Missing in Egypt (24 page)

Yasmeen returned then from settling Ramy and her mother-in-law to be into their accommodation.
 
She and Ramy had lots to talk about after being separated for the past few weeks.
 
Tomorrow she would be a married woman and would soon be leaving
Egypt
for
Australia
, as soon as her visa came through.
 
Yasmeen had a lively couple of hours with us before we all went around to the hotel to join Ramy and his

mother for a meal there.
 
Although I enjoyed the evening immensely, I wasn’t sorry when it was time to return to the house.
 
“You go and get some rest Anna,” Waleed said as soon as we returned to the house.
 
“Sleep well, tomorrow will be a big day for us all”.

The wedding was to be held late the next afternoon.
 
Yasmeen, Mrs Hazif and Waleed were having their hair done, but I declined to join them and decided to have a quiet morning and then do my own hair.
 
Ramy was similarly at a loose end and we decided to go to the
palace
of
King Farouk
.
 
Ramy had been there before when he first arrived in
Cairo
.
 
“It seems a hundred years ago since I was here last” he said as we wandered around the huge collection of guns, knives and china which King Farouk had received as presents.
 
They were set out in glass cupboards in wonderfully artistic displays.
 
Afterwards we walked around the gardens, lined with canons.
 
Here we talked about Kareem and Ramy told me how much it would have meant to him to have his older brother there at his wedding.
 
He recalled memories from their childhood and how Kareem had always looked out for him.
 
“I am not surprised he devoted himself to finding me.
 
He always took his responsibilities seriously.
 
Once he had promised our parents he would find me, he was not going to stop until he did.”
 
I asked Ramy what had happened once the police had located them in the shed.
 
“We were taken straight to the police station, where we gave a statement covering everything that had happened to us from the time Yasmeen and I were seized.
 
Then I was taken to the
Australian Embassy
.
 
Yasmeen and Masud were interviewed by the government officials concerned with looking after Egyptian treasurers.”
 
“Did John Turner look after you at the Consulate?” I inquired.
 
“Yes, I had to wait a while for him to arrive, but then he interviewed me himself and took me to the hotel they had chosen for me.”

“When you say you had to wait for him, why didn’t he accompany you from the police station?”
 
“He said he had somet
hing to attend to” Ramy replied
“
Yasmeen told me later she saw him interviewing Gahiji.
 
She said he was really laying down the law to him.
 
I think he was trying to find out who he was working for, but as you know, none of them gave up the identities of anyone else involved.
 
We only know there was someone called Mohammed – but of course nearly every second person in
Egypt
is called Mohammed in one of the many versions of the spelling of it!”
 

By now it was time to return to the house to help prepare for the wedding. Ramy went back to the hotel to spend his last couple of hours as a single man with his mother and I lent a hand in the Ahmose household.

The wedding was a grand affair with over 200 guests. Yasmeen was dazzling in her bejewelled wedding dress.
 
The white of the dress against her long, black hair and strong features was stunning.
 
The service in the local Church was perfect, even if I
couldn’t understand the words
.
 
The reception, held in the village square, was something I will always remember.
 
Large tables were set out laden with food prepared by the women.
 
Everyone had helped – I had cut up fruit and bread – and everyone was in a good mood.
 
The weather was perfect – the sun shone so brightly we had been glad of the coolness inside the Church for the service.
 
Now it was a warm and balmy evening with just the hint of
a
breeze.
 
As the night wore on the stars were there in their thousands, as if sending down a blessing on the happy couple from above. There was much laughter and lots of dancing.
 
Masud insisted on dancing with both Mrs Hazif and myself. Watching Ramy and Yasmeen I couldn’t remember ever seeing a happier couple and I just prayed that, after all they had been through, theirs would be a long and happy marriage.
 
Later that night we waved them off on their honeymoon by the
Red Sea
.

The next day I caught my flight back to
Australia
with Mrs Hazif.
 
We talked most of the way about the wedding and a mother’s hopes that she would soon be a grandmother.
 

When I arrived home there was a message on the answering machine from John.
 
“Can’t wait to see you – hope everything went well in
Egypt
.”
 
I didn’t ring him straight away, I needed some time to step back and think. I was pleased he hadn’t been at the airport to meet me. Going to Kareem’s brother’s wedding, with his mother, was very hard.
 
Knowing I was already involved with someone else was even harder.
 
Everything was happening so fast I needed time to adjust to it.
 
I sat in the garden in the sun and drifted.

I was woken by the phone.
 
“Shall I come to you or will you come over here?” John wanted to know.
 
“I still have some washing to do – how about I come over to you tonight?” I hedged.
 
