Текст книги "Queen of Death"

Автор книги: John Milne

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'And I'll go to the small markets in Heliopolis,' said Leila. 'I'll speak to the servants who go shopping there. One of them may have noticed something unusual.'

Ahmed went back to Salahadin's desk and picked up Farrow's book.

'What does Farrow mean by "great danger"?' he asked.

Salahadin told them about his visit to Professor Gomouchian.

'The explanation is here in Farrow's book,' he replied. 'And Professor Gomouchian agrees that Farrow may be right. It is possible that Queen Axtarte had the germs of a terrible disease put into her tomb. Anyone who goes inside the tomb will die.'

'So if the Amsterdam Gang take anything out of the tomb, they could spread the disease everywhere,' said Leila.

'That's right,' replied Salahadin. 'It's part of the Queen's Curse. "The person who enters my tomb will die a terrible death – and many more shall die with him."

CHAPTER SEVEN

In the Desert

The desert to the east of the River Nile and north of Karnak is rocky and mountainous. There are many hills and mountains and deep valleys.

There was a lorry in one of these valleys, about twenty kilometres north-east of Karnak. The lorry was parked beside a large rock. There were three men in the shade of the rock. They were keeping out of the heat of the midday sun.

'You've been telling us lies, Farrow,' one man said. He was tall with a red beard. 'You know where the tomb is, but you're pretending not to know.'

Farrow looked at the Dutchman.

'I don't know where it is, Keesing,' said Farrow. 'In my book I say that the Queen's tomb is somewhere near here. But I don't know where it is exactly.'

De Fries, the other Dutchman, was a small man wearing dark glasses. He spoke quietly to Keesing.

'Farrow's telling lies,' he said. 'We've been here in this desert for three days and we have not found the tomb. But I'm sure Farrow knows where the tomb is.'

'We are wasting time, Farrow,' said Keesing. 'If we don't get to the tomb this evening, I won't call Greer on the radio. Greer has his orders. You'll never see your wife again.'

Farrow knew what the orders were. Keesing had a powerful radio transmitter in the back of the lorry. He spoke to Greer every evening before seven o'clock. If Greer did not get a call by seven o'clock, he had orders to get rid of Christine Farrow.

Keesing turned and walked to the lorry. After a few moments, De Fries spoke to Farrow.

'Greer is a cruel and heartless man,' said De Fries. 'If he does not get a radio call by seven, he will kill your wife. Don't be a fool. Take us to the tomb now.'

'I've told you a hundred times,' shouted Farrow, 'I don't know where the tomb is.'

'It's after midday now,' said De Fries. 'You have until seven o'clock. You know what will happen then. Keesing will not call Greer on the radio. And Greer is a cruel man-a very cruel man.'

Farrow sat in silence. He thought of his wife, Christine. She was young and beautiful. Farrow remembered how happy they had been. It seemed a long time ago. They had met Keesing and De Fries in Wales. That had been the end of their happiness.

'All right, I'll take you there,' Farrow said. 'The tomb is about ten kilometres away, but it won't be easy to get there. We'll have to hurry. And when we find the tomb, I'm going to leave you. I don't want to be near that tomb when it's opened.'

Keesing and De Fries did not say anything. They climbed up into the cab of the lorry and waited for Farrow.

'Remember, Farrow, you've got until seven o'clock,' said Keesing. 'If we don't find this tomb by then, your wife will die.'

De Fries started the engine of the lorry and waited for Farrow to tell him where to go.

'Drive along this valley,' said Farrow. 'At the end of the valley we must turn left and travel north. And we must get up onto higher ground. I want to see where we are.'

De Fries drove carefully and slowly over the rough ground. There were large stones everywhere. The heat of the sun was like a burning fire.

'This heat's terrible,' said Keesing. 'Can't you go any faster?'

'If I go any faster, we'll hit a rock,' replied De Fries. 'Then we'll be stuck here for hours.'

They drove on. When the lorry reached the end of the valley, De Fries stopped. He turned to Farrow.

'Where do we go now?' he asked.

Farrow climbed down from the cab and took out his compass . He looked at the compass and he looked at the hills around him. Then he climbed back into the lorry.

'Turn to the left here,' Farrow said to De Fries. 'And try to get up that slope in front of us. We'll be able to see around us from the top of the slope.'

