Princess: Stepping Out of the Shadows, стр. 23
‘By this time, two of the guards came running to discover what fool had released all the horses. When they saw me clinging to the thief, they were thrilled and offered to take her into custody, but I refused. The thief was going to answer for her crimes.’
‘Where is she now, daughter?’ Kareem wanted to know.
‘She is locked in the storage room next to the kitchen gallery – and I have the only key, which I took from Cook,’ Maha said smugly, shaking her head and I am sure marvelling at the idiocy the woman had shown by agreeing to steal from a royal palace in a country where the punishments are very severe. We had no knowledge about the girl. Was she Saudi? Was she a relative of one of Ali’s wives?
Kareem was reading my mind. ‘The girl must be interrogated.’
I nodded in agreement but did not verbally respond, as I turned my attention to my daughter. I was most concerned for her welfare after such an ordeal.
‘You are a hero, darling,’ I announced to Maha, thinking to myself that her burst of heroism alone captured the thief. ‘No one but our Maha could overpower and capture this criminal,’ I said, as I looked to Kareem for confirmation. ‘Thank you, darling. Thank you.’
Kareem agreed, looking at Maha. ‘Your mother is right, Maha. You, and you alone, saved the jewels.’
Maha is not a person who is comfortable receiving a lot of compliments, even when she deserves them. She gestured with her hand, as if to say that it was all nothing and what she had done was a routine matter. You would have thought my daughter leapt from trees and apprehended criminals every day.
‘What I did was for my mother and my grandmother,’ she said with a shrug. ‘There is nothing I will not do for either.’
I kissed my daughter three times until she finally laughed and pushed me away.
Maha had a new thought just at that moment. ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you both, in the drawstring bag holding the jewels there were several small instruments made of steel that are meant to dislodge items from wood or stone. Father,’ she said, ‘somehow Uncle Ali or Medina had heard about the precious stones and came prepared to steal the jewels, along with Grandmother’s picture.’
Kareem looked startled because it is unusual for Ali or members of his family to visit our home, although we do see them at family functions on occasion.
That’s when I reminded him, ‘Kareem, two of Ali’s sons recently came by, looking for Abdullah, who they did not know was in Europe.’ I shrugged. ‘Our servants would have no reason to monitor Ali’s sons, although I would have been notified had the visitors been Ali or Medina.
‘I am thinking that the boys wandered around in the palace during their visit. Most likely they saw the ongoing renovations regarding Mother’s picture. That is the only explanation for my brother’s family to know about the expensive stones. None of us would have suspected that they would report back to their father and that he, Ali, would get the idea to steal the rubies and the emerald!’
‘Sultana,’ Kareem said, ‘from this point, we must tell our employees that neither Ali nor members of his family are to be allowed in the palace unless we are notified and meet them at the front entrance.’
‘Yes, husband, I agree.’
Kareem drummed his fingers on the table. ‘All right. Now, what should we do with this girl, Sultana?’
I pondered the problem. It would be easiest to return her to Ali and Medina and forget her, but I feel criminals should not be treated lightly or they will remain criminals. Yet, if we turned her in to the police, she would be charged as a thief. Since the crime of theft by taking was layered with other complications, such as valuable jewellery and an attempt to escape, and finally a struggle with the royal princess who caught her, the girl was sure to receive a stiff punishment. Most troubling, the case would end up involving my brother and his daughter, and while I am very familiar with his character, I do not want the entire Saudi world to know of his eccentricities. I also felt certain that he and his daughter would focus solely on trying to blacken the name of my daughter, who was the hero in this story.
As angry as I was, I had no idea what Medina had told this young woman. Perhaps she believed that all the items she was asked to take really belonged to my brother.
‘Kareem,’ I said, ‘I believe that before any decisions are made, you and the head of our security question her to discover her story. Then you and I can make the final decision together.’
I desired to know Ali’s role in the malice of the crime. The last time his daughter Medina had stolen Mother’s picture, I was told by Sara, Ali had been so furious at its return to me that he had spent many months praying daily for me to go blind so that I might not be able to enjoy Mother’s image ever again. Although Ali and I had been more cordial over the past year, I knew that the slightest cause for anger could take my brother to a dangerous place. I have preserved a lively remembrance of my childhood and, from the time we were young, my brother and I were natural enemies. From those early days, he chose the excessive role of tyrant – a role he would play throughout our lives.
For the first time, I considered that perhaps Medina was a greater danger to our safety than Ali. While he could be hot and hostile in a matter of moments, he would often be quick to leave his complaints behind. On the other hand, Medina seemed to be an unusually