Death in Luxor

by Graham Warren

  “How the hell can we easily get rid of Napoleon?” thought Kate. Looking at all the faces staring back at Alex, she was instantly aware that this was the first thing said today, which had truly taken all assembled by surprise. “You all knew everything I have just told you, didn’t you,” said Kate in a very accusatory tone.

  Rose and Bast went to speak at the same time, so Rose motioned to Bast and she spoke for them all. “No, we did not know of this last week, Kate, honestly we did not. We have since come to the same conclusions as you, and of course Alex and Cairo, in so far as the battle with Merenptah was a decoy, though we did not know what it was a decoy for.”

  “Well, perhaps now is the time to let us know exactly what you do know?”

  “Please drop the attitude, Kate, as we should be working together. Yes, we recently became aware that something else was going on, though we did not know what. You found that out. How could we know that a new tomb was being made? It is impossible for us to enter that area.”

  “You are an ancient god, so you can go anywhere, ancient or modern, so what you say isn’t true.” Kate said this with more than a little annoyance in her voice.

  “Yes, you are right, I am an ancient god, though if I say so myself I do not look bad for my years.” Bast was trying to reduce the rising tension in Kate, before answering her question.

  “Well, Bast, you are the only one who would say it. Hey Gadeem, you agree with me, don’t you,” said Ramses with a wink.

  Bast stood. She walked to the edge of the roof, before turning back to look at Ramses as she leant back on the wall. “Well, as for you, Ramses …” She stopped speaking mid-sentence, grabbed at the large golden scarab which covered her breasts and looked somewhat shocked. “It is coming lose, I need help.”

  Ramses was up like a shot. He moved over to Bast at speed in order to offer his assistance … only to disappear through the floor. A second or so later there was a thud, followed by a moan, followed by a groan, followed by a muffled “Get off me, I can pick myself up.” This was followed by something that he was going to do to Bast when he got his hands on her, which nobody could make out. His words were blocked out by their laughter.

  “That was far too easy,” said Bast still grinning, “so easy that there was very little glory in it for me, though as I tell Ramses from time to time, cats rule, pharaohs drool. Now, where was I? … Oh yes, I remember. You really should not get angry with us, Kate, as yes, you are quite correct that we ancient gods can go anywhere, though sometimes it is not always sensible or safe for us to do so.”

  “Sorry, Bast,” said Kate as she thought back to the story Inky had told them. “I’m just a bit stressed.”

  “Not as stressed as Ramses, I bet,” said Bast to another round of laughter. “I must, however, remind you youngsters, that for your own safety it is best if you arrive at your own conclusions, or perhaps I should say facts.”

  “But Bast, we need help from all of you,” pleaded Kate, to which Alex and Cairo nodded in agreement.

  “As you have ‘seen’, Kate, you now have a maturity of understanding that is beyond your years.” This immediately made sense to Alex as Kate had really grown up, matured even, within the last few days. Bast shook her head as she looked at Cairo. “You have also seen, Cairo, though as Sanuba and Ropet are your closest family, you have my condolences.” Bast said this in a very nice way and with a genuine smile that shone from her eyes. Everyone assembled knew exactly what she meant, as even with his ancient knowledge he was unlikely to mature as much as Kate would.

  “As for you, Alex, I am unsure. You are beyond your years already, even though you have failed to see. Perhaps there is something going on inside of you that we are not aware of, so we will not give up hope completely. Now do finish telling us what you have worked out. I promise that I will do everything I can to protect you all.”

  Kate realised that Bast had told them nothing new, as she was already doing all she could to protect them, as they all were.

  Alex was happy that there was still a chance that he may ‘see’.

  Cairo would have been happy if he could have found a sandwich, as his interest in their conversation had waned some while ago.

  “Look,” said Kate, “it really is this simple. The warlock is going to make himself into a pharaoh in the same way that Ay did.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Ramses, as he appeared back on the roof looking none the worse for his fall.

