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 I think, that gentleman said, holding up a forestalling hand,  you found more than that, Papa Antonio.
Papa Antonio nodded.  We did. I decide we should check all the other windows. Of all the windows in
the house, only one more set of bars is loose those on Stefano s room.
Stephen s tea cup rattled as he set it in the saucer with a jerk.
 My room! Then I did hear someone moving around.
 You did, Papa Antonio said.  I think that someone comes to your room just as to Leonardo and Jenny.
He opens the door the littlest bit, but there is light within. He draws back, unwilling to have you give
alarm. To permit this would be to stop his comrades who are doing such good work. Perhaps he plans to
have them help him after their work is done, perhaps you are to be let live and he will slip away.
The young linguist s mouth was opening and shutting, but no sound came forth. Jenny took mercy on
Stephen, inserting a question of her own to give him a chance to recover his equilibrium.
 How did the men get in here? she asked.  Over the roof?
 I think not, Papa Antonio said.  The door to the storage room used by my guest the textiles merchant is
unlocked. He found it so when in the commotion he awoke. Once he heard there had been intruders, of
course he thinks for his wares. There is evidence that several men hid within among the boxes and bales.
 Did he know his porters? Jenny asked, already knowing how unlikely this would be.
 No. He hired a gang boss on the docks when his boat came in. The boss brought his own men.
Probably these three simply picked up bales of fabric, carried them inside, then hid themselves. The lock
is not difficult to open. It is meant more to keep someone from wandering in than to prevent the door
from being opened.
 They were lucky, Stephen said,  but I see they didn t trust in luck alone to get away.
 No, Papa Antonio said.  Why cross the courtyard twice? That is where they would most likely be
discovered. Why chance the locked front door? My porter keeps half an ear awake in case someone
needs him. The window is so much easier.
 It seems to me that they may have intended to come in through one or more of the windows, Neville
said thoughtfully.  The arrival of your guest with his purchases simplified matters, and they did not hesitate
to adapt their plans. Three men could have removed the grille from any of our windows fairly quietly if it
had already been loosened, then they would slip in and . . .
His gaze fell to where Jenny s neat bandaging wrapped his chest.
 What did they want? Stephen asked plaintively.  I mean, is this the same gang that went after Sir
Neville years ago? Are those men connected to the bandits in the desert who foiled Alphonse
Liebermann s first venture, or was that mere coincidence? They were dressed like Anubis, and Anubis is
the protector of the dead.
 I wish I knew, Neville said.
He was about to say more when Emily, who had been listening in mingled horror and fascination from
one side of the room, gave a sudden sharp cry.
 Is everything all right, Emily? Jenny asked, turning sharply, her hand dipping to where her six-shooter
waited, heavy and reassuring in the pocket of her dressing gown.
 I m fine, Miss Benet, Emily said, looking nervously at her.  I just remembered something the porter
gave me when I went back to the kitchen. I d forgotten until now.
She held out a flat, white rectangle addressed to  Sir Neville Hawthorne and Companions at Papa
Antonio s address.
Emily continued.  The porter said he found it dropped near the doorway. Maybe one of those men was
carrying it.
Jenny accepted the envelope and held it to the light, feeling dully certain what she would see.
 I know the handwriting, she said, tilting the envelope so that Stephen and Uncle Neville could see.  It is
our correspondent again.
The two men nodded. Everyone else looked mildly confused. The servants, however, would not pry.
Papa Antonio seemed to sense that Jenny must have her reasons for being oblique.
 We ll leave that letter  til morning, Sir Neville said, taking it and placing it in his bedside table, wincing
as he pulled his wound.  Even if it spelled out the situation in chapter and verse, we would be no better
off. It is late, and I think we should all endeavor to get some sleep.
 I couldn t sleep in my room, Jenny interrupted hurriedly.  I don t want to seem a coward, but I really
couldn t, not with the bars broken out and everything.
Papa Antonio agreed.  For tonight we will change rooms. I have already spoken to several stout young
men, older brothers of Castor and Pollux, and they are very eager to sleep in these rooms and forestall
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