Bak walked close. Quacking a warning, the duck led her chicks to the far side of the pool. The frogs grew silent. He peered inside the small building. As before, a fresh offering of flowers lay at the base of the ancestor bust. Whoever tended the shrine was faithful indeed.
He tossed the remains of the bread to the ducks, picked up the spear, and frowned at the sleeping man. Kames continued to snore. With guards like this, he thought, any number of outsiders could slip within the walls and slay five people. This one needed a lesson he would not soon forget.
Bak turned the spear around, point backward, and placed the butt end of the shaft under Kames's chin. Abruptly he lifted it, jerking the guard's head up, waking him with a start.
"Wha…?" Kames's eyes focused on the shaft, widened in terror, darted to Bak's face. "Sir!" He pulled his legs close, meaning to scramble to his feet, but dared not rise.
Bak kept his head pinned against the column. "Five people have been slain and this is the way you stand guard? What kind of man are you? One who naps while others die?"
"Sir." Kames tried to swallow, moaned. "I never sleep on duty, sir. Never!"
"Has it not occurred to you that the slayer might find you with your eyes closed and you, too, might forfeit your life?" "Please, sir. This is the first time. I swear it!"
Bak did not believe him for a moment, but he had come for information, not to see him punished for idleness. He withdrew the shaft from beneath the guard's chin. "When first I met you, Kames, I thought you a man of good sense. I searched you out to talk, not to accuse you of neglecting your duty."
The guard's face paled as the implied threat struck home. He scooted forward, well away from the column. "I've already told you all I know, sir."
"Where's your partner, Nenu?"
"He went to Lieutenant Amonhotep, thinking to gain advantage for himself by complaining about me." Kames stared at his clasped hands, his expression aggrieved. "He told the aide that I amble around like a cow in a pasture, paying no heed to my surroundings, thinking only of food and rest. Now, while I patrol this empty villa, he comes and goes, running errands for those of lofty status who toil for the governor."
"Who told you this?" Bak demanded. "Not Amonhotep, surely!" _.
"Nenu. He had to brag." Kames looked up at Bak, worry clouding his face. "Do you think I'll be punished on his sayso alone?"
Bak had Been for himself how indolent Kames was, but the truth was not always useful. "I see you as a man who's very much aware, one who watches and listens but keeps to himself all he sees and hears."
The guard's chest swelled at the praise. "Oh, I don't know about that, sir," he said, feigning modesty.
Bak sat down on the step beside him, a friendly companion, not a police officer. "Kames, I'm in need of information about a Sergeant Min. Have you ever heard the name?" "Not that I recall, sir."
"He was one who survived the storm we spoke of the other day. He saved Governor Djehuty's life."
"Oh, him!" Karnes clapped a hand to his forehead, grinned. "Now I know who you mean. Sergeant Min!" Bak had a feeling he should have brought along a couple jars of beer, one to jog Karnes's memory and the other to foster patience within himself. "He's been gone nearly five years, but his memory must live on. What've you heard about him?"
"I never knew him. I toiled in Nubt, guarding the governor's estate, until a year or so after he left. Not until I came to Abu did I hear him mentioned, and then not often. Few men dared speak of anyone connected to the storm when Sergeant Senmut was alive."
"They were friends, I've been told."
"They drank and wagered together, not always to the benefit of those who shared their good time. And I once overheard someone say…" The guard glanced around, assuring himself he and Bak were alone.".. they shared a secret about the governor."
Bak had trouble keeping his voice casual, his body relaxed. "What kind of secret, Kames?"
"Will you talk to Lieutenant Amonhotep for me, telling him Nenu lied?" The guard stared at his clasped hands, pretending nonchalance.
Bak wanted t take him by the neck and shake him. This was blackmail, plain and simple. "I have a feeling the lieutenant's already suspicious of the tale. Why else has he said nothing to you? If that's the case, it's best I remain apart and you go on with your task in as diligent a manner as you know how."
"But sir!"
Bak raised a hand, demanding silence. "If you find yourself in trouble, send for me. I'll do what I can-but only if you help me here and now."
Trying to look suitably chastened, but with a smirk slipping through, Kames leaned close and lowered his voice to a murmur. "The man who spoke, one I'd never seen before and have never seen since, said he knew for a fact that the governor panicked during the storm and Min saved him from himself. I heard later, from men whispering in the barracks, that they came back from the desert far ahead of the other survivors: Min, the governor, and a donkey carrying food and water. They were burned by the sun and tired, but neither man was hungry or thirsty."
"I wonder how great an effort they made to find others who might've survived?" Bak spoke more to himself than to the guard.
Kames gave him a knowing look, a nod of agreement. "They say Min was sent away so he couldn't make trouble in the garrison, but as a man of questionable character, would he not demand wealth or a lofty position in exchange for silence?"
Bak thought of Hatnofer, a woman reputed to be close to Min. Did he leave her behind as unwanted baggage and travel to Mennufer alone? Or did someone slay him to keep him quiet, leaving her to await a summons he could never give?
The wiry guard leaned so close their shoulders touched, and Bak could feel his warm breath on his ear. "Some say Min sailed north to a lofty position in a garrison far away. Others say he never set foot on board that ship. He was slain here, pushed down the water gauge, where the level of the floodwaters is measured."
Bak stared at the barred gate in front of the garden, trying to fit this new information into the old. As he had already concluded, Djehuty held within his heart a secret related to the sandstorm, one so shameful he would rather die than admit to it. Assuming Karnes's tale was true, he had behaved in a craven manner. If he would die rather than confess to cowardice, would he not also kill to protect his secret? He might well have taken Min's life or, more likely, have had someone else commit the foul deed for him.
What of the five recent deaths? The patterns of the slayings pointed to Djehuty as the ultimate victim, not the slayerunless he had become so afraid his secret would be divulged that his wits were addled. Unlikely, but a possibility nonetheless.
Thinking of Kames's nap and the sleeping guard he had surprised at the gatehouse a few days earlier, Bak made a quick tour of the governor's compound. He was forced to conclude that security was irresponsibly lax. One would have expected the violent death of'the sergeant of the guard, Senmut, to bring about a strict adherence to good practices, but the reverse had happened. Or, more likely, Senmut had been as negligent as they, demanding nothing more than their present behavior. The problem now lay with Amonhotep, but he was too preoccupied by Djehuty's demands to come down with a firm hand, or even to notice.
Though convinced the slayer had come from within the compound rather than outside the grounds, Bak decided he would be equally lax if he failed to make a quick and, hopefully, intimidating inspection. After warning Amonhotep of his intent, he summoned Psuro and Kasaya. For the remainder of the day, the trio went from one guard to another, demanding cleanliness of individuals and weapons, improving stance, instilling proper procedures. Planting fear in their hearts, not only of the slayer but of the hard-nosed policemen from Buhen.
Finished witl~. the inspection, Bak sent Psuro and Kasaya into Abu to pick up their evening meal from the old woman who cooked for them. They had found the food in Pahared's wife's house of pleasure filling but singularly lacking in taste and appeal, so they had retained her services. While awaiting the pair's return, he would look at the water gauge, the place where Sergeant Min was rumored to have been slain.