The Navigator

The inspector shrugged. “Why is a big writer interested in a thief?”

Saxon doubted whether the inspector would understand the obsession that had launched him on a journey throughout Europe, the Middle East, and South America in his quest to solve one of the puzzles of the ages. There were times he didn’t understand it himself. Choosing his words carefully, he said, “I believed that Hassan could have helped me find a woman.”

“Ah,” the inspector said. He turned to Officer Abdul. “A woman.”

“Hassan had an antiquity that could have helped me with a book I’m writing and a film I hope to produce on the Queen of Sheba.”

“Sheba,” the inspector said with disappointment. “A dead woman.”

“Dead and not dead. Like Cleopatra.”

“Cleopatra was a great queen.”

“Yes. And so was Sheba. As beautiful as the day.”

The door opened to admit another man. Unlike the rotund and grubby inspector, he was tall and slim. He was dressed in a pale olive suit that had razor creases in the trousers. Sharif got up from his chair and stood at attention.

“The man said, “Thank you, Inspector. You and your officer may go.”

The inspector snapped off a salute and left the room with the officer.

The man eased into the inspector’s chair and placed a manila file on the table. He stared at Saxon with amusement on his narrow face.

“I’m told you like the camel market,” the man said in perfect English.

“I admire the way camels hold their heads high. They remind me of aristocrats who have fallen on hard times.”

“Interesting,” the man said. “My name is Yousef. I am with the Interior Ministry.”

Saxon knew that the Interior Ministry was synonymous with national security.

“You’re very kind to come out here.”

“Kindness had little to do with this situation.” He opened the folder. “This is the file of the real Hassan.” His manicured fingers extracted several sheets of paper stapled together, which he slid across to Saxon. “And this is the list of antiquities.”

Saxon read the list, which was in English. “This corresponds to the list published by the BaghdadMuseum.”

“Then I am afraid you are too late.” Yousef sat back and tented his fingers. “The items were removed by the army. They are in the possession of a representative from UNESCO. The day after the transfer, Hassan was tortured and murdered.” Yousef drew his finger across his throat.

“If he didn’t have any antiquities, why did he tell me he had them?”

“A thief steals more than once. He may have felt he could dupe a rich foreigner.”

“Do you know who killed him?”

“We are working on it.”

“Who was the UNESCO representative?”

“An Italian woman. Her name is Carina Mechadi.”

“Do you know if she is still in Cairo?”

“She left on a ship with the antiquities some days ago. She is taking them to the United States under an arrangement with the Baghdad government.”

The wind went out of Saxon’s sails. He had been so close to his goal. “May I be allowed to go now?”

“Anytime you wish.” Yousef rose from his chair. “There is always a woman at the heart of every case.”

“Miss Mechadi?”

He shook his head. “Sheba.”

The Egyptian flashed an opaque smile and held the door open. Saxon drove back to the Marriott Hotel. Back in his room, he made some telephone calls and reached a contact at UNESCO, who confirmed that Carina Mechadi was on her way to America.

Saxon went over to the window and looked out on the timeless Nile and the sparkling lights of the ancient city. He recalled Yousef’s smile at the mention of his quest for the ghost of a woman who died three thousand years ago.

After a moment of thought, he picked up the phone again and made reservations for a flight to the United States. Then he began to pack.

His long journey in search of the perfect woman had carried him to the most remote and dangerous places on the globe. He wasn’t about to give up now.

Chapter 8

THE CONTAINERSHIPOcean Adventure could hold nearly two thousand cargo containers, but even at seven thousand tons and a length of five hundred feet it was a pygmy compared with newer box ships that were as long as three football fields laid end to end. The finer points of spatial relativism were lost on Carina Mechadi as she strode along the ship’s long deck huddled against the bone-chilling rawness of the North Atlantic.

Since boarding at Salerno, Carina had arisen early each morning and descended from her cabin on the third level of the bridge house to go on a brisk walk before breakfast. Her compulsion was fueled by an unnecessary obsession with keeping her lithe figure in shape and to sooth her impatience at reaching her destination. The number of laps varied according to the weather, which ranged from raw dampness to the bitingly cold air off the coast of Newfoundland.

The Ocean Adventure inspired little of the romance immortalized by Joseph Conrad’s tales of the doughty tramp steamers that plied the world’s oceans in a bygone age. The ship was a seagoing platform that carried steel container units twenty feet long by about eight feet tall. They were stacked six high and covered most of the deck, except for fore and aft, and narrow aisles on either side. Hundreds more containers were stored belowdecks.

As Carina made her way along the starboard rail, she recalled the chain of events that had brought her to a ship plowing its way across the Atlantic. The murder of Ali Babbas some years before in Baghdad had shocked but not surprised her. Violence always lurked behind the scenes in the high-stakes trade in illegal antiquities. It was a shadowy world where enormous sums of money flowed and gentlemen were rarely found. Ali had probably double- crossed the wrong person.

She had mourned his death nonetheless. Without Ali, it was doubtful she would ever recover the lost cache of antiques. Ali had been the middleman who moved stolen goods to market. He had committed nothing to paper. The names of his buyers and sellers had been in his head. With the sleazy dealer out of the picture, the antiquities she had sought had been scattered to the four winds.

Carina had had plenty to keep her busy once she left Iraq and returned to her UNESCO office in Paris. Months after leaving Baghdad, she’d been was on the trail of a rare Etruscan statue when Auguste Benoir visited her office and presented his card. Benoir was a prim, perfidious man who reminded Carina of Agatha Christie’s fictitious detective Hercule Poirot.

Benoir was a partner in a prestigious Paris law firm, and he got right to the point. “My firm has been retained to represent the Baltazar Foundation,” he said. “Mr. Baltazar is a wealthy businessman and philanthropist. He was quite saddened when he heard about the looting of the BaghdadMuseum. Mr. Baltazar had read an article describing your efforts to find a cache of stolen antiquities, and he is hopeful that with funding from his foundation you could devote your talents to restoring these objects to the Iraqi collection.”

“That’s very kind of Mr. Baltazar,” Carina had replied. “However, I believe I can be more valuable working with a worldwide organization like UNESCO.”

“Forgive me for not being clear about Mr. Baltazar’s proposition. You would not be required to leave UNESCO.”

Carina glanced at the folders piled up on her desk. “As you can see, I am buried in UNESCO work.”

“Understandable.” Benoir produced a single sheet of paper from his briefcase. “This is the agreement that is