Death Shall Come

by Simon R. Green

  ‘Food!’ Bernard said loudly, looking approvingly at the fare spread out before him. ‘Good. As you get older food becomes more important, because it’s all you’ve got left.’ He smiled at Susan. ‘Apart from you, of course.’

  Susan smiled happily, relieved at his good temper.

  Professor Rose drifted in, tightly buttoned up in a suit that didn’t suit him. It was obviously his idea of what formal wear should be, from a man who wasn’t used to wearing such things. I couldn’t resist teasing him a little.

  ‘Has your research revealed anything useful, Professor, about the two fakes I pointed out?’

  ‘The papyrus is obviously a forgery,’ he said brusquely. ‘The stele requires further examination.’

  He sat down stiffly in the place assigned to him, and gave all his attention to the ranks of cutlery around his plate so he could avoid further conversation. I let him do so.

  Nicholas and Caroline made what she obviously intended as a grand entrance. With her arm linked firmly through his, the better to control him, they posed for a moment in the doorway so everyone could properly admire them. Nicholas wore his tuxedo with sullen indifference, while Caroline wore a scarlet evening gown of obvious expense, carefully cut to show off her figure to its best advantage.

  ‘Oh, how marvellous!’ she said, beaming at the food on the table rather than her fellow guests. ‘Now this is truly splendid, isn’t it, Nicky? Exactly what you’d expect at a grand old country house. I always say no one does hospitality like the country set. Pity there’s no staff to wait on our every whim, but then you can’t have everything.’

  Nicholas just grunted, looking like he wished he was somewhere else. He headed for the table, dragging Caroline along with him.

  And finally, Marjorie made her appearance. Given that she’d been so keen to leave her husband to look after her guests it was a little odd that she was the last to arrive, but her new look explained everything. She’d changed into a shimmering sparkling number that clung to her magnificent figure, and had put on a whole new set of jewellery that gleamed and glistened at every point. She’d even taken the time to change her hairstyle and redo her make-up. Marjorie had no intention of being upstaged by her husband’s collection. She wanted to remind him why he’d chosen her in the first place, and that a dead queen was no match for a young wife. She smiled brightly on one and all as she burst in like a ship under full sail, only to stop abruptly as she realized that her intended audience wasn’t there.

  ‘Where’s George? Why isn’t he here? Oh, this is just typical of the man!’

  Bernard looked pointedly at me and Penny. ‘Should we hold the meal? So the two of you can go upstairs and change?’

  I cut in quickly, before Penny could say anything. ‘No thank you,’ I said. ‘We don’t really do formal. And besides, we’re too hungry to wait. Isn’t that right, darling?’

  Penny gave me a frosty smile, but nodded quickly. ‘Absolutely, darling. Positively starving.’

  We all sat down and reached for the silk napkins in their silver holders. I wasn’t actually hungry, I just wanted an opportunity to quietly interrogate the others about George in his absence.

  Penny leaned in close. ‘You know very well I have a wonderful new evening dress in my luggage that would have stunned everyone. You just didn’t want to carry all our suitcases up to the top floor!’

  ‘Hush,’ I said. ‘I’m working.’

  We all helped ourselves to food, passing the Willow Pattern china back and forth. Everyone piled up their plates, apart from Nicholas, whose thoughts seemed to be elsewhere. Caroline frowned as she saw how little he’d taken and took it on herself to load his plate with some of everything, presumably on the principle that since it was free they might as well make the most of it. Stuart opened the wine with practised ease, and we each had a little something for our good health. Everyone tucked into their food with a good appetite, apart from Nicholas, who just pushed his food around with his fork. Before I could even start my subtle questioning, Caroline took it upon herself to fill the quiet with her usual aggressively friendly chatter.

  ‘What a marvellous old house this is! I always thought I would do well in a setting like this. So sophisticated! And a fascinating collection, of course. I never knew anything about it until Nicky told me all about it after we were married. And I thought … I have to see that!’

