watchman, shaking his head. Who could do a thing like that?
Some loony, said Macrae bitterly, now unhelmeted and slumped exhaustedly in the office. There was coffee on the table in front of them. He picked up one of the cups.
Inexplicable! said the Minister. Unless- he looked at Owen-you dont think it could have been some ridiculous Nationalist-?
Politics, you mean? said Macrae. Well, you could be right. Anyone who gets mixed up with politics has to be crazy. Especially in Egypt. Oh, sorry, Minister!
Politics, you mean? said Macrae. Well, you could be right. Anyone who gets mixed up with politics has to be crazy. Especially in Egypt. Oh, sorry, Minister!
Lets not jump to conclusions! said Owen. It could just be an individual with a grudge.
Well, lets hope you find him before he does any more damage, said Macrae.
Are you going to be able to put this right? the Minister asked.
Depends what you mean. Well have things more or less under control by the evening. But then well need new gates.
New gates?
And well have to set them, said the other engineer, the one Owen had met at the Ministry. His name was Ferguson. That means that what were talking about really is a complete new regulator.
But that will cost millions! said the Minister.
Aye, said Macrae.
Well have to divert the canal, said Ferguson.
Divert the canal!
Aye, said Macrae.
But-but-that will-
Cost more millions, said Ferguson.
We have to keep the flow going, you see, said Macrae. And you cant build when the waters still going through. You have to build somewhere else. Nearby, of course. He looked out of the window. The gardens, I should think. And then divert the water into the new channel.
The Under-Secretary pulled himself together.
Ill put it to them. It-it may take some time.
Cant wait, said Macrae. Ferguson nodded in agreement. If you want it done before next years rise-and you do-youll have to start next month.
Ill put that to them, too, said the Under-Secretary, downcast.
But thats not the main thing, said Macrae.
No? said the Under-Secretary.
No? said Ferguson, surprised.
No. The main thing is to get the madman who did it. Before he does it again. Owen?
Chapter 2
The world of water, on the brink of which Owen had hitherto remained, was clearly a different one from any that he had known. It seemed, for a start, to be inhabited primarily by Scotsmen. Owen put this down to the fact that it was technical. He had long established that all engineers, in the Levant at any rate, were Scottish. It must be something in the blood, he decided; which perhaps accounted for him himself having no technical competence whatsoever. He understood enough about such things, however, to know when someone was being given the technical run-around. As here, he suspected.
After the Minister had left, shell-shocked, Macrae produced a bottle of whisky and three glasses.
Do you like it with water or without?
Owen hesitated.
Aye, said Macrae, youre right. Its a big question. I take it with just a splash, myself. It releases the aromas.
Aye, but thats in Scotland, said Ferguson. Out here, where its warmer, theyre released anyway.
You dont take it with ice, anyway. Thats the main thing, said Macrae, pouring a generous dram.
In the Club, perhaps. With soda. And a different whisky.
My view entirely, said Macrae. He took a careful sip, nodded approval, and put his glass down.
Now, he said, youll have some questions for us, I fancy.
Basic facts, first, said Owen.
Aye, said Macrae. I like facts.
First: time?
A couple of minutes either side of two oclock. Ahmed phoned me at five past. I was here by twenty past.
Good.
Next, place. Youll be wanting to know about that. Well,-he looked at Ferguson for corroboration-Id say bottom right-hand corner of the gates as you look towards the main barrage. About by the culvert.
Aye, said Ferguson. Well be able to tell you better later.
What was it done with? asked Owen.
Dynamite, I fancy, said Macrae. Where theres dams, theres dynamite. Have you checked the store? he asked Ferguson.
Not yet, said Ferguson. I will.
Theyll have come across the Gardens, said Owen. Ill take a look at those in a moment.
You wont find anything, said Ferguson. Theyre a labyrinth.
Ill look, anyway. Now I want to ask you about workmen.
Workmen? said Macrae, surprised. Why?
One of them could have done it.
Macrae and Ferguson both shook their heads.
Not one of ours, they said in unison.
Why not?
Well- Macrae sat back and thought. Weve known them for years, he said finally. Some of them worked with me down at Aswan.
Even the ones who come up for the Inundation, said Ferguson. Weve known them for years. Every year, there they are. Really, there are too many of them. I ought to turn some away. Theyre needed elsewhere in the system. But we know them and they know us.
