Missing in Egypt

by Rita Lee Chapman

  I was already waiting outside the hotel when John pulled up in a taxi at the designated time the next day. “Jump in” he said and gave me a warm smile. “Let’s go and see what we can find out”.

  The Temple of Luxor was just as impressive on my second visit. I think I took more in too because on the first occasion I was concentrating so hard on trying to find out something about Kareem’s disappearance. John was a good guide and pointed out the most important aspects of the Temple. He explained that whilst Amenophis III built most of the complex, the first courtyard, including the statues of the seated pharaohs and the obelisks at the entrance was the work of Ramses II. “No other city had so many obelisks and colossi made from a single stone” John told me. It was nice to be with an Australian again, to talk easily without the language or accent restraints. I suddenly became overwhelmingly homesick. “What was I doing here, so far from home?” I thought for a moment. Then I thought of Kareem and our time together and I reproached myself for even thinking this.

  We made our way to the columns where Kareem was to have met with the kidnappers. John saw a guard in his black garb. “Here, give me the photo of Kareem” he said. He took it over to the guard and asked him something in Egyptian. He was a different man to the one I had tried to speak to on my first visit. They exchanged a few words and he looked intently at the photo. He nodded his head and became very garrulous. John came back to me smiling. “He said there was a bit of an incident that morning. He heard a cry and came around the corner in time to see a man running away with a bag and another man lying on the ground. He went over to assist him but he jumped up and chased off after the other man. That was all he knew and he was the closest to the scene. But at least it’s something” John added. “We know the kidnappers took the money, that obviously they didn’t relinquish his brother and that Kareem was alive and well at that point.”

  John talked to the other guards but no-one else remembered seeing Kareem. One of them confirmed that there was an incident that day but said it was all over by the time he arrived.

  We returned to my hotel and I invited John for a cold drink at the bar. We talked easily until it was time for him to catch his return flight to Cairo. He wanted to speak of Australia and what was happening in the political scene. He said he was very homesick and was hoping his next posting would be back in Australia – preferably in Canberra. Then all too soon it was time for him to go and he left promising to contact me as soon as he had any news.

  5. Kareem’s Disappearance

  It was a couple of days later when John Turner rang to say there had been a report to the police in Cairo of a husband and daughter going missing. The daughter’s description matched that of Ramy’s girlfriend, so John was going to interview the mother himself that morning. He had asked her to bring in a photo and he said he would ring me as soon as he had spoken with her.

  It was an anxious couple of hours before he called back. I drank numerous cups of coffee and paced the hotel lobby. When he rang he confirmed that it was indeed the same woman seen with Ramy. “Her name is Yasmeen and I asked the mother if she would be willing to talk to you. She said she would do anything to find her husband and daughter. Why don’t you get yourself on a flight to Cairo?” I didn’t need telling twice. That afternoon I was back in Cairo, with the photo of Yasmeen and Ramy. I took a taxi straight to the shop, which was underneath their home. Mrs Ahmose welcomed me, saying “please, call me Waleed.” Not very tall and slightly overweight, she was still a very beautiful woman and I thought what a stunner she would have been in her youth. She wore a pair of beautifully tailored slacks and a very decorative black top with a black peacock picked out in green sequins. Her long fingernails were painted a very dark red which matched her lipstick perfectly and were covered in expensive looking rings. “Come, meet my sons Omar and Pili”. Two very good looking young men in their early twenties greeted me. It was obviously not just their sister who had inherited their mother’s good looks.

  John had already explained my situation to Mrs Ahmose and she was happy to talk to me. Over a cup of tea I filled her in as best I could on Kareem’s disappearance. She nodded and then told me about her husband’s disappearance. “He received a phone call” she explained “saying that Yasmeen was being held captive and that he had to go to the Valley of the Queens to get her back. He was not supposed to tell anyone, especially not the police. He only told me because he knew I would worry if he was gone too long and that I would then call the police. He told me not to tell anyone, not even our boys.”

  “But what did they want in exchange for Yasmeen?” I asked her. “He didn’t tell me” she replied. “He just said not to worry, everything would be alright – he would take care of everything. When they didn’t return the next night, nor the next, I was worried sick. I told the boys what had happened and they wanted to go up to the Valley of the Queens but I forbade them to. I said I needed their support here and they should keep the shop running so if anyone was watching us they would not be suspicious. After a week had passed I went to the police – what else could I do? For all I know, I will never see either of them again”. At this she started weeping but I could see there were few tears left – Mrs Ahmose had obviously already done a lot of crying over the past few weeks. “The police have found nothing” Mrs Ahmose continued after a couple of minutes. “There have been no reports of any unidentified bodies, they have contacted the ticket office at the Valley of the Queens and they had seen nothing suspicious. I don’t even know if my husband made it there. Why would they want to meet him there? It doesn’t make any sense to me. We are quite well off but we are not super rich. If they wanted money, why didn’t they tell Masud to take the money with him? My husband takes care of all our financial matters, but after we had heard nothing from the police I spoke to the Bank and he has not withdrawn any large sum of money. In fact he has not withdrawn any money since he left – the Bank has undertaken to contact me immediately if the accounts are activated.”

