“Was he good at his job?” asked Nikolas.
“Although you know I didn’t have much time for him, yes, he seems to have been reasonably competent.”
“Corrupt?”
Kahun chuckled. “Not in the sense of demanding money, no. He was a royal prince. He had as much wealth and land as he wanted. He had no need for bribes. Perhaps he would accept the occasional favour from somebody wanting to use his influence at court, but I don’t know for sure.” Kahun considered and then continued, “Until now we’ve only been asked to look at the death itself, which may be fairly simple to resolve. Even if we find who administered the poison that doesn’t mean that they were other than somebody else’s minion. The actual murderer, in the sense of the person who placed the poison in the food or wine, probably himself doesn’t have a motive. Who was actually responsible is obviously a much harder question. Ra-em hotep spent about half of his time here in Lower Egypt and most of the rest of the time at Aswan performing his duties. The answer should lie in one place or the other. You don’t kill a royal prince without a strong motive and Ra-em hotep most likely knew the person responsible. We need to investigate the people he was in regular contact with. Also those with whom he spent his last night and, as you suggested, also the doctors.
“The secret-police have already been through Memphis like a herd of hippos and have sent some of the people we want into cover. I suggest that I stay here and that you, Nikolas and Lorentis, head south to check out Thebes and Aswan. The main problem with that is that this time of the year, depending on the wind direction, it can take a week to get there and at least a week to get back, perhaps longer,” said Kahun.
“Can’t we go overland?” asked Nikolas.
“Well, yes you can; that’ll take at least as long, be considerably more uncomfortable and there’s the risk of bandits. It’s a damn long way through rough country. We Egyptians travel on the river for good reasons.” Nikolas and Lorentis agreed that travel up the Nile by boat was the best course.
“I’ll get Zineb to provide you with a barge and a troop of soldiers as guards and you can get going as soon as possible. My younger brother Pamose is an officer with the Osiris regiment. He’s an intelligent and personable young man and should be an asset to you.”
Nikolas thought briefly and replied, “I don’t agree about the barge or the troops. I think we’d do better arriving unknown and making inquiries quietly, rather than on a royal barge with a horde of soldiers at our backs. What do you think Lorentis?” Lorentis agreed that they should travel inconspicuously.
“I can wear Egyptian robes to make myself less noticeable, but nobody is ever going to take me for anything except a Achaean,” said Nikolas “I suggest we travel there on a commercial boat, posing as a merchant, his Egyptian wife and her male relative, with perhaps four or five guards of the rougher sort who definitely don’t look like soldiers.”
Kahun pulled a wry face, but was reluctantly forced to agree that this was the better option. “Usually on a commercial barge passengers just sit and sleep on deck, or on the riverbank when the boat moors at night. If you pay extra, they’ll erect a small cabin which would provide some privacy. The trip will be quite long,” he said.
Lorentis objected. “Just who would be using this cabin?” she asked, a flush of anger rising to her face.
Kahun cleared his throat. “The merchant and his wife, and perhaps a servant?” he suggested with nervous embarrassment.
“We need to consider who should be in the party,” said Nikolas.
“Besides myself, Lorentis and Pamose, the wife would need a maid and we’d need a male servant. Whether we use four or five experienced soldiers or my private guards as ‘servants’ probably wouldn’t matter a lot, as long as the soldiers were rough enough to look unmilitary and authentic, and are reasonably competent with a sword. I need Djedi to stay here and keep an eye on business and make sure Zineb doesn’t cheat me too outrageously. Do either of you have a male family retainer, preferably with some ability with a blade, who would be suitable? Kiya can be the maid.”
Kahun, with some obvious effort, kept a straight face and said, “We’ll be passing my family’s estates, probably on the second day of the trip; I’m sure we can pick up a suitable manservant or a maid if required.”
Lorentis scowled. Clearly the whole plan was not to her liking.
“At least Nikolas looks as if he’ll have an enjoyable trip,” she muttered. “Particularly if he brings his whore along.”