The lorry started to climb the steep slope to their left.

'Stop, you fool!' Keesing shouted at De Fries. 'Luxor airport is not far from here. We've seen four planes in the last three days. We've seen them, but we don't want them to see us.'

De Fries stopped the lorry.

'If we don't go up higher, I won't be able to see where we are,' said Farrow.

The men sat in the cab in silence. Keesing turned to Farrow.

'Get out and climb up,' he said. 'The lorry stays down here.'

Farrow started to climb the slope. De Fries turned to Keesing.

'Aren't we going up with him?' he asked.

'He won't run away,' was Keesing's reply. 'He's got no water. He knows he will die in the desert without water. And he knows that his wife will die too.'

Farrow felt dizzy in the heat of the sun. He found shade behind a large rock.

I've got to make them drive the lorry up onto the hill, he thought to himself. Someone may see us from the air and report us to the police. That's my only hope.

'Which way do we take now?' De Fries asked Farrow when he got back.

'There's no way round this hill,' replied Farrow. 'We have to drive up here and over the top of the hill.'

'We should have gone up there with him,' De Fries said to Keesing. 'We don't know if he's telling the truth.'

'If there's no way down the other side,' replied De Fries, 'we'll turn round and head back to Luxor.'

'I don't think he is lying,' said Keesing. 'He knows what will happen to his wife. We'll go up and over the top of the hill.'

CHAPTER EIGHT

Dr J usef Strengel

While De Fries was driving slowly up the slope in the desert, Salahadin was flying south towards Luxor. He was sitting beside the pilot in a police plane. He could see the River Nile below him.

'We're getting near Luxor now,' said the pilot. 'I'll turn east. Then I'll turn south and fly over the desert towards Luxor airport.'

A few minutes later they were flying over the desert. Salahadin looked through the binoculars. He could see the rocks, valleys, and mountains below them.

'It's like a mirror,' he said to the pilot, 'the sun is shining back from the sand and rocks.'

'You'll see more clearly when we get down lower,' the pilot told him.

Salahadin studied the map in front of him for a few moments. Then he looked again through the binoculars at the ground below them.

'We're nearly there,' he said. 'I think the tomb is somewhere down there.'

The plane flew lower. Suddenly Salahadin gave the binoculars to the pilot.

'What can you see down there?' he asked.

The pilot took the binoculars and looked down at the desert.

'It's a lorry,' he said to Salahadin. 'It's moving over a high hill.'

'It must be them,' said Salahadin, taking back the binoculars and looking down at the lorry.

'Shall I circle round and go lower?' the pilot asked.

'No – we don't want to make them suspicious. Keep flying towards Luxor airport.'

The plane flew on and Salahadin studied the ground below them through the binoculars.

'Look,' he said after a few moments. 'There's another lorry down there. And its bigger than the first lorry.'

'Is it travelling with the first lorry?' asked the pilot.

'I don't know,' replied Salahadin slowly. 'It's about three kilometres south of the first lorry, but it's travelling in the same direction.'

'That's interesting,' said the pilot. 'If people are together in the desert, they keep close to one another.'

But who could be in this other lorry? said Salahadin to himself.

Salahadin carefully marked the positions of both lorries on the map. The pilot got ready to land at Luxor airport.

Police Inspector Musa Angheli was waiting for Salahadin at Luxor airport. The Inspector had met Salahadin many times. Salahadin had often come to visit the ancient monuments around Luxor. The two men shook hands.

'A telex has just arrived for you from Chief Inspector Ahmed in Cairo,' said Inspector Musa. 'You'd better read the telex in my office in the airport building. It's too hot to stand out here in the sun.'

On their way to the airport building, Salahadin told Musa about the two lorries he had seen in the desert.

'Perhaps this telex will explain why there are two lorries in the desert,' said Inspector Musa.

There was a small fan on the desk in Inspector Musa's office. The fan moved the air around, but it did not make the office cooler. Salahadin sat down and read the telex from Ahmed.

ATTENTION: INSPECTOR SALAHADIN EL NUR LUXOR AIRPORT

RECEIVED REPORT ON THE BLACK MERCEDES. NO – REPEAT – NO – FINGERPRINTS OF THE AMSTERDAM RING IN THE CAR. BUT ONE SET OF PRINTS THOSE OF DR JUSEF STRENGEL – REPEAT DR JUSEF STRENGEL. NO NEWS YET OF CHRISTINE FARROW.

