Sheba. Part 11

She frowned. 'I suppose you mean the treasure?'

'To h.e.l.l with the treasure!' He came back to the table and dropped into his seat. 'All we know about the Queen of Sheba is contained in the Bible. There hasn't been a single inscription found referring to her by name, not even in Marib, which is supposed by most experts to have been her capital. Such a discovery would create a world sensation, and not only in academic circles.'

'I see,' she said slowly. 'That explains why my husband kept his discovery to himself.'

Kane snorted. 'The d.a.m.ned fool. Only a properly equipped expedition can handle this sort of thing successfully.'

'But don't you see?' she said. 'He was trying to prove something to me. This had to be his own discovery, alone and unaided. If fame came to him, then he had achieved it by his own efforts, owing help to no man.'

Kane laughed harshly. 'If he tried to penetrate the

Empty Quarter on his own, then he was a fool. If he hasn't died of thirst, he's probably lying face-down in the sand somewhere with his throat cut.'

Deep pain appeared in her eyes and she nervously clasped and unclasped her hands. 'You said Shabwa was a bad-security area, Captain Kane. What exactly did you mean by that?'

He shrugged. 'The borders of the Aden Protectorate and Oman are in dispute with Saudi Arabia. There's been constant tribal friction for years. Military security in the area is handled by the British, and believe me, they've had their hands full. Because they can't be everywhere at once, they've labelled certain places bad-security areas. In other words they can't be responsible for what happens to anyone stupid enough to go there.'

When she looked across at him her face was troubled. 'And Shabwa is one of these areas?'

Kane nodded. 'Very much so. People do visit the area, of course. At the moment there's an American geologist called Jordan up there looking for oil. He's managed to survive by tossing Maria Theresa silver dollars around like confetti and surrounding himself with a picked band of cut-throats, who make sure he stays alive because it's to their own advantage.'

'Have you ever been there?'

He nodded. 'Often, but then I'm pretty well known amongst the tribes in that area. They're mostly Musabein, and friendly enough if they take to you. The trouble is that the fringes of the Empty Quarter are inhabited by outlaws. Men cast out by their tribes for various reasons - mostly unpleasant. If they get hold of you, they'll skin you alive and peg you out in the sun. Nice people.'

There was complete horror on her face. 'And you think something like that must have happened to my husband?'

He shrugged. 'There's a fair-to-even chance.' She shuddered violently and buried her face in her hands. Kane got to his feet and stood beside her, a hand on her shoulder. 'Believe me, Mrs Cunningham, I'm only trying to be honest with you. Anything could have happened to him.'

She pushed herself to her feet and stared up into his face, one hand clutching his arm. 'But he could be alive? It is possible, isn't it?'

For a moment he was going to tell her just how slim that chance was and then he smiled and patted her rea.s.suringly. 'Sure, it's possible.'

She started to cry. Kane slipped an arm around her shoulder and led her gently into the bar. 'I think it would be a good idea if you went to your room and rested for a while. I'll make a few enquiries. I might be able to find something out. If your husband was in Dahrein two months ago, someone must have seen him.'

She nodded slightly as they went out into the hall and mounted the stairs to the first floor. When they reached the door of her room, she took a key from her purse and fumbled at the lock. Kane took it gently from her, opened the door and followed her inside.

There were several suitcases standing in one corner of the bare room and she went across and opened the top one. After a moment's search she came back, a bulky envelope in one hand. 'This is the translation of the ma.n.u.script,' she said. 'I think you'll find it rather interesting.'

He slipped it into his pocket and smiled. Til see you this evening around seven for a drink. I may have some news for you.'

She smiled. Til be waiting. I think I'll try and get some sleep in the meantime.'

For a moment he matched her smile with his own and then he gently closed the door.

SIX.

HE MOVED ALONG the corridor and as he reached the head of the stairs a door clicked open behind him. A voice said, 'So you and Mrs Cunningham got together sooner than you had intended?'

Skiros was standing in the doorway of his private room, a cheroot clamped firmly between his teeth, a faint smile on his face.

Kane nodded slowly. 'I thought I'd better find out what she was after.'

The Greek removed his cheroot and groaned. 'Mother of Christ, but it's hot. How about joining me in a drink?'

For a moment Kane was about to refuse and then he changed his mind. Very little happened in Dahrein that Skiros didn't know about. He nodded and moved forward. 'Come to think of it I could use one, if you make it long and cool.'

Skiros turned back into the room, wiping his face with his handkerchief. He sagged down into a large wicker chair by the window and gestured towards a table on which stood several bottles and a pitcher of ice-water. 'You mix the drinks, my friend,' he said. 'I haven't enough energy to lift the bottle.'

Kane closed the door and went over to the table. He quickly mixed two large gin-slings and handed one to the Greek. Skiros swallowed half of it and grunted. 'Christ, that was good. At the beginning of each year I tell myself it will be my last in this accursed hole. I swear on the grave of my mother that I will go home to Greece, but...' He sighed deeply and shrugged his shoulders.

'Why don't you?' Kane said.

Skiros grinned, exposing a row of decaying teeth. 'Because I am greedy. Because I can make so much money so very easily here.' He sipped some more of his drink and went on. 'But I might ask you the same thing. What can be the attraction of a place like Dahrein for a man like you?' He grinned and his eyes sparkled. 'Could it be the admirable Mademoiselle Ferret?'

Kane shrugged calmly. 'Women mean nothing to me, Skiros. I'm in Dahrein for the same reason you are. I can make money here - very easily and tax-free. There aren't many places left where one can do that these days.'

Skiros chuckled. 'And avoid Europe, the war.'

'You think it will come?' Kane asked.

'Of course. Everything Hitler wanted he's got. Why should Poland be different?'

'Not my affair,' Kane said.

'Nor mine.' Skiros drained his gla.s.s. 'And what of the beautiful Mrs Cunningham? It isn't every day we get so charming a visitor in Dahrein.'

Kane helped himself to a cigarette from an ivory box on the table. 'Didn't she tell you why she's here?'

Skiros shook his head. 'She came straight to the hotel from the boat. After she'd booked in she asked for you at once. She didn't give a reason. I a.s.sumed at first that you must be old friends. To be frank, I thought that perhaps your past was catching up on you.'

Kane walked across to the window. He stood looking out over the harbour and spoke without turning round. 'She's looking for her husband. Apparently he ran out on her. The last she heard, he was making for here.'

Skiros grunted in surprise. 'But why would he come here?'

Kane turned to face him and shrugged. 'He's a lecturer in archaeology at one of the English universities. Apparently he wanted to visit the ruins at Shabwa.'

Skiros frowned. 'But only that crazy American, Jordan, manages to survive up there.'

Kane nodded. 'That's true, but what about Professor

Muller? He's been hunting for rock inscriptions in that area for months now. He's managed to survive somehow.'

Skiros snorted. 'Bah, the German swine.' He spat on the floor and then rubbed it into the carpet with the toe of one shoe. 'He is protected by the Devil, but one day he will go too far. One day they will find him with a bullet in the head.'

Kane shrugged. 'Is he in town at the moment?'

Skiros nodded. 'Yes, he came in last night by road. He drove past the hotel about eleven o'clock just as I was having someone kicked out.'