There was a crash as a jar dropped from an overhead shelf, narrowly missing Lorentis’ head. Kiya gave Lorentis a flat stare as everybody looked at her. “This isn’t necessarily any more to my liking than yours,” said Kiya with asperity.
“Let’s keep the cat-fights to a minimum,” instructed Nikolas with authority. “No woman of consequence would travel without at least one maid. You can have more if you want. Kiya is a woman of intelligence and some resource, not some silly peasant. She’ll be of assistance with what we are about. Anyway, you’ll need a chaperone.”
Kahun smirked, “Yes I’m sure she would be perfect for that and to help ward off any unwelcome advances Lorentis may receive from her ‘husband’ on the journey.”
Lorentis tried to keep up her bad graces but her natural good nature and sense of humour got the better of her and after a few moments she gave a slow reluctant nod of agreement.
T T T T
Later that day Nikolas noticed a cat run swiftly across the floor of the warehouse before it pounced on and devoured a mouse. It was a male desert-cat, tawny in colour with lighter cream-coloured bands and with the low-set ears and long tail of all desert-cats. Nikolas called for Kiya, and when she came he pointed and asked, “What’s that?”
“It’s a cat,” she replied with a straight face.
“I know that! What’s it doing here?”
“Catching mice?” After a moment she decided to stop playing innocent. “I thought that given the vermin in this place that it might be useful. It’ll feed itself.”
Nikolas was aware of the Egyptian propensity towards animal worship but decided not to make an issue of the situation. “Alright – but no shrines to the goddess Bastet, and if it dies it gets thrown out on the rubbish tip, not mummified and buried in the Necropolis.”
“Bastet is the goddess who protects homes,” Kiya pointed out.
“No shrine to Bastet. If we’re going to have a shrine, and I don’t want one or feel it is necessary, it’ll be to my preferred deity, Zeus.”
Nikolas then continued, “Now about the kitchen you’re putting together. As you can tell from my workshop, I believe that a worker needs suitable facilities. If you’re going to be cooking regularly, the usual brazier and a tiny bench in a corner isn’t good enough. I’ll get a stone hearth put in place, to minimize the risk of fire if a brazier is knocked over. Also a large stone-topped working bench, wooden chopping-block and suitable shelving and cupboards. You can have a small oven if you want one – they’re easy enough to construct, even if somewhat rare. Actually an oven would be a good idea as I like roasted meat which I can’t often get. You’ve chosen a place near a window whose shutters can be opened, so ventilation should be good; that’s something I have to be careful about in my own workshop since the medicines I prepare often give off noxious fumes during the process – not that I’m saying your cooking will give off noxious fumes!
“There are two full sacks and a part sack of charcoal from Canaan, which I buy for use in my own workshop. Use what you want and let me know when the last sack is opened so I can get more. Similarly, use what stock of local herbs I have for your purposes as you wish, but let me know if we get low on supply as I often need them at short notice for medicines. I prefer fresh herbs, but also keep dried stock.
I’ll take you to the dealers and after that you can order what we need and keep my working herb stock replenished. Actually, I need a few items so I’ll take you to the dealers tomorrow after I explain to you what stock l
evels I need. Don’t bargain too closely on the price because I need the best quality, not the cheapest price. But of course neither of us want to be cheated. I’ll let you know what prices are reasonable, but we deal with reputable suppliers and if they say the price is up this month because of supply problems, then that’s what we pay. If you need any of the plants I’m cultivating in the pots on the roof, let me know and I’ll grow extra. I need most of what I grow.
“Now as to food, don’t scrimp. Buy the best you can find – I can afford it and we deserve the best. It’s only a minor cost anyway. I prefer relatively plainly-cooked food and I don’t like fish. Any other meat is good. I have an allergic reaction to horseradish, so please don’t use that! Careful food preparation and storage is important. You obviously know the problems with meat that has gone off and that fresh meat needs to be bought daily, unless you’re using preserved meat. Store the grain or flour in the spare pots that I have from my import business. If you use the wine, oil or honey pots you don’t need to worry too much about getting them completely clean, as long as they are dry. All three are preservatives and won’t make any later contents go off. Put the stoppers in place and seal them with beeswax. Beeswax may be expensive, but we have plenty of it in the warehouse and we can recycle the used beeswax from amphorae I have imported and opened, so it won’t actually cost anything.
