The Incubus by David Penny

Author:David Penny [Penny, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780993076152
Publisher: Rivertree Print
Published: 2017-02-13T07:00:00+00:00

It was full dark by the time Thomas and Faris al-Rashid made their way up the steep cobbled street that led to the top of the cliff, winding up through sheer-walled houses on one side, gardens clinging to the slope on the other. The presence of an army on its doorstep had subdued the mood of the town and there were few people on the streets. Faris had said little, only enough to make it clear he believed he had been instrumental in the negotiations. Martin de Alarcón would have seen to that. Thomas passed on what he knew, knowing the Governor would listen to Faris sooner than him.

He returned the fine horse to the stables and made his way into the palace, thinking to see the Governor in any case. He wanted to ensure Faris passed on everything he should. But Abraham al-Haquim had already gone to bed with orders not to be disturbed.

Shaking his head at the stupidity of the man, Thomas wound through corridors that were growing more familiar. Al-Haquim had made a suite of rooms available to him and Lubna, a distinct improvement on their previous lodgings. Thomas found her there, poring over a medical text.

She glanced up, smiled. “I liberated this from the library after taking care of that man.”

“Did you examine him carefully first?”

“Of course.” Lubna slipped a piece of thread between the pages to mark her place and closed the book. “Like the others it was made to look accidental. The method is subtle. Most would miss the signs unless they knew what to look for. It is near impossible to tell the cause of death, it is nothing like a violent strangulation. Oh, and he’d had sex recently before he died.”

“You could tell?”

“Of course I could tell. Men leave more obvious sign than a woman.”

Thomas sat and offered a distracted kiss to her cheek, his mind already following skeins of logic. “So are we seeking two individuals − a woman as well as a man? Or do they work in concert? We saw a woman at the top of the cliff. I thought her presence a coincidence, but perhaps she is part of it.”

“How long have you known Jorge?” asked Lubna, causing Thomas to frown.

“What has he to do with anything? You know how long, it’s been…” He hesitated, working it out in his head, subtracting to come up with an answer that surprised him. “Twenty years. I operated on him when he was twelve.”

“And still you think because the librarian had sex it must have been with a woman?”

“Well, no, but…” Thomas stopped, knowing Lubna had caught him out. “Jorge has sex with women, he tells me all the time.”

“Only women?”

“Is there any way to tell if Khalil had been with another man or a woman?” He began to warm to the subject. “A man would make sense, of course. So a man then.”

“It was a suggestion,” said Lubna, “nothing more.”

“A good one, though.” Thomas unwound his tagelmust and scratched at his head, convinced he had picked up fleas as he passed through the Spanish camp.

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