The Moses Legacy Read Online Free PDF Page B

house. With its tall, leafy trees, it offered privacy. You could sit here in the shade, reading a book and just forget about the world.
    â€˜It’s been longer than it should have been,’ said Daniel, shaking his professor’s hand warmly. ‘And it’s my fault.’
    It had in fact only been a few months. He had been to Agatha’s funeral and come back to the house afterwards. That was why Roksana knew him well enough to let him in.
    â€˜Nonsense, old chap. I shouldn’t be such an old stick-in-the-mud. I should get out more.’ His voice became softer. ‘Instead of letting myself turn into an old recluse, like one of those characters you read about in those books by…’
    He trailed off.
    Daniel avoided his eyes. Harrison Carmichael was still intellectually vibrant, but he had lost a tiny bit of that spark that Daniel remembered from his own PhD student days, when Carmichael was his supervisor. He didn’t like to think that maybe Carmichael was in the first stages of Alzheimer’sor some other form of dementia, but it was a possibility that he could not deny. He knew that Carmichael had been shattered when Agatha died. It was that recent bereavement that may have taken the spark out of him.
    Daniel just hoped he would get the care that he needed when he needed it. He had the money, but he didn’t have that one special person watching over him to make the decisions for him when they needed to be made. He had a day maid to clean the house and he was still capable of cooking for himself – something that he enjoyed as a hobby, not resented as a chore. But there was no one there to watch out for those tell-tale signs when he might need the help of a trained carer. It pained Daniel to think that he could say nothing on the subject to Professor Carmichael and had no one else to talk to about it.
    â€˜I’ll get Roksana to make some tea.’ He turned to the French doors where Roksana was standing.
    â€˜The kettle is on,’ she shouted. ‘I’ll bring it out to you.’
    He nodded to thank her and then indicated to Daniel to sit.
    â€˜Now tell me what all this is about.’
    Daniel told him about the phone call from Gabrielle yesterday evening, Akil Mansoor’s cryptic invitation and his decision to accept.
    â€˜I would be very careful about going there if I were you, Daniel.’
    â€˜Careful? Why?’
    â€˜Well, you wouldn’t want to get the plague.’
    Daniel felt a flush of embarrassment. It wasn’t like Harrison to make puerile jokes. Daniel wondered idly if this was a symptom of the creeping dementia.
    â€˜I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m just a silly old fool.’
    â€˜I could never think that, Professor.’
    â€˜I wrote a paper about it you know,’ said Carmichael. ‘Based on my translation of an old manuscript in Proto-Sinaitic script. But they’re refusing to publish it.’
    â€˜Who?’
    â€˜The Americans. In The Journal . They say it’s still being peer reviewed, but I know what they’re up to. They’re going to rewrite the article in someone else’s name and claim the credit.’
    Plagiarism in the academic world was hardly unknown, but once a paper was submitted to an academic journal, plagiarism became less likely. It would require the co-operation of too many people.
    â€˜Did you make a copy?’
    â€˜Oh yes. Roksana typed it for me on my computer.’
    â€˜So you’ve got proof of authorship. You could have a copy witnessed by a solicitor.’
    â€˜Yes, but I want them to publish it. People need to know. The plague could come back.’
    â€˜ Which plague?’
    â€˜The sixth.’
    Daniel did a quick flick through the reference pages of his mind. He realized that the professor must be referring to one of the infamous biblical plagues of Egypt.
    â€˜Boils?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜But why would