“In particular, buy the best grain you can find – free of sand and other foreign particles. If you can see any sand, don’t buy it. Grind it using the large polished granite mortar and pestle in my workshop. When you’ve made the bread either bake it yourself or take it to the baker down the street, and insist you get your own bread back. The biggest health problem you Egyptians have is wear on your teeth from chewing gritty food. By the age of twenty most of you have already ground your teeth flat at the top and by thirty most people are in pain from having worn their teeth down to the dentine inside the tooth. I don’t intend to have that problem myself!”
T T T T
Three days later Nikolas, wearing an Egyptian kilt, approached the docks. Djedi walked at his side, Kemuny ahead and another guard followed. Nikolas’ right hand was on the hilt of the short-sword hidden under a cloth draped from his right shoulder, which also hid the bandages on his chest. He went to the dock-master’s office in a ramshackle building close to the thick brown waters of the river.
Eventually gaining entry he asked obsequiously, “Honoured Sir, I’m travelling to Thebes and seek a well-built ship, able to make a comfortable and fast journey.”
The thickset, grimy and sweating official gave an ostentatious pause before replying, “The best of a bad bunch at the moment would be Breath of Bubastis,” pointing to a smallish vessel tied up alongside the dock. “Not the largest, nor necessarily the most comfortable, but reasonably quick with a following wind. Captain Hunnifer is probably less avaricious than most.” Nikolas wondered whether Hunnifer was a relative and how much the dock-master would receive for his recommendation. Nikolas slipped a small token of his esteem over the counter and went towards the indicated boat.
The dock was crowded with workers loading and unloading boats and the air was redolent of the smell of sweat and the stench of the river. Every town along the way deposited its waste in the ‘Eternal River’ and the docks were located just downstream of the main sewer outlet for Memphis, at the lower end of the river. Despite the early hour many sailors sat near the dock in patches of shade and dirty alleyways with jugs of beer. Painted ladies from the ramshackle brothels located just by the docks were waiting in the shadows for sailors disembarking from ships after arrival, calling out and sauntering onto the roadway to link hands with their customers as they paired up and moved off.
On the water naked slaves polled or rowed small one-man boats made of bound papyrus reeds to ships in mid-stream, calling out the fresh foods and meats that they carried and seeking customers. A flotilla of similar craft used by fishermen bobbed about on the river; some fishermen stood and cast small nets, others used hook and line seeking a bigger catch. Here and there the occasional crocodile could be seen, with just the tip of the snout and eyes showing above the water, but the bustling activity of the river near the docks kept most of the monsters away. Despite the presence of the crocodiles children played and splashed at the water’s edge and women did their washing, beating clothes against large rocks placed by the local authorities at the edge of the water for just that purpose. Ferries of different sizes zigzagged across the water with sweating slaves pulling at the oars. And, over all, the burning sun beat down from a clear blue sky.
A short and immensely fat man stood supervising unloading of the boat that had been indicated. Nikolas approached the gangplank, noticing the dilapidated appearance of the boat with its peeling sun-blistered paint and unclean decks. She had a mast amidships with a patched and faded sail hanging limply in the still and heavy air. The boat had two heavy steering-oars, both on the same side at the rear of the boat and joined together so that one helmsman could control both oars. The deck was busy with stevedores carrying bags of grain out of the hold and across a narrow gangplank onto the dock, where they stacked them onto a wagon that had two bullocks in their traces waiting for the job to finish and draw the load away. As he watched, one bullock defecated noisily, the excrement hitting the ground with a soft ‘plop’ causing an immediate swarm of insects.
Nikolas called out, “Captain Hunnifer, permission to come aboard?”
