Page 68 of Disturbing the Dead
TWENTY-TWO
We have moved farther into the artifact room to lessen the chance of being heard by Lady Christie. As we relocate, Gray lets Muir move ahead and murmurs to me, “Take over this interview, please.”
I know what he means. I’d just started to see another side of Muir, and now those hopes for his character have plummeted. Accusing Selim Awad is like accusing the housemaid when the silver goes missing. That’s not to say housemaids would never steal silver—I’m in the body of one who did—but it seems like a knee-jerk accusation. Of course the thief would be the shifty, working-class maid granted access to valuables by a trusting employer. Of course the thief would be the young foreigner granted access to valuables by a trusting brother-in-law.
Whatever we might think, though, we need to treat the accusation as respectfully as we did Muir’s one against Florence King. I’m better equipped to do that, having spent my working career interviewing hundreds of people who insisted that the homeless guy in the alley must have picked their pocket or the kids hanging out on the corner must have vandalized their home. Most times they were wrong, but I needed to listen without judgment.
“Lord Muir,” I say with a curtsy. “Please forgive my impudence, but Dr. Gray has asked me to take over the questions here, as I am learning his detective trade so that I might be a better assistant to him.”
Muir’s smile is pure indulgence. “Of course, child. What would you like to know?”
“First, and I do hate to ask this”—hoping that sounds sincere—“where were you yesterday, between the hours of nine and two?”
He blinks at me, and I’m pretty sure I hear Gray choke, but he also doesn’t stop me.
“We must ask everyone,” I say. “Again, forgive my impudence.”
I give the slightest curtsy, and his indulgent smile returns.
“You are truly a detective, aren’t you, child? Of course you must question everyone who did business with Alastair. I spent yesterday morning at my solicitor, on a matter unrelated to my Egyptian dealings. Then we went to lunch with two other fellows. That lasted until nearly three, at which time I returned home to prepare for the party. I will provide you with the names of those who can vouch for me.”
“Thank you, sir. Now, I suppose the obvious next question is what leads you to believe Mr. Awad is responsible for the thefts.”
Muir rubs his beard. “That is…” He exhales. “I have your discretion in this, I hope? I am very fond of dear Miriam, and I would hate to see her upset at any time, but least of all under these circumstances, which is why I hope to resolve this as quietly as we can.”
I hesitate. To me, resolving it quietly would be speaking to Selim himself rather than summoning the police with an urgent message. But maybe that’s why he summoned us instead. Or maybe by “resolving it quietly” he means whisking Selim off to jail with the minimum amount of fuss.
Arresting a new widow’s brother for stealing her dead husband’s artifacts, it’s all just so unseemly. Can we just… get it over with? Quickly?
“Alastair suspected Selim has been taking artifacts for a while now,” Muir says, lowering his voice until I have to strain to hear him.
“He consulted you about it?”
“Not… precisely. I was in his office at the university, and I found a letter he’d been writing to Selim, saying he needed to speak to him most urgently about the missing artifacts. Alastair was very understanding. Selim is young and, you may not realize this, but he spent a number of years in London.”
“Going to school, yes.”
Muir nods. “I remember that time of life myself, when I may have amassed some… embarrassing debts.” His gaze cuts to Gray. “You will know what I mean, being closer to that age yourself.”
Somehow I can’t imagine Gray ever running up debts anywhere but a patisserie. Oh, he’s been to fight clubs and he frequents public houses, but I suspect that even when he was young, he’d paid his tab at the end of the night. Yet to imply he didn’t incur those debts as a young man would sever a connection here. Muir obviously likes Gray, and that helps him open up.
Finally, Gray says, “Yes, of course. There are many ways for a young man to find himself indebted to others when he only sought a little youthful extravagance.”
“Exactly.” Muir beams at him. “Nothing wrong with enjoying one’s youth. Yet there are always people willing to prey on a young man’s inexperience. That is what I presumed happened with Selim.”
“And the letter said that he needed to speak to him about the missing artifacts.”
“Urgently.”
“Did it mention theft?”
Muir’s brows shot up. “Alastair would hardly put that in a letter. But the meaning was clear.”
“Do you have any more information about what had gone missing in the past?”
Muir shakes his head. “I wanted to discuss it with Alastair, but he was annoyed with my plans for the mummy party, and it seemed best not to bring it up. The artifacts belong to both of us, you see. I take a share in consideration of my sponsorship. I am certain what was taken would have come from Alastair’s share—he was very careful and open in his accounting. Yet if I mentioned the theft while he was annoyed with me, he might think I was accusing him of cheating me out of my full share.”
“By not including stolen artifacts in the tally.”
