Death in Luxor

by Graham Warren

  “Oh, very nice, Alex. How many of those does your dad have?”

  “Too many!”

  Kate read the writing on the front of the T-shirt out loud, as she knew that Cairo was unable to read English. “Archaeologists love doing jigsaws …” Slowly and deliberately she walked around Alex to read the back, “… but only when half the pieces are missing.”

  Now Kate and Cairo were laughing, even though Cairo had no idea what a jigsaw was. Alex wished yet again that he had packed his own case, rather than leaving his mother to do it. On hearing Aggie as she left the lift, the laughing stopped and the running started. Thankfully, Rose was a few minutes early so they all piled into her vibrantly coloured Volvo. Kate took the front seat, whilst Alex and Cairo sat at the back. They were off only seconds before Aggie and Babs stepped out of the Winter Palace.

  “Ramses and Gadeem are enjoying a bottle of red wine on the roof of our villa. By now they should have been joined by Bast and Nakhtifi. Gadeem and I do not normally hold meetings like this at our home. As I understand from Three that this is far too important to wait until tomorrow, it had to be the villa. Today, nobody would be able to get Ramses to leave his red wine for any meeting, however important. So, if the pharaoh will not go to the meeting, then the meeting must go to the pharaoh. Oh, do forgive me, nice to see you all again.”

  Rose spoke English with a wonderfully mellow accent. Her way of talking reminded Kate of a film star her mother had liked so much, Ingrid Bergman. Casablanca, starring her and Humphrey Bogart, was her mother’s favourite film, a film which they had watched together many times. It was not only Rose’s accent which made Kate think of the film star, it was also her looks, as she had the natural beauty of Ingrid Bergman.

  Kate really liked the way the meeting had been made to happen, the way that she had been taken seriously, though she was more than a little worried about her conclusions being found unsound. There was absolutely no way that she wanted to have someone as powerful as Ramses II angry with her. Doubts set in, as she became confused from all that was spinning in her head.

  “Boys,” said Rose as she looked at them through the rear-view mirror, “can we have a little quiet? Kate, if I am correct, is about to tell Ramses II, the most powerful pharaoh that there has ever been, that he is totally wrong. I understand from Three that she is going to tell him that his latest celebrated victory was in fact no victory at all. Small point, but if I was going to tell Ramses something like this, I would need some time to think through how best to approach the subject. I would not want him to be angry with me. Please can we have some quiet until we arrive.”

  Kate was beaming inside with pride. Yet again Rose had said exactly the right thing at exactly the right time. Thinking through what she was going to say, in the now quiet car, Kate felt much more confident than she did just a short while before, yet she still could not work out how to express all that she needed to.

  Walking up the last few steps before reaching the roof of Rose’s villa, Kate thought that her heart was going to burst out through her chest. Once introductions were over and she started telling the story of their adventures of yesterday, she felt much more relaxed. Kate told Ramses, Nakhtifi, Bast, Gadeem and Rose of how a new tomb was being created in the Theban Hills, behind the Greek era temple in the workers village. This took them by surprise, as they had expected that Kate was going to start with the events of today at the tomb of Ay.

  “So, let me get this straight, young Kate,” said Ramses as he put down his now empty wine glass. “There is a brand new ancient tomb being made in the Theban Hills by this archaeologist called Napoleon.”

  “Yes, that’s right. Do you know him?” asked Kate.

  “Oh yes, we most certainly do,” said Bast. “We know that he is a really bad archaeologist, though I do not think that any of us thought him to be a blatantly dishonest one.” She looked to the others. They uttered words of agreement.

  “Well, the new tomb looked very well advanced, and with all the heaters and at least twelve painters, plasterers or whatever, I expect them to finish it quite soon.”

  “What exactly makes you think that it will be finished soon,” asked Ramses, “because even with this many workers, you say that only one wall is currently painted and another has only just been marked out?”

  “May I answer this, Kate?” asked Alex.

  “Please do,” said Kate, relieved at being able to take a sip of tamar-hindi, as she had already been speaking for some time.

