The Book of the Dead Read online

  Most of the others were up on the deck as well, enjoying the light breeze which was a regular and delightful feature of this time of day. A new moon appeared as a crescent above the city. The only sounds were the low murmur of voices, the gentle dipping of the oars, and the occasional distant shout or dog's bark. Canopus had something of an unsavoury reputation, a destination for the pleasure seekers and revellers of Alexandria, but from this distance it looked beautiful and peaceful. He thought of his sister, Hotepet. What would he not give to have her experience this? Such a tranquil scene. The moon. The gradual appearance of the stars. The city and the sea. Utter beauty.

  ‘The north star.’ A voice at his shoulder woke Kaires from his reverie. ‘At the end of the dog's tail. All other stars move, that one alone remains constant, put there by the gods to guide us. The Nile flows towards it. Why, do you think?’

  It was Mantios. ‘Surely you are the best one amongst us to answer your own question,’ replied Kaires.

  ‘Spoken like a true philosopher. But I can't answer it. Perhaps it is another focus, like the earth. In the same way that the sun and moon revolve around us, all the stars revolve around the North Star. Perhaps it is another Earth, or the destination for our souls after we leave our bodies. The only other fixed point in the heavens. The Elysian Fields. It draws all life, and the Nile, which gives life to Egypt, is drawn to it as well. Who knows? Only the dead. In that I can envy Zeno. Now he knows all.’

  ‘If only we could be sure of that.’

  ‘It is because we can't be sure that it is important to try and understand now. It is why I spend my life searching to find these answers. If only we could speak to him. Do you believe in the afterlife, Kaires?’

  ‘I spend all my time trying to preserve the lives of people in this one. But yes, I know from experience that the human soul is inextinguishable. I can’t believe that we simply cease to exist. We go on in some form. But there is one among us who is glad that Zeno can no longer talk to us, and until they are exposed, we are all in danger. I am sure of it.’

  ‘What has his death to do with any of the rest of us? We all keep ourselves to ourselves. His personal life is - was - his own affair.’

  ‘What makes you think it was just about his personal life? Many people may have had a reason for wishing him out of the way. You amongst them, Mantios. Wasn't he your closest rival for the directorship?’

  Even in the dim light Kaires could see that Mantios had gone white. ‘How dare you?’ he spluttered. ‘I had the greatest respect for him. And anyway you could say the same about Dexios. Besides, it has been shown that it couldn't have been any of us.’

  ‘I have reason to disagree with that assumption. By the way, how are your financial affairs at present, Mantios? I have heard of some difficulty over meeting your bills?’

  ‘You go too far, Kaires. If you have been snooping into my affairs, it’s disgraceful. You should be ashamed of yourself. I don't know what you have heard, but I assure you it is a lie. I find this conversation has grown distasteful. I think the view is better from the other end of the barge.’

  So saying Mantios turned and stormed away. Kaires watched him go. He did not join any of the others but stood on his own at the prow. Kaires felt bad about the way he had treated him. Mantios had approached him in a very friendly fashion, just wanting to talk, and he had insulted him. That was going to be the worst part of this job; he would have to upset nearly everyone to get at the truth. Well, thought Kaires, at least that has given Mantios food for thought.

  The barge was now alongside the dock, and a scurry of activity saw sailors jumping on to the quayside, ropes thrown and caught, shouts and curses as the Gloria Aegyptae was eased gradually and expertly in to her mooring. Iola appeared at his side.

  ‘What was all that about? Mantios didn't look happy as he left you. Have you been disrespectful about the stars?’

  ‘Hardly,’ answered Kaires. ‘I just thought it would be a good idea to put the wind up him a little. I certainly succeeded in annoying him. I might have overdone it, but I think I need to stir things up a bit if we are going to get anywhere. Have you -’

  The question died on his lips as a covered carriage clattered on to the landing stage, horse and driver dripping with sweat. Iola and Kaires watched as a woman in a long travelling cloak and hood emerged. She started immediately towards the Gloria Aegyptae, the driver following with a large bag. As she mounted the gangplank she threw back her hood and looked up, directly at Kaires. He caught his breath. She did not look happy.

