Lacau hurried Ms. Wilkes-Emberly and the O'Connells out the door, wishing them a good day. It took all the control he could muster to keep himself from running back to his office and his new acquisition. He sat at his desk and with avaricious eyes laid the jewels on the blotter one by one.
He could not believe his good fortune—he was hearing rumors of empty jewels boxes being found by Carter, their contents stolen long ago. Here was a treasure trove of Pharaonic jewels, the likes of never having been seen before, of exquisite workmanship, possibly even having been worn by their previous owners. Though the public would wonder at the items being removed from Tutankhamen's tomb, these would rival them, especially the diadem. No one previously had recovered a pharaoh's crown.
Outside of the museum, Roma breathed a sigh of relief. "I hope I never see those jewels again. I think they cost Father his life." She squeezed Ardeth's fingers for reassurance, "I want to go home now, I don't know why I feel so tired."
They flagged down one of Cairo's black taxis and directed the driver to take them to her house. She would not let Rick pay, but as was her habit overpaid the driver.
She looked at Rick, "I know what you are thinking, but you are wrong. I know many of the taxi drivers in Cairo and get the best service because I pay them too much. It only costs me a little but they don't make much money and they appreciate it—and therefore never try to rob me."
The servants were outside looking apprehensive and frightened. Busa rushed forward, "Oh missy, men come, bad men, so we run away. When we come back, we see what they did to your house and it scared us. They were awful men."
Rick O'Connell looked at Ardeth, "Come with me, you two," he directed Evelyn and Roma, "Stay out here until we check it out."
Roma and Evelyn intertwined their fingers and followed, refusing to be left behind, Busa trailing them refusing to leave her beloved Roma. "Oh no," breathed Roma as they entered the villa, dismayed at the sight that met her eyes.
The robbers' work had been done in haste, in their hurry, they had knocked over furniture and slashed cushions looking for something they could not find. Rugs had been pulled up and some floor tiles were chipped, revealing where the vandals had attempted to pry them up, looking for an empty cavity beneath.
Rick looked at the women, "Didn't I tell you to wait?" Ardeth shook his head.
Busa was wailing and Roma put her arms around the old woman's shoulders to comfort her. "Don't worry, they only destroyed the furniture, that is easily replaceable, what is important is that none of you were hurt."
They searched the rest of the house, finding similar carnage, for some reason the robbers had slashed the bolsters but left the mattresses and coverings intact. The beds were heavy and only partially pulled from the walls.
"Were they looking for the jewels?" Evelyn looked at Roma, then at Rick, "What was the point of tearing things apart, if not for the jewels."
The doors to her father's armoire were hanging open, the contents of the two drawers lay on the floor. Roma covered her mouth, exhaling air through open fingers.
"I can think of one thing, Father's papers, but the bulk is in his office at Oxford for safekeeping. If they knew about the jewels...but how could they know unless someone told them? Everyone knew I planned all along to turn them over to the Egyptian Museum. Oh god, our house in Luxor, I've got to call the police there and have them check the house."
She ran to the phone, half expecting to have it pulled out of the wall but the cord was still in place. She began speaking in rapid Arabic, her voice rising in pitch as she grew more distressed. At last, she hung up and sighed.
"They're going to check the house, but they think it may be undisturbed. Father may have been on his way to Cairo when they waylaid him and killed him. But if whoever broke into here didn't find what they were looking for, they may try there. I'd leave tonight, but Father's body will be here in a few days and I've got to see to his burial, I can't just leave him in the morgue."
"What I suggest then," said Rick in his calm voice, "Is that we wait. The police in Luxor will watch your house and I'm sure they will call if anything comes up. We can wait for your father's body to arrive and once he's buried, we can go to Luxor. In the meantime, do you know if your father had any papers here that would indicate just what he was searching for in the Valley?"
She looked at him for a moment, then went to the study and returned carrying a small electric torch. "I think I know where he hid something, but I'm not sure what it was. They tried to break into his desk but the locks foiled them." She knelt on the floor and aimed the torch's beam into the bottom of the armoire. "Aha!" she said and pulled out a packet wrapped in waxed silk.
The one thing the robbers had accomplished was the destruction of any furniture that possessed a cushion, so they had to content themselves with sitting on the floor. Roma was about to open the packet when the police knocked on the door, and they spent the next hour going through the house and taking careful notes which Roma was sure would prove fruitless. After a tedious asking of questions and a perfunctory search, the police left.
They spread a carpet on the floor and sat down to examine the packet. Roma's forehead puckered as she looked at the package. "There is something different about this, the wrapping is newer and a different color, he must have added to it."