  “They have been making many tests whilst excavating the chamber,” said Alex as he moved to take centre stage. “The excavation has now finished and it appears that all the tests on the mud, size and colours are complete. Forgetting security and those in suits, we saw twelve workers leave yesterday. We initially thought that they were diggers who were excavating an old tomb. It was only once we were inside that we realised that they must be painters, as there were twelve galabeyas draped over a rail, all of which had various colours of paint splashed onto them.”

  “So, there are twelve men painting,” said Nakhtifi cutting in before anyone else could. “With heaters in place there will be no delay with getting the colours on the walls. When we did yours, Dad,” he said looking at Ramses, “it took five days to paint your entire tomb. We were only able to put on one colour a day, two at the most. If we could have had heaters back then, we would have easily finished it all in one day.”

  It still seemed strange to both Kate and Alex to see the older looking Nakhtifi calling the much younger looking Ramses II dad. Understanding all ancients came back in the afterlife looking as they did at the height of their power, did not help them to rationalise what they were seeing. Ramses looked youthful, as in most of his statues, whereas Nakhtifi had not become pharaoh until late in life, hence his older afterlife image.

  “So how does this fit in with what happened to you today?” asked Rose as she looked directly at Kate.

  “This is where I have had to make a few guesses. Not guesses exactly,” she added as she saw Ramses face change, “more like educated … whatever! I think that what happened today at the tomb of Ay was nothing more than a way of diverting your attention from what is really going on.” Kate looked very serious as she tried to make herself look older than thirteen. “You were expecting me to be here in Luxor. You teamed me up with Cairo, for which I am very grateful.” Cairo suddenly looked very proud. “The problem is that this is exactly what the warlock wanted you to do.”

  “Wanted us to do what?” asked Ramses, “and how did we jump to the warlock as he can do nothing without his pharaoh?”

  Kate absolutely screamed her reply back at him. “Are you stupid or what? The warlock is making himself into a pharaoh.” This was probably not the best thing to say to such a powerful pharaoh, a pharaoh whose Thoth was standing directly behind him and writing down every word. Kate suddenly felt very nervous of Ramses’ reaction. She was also rather disappointed with herself. The one thing she had not wanted to do was to blurt things out in uncontrolled temper, especially in front of Rose.

  Ramses stood. Alex very gallantly moved himself in front of Kate. To the surprise of both Kate and Alex, Cairo also moved in front of her. He locked arms with Alex in a show of strength. It looked as though Ramses was about to explode. There was not much difference between the colour of his face and his red wine, yet Bast sat there smirking. Kate looked to Rose. She had moved her hand in front of her mouth to try and hide a grin. She winked at Kate, then motioned for her to stay where she was.

  “I am the greatest pharaoh who has ever lived. How dare you speak to me like that. I have had men killed for less.”

  “Far less,” added Thoth R rather unhelpfully.

  “I’m not a man,” added Kate, even more unhelpfully.

  Ramses bellowed that he demanded the respect that was due to a person of his stature. He was slowly moving ever closer to Kate as he ranted. She would have run down the stairs and out of there just as quickly as she could, if it was not
for the tears of laughter that were now running freely down the cheeks of both Bast and Rose. Kate was as much confused as she was in fear.

  Alex and Cairo, who had their view of everything blocked by the approaching Ramses, were only experiencing fear. He reached out and tossed them behind him as easily as most people squash a gnat.

  Fear definitely took over every part of Kate now. Stepping forward to where the boys had been standing, Ramses disappeared through the floor. Fear left her, only to be replaced by confusion. There was a dull thud from directly below where she was standing, the hearing of which caused Bast to fall off her seat. She was now laughing uncontrollably.

  “Sorry, Kate,” said Rose through tears of laughter. “That is why I asked you to stand there. Please do explain to Kate, Gadeem, I’m not going to be able to.” At this point she joined Bast on the floor. They hugged each other as they laughed.