  Omar interrupted us at this point. “It is time we went to look for them ourselves” he told his mother. “We cannot just sit around like this, day after day, wondering what has happened to them. We have waited long enough – it is time for Pili and me to go and search for them.”

  Mrs Ahmose became very upset at this point. “Isn’t it enough that my husband and only daughter are missing? You want me to be left alone to run the shop and worry about what is happening to you as well as to them? You want me to end up childless?” she remonstrated.

  I interrupted her “I will keep looking for them“ I assured the boys. “The police are looking and the Australian Embassy is trying to find Ramy and Kareem. You really are better off looking after the shop and your mother. You need to be here in case there is any contact from your father or sister.”

  This seemed to appease them but it was clear they were anxious to do something practical to find Yasmeen and Mr Ahmose. “Tomorrow is Sunday” I said to them. “Why don’t you drive me out to the Valley of the Queens where your father was to meet with them and we will see if there are any clues there to their disappearance”.

  This suggestion seemed to be satisfactory to everyone. I had intended to return to Luxor that night so I hadn’t booked any accommodation. I asked Mrs Ahmose if there was a small hotel nearby where I might stay, but she insisted that I sleep in Yasmeen’s old room. “It will be nice to have some female company” she said as I helped her change the sheets. “Yasmeen is a good daughter, she comes as regularly as she can with her job and often stays overnight.”

  Over dinner I also learned a bit about Mr Ahmose and Yasmeen. It seemed both were quite worldly wise and not the types to be easily duped. Mrs Ahmose was very proud of her daughter, who she said was clever and hard-working. “She loves the antiques” she told me “I know she would love to work in the shop but her father thinks it is a man’s world. Perhaps one day she will open her own shop.” This of course brought more tears as she contemplated the possibility that Yasmeen would
not be returning home. We spent the rest of the evening going over possible scenarios for their disappearance. Mr Ahmose was highly regarded in the community and well-known in the antique business. I asked Mrs Ahmose if she thought her husband might have come across a rare antique so valuable that someone would kidnap Yasmeen and hold her for ransom. “If he had such a valuable piece, I am sure he would have mentioned it to me” she replied. Obviously they were a devoted couple, although clearly Mr Ahmose made all the decisions in the family and his wife tended to the home, as was their traditional custom.

  The next morning we were all up early and after a very filling breakfast Omar, Pili and I set off for the Valley of the Queens. Mrs Ahmose stood at the door waiving to us and dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief. Omar did the driving and he and Pili said very little on the way, both caught up in their private thoughts and their hopes of finding something that would lead us to their father and sister. Occasionally they would make a comment about the road or another driver. It seemed Omar, being the oldest, was more confident than his brother but I had the feeling that Pili was perhaps the smarter of the two. Both were very good looking and wore designer jeans and open-necked shirts. Both had dark, flashing eyes that took in everything around them. Neither were very tall but they walked with an air of confidence that added height. Their manners were impeccable and I felt very comfortable with them. I also spent much of the journey lost in thought, hoping against hope that we might find Ramy and that Kareem would somehow be with him.

  We parked at Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb. We took the photo of Ramy and Yasmeen over to the guards and asked them if they had seen them. They all replied in the negative. Pili also showed them a photo of his father, but this brought the same response.

  We wandered around the tomb. Pili told me that Queen Hatshepsut had ruled for 22 years, bringing Egypt peace and prosperity. When her husband, King Thutmosis II died, she became co-regent with her 12 year old stepson, Thutmosis III. As he approached manhood she declared herself a Pharaoh and insisted on being depicted as a man by adding a beard to her statues, as kings were considered to be demi-gods. “It is generally believed” he concluded “that it was Thutmosis III who had her face damaged or removed wherever possible after her death.”

  We started the trek up the hillside, not knowing what we were looking for or where we should look. There were little caves dotted around everywhere in the hills, many of which held the bodies of the working class. We tried calling out, but although our voices echoed around the hills, there was no answering call. The going was tough and after walking around for a couple of hours we decided this course of action was hopeless. If Mr Ahmose had been here, he was either long gone, or dead and buried in one of the caves.

  Pili went to speak again to one of the guards to see if there was a road that went behind the tomb. From the gesturing and pointing it seemed that there was. Pili came back to the car, his brow and shirt damp from sweat and confirmed that we could pick up a track back from where we had turned off to the tomb. The track was only dirt and we bumped and bounced along it for about half an hour. There was nothing to see other than the barren hills and more caves. We stopped and walked over to a hill with several caves and peered inside them, but there was nothing to be seen. We called their names but our voices echoed back to us and there was no reply. Soon the sun was starting to set and we had to admit defeat and call it a day.

  Omar and Pili dropped me off at Hamidi’s hotel. They stayed for a cold drink and then set off for the return trip to Cairo. I promised to keep digging and to let them know if I had any news.