  “Please do not play dumb,” said Kate in the certain knowledge that Ramses was more annoyed with Bast than he was with her, though this could change. “You know that he was not the natural successor to Tutankhamun, as Ay, like Horemheb, was nothing more than a general in Tutankhamun’s army. Yes, he was rich, he was a noble, and that is where he fitted in. I don’t – we don’t,” said Kate correcting herself, “understand why this isn’t blatantly obvious to everyone.”

  Ramses stopped smiling.

  “By everyone, I meant the academics of today, not you Ramses, because I know that you know.” Problem solved. “Rather than saying this is the only king’s tomb with a hunting scene on the wall, they should be saying this is the only noble’s tomb which has been upgraded to the status of a pharaoh’s tomb. It isn’t even in the Valley of the Kings, where, guess what … they buried kings!”

  “He was nicknamed Papyrus,” said Ramses in a laid-back way as he swooshed red wine around in his glass.

  “Why Papyrus?” asked Cairo.

  “Because one sheet of papyrus doesn’t make a book, any more than wearing a general’s uniform makes a general. He was no more a general than he was a pharaoh. He was, and is, a total waste of space, isn’t he Gadeem?”

  “I’m staying out of this,” said Gadeem, “as they all come up here, so I find it best to remain impartial. Therefore, I have no views on this subject.”

  “Would you like another glass of wine? … Ever!”

  “Well, you could well be correct,” said Gadeem, as Ramses half-filled his glass. “On reflection, you know, I think that you are totally correct, Ramses.” Gadeem’s glass was now full.

  “Wimp,” said Rose.

  “Mister Wimp to you,” replied Gadeem with a smile, as he lifted a very full glass of wine to his lips.

  “However, it’s the warlock we must focus on, not Ay,” interjected Kate, “as the warlock’s magic, like you said, is old magic, magic which was even before your time, Ramses. We have no idea of the power of this warlock. His family, followers, whatever, will make him a pharaoh and one which cannot be denied, because when Napoleon announces that he has discovered an ancient tomb, even though he helped make it, his discovery will be beyond question.”

  “Then what do you suggest we do, Kate?” asked Nakhtifi, as he pictured his place in the afterlife disappearing, though to him his place was unimportant. That of his people was quite another thing.

  However, his place in the afterlife was very important to Kate. “Well, at all costs we must protect Nakhtifi, so for me the answer is simple, you should shut down this new tomb immediately. You cannot let the warlock think that he is getting one over on you.”

  “We cannot shut it down, Kate, as it is not of our time. It is of your time, so we need you to do it.” Nakhtifi looked to Ramses and then Bast who both nodded in agreement.

  “Hold on a moment,” said Rose as she stood and walked over to Kate. “We need to think this through. If Alex can indeed shut down this new tomb without press involvement then that would be wonderful, almost too good to be true, but how do we get rid of the warlock once and for all?” She moved behind Kate, placing both hands on her shoulders. “We are all now aware that last week’s victory was nothing more than a diversion, and an extremely successful diversion at that. What we do not know, is what the warlock will do in retribution if we close his new tomb before we know exactly what is going on, the full picture. What we can be assured of, is that if we thwart his plans he will hit back hard, very hard, though we have no way of knowing when, where
or how.”

  “Sorry to interrupt you, Rose, but what we have not addressed,” said Alex, “is where all the items are coming from to fill this new tomb. They must be genuinely ancient and there must be an awful lot of gold if what we overheard in the bar is to be believed. His wife was convinced that this find would surpass that of Tutankhamun.”

  “Why would this new tomb have to surpass that of Tutankhamun, Alex?

  “Two reasons, Ramses. Firstly, Napoleon would not risk everything, his career, his credibility, his money, to find a lesser tomb than Tutankhamun’s. And secondly, all the genuine ancient gold that will be coming out of the tomb will distract anyone from looking too closely at everything else.”

  “Yes, I can see that. Well thought out. In fact, well done to you all.” He raised his glass.

  “Look, it’s getting late,” said Rose. “Whatever happens, we must get Kate and Alex back to The Gardens by seven and Cairo back to his washing up. It is clear to me that the warlock must have someone watching us and reporting back what we are up to. Because of this it is imperative that we make out to everyone, and I do mean everyone, that this little get together was nothing more than a social, a social at which we were still celebrating our victory of last week.” Nobody could disagree with Rose.