  “Well, I suppose it is down to me to explain,” he said. “This roof and the seating here are built to exactly replicate the top of an ancient tower which stood on this very spot, only this roof is bigger. The metal poles of the canopy,” to which Gadeem pointed, “represent the extent of the ancient roof. Once outside of this area ancients are standing on nothing except thin air, so there is only one way they can go … and that is down.”

  Kate started to get the giggles, though still managed to go over to Alex and Cairo, who were just getting up. She gave them both a hug and a kiss for trying to protect her.

  “Sorry, Kate,” said Rose again, as she recovered her composure, “but that is why I asked you to speak from over by the stairs. At some point Ramses was bound to lose it, he always does. He genuinely believes he is this great leader that he thinks he is. That’s why he gets so extremely angry, whenever he personally hasn’t worked out all that is going on.”

  “But I haven’t explained anything yet, I could be wrong.”

  “Not you, Kate. You would not have called this meeting if you had the slightest doubt about your facts. Your worry is about being taken seriously because of your age. Let me tell you something. It is an old saying, though it is one that I would like you to remember: You cannot put an age on the truth.”

  Kate felt better after Rose had spoken, though she did worry what would happen when Ramses returned. Assured by Rose, Gadeem and Bast that having been dusted down by his guards – these always stayed down at ancient ground level – he would be much calmer when he returned to the roof.

  Bast added, “After he has climbed back up the tower, seen the full glass of his favourite red wine waiting for him over there, he will calmly sit down and listen to the rest of what you have to say. Do not worry, Kate.”

  “You did not write any of that down, did you, Thoth.”

  “I wrote everything down as I always do, Madam Rose, as that is my position in life.”

  “Would you like to read out the last few entries for me please?”

  “Of course, Madam Rose. Now let me see. My last entry is where the mighty Ramses was explaining to Kate that the warlock is trying to make himself into a pharaoh, though the mighty, great, and benevolent Ramses would never let this happen. Is that correct?”

  “It will do, Thoth, it will do.”

  “Thank you, Madam Rose.”

  Chapter 11

  -

  Ramses Returns

  They did not have to wait long before Ramses returned to the roof. He took his seat and sipped at his freshly poured red wine just as Bast said that he would. All eyes were on him as he raised his free hand, gesturing for Thoth to hand him the papyrus. On reading what Thoth had written, Ramses smiled, saying as he handed it back, “Quite correct, Thoth, I have trained you well.”

  Understanding Kate’s reluctance to resume speaking, Rose asked her how she thought a warlock could possibly become a pharaoh.

  “I think that you are all correct,” said Kate, thinking it best if she started with a positive statement, rather than say that none of them could see the wood for the trees. Kate then considered that there were no trees around the temples and tombs and therefore no wood, so how could they be expected to see the wood for the trees, which brought a smile to her face. This rather ridiculous thought had the effect of relaxing her which in turn allowed her to say what she wanted to say. “I honestly believe that you are all correct in the assumption that there is nobody directly linked to Merenptah who has ‘seen’, as you said last week. Since I arrived in Luxor I am aware that Pharaoh Nak … sorry … I shouldn’t say your name.”

  “I am here with my dad, so naturally it would be expected to hear my name spoken out loud. You can speak freely,” said Nakhtifi in a rare show of confidence.

  “And anyway,” added Ramses, “my elite guard are downstairs. Nothing will get past them.”

  Kate was far from convinced that nobody would be able to get past Ramses’ elite guard. She continued anyway. “Since I arrived in Luxor, I am now aware that you, Pharaoh Nakhtifi, and your wife, Henutmehyt, are my most directly related ancient family. Cairo has become aware that Ropet and Sanuba are his, so we have ‘seen’, as you put it. It is also clear that Alex is an important part of all of this, and you, Bast, were particularly sorry that he had failed to see.” Kate gave Alex an ‘I’m sorry’ look. “Where I think that you have all got it wrong, is that your focus has been entirely on us. You have been only looking at, and protecting, Alex, Cairo and myself.” Kate paused for a second or two to give Ramses the time to blow up.