Hunnifer gestured for him to approach and then turned to snarl abuse at a worker who dropped a sack he was carrying, splitting it and scattering grain over the dirt. Spittle sprayed as Hunnifer heaped insults on the erring worker.
Judging his time between hurrying workers proceeding up and down the gangplank, Nikolas stepped quickly along the narrow plank, hopped slightly ungainly onto the deck and stepped aside as a figure stooped under a heavy sack headed towards the dock.
“Captain, I’m seeking passage for my company to Thebes. Ten in all, with two of those joining us at Atfih. I’ll also bring twelve amphorae as cargo. My wife will be accompanying us and we’ll need a cabin erecting on deck. Are you interested?”
Hunnifer nodded. “150 copper deben,” he said abruptly.
Nikolas bargained as closely as possible and settled for 100 deben, with the travellers to provide their own food and bedding. Given the state of the boat Nikolas had reservations about eating anything stored onboard and any bedding was sure to still have other small previous occupants. He felt it safer to buy fresh provisions at each village where the boat would tie up at night and sleep only with those he chose. He’d bring his own supply of wine and refreshments as ‘samples’ for sale as part of their cover, one benefit of being a wine merchant.
The boat was to sail at sunrise in two days’ time.
CHAPTER 3 – EN ROUTE
Year 52. Month Ipi-Ipi. 3rd Shomu.
June 1223 BC
Nikolas, Lorentis, Kiya and five guards walked up the gangplank at first light. Kiya and the guards each carried their own sack of belongings, with each guard having a piece of cloth covering the sword that as ‘private’ individuals they were forbidden to carry in public. The guards’ sacks made suspiciously heavy metallic noises as they were tossed on the deck. Three servants carried the boxes of Nikolas’ and Lorentis’ belongings, including a carved wooden chest of medicines that Nikolas took everywhere. Another two servants carried on, in several loads, the two sleeping-pallets and four rough folding wood and canvas chairs to be deposited in the cabin as furniture. Pamose, the male servant and the guards would sleep on deck with the crew and other passengers. Like most of its type this was a ‘bring your own’ boat.
Kahun had provided Nikolas with Pharaoh’s Seal, an ivory ring carrying the carved hieroglyphic representation of Pharaoh Ramesses’ official name of Usermaatra-setepenra, to be given to Pamose when he joined the party at Atfih.
The cabin erected in the middle of the deck looked secure enough; it wasn’t large, perhaps thr
ee paces by three. Nikolas set Kiya and two guards to work scrubbing the deck and walls of the cabin with vinegar to kill any insect eggs and other visitors before having the furniture installed. The cabin was then fumigated with burnt juniper branches, sprinkled with the insecticide fleabane and Kiya placed several small containers of castor oil on the floor to poison cockroaches. Nikolas carried a reasonably large purse hidden in his robes, containing mostly silver and gold deben.
Lorentis carried another, also containing Nikolas’ money but mainly of the lower denomination copper rings with a few pieces of silver; Kiya carried a third, also mainly containing base metal.
The boat sailed on time at sunrise with the cleaning work still underway. A strong northerly wind gave a favourable and quick start to the trip. The weather remained hot and blisteringly dry; the summer sun was blazing down unmercifully on the land. The passengers and those crew not working sat under a large shade-awning stretched above the fore-part of the deck. All drank large amounts of water against the effects of the heat. Nikolas and his party were drinking boiled well-water that he had brought, rather than partaking of the rich muddy brew obtained by the crew by the simple expedient of dipping a bucket in the river.
As the boat headed south moving slowly upstream the panoply of the splendid and rich country slid past. The narrow strip of fertile land near the river, verdant with abundant vegetation, was abutted by the stark white and hostile cliffs through which the river had carved its bed over millennia. Much of the land near the river was currently quite dry, awaiting the imminent arrival of the annual Inundation. Shadoofs were in use lifting water for those fields that were irrigated, the long wooden poles and buckets regularly rising and falling.
Murder in the Palace: A Nikolas of Kydonia Mystery Page 7