  Rather than being depressed at the thought of going back to do the washing up, Cairo believed that he had the best evening to look forward to. At least his would be away from Aggie.

  “There are just a couple of questions that we have not yet answered.”

  “What are those, Bast?” asked Rose.

  “Where is he getting the ancient gold from and how does Quentin, Alex’s dad, fit into all of this?”

  “We had planned to follow my dad tomorrow, though you, Bast, might be able to help discover where the gold is coming from.”

  “How exactly, Alex?”

  “Well, last week we were attacked in Nakhtifi’s safe haven. As this was made after the time of Merenptah he was only able to achieve the attack by bribing some of Tausert’s or Setnakht’s soldiers, I forget which, with gold.”

  “It was Tausert’s soldiers, but think I can see where you are going with this.” Bast gave a little purr before she continued. “If there was enough gold to give as a bribe for a decoy, there may well be more than enough left to fill a tomb.”

  “Exactly, Bast. I am glad that you have finally come up to speed,” said Ramses in his most authoritative voice as he stood and strutted, one hand on his waist the other holding his wine. “You need to go back to the village to see if they have any item of gold left. If they have, we can trace this back to the tomb it came from. If not, find out who gave it to them in the first place. Use my guards if you need to, as they will persuade anyone to talk. Kate, Alex and Cairo, you need to find out where Quentin is digging, so you will follow him from the hotel in the morning. We will then all meet back here at four tomorrow afternoon, earlier if we can. Gadeem and I will be waiting for you, won’t we Gadeem?”

  “Will you be bringing the red wine?”

  “Of course!”

  “Then I think we can do that. Cheers, Ramses.”

  Chapter 12

  -

  A Time for Reflection

  Showered and changed, Kate and Alex met up with Cairo in the bar whilst they waited for Quentin. Within seconds they were at their usual table and deep in conversation. Seven thirty had come and gone, though they were unconcerned, as they could now legitimately blame their late arrival at The Gardens firmly on Alex’s dad.

  Earlier, when Alex had entered his parents’ room he saw that his father had moved a small table, along with a single chair, over to the window. He sat deep in thought as he was looking across the Nile, so much so that he failed to register Alex’s presence for several minutes.

  “You know, Alex, I wonder where we would all be if I had been rightfully credited with finding the tomb of Roy. It would have opened so many doors, not just for me, but for us as a family.” Alex listened as he knew that his dad was not in the mood for a conversation. Rather, on finally sensing Alex’s presence, Quentin acknowledged it by speaking his previously private thoughts, whilst he continued to stare out across the Nile. Alex sat on the corner of the bed as he listened.

  “I so wanted to make a real discovery, a recognised discovery, as if I had, then I would never have struggled for funding. I am, after all, the top in my field. You know that more than anyone.” Quentin spoke in a melancholy tone. He then almost whispered, “It is, however, not the field that I wanted to be in. I have never wanted fame any more than I wanted to be shoehorned into being an expert on Egypt when it was under Greek rule. What have the Greeks got to do with real ancient Egypt? They just played at it. Finding that Greek general’s tunic button, the one with the head of Cleopatra on it, was, I thought, a blessing at the time, when in reality it wasn’t, it was a curse … a true Theban curse.”

  Quentin then poured the remainder of the pot of coffee into his cup. Alex thought at the time that it had to be cold, as there was not even the slightest hint of steam. “I wanted to show the world how amazing the ancient Egyptians were. Think about it, Alex. Tutankhamun was a boy king. He had no real power. He spent almost no time as pharaoh. Then, his sudden death meant that there was even less time to make his funerary equipment, yet we marvel at his treasures.

  “They would be nothing, nothing but trinkets when compared to a great pharaoh such as Ramses II. Can you imagine what craftsmanship there would be in a tomb for a pharaoh like him? He reigned for well over sixty years as pharaoh of both Upper and Lower Egypt: sixty-six years two months to be exact. What wealth he must have had, what power he must have wielded. It beggars belief.” Quentin then took a sip of his coffee only to instantly spit it back into his cup.

