'Nor to me,' Bronson said. 'This is the correct order of the words.'
----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----
The final oblong, containing the text of the tablet held in the Paris museum, read:
'And this is the list of words in the right order.'
'When Baverstock described this as gibberish, he wasn't kidding,' Bronson added. 'Can you make any sense of it?'
Angela groaned. 'No,' she said, 'but whatever system of encryption the author of these tablets used, it must have been something fairly simple. I mean, at this period of history there
She pointed at the two lower oblongs Bronson had drawn. 'He said that this word here –
'Why?'
'Because Aramaic text is read from right to left, not left to right, but the word
'I see what you mean,' Bronson said slowly. He leant back in the chair and stretched. 'Look, we seem to have been stuck in this hotel room all day trying to work this out. Why don't we have a bite to eat downstairs? It might clear our thoughts, and we might even have a flash of inspiration.'
35
'I tell you, Charlie, I was lucky to get out of Morocco in one piece. If that bastard had guessed I was standing in the crowd, I really believe he'd have killed me right there.'
'And this was out in the open?' Charlie Hoxton was hearing for the first time about the events Dexter had witnessed in Rabat. The two men had met in a noisy pub near Petworth, and Dexter had just handed over the card that he'd obtained from Zebari. 'In broad daylight?' Hoxton persisted.
Dexter nodded. 'It was just after nine this morning, and there were plenty of people about. He didn't care at all. One of his men shot Zebari in the head, then they got back in the car and drove away. I just legged it, straight to the airport. I didn't even stop to pick up my clothes.'
Hoxton nodded and looked again at the piece of card he was holding, turning it over in his hands. 'And all he was interested in doing was getting this back,' he said to himself. 'That's good. Very good indeed.'
'What do you mean 'good'?' Dexter demanded.
'I mean that if Zebari's killer is so desperate to recover the tablet, he must know it's genuine. But where the hell is it?'
Dexter ignored the question. 'He's bloody dangerous, Charlie, and he knows my name. He might be over here already, looking for me, and maybe for you as well.'
'I'm bloody dangerous too, Dexter, and don't you forget it.'
Across the table, Dexter could see the unmistakable bulge of a shoulder holster under Hoxton's left arm.
'And I'm not very impressed with this bloody card,' Hoxton snapped. 'The picture's not much better than the ones we've already got, and it's certainly not worth fifteen grand. Couldn't you have cancelled the deal once you saw it?'
'I tried,' Dexter said, 'but he pulled a gun on me.'
Hoxton grunted in displeasure. 'And what the bloody hell does this bit here say? Is that a copy of the Aramaic text?'
Dexter shook his head. 'No. That's just an explanation of where the tablet came from. It's in Arabic, but I've written out a rough translation for you.'
Hoxton dropped the card on the table and took the sheet of paper Dexter offered. He unfolded it and read the English text.
'Is this accurate?' he demanded.
'It's probably not an exact translation – my Arabic isn't good enough for that – but it's close enough, I think.'
Hoxton didn't reply, just scanned the words on the page.
'It doesn't tell us much, does it?' he said. 'It's like an exhibit card in a museum.'
Dexter nodded. 'Zebari told me the tablet had been displayed in a case in one of the public rooms in the