  ‘Oh the gods!’ cried Iola. ‘It's my mother!’

  -0-

  Iola rushed to the deck below, where the gangplank led on to the barge. Kaires followed not far behind. Myrine reached the top of the slope with a severe look on her face that did not bode well for her daughter.

  ‘Mother! What are you doing here?’ Iola gasped.

  A sailor, nervously about to try to prevent Myrine from entering the barge, stood back with evident relief. Quite a crowd had gathered below, unused to seeing such a grand barge at their quayside. Groups clustered round those members of the crew who were still on land, asking questions as the sailors proudly pointed out the wonders of the Gloria Aegyptae. Meanwhile those on board kept themselves busy preventing any unwanted sightseers from slipping on deck.

  Myrine frowned at her daughter. ‘I might well ask the same of you! Sending me on a wild goose chase to your aunt's. I spent the morning looking everywhere for you until it dawned on me that there was a good chance that I would find you here.’ She turned to Kaires, her gaze full of fire and ice at the same time. ‘Dr. Kaires, I am surprised at you, but as I know my daughter I don’t suppose you are entirely to blame.’

  Kaires tried hard to look inconspicuous. He felt like a schoolboy again.

  She returned her attention back to Iola. ‘Get your things at once,’ she said, in a tone that brooked no argument.

  Iola, however, was made of stronger stuff.

  ‘I can't! I mean I'm needed here... Oh mother, let me stay. There's so much for me to do and see. I'll be perfectly safe; Dr. Kaires is looking after me. Go home, and I promise I'll be fine.’

  Myrine looked suspiciously at Kaires. ‘Looking after Iola? I'm sure you are.’

  Kaires blushed. ‘It's not at all like that,’ he said. ‘Iola is here to help my investigation into your husband’s death. She has already proved invaluable. In fact she has been a great help to all of us - looking after our cabins, helping out at meals -’

  Myrine looked shocked. ‘She is not a servant. Iola, your things!’

  Iola turned desperately to Kaires. He thought rapidly. ‘I see you have brought some travelling gear,’ he said.

  Myrine looked down the gangplank to the driver, holding her bag. ‘Yes, in case I didn't catch up with you here. What has that to do with anything?’

  ‘Only that I was wondering if you would care to join the trip for a few days. I'm sure I could square it with the captain. There's no shortage of cabins. Iola could move in with you. A break from Alexandria would be the best thing for you at present. I'll send a message with your driver to get Remi, my servant, to collect everything from your apartment and store it until your return, after which you can find somewhere else.’

  ‘That’s ridiculous –‘

  ‘Yes, mother! Dr. Kaires is right. We were being thrown out of the apartment anyway. What a splendid idea! It’s a perfect answer to our problems. And you really should get away for a while. Think what good it would do you. Do us.’

  ‘That's impossible. There are far too many things to get done.’ Myrine sounded stern, but Iola could see a wavering in her eye. She pressed the advantage.

  ‘There's nothing that can't wait until we get back. And think, mother! The Pyramids! The Temples! And there's a great statue that sings at dawn.’

  Myrine relaxed her frown a little and Iola could see she had won. She bit her tongue for a few moments and, although it cost her considerable effort, remained silent a
s Myrine paused and considered. Kaires held his breath.

  Myrine had clearly allowed herself to be convinced. ‘Perhaps... But you must behave yourself properly, Iola. I will not have you serving at tables. However, you might be able to take the opportunity to study something useful, I suppose. If the captain and the other passengers have no objection, then we will stay for a day or two, while I decide whether or not it is proper for us to continue. If Dr. Kaires would be so kind as to make the arrangements?’

  Kaires quickly gave his agreement and hurried off to find the captain. He wasn't sure what Gallus would think of the addition to the party, but he felt sure he could talk him round. In the meantime Iola thought it wise to keep a low profile, so she found a small area of seating not far from the entrance and sat her mother down. She breathed a sigh of relief. Myrine, however, was not going to let her off that lightly.