  “Interesting,” he said, as he motioned, glass in hand, for her to continue.

  “For the warlock to be able to achieve his aims he needed all of you to focus on protecting us, and in turn, for all of us to then focus on the ancient battle between Ramses’ sons – Merenptah and Nakhtifi – and that is exactly what has happened. We have all done exactly what the warlock wanted us to do. Otherwise, how could this Napoleon build a new tomb without any of you knowing of its existence?

  “Your attention was elsewhere, it has been on me, and it has obviously been totally focussed on me for some while. This new tomb hasn’t been dug out in the week or so that I’ve been here.” Kate was on a roll. She saw a general look of agreement which both pleased and relaxed her. “The question that I had to ask myself is why he would want to build a new tomb at all?” Kate paused for a second. “And there is an even more important question. Who is financing it, though this is something that I think I may have the answer to.”

  “We can both answer these questions,” added Alex, who was feeling a little left out as Kate’s ‘we’ of earlier had now become ‘I’ again.

  “Go on then, Alex,” said Kate calling his bluff.

  “Right,” said Alex as all eyes moved to him. Immediately his face flushed, though he spoke on with confidence, much to Kate’s surprise. “He needs to build a tomb, a pharaoh’s tomb for himself, because he craves to become a pharaoh. He cannot take over an existing undiscovered pharaoh’s tomb because it will be guarded by that pharaoh’s gods. As Kate has already said, we believe that you are all correct in that there is nobody who has ‘seen’ who has a direct line to Merenptah. We do, however, believe that there is one, or more likely two, followers of the warlock here. It must be they who are behind my dad’s dig, as well as the tomb which Napoleon is making. Somehow the two digs are connected, though apart from having the same people backing them, we do not know how they are connected at the moment.”

  Kate moved a couple of paces closer to Alex and held onto his arm. “He is spot on,” she thought.

  “What makes you think there are two supporters of the warlock here, right now?” asked Ramses, to which Alex pointed to Cairo to give the answer.

  “There were two men in very expensive suits with Napoleon at the new tomb,” said Cairo with the biggest grin.

  Gadeem asked why they would be building a Ramses II era tomb behind a Greek temple. Something immediately clicked inside Alex, though it was something that he was not going to speak of until he was alone with Kate and Cairo. He needed t
o think it through a little more.

  “Thoth,” called Ramses, “get me the maps of this area for the last year of my reign.”

  “Directly, my Pharaoh.” Thoth moved to the edge of the walled roof where he gave out a trill call. Within less than half a minute a very large eagle was seen leaving the Theban Hills, though just how large it was only became evident as it swooped low above them. Its shadow covered the whole roof as it released a large rolled papyrus from its talons.

  Ramses unrolled the ancient papyrus map, on the fixed table in the middle of the seating area, as everyone crowded around.

  “This is where the Greek temple that you see today will be,” said Ramses pointing to an area roughly in the middle of the map. “These are the houses of the workers village, Deir el Medina,” he said moving his hand across a large area.

  “And this is where the car park is now,” said Alex as he placed a finger on the map.

  “And this is the well that Sobek brought us out of,” added Kate, who also placed a finger on the map.

  “Yes, you are both correct,” said Ramses, “but what do you see in-between the well and where the car park is now?”

  Kate said, “Homes.”

  Alex said, “Houses.”

  Cairo said, “Lots of squares.”

  Ramses said, “Exactly!”

  No further explanation was needed as it was clear for all to see. There had been Ramses II era homes where the Greek temple now stood and not only homes. There were also many Ramses II era tombs which reached well into the Theban Hills, marked along the back of the same stretch, so the discovery of another tomb here would not look out of place. “My concern is not with them building this tomb” said Ramses, just because he had to say something, “but rather how we close this tomb before it is discovered.”

  “I do not think that we need to be worried about Napoleon,” said Alex with extreme confidence. “We can very easily get rid of him, and what’s more, we can do so without drawing the attention of the world’s press to Luxor. The question is, do we want to get rid of him at this moment in time?”