AHMED ABBAS

'So, Dr Jusef Strengel is back in Egypt,' said Salahadin. 'A black Mercedes followed us in Cairo,' Salahadin began. 'Ahmed has found out who owns it. The Mercedes belongs to Dr Strengel.'

'We know a lot about Dr Strengel,' Salahadin went on. 'His father was German and his mother was Lebanese. He smuggles antiquities. But he's different from the other smugglers. People like the Amsterdam Ring smuggle antiquities and sell them to make money. Strengel has lots of money of his own. He has one of the largest private collections of Egyptian antiquities in the world. He's not interested in making money – he wants the antiquities for his own collection.'

'And he wants the treasures of Queen Axtarte for his collection,' added Inspector Musa.

'That's right,' replied Salahadin. 'And I'm sure that he's out there in the desert in one of those lorries. I think that the Amsterdam Ring is in the first lorry with Farrow. Farrow is taking them to the tomb and Strengel is following them.'

Salahadin discussed the situation with Inspector Musa. There were now two gangs of smugglers out in the desert. Salahadin and Musa could not fight them by themselves. They would have to have help.

'We have a new Range Rover here,' suggested Musa. 'It's the best kind of vehicle for moving over rocky ground in the desert. And I've got a good driver who knows the desert tracks . We can take three policemen with us.'

Salahadin agreed to Musa's suggestion and soon the Range Rover was ready to leave. The three policemen had rifles with them. Salahadin and Musa had revolvers and there was a box of dynamite in the back. Salahadin got it from a store at the airport.

'What's the dynamite for?' asked Musa.

'We may need it,' replied Salahadin. 'I'll explain why later.'

Salahadin showed the driver the map. He pointed to the place he had marked.

'How long will it take us to get there?' he asked the driver.

'It's very rocky ground out there,' replied the driver. 'If we're lucky, we may get there in three or four hours.'

'Drive as quickly as you can,' said Salahadin. The driver started the engine and the Range Rover set out into the desert.

CHAPTER NINE

The House in Heliopolis

Back in Cairo, Ahmed and Leila were searching for Christine Farrow.

Policemen were questioning all the shopkeepers – especially those who sold cigatettes or food in small street shops.

Leila had policewomen working for her. They were visiting the small markets in the parts of Cairo where Europeans lived. The servants who work for the Europeans often shop in these markets in the afternoon.

In a small market in Heliopolis, a new servant began to do her shopping. No one had seen her there before. But servants are always friendly and they smiled at the new servant and spoke to her.

'Be careful of Ismael – he charges too much money for vegetables,' one woman said.

'Count your change carefully at Abdul Rahman's, the butcher's,' said another.

Some women were sitting talking in the shade of a large tree. Leila, the new servant, sat down beside them and listened to their talk.

Most of the conversation was about prices and wages.

Leila sat and listened. She knew that she must not ask the women questions. If she asked them about their work, they would become suspicious and tell her nothing.

After a few minutes, a young woman sat down beside them. One of the women said, 'How are you, today, Fatima? And how's the sick European woman?'

'I think she's still there,' replied Fatima. 'She hasn't been out of the bedroom once. What a wonderful life she has! Her husband does all the work in the house.'

All the women laughed.

'Is she very beautiful?' someone asked.

'I've told you before – I've never seen her,' replied Fatima. 'But she must be very beautiful. He does all the housework and she stays in her bedroom. I'm not allowed in there – the door is always locked. My job is to do the shopping and clean the kitchen – that's all.'

'And you're well paid for it too,' said another woman.

Everybody laughed loudly.

Fatima picked up her shopping basket. 'I must go back now. He'll be waiting for me.'

There was more laughter and Fatima walked way. Leila stood up and said goodbye to the women. She followed Fatima for about ten minutes. Fatima stopped in front of an old house and knocked at the door. A man's face appeared at an upstairs window. Fatima stood waiting at the door.

Someone is being very careful, Leila thought to herself.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Fatima went inside. The door closed immediately.

Leila hurried to a small shop at the end of the street and asked to use the telephone. Half an hour later, Chief Inspector Ahmed arrived with two policemen. They stopped the car where Leila was waiting for them.

