he walked in there was only one nurse on duty. That was good.
âExcuse me,â he said in slow English, to make sure that he was understood. âIâm looking for a patient called Joel Hirsch.â
The nurse appeared to respond to the name and pointed to a glass-encased unit. Goliath started to walk towards it, but the nurse signalled him to stop with a gesture and the word â Lah â.
âNo, you donât understand. Iâm his uncle.â
She made a sign with her hand and said something in Arabic. Then she reached for the phone.
He knew what was happening. She didnât speak English and she was going to call someone else. If only she had gone to fetch someone, that would have given him time. But instead she was going to stay here and wait until help came. That was no good. He didnât want to be seen.
There was only one thing to do. He reached out and grabbed her, clamping one hand over her mouth to stop her screaming and encircling her neck with the other. And thenwith that technique that he was so good at, he snapped her neck and let her body slump to the floor.
But now he was in a panic. If this was the intensive care unit then there would normally be several people on duty and that meant that someone could come back at any minute. He knew that he had to find a sample of Joelâs clothes, but he didnât know where to look. A patientâs clothes would normally be in a cabinet beside the bed, but in this case, the bed was in an isolated unit. And it was probably locked or at least alarmed.
He looked for some sign on a cabinet or unit next to the room that housed the bed, but there was none. They might have destroyed his clothes or taken them for analysis â he simply had no way of knowing. All he knew was that he could hear voices. That meant that people were approaching. He didnât want to fail his mentor, especially after he had lost track of that Daniel Klein character. But what other choice did he have?
It was now too late to go back into the main corridor. Instead, he made his way across the unit to the emergency exit and slipped out just as he heard a woman scream.
They had discovered the body.
He broke into a sweat and started sprinting.
Chapter 19
âWell, Iâm pleased to tell you, Professor Klein, that you are free to go. For now. Youâre being released on bail as we may have some more questions for you. However, one of your bail conditions is that you remain in the country, so weâll be retaining your passport for the time being.â
âThank you,â said Daniel, not sure what he was thanking the DCI for.
Ten minutes later, back in possession of his other personal items, Gaby was driving him back to his place in North London.
âSo letâs assume that it was one of the papyri from Deir el-Medina, it could be the key to unlocking a sizeable chunk of Jewish history. I mean, it could open up the whole history of the Israelites in Egypt from the arrival of Joseph to the exodus of Moses.â
âLook, Gaby, I donât mean to be rude, but this isnât really what you want to talk about, is it?â
âWhat else would I want to talk about?â
âYour uncle.â
âI do not want to talk about my uncle!â she snapped. âAnd itâs Gabrielle .â
âLook⦠Iâm sorry. I know this is painfulââ
âI said I donât want to talk about it! My uncleâs death is atragedy, but thereâs not much we can do about it. Some burglar who doesnât like to leave evidence behind⦠some disgruntled former student⦠some rival academic⦠some local lunatic⦠Whoever it was, weâre in no position to catch them. Thatâs the job of the police.â
An uncomfortable few seconds went by. Daniel knew that any further attempts to comfort her would only backfire, that much was certain. So he returned to the subject of the mysterious papyrus and its
âExcuse me,â he said in slow English, to make sure that he was understood. âIâm looking for a patient called Joel Hirsch.â
The nurse appeared to respond to the name and pointed to a glass-encased unit. Goliath started to walk towards it, but the nurse signalled him to stop with a gesture and the word â Lah â.
âNo, you donât understand. Iâm his uncle.â
She made a sign with her hand and said something in Arabic. Then she reached for the phone.
He knew what was happening. She didnât speak English and she was going to call someone else. If only she had gone to fetch someone, that would have given him time. But instead she was going to stay here and wait until help came. That was no good. He didnât want to be seen.
There was only one thing to do. He reached out and grabbed her, clamping one hand over her mouth to stop her screaming and encircling her neck with the other. And thenwith that technique that he was so good at, he snapped her neck and let her body slump to the floor.
But now he was in a panic. If this was the intensive care unit then there would normally be several people on duty and that meant that someone could come back at any minute. He knew that he had to find a sample of Joelâs clothes, but he didnât know where to look. A patientâs clothes would normally be in a cabinet beside the bed, but in this case, the bed was in an isolated unit. And it was probably locked or at least alarmed.
He looked for some sign on a cabinet or unit next to the room that housed the bed, but there was none. They might have destroyed his clothes or taken them for analysis â he simply had no way of knowing. All he knew was that he could hear voices. That meant that people were approaching. He didnât want to fail his mentor, especially after he had lost track of that Daniel Klein character. But what other choice did he have?
It was now too late to go back into the main corridor. Instead, he made his way across the unit to the emergency exit and slipped out just as he heard a woman scream.
They had discovered the body.
He broke into a sweat and started sprinting.
Chapter 19
âWell, Iâm pleased to tell you, Professor Klein, that you are free to go. For now. Youâre being released on bail as we may have some more questions for you. However, one of your bail conditions is that you remain in the country, so weâll be retaining your passport for the time being.â
âThank you,â said Daniel, not sure what he was thanking the DCI for.
Ten minutes later, back in possession of his other personal items, Gaby was driving him back to his place in North London.
âSo letâs assume that it was one of the papyri from Deir el-Medina, it could be the key to unlocking a sizeable chunk of Jewish history. I mean, it could open up the whole history of the Israelites in Egypt from the arrival of Joseph to the exodus of Moses.â
âLook, Gaby, I donât mean to be rude, but this isnât really what you want to talk about, is it?â
âWhat else would I want to talk about?â
âYour uncle.â
âI do not want to talk about my uncle!â she snapped. âAnd itâs Gabrielle .â
âLook⦠Iâm sorry. I know this is painfulââ
âI said I donât want to talk about it! My uncleâs death is atragedy, but thereâs not much we can do about it. Some burglar who doesnât like to leave evidence behind⦠some disgruntled former student⦠some rival academic⦠some local lunatic⦠Whoever it was, weâre in no position to catch them. Thatâs the job of the police.â
An uncomfortable few seconds went by. Daniel knew that any further attempts to comfort her would only backfire, that much was certain. So he returned to the subject of the mysterious papyrus and its
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