The Moses Legacy

Chapter 51

‘I’m telling you – we didn’t have anything to do with it,’ Gabrielle was saying in Arabic. ‘We were locked in the tomb and stuck there for several hours.’

Walid’s brother and son were looking at her like they wanted to believe her. But Walid himself was hard to read, like he had been around the block a few times and was a natural sceptic about everything except his religion.

‘Then how did you get out?’

‘We used a stone to smash a hole in the door. Then we used the key. That’s why Mansoor is in hospital. He cut his wrist on the metal of the door.’

‘Then why are the police looking for you? And why did you run away?’

‘Because the police started shooting at us! They didn’t even give us a chance to talk.’

She was worried that he was going to ask why the police would do that. This could be a problem. If she told him that the police thought they were carrying a contagious disease, he would hardly be inclined to carry them further. All she knew was that they hadn’t spread this news in the radio reports – presumably because they did not wish to start a panic. In the face of such restraint, it would hardly make sense to share the police’s belief with the very person they were still hoping would help them get to Cairo.

‘Okay, I know our police can sometimes be a bit… overzealous. But I still don’t understand why you abandoned Professor Mansoor.’

Daniel finally decided to step in. The reporter had already blown his cover and revealed that the Englishman was an expert on Semitic languages, so there was no reason not to show his fluent command of Arabic.

‘We didn’t actually abandon him. We left him temporarily because it was a five-kilometre walk to get help and he’d cut his wrist badly. We bandaged it up as best we could and then set off to get help.’

Walid did not seem surprised by the quality of Daniel’s Arabic. ‘Couldn’t you have called for help? Don’t you have mobile phones?’

‘We tried, but we couldn’t get a decent signal. Then when the police saw us – maybe because he wasn’t with us – they assumed that we’d done something to him and started firing. But you know he’s all right because they said so, and as they pointed out, we were locked in the tomb too. Whoever did it might have been trying to kill us.’

‘And what about what they said about you being responsible for a death in England?’

Daniel wasn’t sure which way the wind was blowing in Walid’s mind. He knew that his and Gabrielle’s fate lay in his hands. He had to say something more to sway him.

‘The man who died was Gabrielle’s uncle. He was a great professor. The police think it was a family dispute but we think he was killed by a jealous rival.’

Daniel wanted to convey a sense of aggrieved innocence and he sensed that offering a hint of high intrigue would create the kind of cover story that a man who led a mundane life would want to believe. As a former amateur magician he knew that getting the audience to want to believe was half the trick.

‘This sounds so…’

Daniel wondered if he had over -dramatized it, so he was relieved when Walid’s face mellowed. ‘I believe you. But I have a family to feed. If we get caught then I will be in trouble too… and that will hurt my family.’

Daniel sighed. ‘You’re right, of course. I cannot ask you to put yourself and your family at risk for us – especially after we took advantage of your hospitality and didn’t tell you the truth. If you can put us ashore, we will be on our way.’

Walid looked at him, surprised.

Daniel followed up quickly. ‘You can keep the money, of course. Consider it as payment for the trouble we’ve put you through.’

Walid met his eyes. They both knew what the other was thinking, as did Gabrielle. The radio report hadn’t said anything about a reward, but at some point a reward might still be offered. Daniel was offering to pay Walid for his silence. Even if a reward was offered that dwarfed the money already paid him, Walid would consider it dishonourable to betray them after accepting their money.

‘I cannot do that,’ said Walid quietly.

‘You don’t understand,’ said Daniel. ‘I want you to keep the money. I have put you to so much trouble already… and you have a family to feed.’

‘No, it is you who do not understand,’ said Walid firmly. ‘I will take you to Cairo.’