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

valuables under his own hand. Djaper says he saw his father place a broad collar in that casket." Selket pointed to an ebony and ivory container. "He said it had beads of gold, lapis lazuli, and red jasper. I've never seen it, but then, Djaper often worked here with his father, and the piece was new. He promised it to her."
     Selket glanced around the room. "There is an inventory somewhere. Djaper also says there are copper ingots missing. She probably stole them."
    Meren turned around to face Selket. She was angry at the loss of such rich pieces, but there was no sign of apprehension, or awareness that it was odd that Hormin  owned a necklace of gold and precious stones and hadn't given it to her. It was as if she were long used to her husband's miserliness. Perhaps she was. In any case, he couldn't believe she didn't covet such a beautiful piece of jewelry as the missing broad collar.
     He was about to dismiss Selket when a crash made the woman jump. He was out of the room and bounding down the stairs before Selket got to her feet. Meren rounded the corner of the dining hall in time to dodge a ceramic lamp that sailed past his head and crashed against a wall.
    Barely missing the wooden lampstand, Meren rushed into the hall to see the concubine Beltis lift a wine jar from its pedestal and hurl it at her younger brother-in-law. Djaper was bending over Imsety, who was curled up on the floor nursing his groin. Meren shouted at him, and he ducked. The wine jar bounced off Djaper's shoulder and hit the ground. Pottery cracked, and wine sloshed over the groaning Imsety.
     Meren ran to Beltis and caught her before she could lift a stone vase from a table. Knocking the vase aside,  he grabbed the woman by the waist and lifted her off her feet. Beltis let out a scream. She kicked backward, catching Meren on the shin.
     "Abomination." Meren grunted under the impact of  an elbow to his ribs.
     "Dung eater!" Beltis screamed at Djaper. "Lover of  boys, I curse your fea."
     Djaper sprang at Beltis. Meren saw him make a fist  and draw back his arm. Swinging so that Djaper missed Beltis, he blocked the punch with his free arm. It was a blow of the force one used only on another man. Djaper fell back as soon as his arm touched Meren.
    Beltis was still shouting curses at her brothers-in-law while she clawed at Meren's arms. Losing what patience was left to him, Meren hoisted the woman on his hip. When she tried to bite his thigh, he shifted her weight to both arms and threw her to the ground. Beltis landed on her buttocks with a howl and looked up for the first time. Panting, she brushed aside strands of her wig and caught sight of Meren. The panting stopped. Her eyelids climbed high and disappeared. Beltis whimpered and began to crawl toward Meren.
    In no mood for groveling, Meren halted the concubine with one word. He looked around and spotted a charioteer near Djaper and Imsety. The man was on the floor nursing a cut above his eye. In the doorways of the hall servants hovered, uncertain and curious.
    Surveying the wreckage, Meren beckoned to the porter. "Put the woman in her room and see that she doesn't leave it."
    "Lord, her
ka
is inhabited by fiends," Djaper said.
     Meren straightened the folds of his robe. "What happened?"
     "I told her to go back to her parents' house. We don't  want her here."
     Meren surveyed the face of Hormin's youngest son. Clean-shaven, with small features, it was the face of a  youth on the body of a man in his breeding years. Djaper met his gaze openly, and Meren was sure that he was meant to see the ingenuous candor of a boy.
    "You may both retire to your rooms."
     The men bowed to him, and Meren was left to the  ministrations of the household servants. A maid offered cool water and beer. Another brought moist towels and salve for the cuts on his arms. The furrows weren't deep, but they stung. Meren tended to them himself, downed a cup of beer, and headed for the room occupied by the woman