The Fig Tree Murder Read Online Free PDF Page B

likely that Varages was another lawyer. With Mahmoud, that made four of them. This meeting wasn’t going to get anywhere, decided Owen.
    ‘The Tree, actually, is beside the point,’ he said.
    ‘I thought you told me I had to look out?’ said the foreman.
    ‘That was because of the attitude of a local sheikh—’
    ‘That awkward old bugger?’
    ‘If it’s a question of compensation—’ began the lawyer again.
    ‘Pay him and let’s get the Tree moved,’ said Varages impatiently.
    ‘It’s not—’
    ‘Can we get the ownership straight?’ cut in the other lawyer. ‘It belongs to this old sheikh—?’
    ‘No,’ said Owen. ‘It belongs to a Copt. His name is Daniel. But—’
    ‘Ah, the ownership is disputed? Well, that gives us our chance, then. It will have to be settled in the courts. A Copt, you say? And a sheikh? That will be the Native Tribunals, then—’
    ‘I wouldn’t recommend that,’ said the other lawyer. ‘Not in the circumstances. Much better to get it referred straight to the Mixed Courts—’
    ‘On the grounds that the Syndicate is a party? Well, yes, of course, that is a possibility—’
    ‘Listen,’ said Varages, ‘we don’t want to get this tied up forever in the courts. We’ve got to get on with it. How long is it all going to take?’
    ‘About four years.’
    ‘Four years! Jesus! Can’t you speed it up a bit?’
    ‘If the Syndicate cared to use its influence—’
    ‘What would it take then?’
    The lawyers looked at each other.
    ‘Two years?’ one of them ventured.
    ‘Two years? Listen, two months would be too long! We’ll have to do something else. Or rather—yes, that’s it. Why don’t we just dig up the Tree and argue about it afterwards? It wouldn’t matter then how long you took—’
    ‘Dig up the Tree of the Virgin,’ said Owen, ‘and you’ll have the whole desert in flames!’
    ‘Did you say the Tree of the Virgin?’ asked one of the lawyers.
    ‘Yes, it’s—’
    ‘The Tree of the Virgin?’ said the other lawyer. ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘Yes, but—’
    ‘Does that make a difference?’ asked Varages.
    ‘It certainly does. Captain Owen is quite right. The desert would be in flames. However, that is not the real difficulty.’
    ‘Not the real difficulty?’ said Owen.
    ‘No. Not from a legal point of view. The fact is—correct me if I’m wrong,’ he said, looking at his colleague, ‘the fact is that, well, the Tree doesn’t belong to either the sheikh or the Copt—’
    ‘The Copt’s put a railing round it,’ said Owen.
    ‘Who does it belong to, then?’ asked Varages.
    ‘The Empress Eugenie.’
    ‘Just a minute,’ said Varages, ‘the
Empress Eugenie
? Of
France
?’
    ‘That’s right. The Khedive gave it to her. In 1869. When she came to open the Suez Canal.’
    ‘Gave it to her?’
    ‘Yes. As a present.’
    There was a moment’s stunned silence.
    ‘It’s still there!’ said Owen. ‘I saw it yesterday!’
    ‘Yes. She didn’t want to take it with her.’
    ‘And it—it still belongs to her?’
    ‘In theory, yes.’
    ‘We could ask the courts to pronounce,’ said the other lawyer eagerly.
    ‘How long would that take?’ asked the site foreman.
    ‘Oh, about eight years.’
    ‘I don’t think we’d better move the Tree,’ said Varages.
    ‘I would strongly advise against it.’
    ‘The French wouldn’t like it.’
    ‘They wouldn’t, indeed. They might even, I go so far as to suggest, see fit to treat it as a
casus belli
.’
    ‘Moving the Tree? A cause of war?’
    ‘It cannot be ruled out. As Captain Owen will know better than anybody, the French have always resented their exclusion from Egypt by the British. They might see this as an opportunity to reassert their influence.’
    ‘I don’t care who runs Egypt,’ said Varages, ‘just so long as I can get on with my job. Which happens to be building a railway. What are we going to do about this Tree?’
    ‘The Tree, actually, is beside the point,’ said