A Master of Djinn

Fatma and Hadia suspect that Worthington wants to speak with them, specifically, so that the murders will look less like a crime and more like a paranormal incident.

At the mansion, Abigail, her hand still bandaged, mangles an Arabic greeting. Abigail suggests a bond between herself, Fatma, and Hadia as women in a man’s world, and she grows faint on learning the masked man has confessed to the murders. When pressed about when Alexander arrived in Cairo, Abigail stresses that he arrived the following day. Abigail confirms that Alexander had joined the brotherhood, albeit only to stay in his father’s good graces to protect his inheritance—she had not joined, as her father rarely allowed female members.

Abigail leads the two agents to the meeting room, now scrubbed clean, and introduces Alexander. He states immediately that his sister, not he, pushed for this interview, then expresses disdain for the agents and refuses to offer relevant information. Alexander has recently risen to the rank of captain in India, where England is fighting to hold on to its British colony with rifle and sword. Abigail admits to studying fencing herself. Alexander dismisses his father’s beliefs as delusions and superstition, putting his faith in the future, not the past.