  ‘Really, Iola, it is too bad of you. I was worried sick about what might have happened when your aunt told me she hadn't seen you. What was I to think?’

  Iola looked contrite. ‘I had left a message to be delivered to her tonight. I didn't expect you to go looking for me so soon.’

  ‘That's no excuse. I am really very angry with you. But if we really are to join this trip, which by the way I have certainly not yet decided, then we must make the best of it. Tell me all about it - who is on board, how you have been treated, and so on.’

  Iola's description of the other passengers, perhaps not as respectful as they might have wanted, soon had Myrine in a good humour, and with the excitement of the trip ahead, she was soon laughing and smiling. A muffled roaring from the direction of the stern interrupted their talk at one point, but neither could hear what it was about. When Kaires returned with the Captain Nehesi, he found them giggling guiltily. They stopped talking as soon as they saw him, and he wondered if he had been the subject of their conversation.

  ‘The Prefect is delighted to welcome you on board, and looks forward to seeing you at breakfast tomorrow morning,’ he said. This wasn't strictly true, as Kaires had had to use all his persuasive powers to stop Gallus throwing them both off immediately, but he wasn't going to tell them that. There had been a lot of comments along the lines of this not being a pleasure cruise for disadvantaged females and their dependents, and so on. He mentally thanked Cleopatra for making the walls of her apartments of such thick wood. ‘Captain Nehesi has had a cabin made ready for both of you. I'm sure you'll be comfortable. Now I think perhaps it's time for us all to get some sleep. It's been a busy day.’

  After giving the women over to Nehesi, Kaires made his way to his own cabin, and sank thankfully on to his bed. Outside the Nile lapped gently against the side. He heard the gangplank being drawn up, isolating the barge from the outside world. What a pleasant little community this could be, he thought. If only one of us wasn't a killer.

  -0-

  Kaires woke to a loud knocking at his door. For a moment he thought it was Sergius, back in Alexandria, with another summons from Gallus. The sun had not yet risen, but the pale light filtering through the gauze curtain told him it would not be long before it appeared above the horizon. The door handle rattled, but Kaires had shot the bolt before going to bed, so it did not yield. The knocking resumed with renewed vigour. Surely everyone along the corridor would now be awake.

  Kaires swung his feet down to the floor and sat on the edge for a moment. ‘I'm coming, I'm coming!’ he called. As he hastily pulled on his kilt, the knocking desisted.

  He put back the bolt and opened the door. Outside stood the guard who had been outside the Prefect's apartment yesterday. He looked as if he had had the stuffing knocked out of him. Gone was the air superior detachment with which he had treated Kaires the day before.

  ‘Dr. Kaires, the Prefect would like to see you right away. I am to escort you to him at once.’

  Not again, thought Kaires. I wonder what it is this time. He felt a wave of sympathy for the guard, who had obviously already experienced the business end of Gallus's wrath. ‘What's happened?’ he asked.

  ‘I'm not sure, sir. The Prefect seems to think someone broke in to his apartments last night while he was asleep. He told me to get you at once. He is a bit worked up, so I'd be grateful if you could hurry. This way.’

  Kaires followed the guard along the corridor. Several heads that had popped out of their cabins retreated back inside as they passed. The guard led the way up to the rear of the principal deck and the door to Gallus's apartments, now watched over by another soldier. He knocked, opened the door and stood back for Kaires to enter.

  Gallus stood in a sea of chaos. Tables and chairs had been turned over and lay where they has fallen, papers and documents were scattered across the saloon, and chests lay open with their contents spilling out. If a whirlwind had struck, there could not have been more damage. Kaires was shocked that someone could have caused such an outrage while Gallus slept with a guard at his door.

  ‘By Serapis!’ he said, astonished. ‘What’s happened here? Who can have done this?’