She pulled the silk open with a gentle touch, revealing its contents. A stack of papers lay there, old and yellowed copies on the bottom, and new papers on the top. A sheet of paper had been folded to fit the size of the packet and lay on top, for how long she did not know.
She removed it and set the rest aside, unfolding and spreading it out so they all could see it. "No," she said, "This isn't, is it?" and the others looked in wonder at what lay before them.
Professor Wilkes-Emberly had been a competent artist and draftsman, many archaeologists were out of necessity. The proof of this was a careful map of the Valleys of the Kings and Queens. Every known tomb had been marked on the map, kings, queens, nobles.
Wilkes-Emberly painstaking attention to detail was obvious, every ridge, every wadi, path, and road had been included. Even the location of Deir El Medina was given though not marked. The professor had added the location of the mummy caches and Howard Carter's recent discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb.
"Wow," breathed Rick; "My goodness," said Evelyn, only Ardeth was unsurprised by what he saw before him.
Evelyn ran a finger along the ridge that separated the West Valley from the East Valley. "He's included every known tomb that's been discovered, but what are these tiny 'x's'?"
"I think that might be the location of caches or suspected caches, in which case I'd be surprised if anything was there at all. Usually, if there is something to be found it's dug up and brought into town to the local black-market antiquities dealer. You can't blame them these people are so poor that find ancient relics bring in badly needed cash. The fact that it's their heritage means little when they have mouths to feed."
"So, these are caches that your father found and dug up?"
"Perhaps, sometimes the peasants are too afraid to try to sell what they find so they leave it alone and tell an archaeologist..."
"Like your father," added Ardeth.
"Like my father who they know will pay them for their knowledge and a small stipend for whatever they find. The Valley of the Kings and the Queens was in use for only 500 years, that's a drop in the bucket in the history of ancient Egypt, but a fortune in gold and jewels lay in the tombs. After the end of the nineteenth dynasty, they abandoned Thebes and the Valley in favor of the Nile Delta."
"How much do you think your father found?" The light of the treasure hunter shone in Rick's eyes.
"Well, we saw what Ardeth and I had, whether or not he was carrying any treasure was known only to him. Maybe we carried the bulk of it through the desert and he had a small portion, I don't know. Likewise, I don't know where any of it came from, he made no marks on the map to indicate what he found—unless he intended to do it when he got back to Cairo."
"So, there could be treasure still in some of those caches?" Rick persisted.
"Maybe, maybe not. I researched Deir El Medina; I do not know of this. I've studied the Valley of the Kings and it's general knowledge that we don't know if all the tombs located there have been accounted for. I'd like to talk to Carter, Evelyn, you're to work with him, yes? Do you suppose you could ask about a position for me? He and my father were rivals, but I've had nothing to do with him."
"Perhaps," said Evelyn, a cautious tone to her voice, "But what about finding who killed your father?"
"I think someone betrayed my father but they didn't realize that the bulk of what he found was carried by Ardeth and myself. I don't know if it's one of the archaeologists who assisted my father, or if it was one of the workmen. All I know is that my father should not have died and I'd like to know whose hand was in it. I think we can find out more from the workmen than the policemen could find in their investigation—if they even bother."
She sighed and stretched her neck from side to side, the bones making a cracking noise. "I'm tired, but I don't want to spend any more time here until the house is straightened up and all the furniture repaired or replaced. The servants will be here to look after things, I'm going to book two suites at the Shepheard's and we can stay there until it's time to leave for Luxor. You will all be coming with me, I trust?" Her pleading look said more than her words.
"Not the Shepheard's, someplace quieter and less conspicuous would suit me better," said Evelyn, "I can make a call if you like, and make reservations for the boat. It's been a long day and not a pleasant one at that, I for one would like a quiet dinner and then a good night's sleep. How long will it take you to pack?"
"I just need a few things, I have everything I need at our house in Luxor," tears formed in her eyes, she realized she would never see her father again. "If you wish to help me, I will be glad, I want to see what Carter is up to and what he's bringing out of the tomb."
Rick and Evelyn left the room, leaving her alone with Ardeth. "If you don't want to do this, I don't blame you," she said to him, "I know it's a kind of madness that's come upon me but I won't rest until I find out who killed Father."
He reached for her, pulling her into his arms, nestling her close. "I cannot let you do this alone, therefore I will come with you. Your father was always kind to me and kind to my tribe. You should beware of what you are doing, though, you may find out more than you want to know."