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"Can you take us to Abd El Aziz Street?" "Not far. Near El Mouski." As Hassan drove off, at the usual high velocity, Rick asked, "Do you know Fuad Moustafa?" "Hear name," Hassan said. "But not know. What number street he live?" Rick took the letter from his pocket, switched on the dome light, and scanned it. There was no address given in English.
He will wait." "Thank you. Now, can you tell me anything about a Mr. Fuad Moustafa? Do you know him?" "Indeed, sir. He is a lawyer, from a well-known family. He has two brothers who are also well known. One is Ali, who has a shop in El Mouski, and the other is Kemel, who is a textile importer." Rick thanked him and hung up. "It's our boy," he said. He repeated what the clerk had told him.
Why would anyone want it enough to stage that scene at El Mouski and then ransack our room?" Scotty had no answers, but he had some questions of his own. "What I want to know is, did the hall porter just happen to step out at the right moment for the thief? Or is he in the act somehow?" "It really doesn't make much difference," Rick pointed out.
"But Parnell and Kerama wasted no time in getting down to business. I doubt that you could interrupt long enough to get a sensible answer. Do you have any plans?" "We have an errand at El Mouski," Rick replied. "Would it be all right for us to go?" "No reason why not. You'll need a car. I would offer you mine, except that you have no local license.
"Spell it for me," Barby pleaded. Bartouki smiled. "What you ask is difficult. We use a different alphabet, so there is no exact equivalent, only what is called transliteration, which uses phonetics. So the bazaar can be Mouski, Muski, Mosky, Mouskey, or anything else that sounds the same. Even for Giza, where the pyramids are, there are many spellings."
The boys shook hands with the dragoman, and Rick saw that he responded to their obvious friendliness. The costume was an odd one, though. Rick hadn't seen any like it on the street, and he wondered if Hassan wore it for effect, since most of his customers probably were tourists. Later he found that the guess was right. "Where you like to go?" Hassan asked. Scotty spoke up. "You know El Mouski?"
Rick thought that the cat hadn't even caught any interest at least from the scientists. At dinner he and Scotty had described the incident at El Mouski to Winston and the Egyptian scientists. The scientists had only one suggestion, to the effect that perhaps the boys' imaginations had run away with them.
If they were the streets Hassan meant, walking was the only possible means of transportation. In the square where Hassan had halted were dozens of merchants, some with their wares in carts, others carrying them on their backs. A rug merchant approached and Hassan waved him off. "Come. El Mouski over there." He pointed to a narrow alleyway.
"It is the store of Ali Moustafa," he explained. Hassan shrugged. "I do not know it. But it can be found. Enshallah." Although the boys did not recognize it then, the word was a common expression meaning "If God wills it." They would learn it, though, and with it other Arabic words, including zanb, dassissa, and khatar or, in English, crime, intrigue, and danger! El Mouski
"I wish you'd tell my English teacher that." Barby sighed. "I think my way of spelling is just as good as hers." Bartouki and the boys laughed sympathetically. The little merchant said, "Whatever the spelling, El Mouski will fascinate you. Many things are made there especially for tourists. Some of the workmanship is excellent, and the prices are very low."
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