The Crocodile Caper

by A. B. Greenfield

  “So who visited the zoo last night?” Miu asked.

  “Just Yaba and the boy Dedi,” Taweret said.

  “And Yaba was here when Dedi came?” Khepri asked.

  “Yes. She was sitting by the gazelle’s cage when he crept in. I don’t think he even noticed she was there. But when Dedi walked away with the crocodile, she followed him out.”

  I sat up fast, startled. “You think she was the kidnapper?”

  “Of course not.” Taweret’s ears twiddled worriedly. “Don’t you understand what I’ve been telling you? Yaba is a gentle soul. She wouldn’t hurt a fly. All she did was leave a minute or two after the boy. So I thought maybe she might have seen something that would help you. But she’s not guilty.”

  Leaning up against my ear, Khepri clicked thoughtfully. “But—”

  “Aha!” The Keeper jumped out at us. “I knew you cats were around here somewhere. No wonder my animals are so upset this morning.” His broom flew down, headed straight for me. “Out, out, out!”

  “He needs to chill,” Taweret said reproachfully.

  “Don’t worry,” I told her, dodging the broom easily. “This is playtime.”

  “Come on, Ra. We should go.” Miu was already darting for the gate.

  When I followed her, Khepri swooned as he caught a whiff of the dung pit. “Ooooooooh! Can’t we stop, Ra? Just to let it soak in?”

  “Some other time,” I panted. “Miu’s getting ahead of us.” I trotted on, but before I could catch up with her, I saw something ahead that froze my fur.

  It was Lady Satiah, looking angrier than ever.

  CHAPTER 18

  Yaba

  Fortunately, Lady Satiah wasn’t angry with me. Her fury was directed at the woman standing in front of her—a woman who was small and young and simply dressed. At first I thought she must be a servant. But a servant would have shrunk before Lady Satiah’s wrath. This woman held her head proudly.

  Lady Satiah growled like a panther. “Yaba, you lie.”

  So this was Yaba!

  “Circle around so we can see her better,” Khepri whispered.

  I sidled over—and when I saw Yaba’s face, I got a shock. She was the quick-witted woman who had protected me from the lion cub. Even now, scowling at Lady Satiah, she had a certain sweetness.

  As Lady Satiah stared her down, Yaba’s chin went up another notch, and her scowl deepened. “I have been telling you the truth, Lady Satiah. I did not kidnap the boy. I did not harm him in any way. I did not even meet him.”

  “And I should trust your word?” Lady Satiah sneered. “Barbarian that you are?”

  “I am no barbarian,” Yaba fired back. “I am the daughter of the ruler of a great kingdom. And if my father heard you speak to me this way—”

  “But he won’t,” Lady Satiah interrupted. “You are one of many, many daughters, and you are the child of a low-born wife. You are of no importance to him whatsoever. He sent you into exile for your whole life, merely so that he could seal a deal.”

  “Yikes!” Khepri whispered into my ear. “That’s pretty harsh.”

  I nodded. It was. But it wasn’t the first time I’d heard of this kind of thing. It’s not much fun being a princess. At least not when you grow up.

  “Unless, of course, your father gave you another mission?” Lady Satiah went on. “Perhaps he asked you to serve as an Assyrian spy.”

  Yaba recoiled in shock. “Don’t be ridiculous!”

  “It does not seem ridiculous to me,” Lady Satiah said, “or to my brother.” She raised a hand toward General Wegaf, who was standing, slump-shouldered, on her right. “Or to my steward.” She nodded at the portly man in the pristine tunic, standing on her left.

  “It is ridiculous,” Yaba insisted.

  Ignoring her, Lady Satiah went on. “These are the facts.” She ticked them off on her fingers. “One, we have searched the entire palace, top to bottom, and Ramses Dedumose is nowhere to be found. Two, the watchmen found you wandering the house last night—”

  “I was sleepwalking!”

  “So you say. But I have my doubts,” Lady Satiah told her. “Perhaps you attacked the boy—because your father sent you here to destroy Pharaoh and his family from within.”

  Yaba stared at her openmouthed. “You think I’m an assassin?”

  “You deny it?”