“Okay – I’ll cook” he replied.
 
“How was the wedding?”
 
“It was beautiful – Yasmeen looked amazing and they were both so happy.”
 
“I’m glad you enjoyed it” John said.
 
“It must have been hard with so many memories of Kareem.”
 
“It was.
 
I just need today to get my head around it.”
 
“I do understand” John said sympathetically.
 
“Really I do.
 
I’ll see you tonight”.

We had a lovely evening and John was very attentive.
 
I think he really had missed me!
 
He cooked chicken and pasta in white wine and cream.
 
We had a bottle of good champagne and a Sarah Lee chocolate dessert.
 
This was the first time I had dated a man who could prepare a meal – it was quite a change!
 
“What have you been doing in my absence?” I asked him.
 
“Not a lot” he replied.
 
“I spent a day at
Bondi
Beach
and another at Balmoral.
 
It’s not quite as much fun on your own though.”
 
 
He made no mention of looking for work or of any business deals. When we turned in for the night our lovemaking was passionate yet tender and I fell asleep wrapped in his arms.
 
No wonder I had fallen for this man.

I returned to work after this brief trip feeling more tired than before I left.
 
As usual, things were full on and I had no time to think about how I felt about John or how he was able to maintain such an extravagant lifestyle without any signs of seeking employment.
 

The following Saturday we spent the day together.
 
We wandered around Circular Quay, watching the ferries coming and going, the touris
ts wandering around and listening to
the buskers.
 
John said he would cook dinner so we went back to his apartment.
 
He was in the middle of cooking when he realised he had forgotten to buy the wine.
 
“I’ll just pop downstairs and get some”.
 
“I can go if you like” I offered.
 

“No, sit down and enjoy the view – just keep an eye on the pan and I’ll be back in a shake.”
 
As he headed out to the lift the phone rang.
 
I let it ring – I knew the answering machine would take it.
 
It was a man’s voice with a thick accent – he sounded Egyptian to me. “The shipment has arrived.
 
Please arrange to clear it on Monday.”
 
The message sent a chill down my spine - could it be that John was somehow involved with bringing the antiquities into
Australia
?
 
Before I could give it much thought he was back with the wine.
 
I didn’t mention the call – I saw him glance over to the flashing light and then ignore it, but he was edgy all though our meal.
 
When I came out of the shower the light had gone off so John had taken his message and seemed much more relaxed.
 
What would he do next?

Sunday morning I had arranged to meet some girlfriends for lunch and I was relieved to have an excuse to get away early.
 
I needed time to think.
 
My head was spinning and my mind certainly wasn’t on our conversation over lunch. I rang John afterwards and told him I had a throbbing headache (which was sort of true) and I was going straight home to lie down.

By Monday morning I had made some headway with my thoughts.
 
I had recalled that Gahiji had a brother, Rohmald, living in
Australia
.
 
Maybe there was a link there.
 
I spoke to Jim and told him what I was thinking.
 
He gave me his full support and suggested I contact Customs.
 
First I rang the police officer I had spoken to in
Egypt
.
 
Fortunately he remembered me and was able to give
me Gahiji’s surname – El-Masri. 
I then rang the Parliamentary Liaison officer in Customs.
 
Di and I had spoken many times and were quite friendly.
 
I explained to her briefly what had happened in
Egypt
and told her I had a feeling there would be a container coming through from
Egypt
being sent to a Mr Rohmald El-Masri – or a John Turner.
 
I believed it contained the missing Egyptian antiquities.
 
Di thanked me for the call and promised to pass on the information to the Customs officers at
Sydney
.
 
She assured me they would look out for it and arrange for a search if it turned up.
 
I hung up the phone feeling like a traitor.
 
Did I really believe that the man I had been seeing for the past weeks was capable of stealing from the Egyptian government?

Later that day, Di called me back.
 
“We have found your container” she said.
 
“It wa
s addressed to Rohmald El-Masri
and marked as containing souvenirs.
 
However when the officers opened it and looked behind the couple of cheap souvenirs at the front, they were blown away by the quality of the treasures it contained.
 
They resealed it and waited for the agent listed on the paperwork to come and clear it – John Turner.
 
He has
been taken in for questioning.
 
Police and Customs officers then went to Rohmald’s address in
Western Sydney
and arrested him.
 
So far he has admitted he knew the shipment was coming but maintains that he was only doing a favour for his brother, Gahiji.
 
He had nothing to do with the actual removal of the items from the tomb, nor their shipment from
Egypt
.
 
He had just been told a container full of souvenirs was being sent to
Australia
and they needed to use his name and address until their contact could claim them.”