A girl stood there, petite, slender, looking right and left in a rather bewildered way. He saw her fumble in a satchel swung from her shoulder, and he saw a small parcel drop as she did so.
Shaun was only two paces behind her. He checked his stride, picked up the parcel and stepped forward.
"You're losing your property, I'm afraid!"
"Oh, thank you!" Maureen turned swiftly. She met the glance of smiling grey eyes, saw a dark, sun-tanned face with clean-cut features, a man who wore a smart drill suit, who looked civilised.
Her eyes searched the smiling face.
"Heaven be praised, you're an American," Maureen murmured. "You see, I'm lost! I was trying to find the address of some beach place I'm to go for lunch."
Shaun was looking at a fresh-faced girl with frank blue eyes of the kind which in Ireland they say are put in with smutty fingers. A piquant face. She wore a white frock which left her arms bare, and a big sun-hat with a green veil.
"Are you with the Cunard cruise?"
"That's right."
"Then I expect lunch will be at the Casino. If we can find a taxi, the Consulate is right on the way. You can drop me off."
"But where do we find a taxi?"
"That's the problem!" Shaun grinned. "Mine as well as yours. Come on."
He took her arm, and Maureen found herself being hurried headlong forward by this attractive stranger.
"My name's Shaun Bantry," he volunteered, as they raced along.
"Maureen Lonergan!" She was breathless.
"Good Irish names." They came out onto Sharie el-Gami. "And our luck's in. Here's a taxi!"
Shaun held the door for Maureen, jumped in beside her and gave rapid orders in Arabic to the driver.
She looked aside at him, wondering why all the wrong men came on cruises. Shaun, considering Maureen as the taxi got under way, was wondering why most of the girls with whom his wandering life brought him in touch were so unlike Maureen. She had astonishingly long lashes, and her wavy chestnut hair under the white hat gleamed delightfully. As they talked, and his glance followed those exciting waves, out of the tail of his right eye he saw a grey sedan following the taxi.
Theo Leidler, dark eyes intent, was seated beside an Egyptian driver who wore a fez!
Shaun swore silently. He had slipped up somewhere. Lei-dier's suspicions were aroused. Or else — someone had given him away. Otherwise, why should Leidler follow him?
"There's a change of plan." Shaun spoke so sharply that Maureen was startled. "I'm going to drop you first, and take the taxi on… "
When she said goodbye to Shaun, Maureen found a strong contingent from the Antonia already halfway through lunch under the palm trees of the Casino. Shelley Downing, the queen of the cruise, was surrounded by her usual court. Mrs Sim-monds near by, was lunching with other members of the cruise, and she invited Maureen to join them. When Maureen had begun her lunch: "How did you get on with your shopping, Maureen?" she inquired.
"I think I got everything," Maureen said. "Nothing really matches, of course!" Maureen took out a list and checked the [terns. "Green dye for white stockings. Wrong shade. Beads, earrings. Awful! But they won't look bad at night. Shoes!" A frown appeared between her level brows. "I've forgotten the shoes!"
Maureen considered the problem with all the seriousness which it called for. Her glance strayed vaguely from the group, and presently paused. She had seen a white coat with a pink stripe — and the man who wore it sat alone at the very next table!
Their glances met. He smiled and bowed slightly, and then turned away, but Maureen had the uncomfortable feeling that his attention was still fixed on her. For some unaccountable reason, she was suddenly frightened. Perhaps there was nothing in it. But it seemed queer to meet the man again here. Then she squared her shoulders and looked at her watch. Her mind was made up.
"Just time to get to Simon Arzt's. I'll skip lunch." She pushed her chair back. 'They are sure to have something there." She stood up impetuously and hurried out to find a taxi, an easier matter at the Casino.
It was only moments later when the dark man put some money on a plate where a bill lay and unobtrusively followed…
When Maureen hurried into the big store her watch told her that she had less than twenty-five minutes to spare before the Antonia was due to sail. It was all very well to live dangerously, Maureen thought, but she mustn't miss the ship.
She ran along to the shoe department and once more pulled out the fragment of green material. A young Indian gentleman, with excellent manners and a leisurely style of speech which nearly drove her crazy, examined the sample for a long time.
"It is an unusual shade, madam." He sighed.
"Just bring me a lot of green shoes. Size five. I must do the best I can."
"Yes, madam."
He walked away. His carriage was graceful and slow. Mau-reen saw him pause to discuss something with another customer, and when this conversation ended, he disappeared completely. Maureen, constantly looking at her watch, checked the passing seconds. The polite Indian had not returned when a sound dimly reached her ears. It was the deep warning note of the Antonio's whistle. She had just fifteen minutes to make the ship I She was halfway to the door when the graceful salesman overtook her.
"Madame!" He dropped a litter of boxes at her feet 'There is plenty of time. Always American ladies are in such a hurry. Now, you see—" he opened a box — "these shoes, madam—"
"Are they my size?"
"But, yes, madam."
"They'll do!" Maureen fumbled frantically in her satchel. "The price, please?"
Maureen thrust several dollar bills into his hand, grabbed the box and ran.
Out on the street she stood still for a moment, trying to get her bearings. No taxi was in sight.
Panic threatened, but Maureen conquered it.
She had come straight from the ship to Simon Arzt's and she must remember the way… Of coursel It suddenly came back to her!
Looking all the time for a taxi, she set out, almost running. Would they delay sailing if she hadn't come on board?
Whatever would happen to her if she got left behind in Port Said?
When he dropped Maureen at the Casino, Shaun had found himself badly puzzled to learn that Theo Leidler's grey sedan was no longer following. It seemed as if his theory that Leidler had identified him must be wrong.
But if Leidler wasn't tailing him, who was he tailing?
Shaun drove straight to the US Consulate. There was much to do, and little time to do it.
First, he called the chief of police, to tell him that a dead man was sitting in a certain cafe in the Arab quarter — unless someone had jogged his elbow, in which case he would be lying on the floor.
The first ship scheduled to leave Port Said that day was the Antonio, at two o'clock; so Shaun's next call was to Cook's who were managing the cruise.
What he learned there convinced him that his time was even more limited than he had supposed.
Theo Leidler had just booked a passage on the Antonial "Hold one for me!" He hung up.
Shaun glanced at his watch. He couldn't hope to get to the cafe and back.
But there were so many things he must know.
He drove to his hotel, bundled his kit into a bag, paid his bill, and made a dash for the police station.
He spent all of fifteen precious minutes with the chief of police, and then raced to Cook's to pick up his steamer ticket.
His taxi wasn't far from the docks when another car caught his eye. A grey sedan — surely, it was Leidler's — sped past, swerved in, was pulled up with screaming brakes. The Egyptian driver sprang out. This street was nearly deserted. Heavy shadows, cast by a dock building, lay blackly across it. Shaun had a hazy impression of a slight figure, running.