"Connie Willis - Death on the Nile" - читать интересную книгу автора (Willis Connie)

On top of my suitcase is a book, and I think, тАЬItтАЩs the travel guide,тАЭ even though I know Zoe would
never have left it behind, and I hurry over to pick it up.

It is not Egypt Made Easy. It is my Death on the Nile, lying open and facedown the way Lissa left it on
the boat, but I pick it up anyway and open it to the last pages, searching for the place where Hercule
Poirot explains all the strange things that have been happening, where he solves the mystery.

I cannot find it. I thumb back through the book, looking for a map. There is always a map in Agatha
Christie, showing who had what stateroom on the ship, showing the stairways and the doors and the
unimpressive rooms leading one into another, but I cannot find that either. The pages are covered with
long unreadable columns of hieroglyphics.

I close the book. тАЬThereтАЩs no point in waiting for Zoe,тАЭ I say, looking past the luggage at the door to the
next room. It is lower than the one I came through, and dark beyond. тАЬSheтАЩs obviously gone on to the
Hall of Judgment.тАЭ

I walk over to the door, holding the book against my chest. There are stone steps leading down. I can see
the top one in the dim light from the burial chamber. It is steep and very narrow.


file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruiswi...ar/Connie%20Willis%20-%20Death%20on%20the%20Nile.html (23 of 24)19-2-2006 4:07:47
 Death on the Nile

I toy briefly with the idea that it will not be so bad after all, that I am dreading it like the clergyman, and
it will turn out to be not judgment but someone I know, a smiling bishop in a white suit, and mercy is
not a modern refinement after all.

тАЬI have not murdered another,тАЭ I say, and my voice does not echo. тАЬI have not committed adultery.тАЭ

I take hold of the doorjamb with one hand so I wonтАЩt fall on the stairs. With the other I hold the book
against me. тАЬGet back, you evil ones,тАЭ I say. тАЬStay away. I adjure you in the name of Osiris and Poirot.
My spells protect me. I know the way.тАЭ

I begin my descent.




file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruiswi...ar/Connie%20Willis%20-%20Death%20on%20the%20Nile.html (24 of 24)19-2-2006 4:07:47