  “Yes, stone cold!”

  “I’m going to order another pot of coffee; would you like one?” Quentin asked, directly addressing Alex for the first time.

  “No thanks, as I need to change before we meet mum at The Gardens.”

  “Mum I can cope with, but that Aggie is unbearable. What with her and those sponsors of my dig, this trip to Luxor is turning into an absolute nightmare.”

  Whilst his dad was on the phone ordering coffee, Alex went off to get showered, only to argue with himself that he should have asked about his dig. He comforted himself with the knowledge that if he had, his dad would never have told him anything. He did, however, have another question which he asked after showering and changing.

  “When will I know that I am a man, Dad?”

  “When you have invaded a country and suppressed its people.”

  “You are a great help, very funny! Anyway, are we going to The Gardens now?” Alex asked this as he headed for the door.

  “I’ve ordered another pot of coffee. I shall enjoy that and then be along.”

  “I’ll be in the bar with Kate, if that’s okay. Then we can all go together.”

  “Yes fine, Alex, good idea. I will be down soon.”

  “Not too soon, I hope,” he thought, “as the shorter the evening was with Aggie, the better.” Alex looked back into the room as he turned to close the door behind him. Quentin gave him a look which said he could be quite some while, because the coffee he was awaiting was the last thing he was likely to enjoy this evening.

  This was why Alex, Kate and Cairo were each sipping a nice cold glass of tamar-hindi without the worry of Aggie’s wrath.

  “So, you think that it’s best if we are up on the hill early and wait for Quentin to arrive?” asked Kate with more than a little scepticism.

  “Yes, Kate,” confirmed Alex.

  “That’s it, just a ‘yes, Kate’, no riveting argument as to why we should be there early.”

  “Okay, I will explain, though I did not think that it needed spelling out,” said Alex knowing that it did, as the logical step would be to leave the hotel just after his dad. Quentin’s taxi would take a long time to get around to the West Bank of Luxor if he only used the one
taxi, but with his changes of taxi on the way, it would take even longer. The tourist ferry across the Nile, opposite Luxor Temple, was a much quicker way to the West Bank, so they would be well ahead of him. “We saw the money, did we not, Cairo?”

  “Oh yes, Mister Alex, them men in suits.”

  “We would recognise them if we saw them again, wouldn’t we, Cairo?”

  “Oh yes, Mister Alex. They easy to recognise.”

  “That, Kate, is why we need to go early, as we did not see any sign of them as dad walked up to the Theban Hills.”

  “Well, they don’t have to be there when your dad is.”

  “Oh yes, they do.”

  “No, they don’t!”

  “Oh yes they do, because that dig is illegal and–”

  “And if your dad found out he would go straight to the authorities. They need to be there to keep him focussed on the task at hand rather than ask too many questions, because I bet he has his doubts.”

  “Exactly, Kate!” Just as Alex finished saying this, in the moment of quiet before anyone spoke, they heard the ping of the elevator arriving in the corridor, followed a few seconds later by Quentin coming into the bar. Rather than drag them off, as they were now very late, he sat in the remaining free chair at their table. Three appeared like magic, though before he could ask if anyone needed anything, Quentin ordered a Stella – a local Egyptian beer – before asking if anyone would like another drink.

  They all shook their heads.

  “Are you sure? Remember, we have to sit with Aggie and her, her, oh you know what I mean.”

  “Whisky, dad,” said Alex.

  “Double Whisky,” said Kate.

  “I have to go and wash up,” said Cairo.

  “Three tamar-hindi then,” said Three, to which they all nodded.

  Chapter 13

  -

  Aggie and Ash

  They need not have worried about being late, as on arrival at The Gardens Aggie was nowhere to be seen. Babs was sitting surrounded by female expats, with a spare chair, obviously Aggie’s chair, just to her right. She looked somewhat out of place. It was clear for all to see that the conversations were going on around her, rather than with her.