Leila told Ahmed about the servant in the market. Then she showed Ahmed the house.

'Fatima, the servant, says there's a sick European woman in the bedroom,' Leila explained to Ahmed. 'Fatima has never seen the woman and the bedroom door is always locked. Perhaps this is the house we are looking for.'

'But we must make certain,' said Ahmed cautiously. 'It may not be Christine Farrow. Perhaps it is a sick woman.'

'We must make certain,' said Leila. 'I must get inside the house and find out who she is.'

'But how are you going to get inside?' asked Ahmed.

'Let's wait until Fatima comes out. Perhaps she will help us.'

They sat in the car waiting. Just after five o'clock, Fatima came out of the house again. She had a basket in one hand and a bunch of keys in the other. Leila and Ahmed got out of the car. Leila stopped Fatima and spoke to her. She showed Fatima her police identity card. 'We want to ask you about the man you work for,' said Leila.

'He's a foreigner,' replied Fatima.

'And what about the woman in the bedroom?' asked Leila.

'I've never seen her,' replied Fatima. 'The bedroom door is always locked.'

'But if you haven't seen her, how do you know it's a woman in the bedroom?' said Ahmed.

'I've heard her crying – and I know the sound of a woman crying.'

'How long has she been in the bedroom?' Leila asked.

'About five days,' replied Fatima. 'Since last Friday.'

Leila and Ahmed looked at one another.

'Where are you going now?' Leila asked Fatima.

Fatima told them that she was going to buy bread. Because of the heat in Cairo, bread does not stay fresh. In the morning, people buy bread for breakfast and lunch. Then they buy more fresh bread in the evening.

'Are those the keys of the house?' asked Leila.

'The foreigner locks himself in his bedroom every evening between six and seven,' Fatima explained. 'It's the only time he gives me the keys to the house.'

'What does he do in his bedroom every evening?' asked Ahmed.

'I don't know what he does in there,' replied Fatima. 'But sometimes I've heard voices. But there's no one in there but him.'

'Will you help us?' Leila asked Fatima.

'What's happening?' asked Fatima. 'Who are you? I don't want to get into any trouble.'

'We are police officers,' she explained again. 'You won't get into trouble if you help us.'

'What do you want me to do?' asked Fatima.

'We don't want you to do anything,' replied Leila. 'We want to find out more about the people you work for. Let me take the bread back into the house.'

Fatima was not happy about this suggestion. But finally she agreed.

'I'm worried about this,' said Ahmed when Leila was ready to go into the house. 'It could be very dangerous.'

'It's the easiest way of getting into the house,' said Leila. 'And we must make sure that it is Christine Farrow who is locked in that bedroom.'

'What will you do if it is her?' Ahmed asked.

'That's easy,' replied Leila. 'I'll open the front door and let you in. Make sure you are waiting near the door with the two policemen.'

Leila turned to Fatima, 'Now tell me again,' she said, 'where is his bedroom and where is the bedroom with the woman in it?'

Fatima explained once again and Leila listened carefully.

'Good,' she said. 'I'll remember that easily.'

Leila walked up to the front door with the keys in her hand.

CHAPTER TEN

The Valley of Death

It was just after five o'clock when Farrow told De Fries to stop the lorry. They were at the entrance to a narrow valley. 'We're here now,' said Farrow. 'The Queen's tomb is in this valley.'

'How do you know?' Keesing asked.

Farrow pointed up at the mountain top to the east.

'That looks like a snake, doesn't it?' he asked.

Keesing and De Fries looked up. The top of the mountain was about three hundred metres long. It ended with a great rock rising high in the sky. The mountain top looked like a snake with its head raised.

'And that's a sitting man,' Farrow continued, pointing to the mountain top to the west.

Keesing and De Fries looked upwards towards the setting sun. In the middle of the mountain top there was a large rock. It looked like a man's head. Below the rock, a gully ran down the mountain side to the bottom of the valley. The mountain had the shape of a sitting man.

'A snake with raised head and a sitting man guard the tomb of Queen Axtarte,' said Farrow. 'Those words are written on the pillar from the Temple of Karnak.'

'And where's the tomb?' said Keesing turning to Farrow.

Farrow pointed to the gully that ran up the mountainside.