  Gallus looked at the ruin of his saloon around him. ‘Eh?’ he said. ‘All this? Oh, that was me. Looking for that blasted ring. It's gone all right.’

  ‘Do you mean it wasn't a burglar that caused all this mess? The ring has gone? What has happened, then?’

  Gallus sighed. ‘I woke up this morning and found the door to the private deck was open. I am sure I closed it last night. The guard, useless as he is, swears blind no one got past him. So does the watchman in charge of the gangplank; no one got on board during the night. I went immediately to my desk, and saw that the ring had gone. I've been looking for it,’ he said, as if such devastation was not unusual in the circumstances. ‘But it's nowhere to be found. You need to find it for me, Kaires.’ He shrugged. ‘Someone has obviously taken it,’ he added, possibly trying to be helpful.

  How had the thief known that the ring was here, in the Prefect’s suite? Kaires thought back to the day before. At some point, everyone had had to go to formally sign on to the trip, and the log was on the Prefect’s desk, right next to the ring. How tempting it must have been for the thief to have just taken it then and there. But such a rash action would have probably led to immediate discovery, so whoever it was had come back in the night instead.

  Kaires surveyed the carnage. If there had been anything useful to be seen, there was no hope of finding it now. He crossed over to the door at the back of the saloon. There was no sign of it being forced, but he doubted it had been bolted.

  ‘I’ll order an immediate search,’ said Gallus. ‘It’s government property. We can’t have people just helping themselves.’

  ‘Go ahead,’ said Kaires, ‘but I doubt you’ll find anything. We’re not just dealing with an ordinary thief. This is someone very clever. They must have been desperate to get the ring back, to take such a risk. I’m such a fool. I should have known they’d try this. Of course they would want it, if they’d failed to get it before...’

  While Gallus went to talk to the guard, Kaires stepped through on to the rear deck. It stretched right across the back of the vessel, but both door and windows opened only in to the saloon. Looking over to the land side, there was no way up from below without the aid of a very long ladder, which could surely not have escaped notice. But it would just be possible for an agile person to climb up the balustrade and reach the base of the railing of the top deck. From there the rest of the barge could be accessed by anyone. Risky, but at night, while everyone slept except the watchman on the land side of the barge and the guard at Gallus's door, who could be easily avoided by this route... Yes, it was possible. Indeed, it was the only way.

  With a word to Gallus he made his way back out and up to the top deck. The sun was now rising, a great orange blaze already promising another day of oppressive heat, but beautiful nonetheless as it appeared above the water meadows and found itself reflected in the mirror smooth surface of the river. Kaires paused and breathed a prayer to the sun god Re-Harakhty, Horus
of the Two Horizons, that this creator god would help him find the one who was so upsetting the balance of Ma'at.

  Once on the upper deck, he went over to the wooden railing that overlooked the private deck on the floor below. At the corner, above the balustrade of the lower deck, he could just make out a slight splintering of the vertical edge of one of the rods. Yes, he thought, this is where a rope was put round to help someone climb down and up again. He was on his hands and knees when he heard an exclamation behind him.

  ‘What do you think you are doing?’ It was Mantios. His voice was edgy and sharp. Kaires hadn't heard him come up on deck. ‘What’s going on downstairs? They say they have to search all our cabins. It’s outrageous! Does the Prefect of Egypt have no respect for his citizens? And why are you crawling all over the deck?’

  Kaires decided the time for prevarication was over. ‘I'm doing what I came here to do. Find the murderer of Zeno.’

  Behind Mantios, Thestor and Dexios appeared. ‘Well I doubt very much you’ll find him down there,’ said Dexios.

  Drawn by the voices, most of the other passengers were making their way up onto the deck. Kaires stood and faced them all. ‘I am charged by the Prefect to get to the bottom of this matter and I am sure I can expect you all to give me every assistance. There was a theft from Gallus's apartments last night. Something very valuable was taken. I'll be looking into it. Meanwhile your cabins are being searched; I apologise for the necessity. I'll take the opportunity to talk to you all as soon as possible.