CHAPTER XII
Third Brother Stops Smiling
Rick opened the door to a knock at precisely two minutes of seven, andadmitted Kernel Moustafa. The Egyptian shook hands politely. "It takessome time to get a call through," he said, "so I placed our call an hourago. The operator assured me it would go through precisely at seven."
Moustafa turned to Scotty and shook hands again. "According to my watch,we have only a few seconds to wait. Mr. Brant, you will answer thephone, if you please. Identify Bartouki to your own satisfaction, thenask him about Kemel Moustafa. Then turn the phone over to me, and I willtalk with him. After that you take the phone back again, and he willgive you final instructions. This is acceptable?"
"Absolutely," Rick said. He thought quickly. How could he establishBartouki's identity for certain? Then, as the phone rang, he knew.
Rick answered. "Rick Brant speaking."
"On your call to New York. Mr. Bartouki is on the line. Go ahead,please."
Rick raised his voice instinctively. After all, New York was a longdistance away! Then he realized that electronic facilities reduce theneed for shouting, and lowered it again. "Mr. Bartouki? This is RickBrant."
"Good morning, Rick. Ah, but this is evening in Cairo, is it not?"
Rick was sure he identified the little merchant's voice, but he wentahead anyway. "Mr. Bartouki, please forgive me, but I must establishyour identity beyond any doubt. Can you tell me what color dress mysister Barbara wore at your reception, and the color of her hair andeyes?"
"Of course. Her dress was a very attractive blue wool with a red leatherbelt. She is very blond, with dark-blue eyes, and she is about myheight."
Rick was satisfied. "Thank you, sir. The reason I had to be careful isthis. We went to Ali Moustafa's shop, and a man who did not answer yourdescription of Ali Moustafa pretended to be him. We refused to give upthe cat. Then our room was searched. We received a letter from FuadMoustafa, and when we went to his house it was padlocked. Last night aman came to our room with a pistol and demanded the cat. We gave him acopy we had made in concrete. I should add we also were attacked infront of the Egyptian Museum by men who searched us. That was why wemade the copies in concrete. The real one is hidden. Then, this morning,we were attacked again, inside the pyramid. We were rescued by KemelMoustafa. He is here with us now. If you approve, we will give him thecat. If not, tell us what to do with it."
Bartouki's voice sounded incredulous over the ocean miles. "This isincredible! I must know the meaning of this. May I speak to Kemel?"
Rick handed the phone to the third brother and listened. Kemel launchedimmediately into a rapid flow of Arabic.
Scotty interrupted, "Can you speak in English please?"
Kemel stopped abruptly. "Of course. Forgive me." He spoke into thephone. "Your young American friends want me to speak in English,Mohammed. They are cautious, and they have reason. I did not know oftheir room being searched, the man who came with a pistol, or the attackin front of the museum. I arrived this morning because I had gone to theradio telescope to look for them.... Yes ... yes, most certainly I willtry to find out who has caused them such trouble. Ali and Fuad are inBeirut. It is because of our father. You know that he has been very ill?Yes, by all means send a cable. It will be appreciated. And now, if youwill tell Mr. Brant ... yes ... _ma'e salamet Ellah_, Mohammed. Allahprotect you."
Moustafa handed the phone to Rick. The boy said quickly, "Yes, sir?"
"My dear boy, I am very upset by this affair." Bartouki soundedagitated, even across the miles. "Kemel will try to find out what hasbeen going on. Meanwhile, please give him the model. And accept myapologies for getting you into such a situation, and my thanks for yourloyalty to our model cat. I hope to show my appreciation when youreturn, and I shall certainly want to hear all about this. But for now,trust Kemel. He is my friend and associate."
Rick promised to do so, said good-by, and hung up. He turned to Moustafaand Scotty. "Mr. Bartouki agrees. We turn the cat over."
Kemel stroked his mustache. "Yes. But first, I must know of theseattacks. Can you describe the men who attacked you at the EgyptianMuseum?"
Scotty could, and did. He gave complete details of dress and appearance.
The Egyptian shook his head. "I'm afraid the descriptions mean nothing.They did not harm you?"
"They could have," Rick stated. "But they only searched us. We didn'thave the cat with us, and it took only seconds for them to find out."
Moustafa's brows creased. "I can make no sense of this. Why would anyonewant the cat?"
