'And you searched for the letter, found it, and straightened her body and clothing afterward.'
'Yes, and the rest you know.'
'I don't know what he told you before he collapsed.'
'Isn't it enough that he's dead? Why stir up more ugliness?'
Meren leaned forward, holding her eyes with his. 'Because you haven't convinced me you're telling the truth.' He gave her a slight smile. 'After all, you could have planned the murder with Sennefer.' Bentanta only gave him a disgusted look.
He remembered opening the granary cover the morning they'd discovered Anhai. Sennefer had been stunned. If he'd simply dumped his wife in the granary, it would have been a nasty surprise to find her lying neatly on her side, her clothing and wig perfect. 'Did Sennefer tell you exactly how he killed Anhai?'
'You're an ass, Meren. You work hard to be good at it.'
'Just tell me what he said.'
'He was quite drunk.'
'He was suffering the effects of poison,' Meren said.
'His speech was slurred, but I understood him well enough. Still, I don't think he would have told me without a lot of wine, or perhaps it was the poison that loosened his tongue. And he was frightened of you. He told me Anhai had asked him to meet her in secret again, and when they found a place where they wouldn't be heard, she threatened him again. Only this time, she used a weapon she must have been reluctant to use, considering the results. I think she may have suspected how dangerous using it could be.'
Bentanta paused, her eyes growing sad. 'You see, she'd been hinting at it for weeks, and he'd been growing more and more desperate.'
'What threat could she have made that would disturb him so? He didn't seem worried to me.'
'He concealed his fear, just as he concealed his secret, Meren. Because Anhai was hinting that she was going to tell everyone the truth-that Sennefer was impotent.'
'Impotent.'
'Cursed by the gods, he said.'
Meren thought back over the last few days. When Anhai had insulted Sennefer about her lack of children, he'd assumed it was just another of her sudden and malicious attacks, lacking any real foundation. Then he recalled Sennefer's many boasts and the rumors of his conquests. Had it all been a facade? Sennefer had been diligent in his pursuit of a reputation for sexual mastery-perhaps too diligent.
Unwilling to admit he believed her, he said, 'Go on.'
'This time, Anhai said that if Sennefer didn't do as she wanted, she would tell his whole family he was less than a man, and that she'd do it while everyone was gathered for your feast of rejoicing.'
'By the Devourer,' Meren said.
'You knew she was vicious. Sennefer fell into a rage then, and they fought. She picked up one of those grindstones and swung it at him, but he grabbed it. She rushed at him, and he fended her off with it, holding it lengthwise like a sword. He hit her in the chest. He said she grunted and dropped like a duck hit by a throw stick. He tried to rouse her, but she was dead.'
Meren was shaking his head. 'Not from one blow to the chest.'
'That is what he told me. He said he didn't understand it, that he hadn't meant to kill her. He had been trying to make sense of it, but he couldn't.'
Drawing his legs up to his chest, Meren propped his arms on his knees while he thought. Bentanta's story made sense. It accounted for all the signs he'd discovered-the too-neat arrangement of the body, the scrap of papyrus, the disposal of the body in the odd location, the timing during Hepu's Instruction-everything except…
'Even if I believe you, there's still the question of Sennefer's death. He was poisoned with your pomegranate wine.'
Bentanta uttered a gasp of aggravation. 'I had no reason to kill Sennefer.'
'None to which you've admitted. Perhaps Anhai had shown him that letter you've been hiding for sixteen years.'
'Someone else killed Sennefer, Meren, and you know it. You're just afraid you know who it is. By the gods, you'd rather condemn me unjustly than face the possibility that Ra killed Sennefer out of jealousy and revenge.'
He'd had enough. If he stayed, the misery he was hiding might escape and reveal itself. Getting to his feet, Meren opened the door, stepped outside, and kept his gaze away from Bentanta. She followed him. Reia was waiting for them.
'Take the Lady Bentanta to her chamber. Set a guard outside her door and see that she remains there.' He kept his gaze trained on the palm tree.
'I'm going home in the morning, Meren.'
'You'll leave when I give permission.'
'If you try to stop me, I'll tell your family about the letter.'
Meren looked at her then. 'I might have believed that threat if it had come from Anhai. I don't believe you.'
'Did you know you're one of the few people I'd like to kick?'
'Take her to her chamber, Reia.'
He didn't watch her go. He was too busy praying he wouldn't give way to misery and confusion before she left.
Late the same afternoon Meren stood beneath the awning of the deckhouse of Wings of Horus. Kysen was talking to Nebamun not far away. After the interview with Bentanta he'd sought refuge here, hiding like a wounded antelope. Flooded with remorse, he had relived the grief of Djet's death. Now he understood Nebetta's and Hepu's animosity on account of Djet, but he also blamed them for Sennefer's impotence. Hepu had beaten and sneered at his sons almost from infancy, and Meren was certain that this mistreatment had robbed Sennefer of his manhood. His aunt and uncle were like two demons sent to spawn evil and spread it throughout the family.
It had taken him a long time to regain his composure, but he'd climbed out of the refuse pit into which he'd fallen. He had to, because it was urgent that he confirm Bentanta's tale of Anhai's murder. He'd sent for Kysen and told him what had happened at Green Palm and in Bentanta's cell. Kysen was now giving a censored version of the tale to Nebamun.
'So there it is,' Kysen was saying. 'He jammed one of these into her chest.' He hefted the oblong grindstone.
Nebamun took it, his arm sagging under the weight. He held it in one hand and thrust it against the palm of the other. Meren watched him for a moment, then beckoned Kysen.
'You said Nento is growing more and more agitated at the haunted temple. Should I send him away?'
'I'll go again tonight. If he's no better, you can dismiss him in the morning. Father, you don't look well.'
'I feel as if I've brought a curse home with me.'
'Anhai is the one who brought the curse,' Kysen replied. 'If she hadn't been so vicious, Sennefer wouldn't have fought with her.'
Meren turned his face to the north breeze, but even that beneficent wind couldn't banish the deathly heat. Nebamun set the grindstone down on the deck and approached them.
'What say you?' Meren asked. 'Could my cousin have caused his wife's death in such a strange manner?'
'My lord, I think it is possible.'
'Why?'
Nebamun pointed to the casket he'd brought with him, in which were stored his medical texts. 'The wisdom of the ancient ones has been passed down for countless generations. Wisdom learned from the study of our brothers, the cattle, the ox, the goat, and others, as well as experience from great healers such as the great Imhotep.'
'I know that, Nebamun. You don't have to convince me.'
'Yes, lord. And we also know that the heart is the house of the soul. Within it resides a person's reason, his character and feelings. The gods speak to us through the heart, and through it they let us know their will. But also, from the heart issue channels linking all parts of the body. These channels convey blood, air, tears, sperm,
