Judas Country

'Didn't they hell.' She looked a little warm. 'Enough of themimplied the idea, though I don't think they were looking for bits of paper. You know there was another room, smaller and darker, where they had a little brazier thing burning?'

I felt a smile crawling on to my face and tried to frown it down.

'Did they?' said Ken innocently.

'They suggested I should stand over it, kind of; it was supposed to be… well, aromatic.'

Ken grinned wickedly. 'And which one of us'll you have first?'

She blushed, really blushed.

'And modern science,' I said, 'proves there's no such thing as an aphrodisiac.'

She staredfirmly at the lift doors while her blush faded. Mitzi came back with her key to say goodnight.

Ken said: 'For God's sake be careful with that piece of paper. Why not the hotel safe now?'

I said: 'No,' without quite knowing why except that it was an obvious place and I didn't think Aziz needed any help in thinking of obvious places.

'I will keep it okay,' Mitzi promised. Then she smiled, rather demurely. 'Thank you for being so brave, like knights.' She turned away into the lift.

Ken looked at me and raised his eyebrows. 'Gadzooks and forsooth.'

'Just show me the nearest dragon and stand aside.'

'Oh come on,' said Eleanor impatiently. 'She was just trying to say you smell like horses. Who's buying me a drink after dragging me away from all those lovely sexy men?'

As we headed towards the bar at the end of the lobby, Ken murmured: 'I can tell you of one quote maiden unquote who'd better not get immured in any foul dungeons if she wants to get rescued by Christmas.' We sat down and he thumped the table. 'Ho, varlet: two foaming goblets and a gin-and-moat for the damsel.'

'For goodness' sake,' said Eleanor, a bit embarrassed. 'What really happened up at the house, there? I didn't know you two had guns.'

'We didn't,' Ken said. 'We borrowed them off Aziz's bodyguards.'

'He got a bit simplistic about wanting the authentication of the sword,' I explained.

'And he searched Mitzi?' She frowned. 'Well, I suppose there was nothing else you could do.'

It hadn't seemed quite that easy at the time, but Ken just said gravely: 'Not without turning in our keys to Camelot's executive washroom.'

The waiter appeared and we ordered; I switched to vodka, Urne juice and soda, which doesn't taste of much but hasn't wiped its boots on your tongue the next morning.

'Aziz said one thing,' Ken said. 'That he'd financed Bruno's digging in Israel. D'you think that's true?'

'It's likely,' Eleanor agreed. 'I'd wondered if that was the connection. It isn't just the money, it's that governments don't give permission to one-man-bands. An archaeologist needs some sort of endorsement. What did Aziz do – set up some phoney foundation?' Ken nodded. 'In the States.'

'That figures. So now he wants his cut, does he?' "That or the whole cake.'

I said: 'Mitzi's still convinced Aziz has the sword. Question: is she right?'

They thought about this while I looked around the bar. About half the seats were occupied, mostly with Beirut residents in standard dark suits (but not Lebanese, who don't use even the best bars much; these were Europeans and Americans) plus a few tourists in brighter gear. None actually looked like Aziz's boys, though he could well have planted one. He might want to know where Ken and I were staying.

The waiter brought our drinks and, when he'd gone, Eleanor said: 'Now we know Aziz is really involved, that he wasn't just looking after the sword while Spohr was in jail – then I'd say No, he doesn't have it. It's a guess, but I just think we'd have heard something before this.' She glanced from Ken to me and back, her blue eyes very serious.

Ken nodded slowly. 'If hehas got it, then Bruno didn't know he had. There'd be no point in involving me and an aeroplane. Aziz is big enough to get the sword out of this country a hundred ways without my help. I say he hasn't got it… Buggerii,' he added.

That made it fairly unanimous. I said: 'So the poor bastard was being honest, in his own way.'

Ken looked up sharply. 'It's thatway of his that I didn't take to.'

'Quite so, quite so. And I think he's going to spend the night thinking up his next move rather than fasting and praying to change for the better. And if he hasn't got the sword, is there any reason to think it's in the Lebanon at all?'

'If it is,' Ken said gloomily, 'we stand damn-all chance of finding it compared with him. I see what you mean; fingers out and wheels up.'

'Huh?' said Eleanor.

I said: 'You seem fairly fireproof so you can make up your own mind, but Caviti and Case announce their departure for Cyprus as soon as possible tomorrow. And I think Mitzi'd be a fool to stay, so if you can persuade her the sword isn't here…'

'If I can't,' she said dryly, 'I'm sure I can convince her that herparfit gentil knights have suddenly gotten dragon-shy.'

'It's quite a nice face,' said Ken, 'but she ought to get the mind broken and re-set.'

Eleanor just grinned. Then: 'But if the sword isn't here, where is it?'

That brought down the glooms like a cloudburst. Ken's face shut tight, then he finished his Scotch with a quick jerk of his head and stood up. That was today. Coming, Roy?'