Good men, said Macrae.
What, all of them? said Owen.
Look, said Macrae. I know what they say about Egyptian workmen. But ours are not like that.
All of them? said Owen. Im looking for one, thats the point.
Wed have got rid of them if they were.
Well, that, too, could be the point.
What are you saying?
Im asking, not saying. Im asking why anyone would want to do a thing like this. And the answer I come up with is: because theyve got a grudge.
Grudge? said Ferguson. Who against?
The Department. You.
Not our workmen, said Macrae positively. Why would they have a grudge?
Because they fancied theyd been wronged. Lets have a try. Any injuries lately?
Nothing serious. Its not construction work. Its not like Aswan. And when there are injuries we look after them.
But you do have injuries?
Yes, but-
Id like the names. Next, dismissals.
We dont have any.
You said yourself that if people werent up to the mark you got rid of them.
Yes. But-Look, all that is in the past. We havent needed to get rid of anyone for-
Years, filled in Ferguson.
What about disciplinary problems? Dont tell me you havent had any of those!
If we have, weve known how to handle them.
But thats the point: how they were handled.
Look-
Weve had words, said Ferguson. I dont deny that. But nothing serious.
Blows?
I dont believe in blows, said Macrae. If you cant manage without blows, you cant manage.
Fine! said Owen. But let me have the names, will you?
The Departments got the records, said Ferguson.
In any case, said Macrae, arent you barking up the wrong tree? If they had a grudge against us, wouldnt they want to take it out on us? Not on a dam they depend on for their livelihood. The only people theyd be hurting there would be themselves!
Out by the damaged regulator the crowds were thinning now and the carts could turn more easily. They were still coming. The long line still stretched across the gardens. It was testimony to the engineers capacity for getting things done that they had been able to organize so many loads in such a short space of time.
The loads, inevitably, were an incongruous mixture. There was masonry, rubble, rocks, wood, mattresses-even old chairs and tables. Not so old, as a matter of fact. Some of them were quite new.
Mr Macrae said anything would do, explained the hot young man marshalling the carts. His pinkness told that he was fresh from England. He said that I could raid the houses if necessary. A lot of them are just standing empty, you know.
A cart went by piled high with swathes of fine velvet curtaining. On top teetered a beautiful old escritoire.
Just a minute- said Owen.
Where did you get that? asked Ferguson.
Oh, a sort of villa over there, said the young man, pointing along the river bank.
But- said Ferguson.
Anything wrong? inquired the pink youth anxiously.
Thats the Khedives Summer Chalet, said Owen.
Murderers! muttered the gardener wrathfully, struggling to restore a rose-bed.
Take heart, man, counselled Owen, standing beside him. The people will go, the gardens remain.
But what will they be like? asked the gardener.
In time they will be as new.
Ah, yes, said the gardener, but how much time? A garden like this isnt built in a day, you know.
It takes time, agreed Owen soothingly.
And work! A garden is built with ones back.
But out of the sweat of ones brow a thing of beauty emerges.
Well-
This is truly one of the Wonders of Egypt, said Owen, looking round.
Well- said the gardener modestly.
Of Egypt? No, of the world!
Its pretty good, acknowledged the gardener. Though I say it myself.
Who better to say it?
And those stupid bastards-
Yes, yes, said Owen hurriedly. But, tell me, Abdullah, you of all men must know the gardens well?
Like the back of my hand.
Just so. And you will be able to tell me this: if you were coming by night and making for the Manufiya Regulator, and did not wish to be seen, by what way would you come?
The gardener gave him a shrewd look.
Would you be carrying something, Effendi?
You might. You might well.
Then there is only one way you would come. For if you came by any other you would have to cross canals. And you would not want, would you, Effendi, to get your load wet?
You would not. So how would you come?
Shall I show you, Effendi?
Owen was not exactly a connoisseur of gardens. Indeed, he seldom noticed that they were there at all. But even he, now that he looked, could see that there was something special about the Barrage Gardens. They were a miracle of colour. Everywhere there were great splashes of bougainvillea and datura, banks of roses, huge beds of thrift. The trees, many of them rare and not native to Egypt, were tied together with flowering creepers and lianas. The pools, and there were lots of pools, were vivid with the ancient emblems of Lower and Upper Egypt, the papyrus and the lotos.