  Given the way Nicholas stabbed viciously at his food at that point, I was pretty sure coming back to Cardavan House had been Caroline’s idea, so they could stake a claim for his inheritance. Caroline struck me as the kind of woman who wouldn’t give up on anything valuable she thought she had a claim to.

  She chattered on, but no one was listening. Marjorie ate quickly but neatly, keeping an eye on everyone to make sure we realized how much trouble she’d been to on our behalf. Bernard concentrated on his food, while Susan concentrated on him. Professor Rose ate steadily, with more concentration than enjoyment. Stuart and Chloe exchanged glances.

  ‘Why did you come back to the old family house, Nicholas?’ asked Stuart. ‘After so long away?’

  ‘Though we are of course glad to see you, Nicky,’ Chloe said quickly.

  ‘You, possibly,’ said Nicholas. He smiled coldly round the table. ‘I came back to see the mummy and the new wife. Father’s latest acquisitions. Caroline pointed out to me how important they both were in the current scheme of things.’

  ‘I’m delighted you’re all here,’ said Marjorie, smiling implacably. ‘This is the first time I’ve had the whole family gathered together under my roof. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.’

  ‘Are you?’ said Nicholas. ‘Are you really?’

  ‘Nicky …’ Chloe said warningly.

  Nicholas ignored her, his cold smile fixed on Marjorie. ‘Tell me … How long were you my father’s secretary before you decided you wanted to be more than that?’

  ‘I was there when he needed me,’ said Marjorie, entirely unmoved by his tone. ‘Where were you when your mother died? George was in pieces, and we couldn’t find you anywhere.’

  ‘We did try, Nicky,’ said Chloe. ‘But you weren’t answering your phone, and no one knew where you were.’

  ‘Business,’ said Nicholas. ‘I was busy.’

  ‘Your father knew he could always depend on me,’ said Marjorie, complacently.

  There was a long pause, while everyone thought their own thoughts. It was just threatening to become awkward when Professor Rose suddenly turned to fix me with a cold stare.

  ‘Have you ever actually been to Egypt, Mister Jones? In your capacity as an expert on all things Egyptian?’

  I wondered if he’d heard anything the rest of us said, or if he’d been spending all his time working out the best line of attack.

  ‘I know Egypt,’ I said.

  ‘And what did you do there?’

  ‘On my last visit, I was part of a team investigating a newly discovered secret chamber deep within the Great Pyramid of Giza. Waste of time, in the end.’

  ‘Was that when you were with Black Heir?’ said Chloe.

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘I was with someone else then.’

  ‘And you’re not going to tell us who.’

  ‘Our world is full of secrets,’ I said. ‘Usually with good cause.’

  Stuart was starting to look really uncomfortable. He would have liked to shoot Chloe a warning glance to tell her not to discuss such things in front of civilians, but her attention was fixed on me. I smiled easily back at her, as though we were just chatting. I was used to dealing with awkward questions, and awkward questioners.

  ‘How did you and Stuart meet, originally?’ said Chloe.

  I looked at him. ‘Do you want to take that one, Stuart?’

  ‘Sorry, my dear,’ Stuart said gruffly. ‘That’s still classified. I can’t talk about some aspects of my work, any more than you can.’

  ‘But I thought you’d left all that behind, dear,’ said Chloe.

  ‘I have,
’ said Stuart. ‘Mostly.’

  She gave him a stern ‘We’ll talk about this later!’ look.

  ‘I’m really not following your drift,’ said Caroline, frowning prettily. ‘What’s Black Heir?’

  ‘A security firm,’ I said. ‘Nicholas did tell you that George does security work?’

  ‘Oh, yes! Of course! He tells me everything.’

  And then Caroline gave Nicholas a stern ‘We’ll talk about this later!’ look. He ignored her, intent on the food he wasn’t eating.

  The conversation limped along, not really going anywhere. I managed a few carefully phrased questions about George and his work, but no one seemed to know anything. Which was, after all, as it should be. And then, suddenly, Marjorie looked at the oversized clock on the wall and frowned.

