Read Murder in the Place of Anubis for Free Online Page A

Hormin's place at the office of records and tithes."
     Meren shuffled the papyrus sheets in his hands. Taking his seat again, he laid the papers on the table nearby. One of his assistants would question the servants so that stories about the family's movements could be confirmed. He expected everyone to claim to have slept through the night, for unless one were privileged, work was hot and long. The day began with first light and ended with nightfall.
     Tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair, Meren contemplated the furrows between Selket's brow. The woman was little more than a housekeeper to her husband. Her resentment bubbled on the surface like molten copper in a smith's crucible. The two women worried over Hormin, two jackals fighting over a carcass. Hormin had been enamored of the concubine Beltis, yet he hadn't set aside his wife. Why?
     "Mistress," Meren said. "Your husband was the son  of a butcher who attained the honored position of scribe. You must have been proud."
     Selket's weather-roughened features relaxed, and  Meren caught a glimpse of a young woman whose eyes were bright with pride and whose face wasn't parched from the heat of resentment.
     "He worked so hard, and he was so careful to attend  to the officials who could place him well. When he was given the position of scribe of records and tithes, we held a feast." Selket's smile turned into a frown. "But the seasons went by with no other advancement. Hormin saw others less talented but more capable of flattery raised above him. Only a few weeks ago he learned that Bakwerner would be set above him."
    In spite of his much-practiced control, Meren started when Selket's voice rose abruptly and she beat one fist into her palm with a force that would leave a bruise.
     Clasping her hands together, Selket leaned toward  Meren. "My lord, Hormin was an unhappy man. He told me that Bakwerner was jealous because he knew that Hormin was a better seribe." As she went on, Selket's voice got louder. "It was unfair that my husband wasn't preferred. He waited for so long. Why, if he had been given his due, he would never have taken Beltis. What is she but a burden?"
     "A burden?" Meren asked. Selket gave her head a little shake and appeared to remember with whom she was talking. She quieted.
     "She is lazy, my lord. She does no chores. She  doesn't help with the cooking. All she does is tend to herself. She bathes and arranges her hair and puts on lotions and ointments and cosmetics. And then she goes to the courtyard and lies in the shade or walks to the market to purchase trinkets for herself." Selket lowered her voice. "And she opens her legs for other men. She is a fiend; she doesn't even tend to her little son. Hormin purchased a slave girl to do that."
     Meren rose and went to an alcove that held a statue  of the god Toth, patron of scribes. He contemplated the man's body and ibis head while he waited for Selket to continue. When she remained silent, he glanced back at her. She was chewing on her lip and eyeing him. He'd seen that look of apprehension before in those who suspect that they have said more than they should.
     "Beltis wanted to supplant you?" Meren said this  while he resumed his stroll about the room. Avoiding the scattered contents of a jewel box, he stopped to run his fingertips over the lid of a casket.
     "But my lord," Selket said. She smiled with the open  grimace of a monkey. "Beltis never understood Hormin as I did. If she had, she would have known he would never divorce me. Our marriage agreement provides for a generous settlement for me if we part. Hormin and I, we know what it is to work, and to need. We don't give up what is ours."
     Contemplating Selket's expression of pleasure, Meren nodded. "One thing more. When I arrived you were all  fighting about a robbery. You say someone has taken objects from this room. What is missing?"
     "I'm not sure. Hormin never allowed anyone in here  by themselves, and he kept the