  “Of course I do!” Yaba’s hands balled into fists. “How dare you say such a thing? It’s wicked, and it doesn’t even make sense. Ask the watchmen. Hormin and Qen know I was sleepwalking. They brought me back to my room.”

  “I have spoken with both watchmen,” Lady Satiah said. “At length. That is why I have called you here. I think they accepted your sleepwalking act too easily. They find you charming, for some strange reason. Also, they both have colds.”

  So that’s why Hormin was sniffling and Qen had a red nose.

  “They’ve admitted that their hearing isn’t what it ought to be, and their sight is blurry, too.” Lady Satiah drew closer to Yaba. “When they caught you by the gates, they thought you’d sleepwalked there from your room. But I believe you slipped past them earlier in the night, and they caught you coming back.”

  “Coming back from what?”

  “You tell me.” Lady Satiah regarded Yaba through narrowed eyes. “Were you meeting another spy on the landing and telling him you’d fulfilled your mission? Did you encourage the boy to go out in a dangerous boat? Or were you trying to get rid of his body?”

  “This is outrageous!” Yaba spluttered. “I refuse to listen to any more of it.”

  As she backed away from Lady Satiah, Lady Satiah signaled to her steward. He strode forward and grabbed Yaba, pinning her arms to her sides.

  “Lock her up,” Lady Satiah said. “And find someone to stand guard over her. She is a danger to us all.”

  * * *

  As the Steward dragged Yaba off, Miu came rushing into the room. “Hey, where were you guys? I thought you were right behind me.”

  Quickly, we filled her in on what had happened.

  “What do you think?” Miu asked us. “Could Yaba be guilty?”

  “At this point, we can’t rule it out,” Khepri said.

  “No way,” I insisted. “It has to be Lady Satiah.”

  “But Lady Satiah had the palace searched,” Miu pointed out. “Why would she do that if she were guilty?”

  I’d been thinking that over. “She just said she did, to throw everyone off.”

  “But Hormin and Qen were searching the place,” Khepri said.

  “On the Steward’s orders,” I reminded him. “Not Lady Satiah’s. And she said they couldn’t search the General’s rooms.”

  “Well, she definitely had the kitchens searched,” Miu told me. “When I ran out of the zoo, I saw a serving boy headed that way with a platter from Lady Satiah’s breakfast, so I thought I should follow.”

  I perked up at the mention of breakfast. “A platter? What was on it?”

  “Roast quail, maybe? I wasn’t paying attention. Not after that yummy fish snack I had. Plus, I was trying make sure no one noticed me.”

  I politely ignored the mention of fish. “Roast quail? That’s one of my favorites. Was there any sauce on it?”

  “I told you, I don’t remember,” Miu said, sounding a touch exasperated. “What I’m trying to say is that there was a search party in the kitchens, and they said they were there on Lady Satiah’s orders. So she did give that command.”

  “Maybe they were only pretending to search,” I said. “Tell you what—I’ll go search the kitchen myself.” I licked my chops, thinking of that leftover quail.

  “They’ve already inspected it from top to bottom,” Miu said. “And so have I. Dedi isn’t there, and neither is Sobek Junior.”

  I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed to hear that—and
not only because she hadn’t found Dedi. I sat back on my haunches. “Well, maybe Lady Satiah had the kitchens searched because she knew Dedi wasn’t there,” I said. “She’s got him locked up somewhere else.”

  “Or maybe she’s innocent, Ra.” Khepri hopped from my head to the floor, tapping the tiles for emphasis. “That’s the simplest explanation.”

  “Remember what she said to General Wegaf?” I reminded him. “About her plan, and how she was going to deal with Dedi?”

  “That didn’t sound good,” Khepri admitted. “But if she’s guilty, why is she trying to get a confession from Yaba?”

  “It’s a bluff,” I said. “She’s trying to cover up her own guilt by accusing Yaba.”

  “I guess that’s possible,” Miu said slowly. “But there are good reasons to suspect Yaba, too. The watchmen do have colds, and they might have missed her—especially if it turns out she’s a trained spy.”

  “Over at the stables, they say that relations between Pharaoh and the Assyrians are rocky,” Khepri mused.