  ‘Where is George? He should have joined us by now. Of course, it’s not unusual for him to be late. He always says punctuality is for underlings. And he can get caught up in his collection, especially when he’s got something new to obsess over … Sometimes I have to send the servants to remind him it’s time to eat. But this is a bit much … even for him. Excuse me.’

  Stuart and I exchanged looks, as Marjorie produced her mobile phone and punched angrily at the numbers.

  ‘George always has his phone with him,’ she said, not looking up. ‘Because he never knows when he might get an important business call. It’s ringing …’

  We all waited, watching anger give way to worry in Marjorie’s face. She turned her phone off and looked at us numbly. ‘It’s gone to voice mail.’

  ‘Father doesn’t normally like to miss a chance to play host,’ said Chloe.

  ‘He was disappointed that we wouldn’t continue with his tour,’ said Stuart. ‘He could be spending extra quality time with his mummy, just to make sure we realize how important she is.’

  ‘Yeah …’ said Nicholas, pouring himself another glass of wine. ‘That sounds like father. His collection always was more important to him than his family.’

  ‘Not now, Nicky!’ said Chloe. She turned to Stuart. ‘He should have been here by now.’

  ‘Do you want me to go and remind him?’ said Stuart. ‘He might not take too kindly to that.’

  ‘Serve him right for worrying us,’ said Chloe.

  ‘I want George here!’ said Marjorie. Her voice was rising, becoming shrill. ‘Someone needs to go and drag him away from that damned mummy. This is my first big family occasion and I won’t have it ruined!’

  I nodded to Stuart, and he nodded back. We rose to our feet.

  ‘We’ll go,’ I said. ‘You all carry on with your meal. He’s probably just lost track of time.’

  ‘Then why isn’t he answering his phone?’ said Chloe.

  ‘Probably turned it off so he wouldn’t be bothered,’ said Stuart. ‘Wouldn’t be the first time he’s done that.’

  There was general nodding around the table. People began to relax a little. Even Marjorie seemed a little happier now someone was doing something. Penny caught my eye and raised an eyebrow. I shook my head slightly and looked quickly round the table. She got the point. I needed her here to keep an eye on everyone.

  ‘Him and his damned mummy!’ said Nicholas. ‘He always did have more time for the dead than the living.’

  ‘Oh, shut up, Nicky!’ said Caroline.

  I hurried through the gloomy corridors with Stuart at my side. He’d started out in the lead, but quickly become uncertain. He might be a frequent visitor to Cardavan House, but it was still a really big place.

  ‘How can you remember the route so well?’ he said. ‘You only came this way once.’

  ‘I have an infallible sense of direction.’

  ‘Inside a strange house?’

  I shot him a brief smile. ‘That’s where most of my work is, these days.’

  There wasn’t a sound to be heard in the corridors, and nothing moved anywhere. Cardavan House felt like a ghost town. Cat faces and jackal heads stared coldly as we passed. I had to fight an impulse to snatch them off their shelves and throw them around, just to put them in their place.

  ‘You think something’s happened to George, don’t you?’ said Stuart.

  ‘Don’t you?’

  ‘But do you have any reason to believe something’s happened?’

  ‘I haven’t seen or heard anything,’ I said carefully. ‘I came here to ask a few questions and perhaps indulge in a little light burglary. Did you have any reason to believe something serious was going on here?’

  ‘I hope George is all right,’ said Stuart. Not answering my question.

  When we finally got to the mummy room the door was closed. I tried the handle, but it wouldn’t open. I turned to Stuart.

  ‘He must have locked himself in with his mummy after Penny and I left him.’

  ‘He could have started back,’ said Stuart.

  ‘We would have passed him on the way,’ I said.

  Stuart banged on the door with his fist, taking out his frustration on the heavy wood. ‘George, it’s Stuart. Come on, man, it’s time for dinner! Everyone’s waiting, and Marjorie’s in a real strop.’

  We waited, but there was no response. I put my face right next to the door. I couldn’t hear any movement inside, but even past the rich heavy scents of the house I could make out the flat coppery smell of freshly spilled blood. I couldn’t tell Stuart that, so I just straightened up and frowned.

  ‘I have a bad feeling about this. Who else would have a key?’