Rick and Scotty laughed mirthlessly. "That's exactly the same questionwe asked ourselves a thousand times," Rick said.
"And you made copies of concrete? That was extremely clever of you. Ibelieve you gave one to a man who showed up here?"
Rick described the encounter, and he gave a detailed description of theman. Before he was through, Moustafa was nodding his head.
"I recognize this man! From your description, it can only be oneYoussef. He is a well-known thief, and the leader of a gang. My brotherFuad was once requested to defend him, and refused. Another lawyer withless scruples took the case and got him off."
"But why would a thief want the cat?" Scotty asked.
Moustafa shook his head. "I do not know. Unless he intends to sell themodel to a manufacturer, or to produce cats for sale himself. Or, if heknows how much time, money, and planning we have invested in this cat,he may see it as a means of revenge on the Moustafas because Fuad wouldnot take his case."
The answer was logical enough, but it didn't ring true to Rick. At leastthe revenge part didn't. What had Youssef said? "_I have no sentimentalattachment to this object. I merely want it._" A motive of revenge wouldbe emotional, even if not exactly sentimental.
"Why do you carry a pistol?" Rick asked suddenly.
It took Moustafa a moment to reply. "I have enemies," he explained. "Iwill not bore you with an explanation of why this is, but the reasonsare not related to this cat."
"How did you know the cat in the pyramid was not the right one?" Scottydemanded.
Moustafa studied the boy for a long moment before he replied. Heshrugged. "I have been a contractor. I know concrete. The cat youbrought is of plastic, which does not break. Or, if it does, it breaksdifferently. From your questions, I see you still harbor suspicions. Wasnot Bartouki's word enough?"
"It was," Rick said. "Only we'd like to know about these attacks. Whowere the men, and why did they want the cat?"
"Then my explanation does not seem sufficient. I am truly sorry, becausewe are in your debt. But I cannot tell you more, because I know no more.The only thing I can do is talk to some people I know who may have moreclues to Youssef's behavior."
Moustafa's attitude changed subtly. "Now, where is the cat?"
Rick was suddenly glad he didn't have it at hand. "It's in the EgyptianMuseum," he said.
Moustafa exploded. "What!"
"That's right," Scotty added coolly. "We saw the men trailing us, soRick hid the cat in the museum. If he hadn't, the thieves would have itnow."
Moustafa sank down into a chair, a hand to his forehead. "But this isterrible! We can never recover it! Surely by now the museum curator hasit."
Rick shook his head. "I don't think so. And I'm sure we can recover it."
"But how? Guards swarm everywhere. They are alert, because there was abig robbery not long ago. Everyone is watched. Everyone! I don'tunderstand even how you could hide it without being seen."
"We have our own methods," Rick assured him. "And we'll get the catback. If you will come here tomorrow night it will be waiting for you."
Moustafa rose and walked to the door. He looked at the boys, and abovethe luxuriant mustache, dark eyes blazed at them. "It had better be," hesaid flatly. "If you are caught by the museum guards you had better sayit was a joke. As Americans, you may be believed. Do not connect me, ormy brothers, or Bartouki with this thing! But get that cat! I don't carehow. But get it!"
&nbs
p; He slammed the door behind him.
Rick looked at Scotty. "Get it, or else?"
"Or else," Scotty confirmed. "He didn't say it, but he meant it."
Rick put his thoughts into words. "No one gets that excited over aplastic model. The cat is important for some other reason. But what?"
"I'll ask a different question for a change. Who would you rather haveon your trail, Moustafa or Youssef?"
Rick stared at his pal for a long moment while he digested theimplications of the question. "I see what you mean," he said finally."There are two groups after the cat. Right? I've wondered about thatmyself, since we were rescued by Kemel this morning. So we're caughtbetween a pair of tough characters, like eggs in the jaws of a vise."
Scotty finished grimly, "And right now the jaws are closing. Fast."
A thought struck Rick and he grinned. "How about scrambled eggs for NewYear's Eve dinner?"
"What?"
"It's New Year's Eve."
Scotty reached in his pocket and found a pocket calendar. He consultedit. "Hey, you're not kidding!"
"Nope. So, as the year closes, where are we? Caught between Kemel andYoussef."
"Maybe next year will bring better things," Scotty said with a grin.
"Uhuh. But for whom?"
"That," Scotty said, "remains to be seen!"