  “Oh, they’re always rocky,” I said.

  “All the more reason why an Assyrian ruler might want to hurt Pharaoh and his family,” Miu said. “I don’t think we can rule Yaba out.”

  “But I liked her,” I protested. “She was nice to me. She saved me from that lion cub. Remember, Khepri?”

  “Of course I remember.” Khepri’s antennae shivered. “I was right there. And I had a close-up view of those teeth. But being kind to cats doesn’t make her innocent.”

  “It should,” I grumbled.

  “Ra, be reasonable,” Miu chided.

  “It’s reasonable to trust my instincts,” I told her. “And my Great Detective instincts say it isn’t Yaba.”

  Miu looked unimpressed. “Great Detectives also look at the facts, Ra.”

  “And it’s a fact that Yaba is lying,” Khepri said.

  “What are you talking about?” I said.

  Khepri’s reedy voice was sure. “Yaba said she was sleepwalking when the watchmen saw her. But we know she wasn’t. She’d been visiting the zoo, remember? And she followed Dedi out.”

  “Maybe she was sleepwalking the whole time,” I mumbled. But now I was starting to have my doubts. What if Yaba was guilty?

  There was only one way to tell for sure.

  “I’m going to get her to talk,” I told Khepri and Miu.

  CHAPTER 19

  Brainpower

  Cats are like gods in Egypt, but I’ll admit our reputation might be a teensy bit overblown. We can’t cure diseases or protect women in childbirth or vanquish evil spirits, the way the cat goddess Bastet can. Yet we flesh-and-blood cats do have some magic in us, a magic that even the tiniest tabby kitten possesses. When we purr, we can make humans talk.

  It’s a magic that works best on our own family. With strangers, we might only get a “Nice kitty.” Not exactly the kind of information you can use to crack a case.

  Still, it seemed worth a try.

  “Climb aboard,” I told Khepri. “Let’s go find Yaba.”

  With a sigh, Khepri hopped on. “I don’t think this is going to work, Ra.”

  “Of course it will,” I said. “It’s a brilliant idea.” I headed off in the direction that the Steward had dragged Yaba.

  Miu came with me, but she had her doubts, too. “Ra, we don’t even know her.”

  “She’s married to Pharaoh,” I said, “so that makes her family.”

  “I’m not sure a diplomatic marriage counts.” Miu trailed behind me. “Even Pharaoh hardly knows her. It’s not what I’d call a strong family tie.”

  “And she’ll be locked up,” Khepri reminded me. “How are you going to get in to purr to her?”

  “I’ll think of something.” Pharaoh’s Cat is nothing if not resourceful. I bounded forward with confidence.

  I lost my bounce, however, when we found the Steward in front of a stout wooden door. He was giving orders to Hormin and Qen.

  “I don’t care what Yaba says,” the Steward insisted. “Don’t let her out. If you do, you’re fired.”

  Hormin bent his head and sniffled. “Yes, my lord Steward. We understand.”

  “She’s sneaky,” the Steward warned. “Don’t let her fool you. And don’t let anyone in.”

  Qen looked like he was about to complain, but Hormin elbowed him and said, “We won’t, my lord.”

  As the Steward hurried away, Qen hissed, “Why’d you let him saddle us with another job, Hormin? We haven’t had a break since yesterday night.”

  “You don’t say no to the Steward,” Hormin told him. “Besides, he said he’d send someone to take over from us soon. We won’t be here long.”

  “Want to bet?” Qen slumped against the doorframe, his nose redder than ever. “I have to tell you, Hormin, I’m having second thoughts about working here. I know you say it’s worth it, but—”

  “Stop being such a big crybaby,” Hormin snapped. “We’re guarding a spoiled princess, okay? It’s not a big deal.”

  “That’s another thing,” Qen said. “Yaba isn’t spoiled. She’s nice. She always smiles at us. I don’t like that they’re locking her up.”

  “I can’t believe you’re defending her,” Hormin said. “She made fools of us with that sleepwalking act. And here you are, sweet on her, like she’s your girlfriend or something.”

  Qen’s whole face was bright red now. “I’m not sweet on her. I just said she smiles a lot. Anyway, it’s not like she’s the only one who was wandering around last night. Remember that noise we heard near Lady Satiah’s room?”