  Hamidi was keen to know what we had been up to and was not surprised that our search in the Valley of the Queen’s had not produced any results. “It is quite a wild and barren area” he told me. “Over the hill from Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb there are many ravines and gulleys where a man could hide or be hidden. Very few people venture out into that part of the country”.

  The next morning I called around to the Police Station but the news was always the same. “We have no further leads on Kareem’s disappearance” the Sergeant told me. He was large and sweaty and appeared not to have very much interest in this case. “As soon as we hear something we will let you know” he said, walking me to the door. In other words – don’t call us, we’ll call you.

  I phoned through to John at the Australian Embassy. It was nice to hear his cheerful voice again. I filled him in on my meeting with Mrs Ahmose and my trip to the Valley of the Queens with her sons and my visit to the Police Station. He was pleased that I had met with the family but not surprised that we had found nothing at the Valley of the Queens. “Unfortunately, I too have no news at this stage” he said. “They seem to have just disappeared into thin air. I had hoped Mrs Ahmose might have told you something she hasn’t told me – I have the feeling she is holding something back”. We talked a bit about Australia and what was happening there and then I hung up, promising to call in and see John next time I was in Cairo.

  Hamidi found me some time later, sitting in the bar with a coke, staring into space. My mind was too tired to think and I was at a loss as to what to do next. “Something will happen soon Anna, I feel sure of it” he said, trying to console me. “Many people are looking for them – it can’t be long before someone sees something.” I went to bed early that night, emotional and exhausted. What was I doing here, in a land I didn’t understand, looking for someone I had only known for a few weeks? I eventually fell asleep, only to dream I was being chased by a man carrying a huge “Paul Hogan” knife. Then I fell into a deep hole and I was falling, falling……

  When I awoke the next morning the sun had been up for quite a while but I felt lethargic and tired and not at all refreshed. Whilst I was having breakfast Hamidi

  came to tell me there was a call for me. It was Mrs Ahmose. “Anna, my dear” she said. “It’s Waleed. I have something I must tell you. Can you come to see me again? I’m sorry to ask you this but I do not want to tell you over the phone in case someone is listening. You can stay overnight in Yasmeen’s room again.” I quickly agreed that I would fly to Cairo as soon as I could get a flight. I managed to get one later that morning and rang John to tell him I would be in Cairo that day and would ring him once I knew what it was Waleed wanted to tell me.

  6. The Secret

  I sat back in my seat as the plane took off and calculated how much I had spent on airfares since Kareem had disappeared. My meagre holiday money would soon be spent and I would have to think about returning to work – not only because of finances but because I couldn’t expect Jim to manage without me much longer, especially when I was not making any headway.

  Mrs Ahmose made me very welcome when I arrived. She had tea and cakes waiting for us in the lounge. Again she told me to call her by her first name, Waleed. Omar and Pili were nowhere to be seen – I gathered they were downstairs working in the shop.

  “What is it you want to tell me” I asked, wanting to find out as quickly as possible. “There is something I should have told you before, but my husband made me promise never to tell anyone. In fact I had forgotten all about it, it was so many years ago. It was only when Omar asked me if I knew where the golden collar and jewelled dagger were that I remembered. It seems they are missing. I think Masud took them with him and that is what reminded me. You see, a long time ago, when Masud was just a child, his father had taken him to see a tomb in the Valley of the Queens. It had been shown to him by his father, who learned of it from a very good friend. It was an amazing sight, he told me. The tomb was full of things for the afterlife – a golden carriage, a boat, jewels, even food and urns filled with wine – treasures beyond imagination. Both Masud’s father and his friend died suddenly after they had entered the tomb and Masud believed it had a curse on it. When we were first married he told me about it one night but made me swear not to mention it to anyone, not even to our children if we were so blessed. He had decided not to do anything about it, just to let the dead sleep in peace. We have al
ways had enough for our needs and don’t believe that earthly possessions bring happiness. We have never spoken of it since that night. But now I think maybe someone else knew about it and that is why my husband and daughter have been abducted”.

  It took me some time to digest this latest piece of information. Unlikely though it may seem, it would help to explain their disappearance, especially since no ransom demand had been received. I asked Waleed if she had any idea where the tomb lies. “No, my dear” she replied “only that it is in the Valley of the Queens”. I also asked her if she was sure that her husband had not mentioned it to either of their sons, but she was adamant that he would not. “You know what young men are like” she said. “They would not be able to resist going to have a look and then they would want the treasures and the money it would bring them”. This seemed to make sense, as neither Pili nor Omar had mentioned it on our trip and had not shown any signs of looking for such a tomb.

  “Do you have any idea where the family of your father-in-law’s friend might be now?” I asked. “Only that they lived not far from the Valley of the Queens” she replied. “I think the friend’s name was…….um……let me think now. Yes, I’m almost sure it was Edjo.

  This was also the name of one of my cousins, which is why I remember it. But as for his family name, I’m sorry, I have no idea.”

  We talked more about what could have happened to Kareem, Masud and Yasmeen. It seemed we were just going around in circles. “I beg you, my dear, use this information cautiously. In the wrong hands it will do a lot of harm and will not help our loved ones.”