  ‘Only George,’ said Stuart. ‘The mummy was his special prize.’

  ‘I say we break the door down and apologize later,’ I said.

  Stuart nodded curtly. ‘Do it.’

  I put my shoulder to the door. Normally I could have slammed it off its hinges with one good effort, but I didn’t want to do that in front of Stuart. So I took three attempts before I gave it a real hit. The door slammed open, and I hurried in with Stuart right behind me. And there was George, lying on the floor before the sarcophagus, in a pool of his own blood. Someone had smashed his head in. The coffin had been opened. The lid lay on the floor some distance away, and the mummy was gone.

  ‘Go stand by the door,’ I told Stuart. He didn’t move, his gaze fixed on George. ‘Stand by the door, Colonel!’

  He tore his gaze away to look at me angrily. ‘Why?’

  ‘There’s nothing we can do for George,’ I said. ‘He’s dead. So now we have to do our job. And that means not compromising the crime scene any more than we have to. I need you to keep a watch on the corridor and make sure we’re not interrupted.’

  He nodded stiffly. ‘You are sure he’s dead …?’

  ‘Look at him,’ I said. ‘The whole side of his head has been caved in.’

  Stuart put up a hand to stop me. ‘I can see that.’

  ‘You’re not used to bodies, are you?’ I said, not unkindly. ‘You normally have people to deal with this sort of thing for you.’

  ‘I was in the army,’ Stuart said harshly. ‘I’ve seen action, and my fair share of death. But it’s different when it’s family. Poor George, poor Chloe …’

  ‘Go watch the corridor,’ I said. ‘I know what to do.’

  He went to stand in the doorway. I moved forward, stepping carefully over and around the blood. There was a lot of it, pooled around the body and spattered across the floor. There was even arterial spray across the inside of the open sarcophagus, indicating that George was standing before it when he was attacked. His face had been reduced to a pulp. George hadn’t died quickly or easily. Someone had put a lot of effort into doing this much damage.

  I leant over the body for a closer look. No defensive wounds. Which suggested George had been struck down from behind while his attention was fixed on the mummy. Except … George had locked the door after Penny and I left. A quick look around confirmed there were no windows, and no other exits. I thought about it. George could have unlocked the door for someone he didn’t consider a threat … And then I straightened up and
looked inside the sarcophagus again as something caught my eye.

  ‘What is it?’ asked Stuart, turning round immediately. ‘What do you see?’

  ‘There’s blood all over the inside of the coffin,’ I said. ‘There are no gaps, no voids. So the lid was off when George was attacked, and the mummy wasn’t there.’

  ‘Are you suggesting …?’

  ‘I’m not suggesting anything,’ I said. ‘I’m just following the evidence to see where it leads. George could have unlocked the lid to better admire his prize and then been struck down from behind, so someone could steal the mummy. But perhaps George didn’t stay down. Maybe he fought the thief and was killed … No. No, there aren’t any bloody footprints or scuff marks on the floor to support that. What the hell happened here?’

  ‘The mummy could have unlocked the lid from inside,’ Stuart said steadily. ‘Come forth and struck down the man who had her brought so far from her resting place. Remember the curse? Death shall come …’

  I looked at him. ‘You really believe that? You honestly think a shrivelled-up two-thousand-year-old body killed a man and is currently wandering around the house?’

  ‘It doesn’t seem very likely, does it?’ said Stuart.

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘It doesn’t.’

  ‘George can’t have been dead long,’ said Stuart. ‘It’s been barely an hour since we were all in here with him. Who was the last to see him alive?’

  ‘The murderer, obviously,’ I said. ‘Otherwise, Penny and me. And George was still alive when we left.’ I looked again at the blood on the floor. ‘Whoever did this must have ended up soaked in George’s blood. But of course everyone changed their clothes for dinner …’

  ‘You think it was one of the family?’

  I looked at him. ‘There’s no one else in the house. Apart from Professor Rose.’

  ‘Penny and you were the only ones who didn’t change for dinner,’ said Stuart, ‘so it couldn’t have been you.’