  “And you think we’ll keep our jobs if we mention that?” Hormin shook his head. “No, Qen. You go making accusations against Lady Satiah, and she’ll feed us to the crocodiles.”

  “Hey, that’s more evidence against Lady Satiah,” I whispered to Khepri.

  “Maybe,” was all Khepri said.

  As Hormin and Qen continued to bicker, I stared at the door behind them. The wood was so thick you could barely hear Yaba shouting, “Let me out!” Even worse, the door had two hefty bolts locking it shut, far too high for any cat to reach. When I sauntered up for a closer look, Hormin stomped hard, almost squashing my tail.

  “Scat!” Qen growled.

  “Yeowch!” I retreated toward Miu.

  “Keep going,” Khepri whispered in my ear. “They’re still staring at you.”

  Miu nudged me along. “We’re never going to get in there, Ra. And even if we did, Yaba might not talk to you. We’ll have to solve this case some other way.”

  I hated to admit it, but she was probably right. As we walked away from Hormin and Qen, I thought hard, and soon I had an even better plan.

  “Okay,” I said. “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll follow Lady Satiah’s every step. She’ll have to go to Dedi at some point. And when she does, we’ll catch her in the act.”

  It was a great idea, one of my best. But Miu and Khepri couldn’t appreciate just how clever it was.

  “But what if she isn’t guilty, Ra?” Miu said. “We’ll have wasted a whole day while the real criminal gets away.”

  “And even if she is guilty,” Khepri added, “she might not deal with Dedi herself. She could give the dirty work to someone else, the way she made the Steward lock up Yaba. And we wouldn’t miss it.”

  Okay, so maybe my idea wasn’t quite so great as I thought.

  Discouraged, I stalked through the nearest arched doorway. It opened onto a neglected garden guarded by a grubby statue of ibis-headed Thoth, god of wisdom. Gazing around, I thought of Pharaoh, walking in his gardens. Pharaoh, who had asked me to guard his children.

  “Well, then you come up with an idea,” I told Miu and Khepri. “Because we have to do something. Dedi is missing. He’s in danger. We can’t turn our backs on him.”

  Khepri kneaded m
y fur impatiently. “No one’s asking you to turn your back on anyone, Ra. I’m just saying that we need to stop dashing around without a proper plan.”

  “I agree,” Miu said, coming up beside me.

  “Brainpower,” Khepri said, still kneading my fur. “That’s what will solve this mystery.”

  “You think I’m not using my brain already?” I was upset. “Khepri, I’m using everything I’ve got. Heart, nose, paws, head. I’ve been working so hard I haven’t even had breakfast. But it’s no use. Dedi is lost.”

  Was Dedi locked away somewhere like Yaba? Was he scared? In pain? I’d managed to push that thought away for most of the day, but I couldn’t any longer.

  “What if we don’t get to him in time?” I shivered. “Pharaoh will never forgive me. I don’t think I could forgive myself. I mean, I know I sometimes call Pharaoh’s kids annoying, but they’re my family. I’ve known Dedi since he was a baby. I’d do anything to keep him safe. I…I…”

  Something strange was happening to me. Normally, I find it quite easy to talk about my family. But my throat was suddenly tight.

  Miu brushed against me. “Oh, Ra. Of course we know you love Pharaoh’s children. And we’re going to find Dedi. I’m sure of it.”

  Khepri peered down over my brow, his beady eyes contrite. “I’m sorry, Ra. I wasn’t trying to criticize you. I just meant we should take a few minutes to look at things logically. Let’s draw up a list of suspects. Lady Satiah is one, and so is Yaba, but I’m sure there are more.”

  I took a deep breath. “Okay. I guess we could do that.”

  “First, we need to look at opportunity,” Khepri went on. “Who had a chance to attack Dedi?”

  I considered this. “Well, there aren’t many watchmen here, so I’d say pretty much everybody in the palace had a chance.”

  “Except for the kitchen staff and most of the servants,” Miu said. “They’re locked into their own wing of the palace for the night. I heard them talking about it when I was inspecting the kitchens.”