a tomb need a door? The ancient Gyps sealed their tombs for eternity, but a door suggests they wanted to mosey in and out. Why not just block it up for good?’
‘But wasn’t there a sarcophagus inside?’
‘They found a thing that looked like a sarcophagus, sure, but there was nothing in it. It was just a big stone box — in a different context, it could have been anything.’
We climbed the twisting concrete steps that led us up the side of the pyramid to the platform where the guard waited. Close up, though, I saw that he wasn’t an ordinary policeman, but another trooper of the Lightning Force — smartly turned out in black jacket and royal blue beret. He wore skiing glasses over a sharp moustache and carried a Heckler and Koch rifle that looked new. ‘You can’t go in,’ he said as we passed the top step, ‘It’s closed.’
I drew out my ID . ‘Lieutenant Rashid,’ I said, ‘SID .’
The trooper weighed up my jeans and sweatshirt and frowned blankly. He paused, then gave me a brisk salute. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘my orders are that no one’s to go in, not even SID . The place is completely out of bounds.’
‘What are you Blue Berets doing on the job? This is Antiquities Police turf.’
‘Special assignment duty,’ the trooper growled.
‘What the hell is going on in there?’ Daisy demanded.
‘Renovations,’ the Blue Beret replied, ‘for the millennium celebrations. They’re trying to clean it out a bit, improve the air supply, that kind of thing. There’s going to be a big knees-up here. They tell me they’re even going to put a new capstone on the thing — a golden one — and it’s going to be lowered by helicopter.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ I said, ‘I read about this. It’s caused a lot of controversy. Last month a member of the President’s Advisory Council called Sekina Fuad declared they shouldn’t be messing around with antiquities.’
The Blue Beret shrugged, shifted his feet and tapped the stock of his rifle impatiently. ‘It’s closed,’ he said again. Seeing we would get nowhere, we turned and walked down the stairs.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, ‘I should have remembered about this.’
‘Just my luck,’ Daisy said, ‘it’s not the same without seeing the King’s Chamber and all those things you read about.’
‘Bloody millennium celebrations,’ I said.
‘Well so much for the vacation. Have you been in touch with the Great Hammoudi this morning?’
‘Yeah, I talked to him. He was livid about Van Helsing sequestering evidence, but a bit mollified that we got the briefcase. I passed the map and the report over to him for safekeeping.’
‘What else did he have to say?’
‘Records drew a blank on Monod and Firebird too, but there’s a small lead on the Sanusi amulet. He traced a member of the Sanusi family in Cairo — name of Doctor Sid’Ahmad as-Sanusi, a direct descendant of the Brotherhood’s founder. Address in Khan al-Khalili.’
‘Near the crime scene, then. Interesting.’
‘Well, maybe. But Hammoudi says Sid’Ahmad’s completely legit — no record of contacts with the Militants. In fact, he’s a highly respected and quite well known Egyptologist. Hammoudi just thought he might be able to give us some background on the origin of the amulet.’
‘OK, let’s go talk to him.’
As we moved back along the base of the pyramid I sniffed the air. ‘It’s coming,’ I said, ‘and when it hits it’s going to be a Mother.’
‘That’s all we needed.’
‘Yeah.’
As we walked past the old museum rest house, I glanced up to see the crane operator in his box high above us. The boom was already swaying in the breeze and its lifting arm swinging slightly, its machinery clanking as it drew up its tackle. A broken wall encircled the museum building, and two mean looking Blue Berets wearing dark shades were on guard at the open gate. As we passed, I glimpsed activity in the yard — dozens of Blue Berets and some civilians in flint grey
‘But wasn’t there a sarcophagus inside?’
‘They found a thing that looked like a sarcophagus, sure, but there was nothing in it. It was just a big stone box — in a different context, it could have been anything.’
We climbed the twisting concrete steps that led us up the side of the pyramid to the platform where the guard waited. Close up, though, I saw that he wasn’t an ordinary policeman, but another trooper of the Lightning Force — smartly turned out in black jacket and royal blue beret. He wore skiing glasses over a sharp moustache and carried a Heckler and Koch rifle that looked new. ‘You can’t go in,’ he said as we passed the top step, ‘It’s closed.’
I drew out my ID . ‘Lieutenant Rashid,’ I said, ‘SID .’
The trooper weighed up my jeans and sweatshirt and frowned blankly. He paused, then gave me a brisk salute. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘my orders are that no one’s to go in, not even SID . The place is completely out of bounds.’
‘What are you Blue Berets doing on the job? This is Antiquities Police turf.’
‘Special assignment duty,’ the trooper growled.
‘What the hell is going on in there?’ Daisy demanded.
‘Renovations,’ the Blue Beret replied, ‘for the millennium celebrations. They’re trying to clean it out a bit, improve the air supply, that kind of thing. There’s going to be a big knees-up here. They tell me they’re even going to put a new capstone on the thing — a golden one — and it’s going to be lowered by helicopter.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ I said, ‘I read about this. It’s caused a lot of controversy. Last month a member of the President’s Advisory Council called Sekina Fuad declared they shouldn’t be messing around with antiquities.’
The Blue Beret shrugged, shifted his feet and tapped the stock of his rifle impatiently. ‘It’s closed,’ he said again. Seeing we would get nowhere, we turned and walked down the stairs.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, ‘I should have remembered about this.’
‘Just my luck,’ Daisy said, ‘it’s not the same without seeing the King’s Chamber and all those things you read about.’
‘Bloody millennium celebrations,’ I said.
‘Well so much for the vacation. Have you been in touch with the Great Hammoudi this morning?’
‘Yeah, I talked to him. He was livid about Van Helsing sequestering evidence, but a bit mollified that we got the briefcase. I passed the map and the report over to him for safekeeping.’
‘What else did he have to say?’
‘Records drew a blank on Monod and Firebird too, but there’s a small lead on the Sanusi amulet. He traced a member of the Sanusi family in Cairo — name of Doctor Sid’Ahmad as-Sanusi, a direct descendant of the Brotherhood’s founder. Address in Khan al-Khalili.’
‘Near the crime scene, then. Interesting.’
‘Well, maybe. But Hammoudi says Sid’Ahmad’s completely legit — no record of contacts with the Militants. In fact, he’s a highly respected and quite well known Egyptologist. Hammoudi just thought he might be able to give us some background on the origin of the amulet.’
‘OK, let’s go talk to him.’
As we moved back along the base of the pyramid I sniffed the air. ‘It’s coming,’ I said, ‘and when it hits it’s going to be a Mother.’
‘That’s all we needed.’
‘Yeah.’
As we walked past the old museum rest house, I glanced up to see the crane operator in his box high above us. The boom was already swaying in the breeze and its lifting arm swinging slightly, its machinery clanking as it drew up its tackle. A broken wall encircled the museum building, and two mean looking Blue Berets wearing dark shades were on guard at the open gate. As we passed, I glimpsed activity in the yard — dozens of Blue Berets and some civilians in flint grey
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