“I suppose so, but you cannot prevent every bad thing. Sutcliffe at least had begun to back off—he finally was accepting me as an adult and even went so far as to speak to my father about supporting my decision to work at the dig.” He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand, wincing as he moved his long legs. He’d inherited his father’s height. “But now that Ceyden’s dead, I’m wondering if I should put my father’s mind at ease—go back to England. If only I could convince him to come with me.”

“Would he leave?” I asked.

“Probably not. Especially when he’s bent on getting justice for Ceyden.” Tears hung heavy in his eyes. “There’s no point in it, really. She’s gone. There’s no consolation to be found. I only wish—so desperately—that we’d known she was here.”

“I know how difficult all this is,” I said. “But I’ve no doubt that seeing your sister’s killer in custody will bring more relief than you can imagine.”

“Yes. Justice must be served.” Benjamin looked at the ceiling, blinking to stop his tears. “I suppose there is no other way.”

Colin and Sir Richard stepped back towards us and sat down. “Do you think...” I paused, studying the older man. “Could this in any way be connected to the theft of your papers on the train?”

“I can’t dream up any relation between the two,” Sir Richard said. “Especially as no one in Constantinople would have known Ceyden’s true identity.”

“Something in it all doesn’t feel right. Your papers are stolen, your daughter murdered, your son attacked. All, coincidentally, in the space of a handful of days?” I was scrunching my forehead with such intensity, a pain had started between my eyebrows. “I’m finding it increasingly hard to believe that you took an incorrect dose of your sleeping draught. What if someone tried to poison you?”

“What is all this?” Benjamin asked.

“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” his father said, then turned to me. “I measured my chloral hydrate incorrectly and embarrassed myself at dinner on the train from Paris. I’d taken the dose before dinner and imagine the wine with the meal—wine that, if I remember correctly, tasted terrible—heightened the effect. That’s all. What should be concerning us all right now is the fact that my son has been attacked.”