'Somewhere between the legs of the sitting man,' he told Keesing. 'That's all I know. You'll have to go and look for it.'

They climbed back into the lorry and De Fries drove down the valley to the bottom of the gully.

'You know that it can take a long time to get inside a tomb,' said Farrow.

'Why is that?' asked Keesing.

'The Ancient Egyptians always made secret entrances to the tombs,' replied Farrow. 'And they sealed the entrance with huge rocks. They wanted to keep out tomb robbers. It could take you years to get inside.'

'We've got a box of dynamite in the back of the lorry,' Keesing told Farrow. 'When we find the entrance, it won't take us long to blast our way in.'

'What about the Queen's Curse? Aren't you afraid of that?' asked Farrow.

'That was written a long time ago,' replied Keesing. 'The Queen wanted to frighten tomb robbers. It doesn't mean anything today.'

'You could be wrong, you know,' said Farrow. 'I'm going to get as far away from you as I can.'

'Don't you want to make sure that I radio to Greer?' asked Keesing.

Farrow did not know what to do. If Keesing did not radio, Greer would kill Cristine. So Farrow had to stay near.

Farrow looked up the gully. There was a large rock on the right leg of the sitting man.

'I'm going up there,' Farrow told Keesing. 'You can shout to me if you want me.'

Farrow climbed up the leg of the sitting man and sat down on the large rock. De Fries climbed up the gully and started to search for the entrance to the tomb. Keesing took torches and spades out of the lorry and waited. After some time De Fries shouted down to Keesing, 'I've found some steps cut into the rock of the mountain!'

Keesing climbed up, carrying a torch and a spade. He looked at the steps. An enormous rock had fallen down onto the steps from the mountain above.

'Farrow's right,' De Fries said to Keesing. 'The entrance is blocked. It will take weeks to get that enormous rock out of the way.'

Keesing looked around carefully on each side of the rock and then above it.

'I wonder what's above the rock,' said Keesing. 'I can't see up there. We'll have to climb up round it.'

Farrow watched the two men climb further up the gully. They climbed round the side of the enormous rock and disappeared.

What can I do to stop them? Farrow asked himself. There must be something I can do.

But then he remembered Christine and the radio call. He could do nothing until Keesing spoke to Greer on the radio.

I've shown them the tomb, he thought. Perhaps they'll let us go now.

Suddenly De Fries appeared again. He climbed down the gully and hurried to the lorry. Then he climbed up the gully once more. This time he was carrying a box of dynamite.

'Have you found something?' Farrow shouted.

There's a hole in the mountain above the rock,' replied De Fries. 'It looks like another way into the tomb.'

Farrow sat and waited. The sun had gone behind the mountain in the west. About fifteen minutes later, there was a loud explosion. Then silence.

Suddenly there was a loud scream. De Fries appeared at the top of the rock. But this time he did not climb down. He fell from the rock and rolled over and over into the valley below. He lay on the hard ground, his body turning and twisting. Then he gave another loud scream and lay still. Farrow knew that he was dead.

Farrow sat on the rock. De Fries was dead and there was nothing he could do for him. But where was Keesing? If Keesing was dead, no radio message would be sent to Greer and Christine would die.

Farrow climbed down and ran towards the gully. Suddenly he stopped. He had heard the sound of an engine. Farrow looked along the valley and saw a huge lorry coming towards him. The lorry stopped. Farrow watched in amazement. Three figures dressed in protective suits climbed out of the lorry.

One of the figures moved towards Farrow. It stopped when it saw the body of De Fries. The man looked at Farrow and said, 'Who are you?'

'Farrow – Dr John Farrow. They made me take them here. They made me show them the tomb. Who are you? The police?'

'No, we're not the police. We've been following you. Thank you for writing such a clever book and for bringing us here. Let me introduce myself. My name is Strengel – Dr Jusef Strengel.'

CHAPTER ELEVEN

' We've Come Prepared'

Farrow had heard about Dr Strengel. He knew that Strengel was a rich man and owned a large collection of Egyptian antiquities.

Strengel pointed down at the body of De Fries.

'What's been happening here?' he asked.

'Keesing and De Fries blew open a passage into the Queen's tomb,' replied Farrow.

'Yes, we heard the explosion. It helped us to get here more quickly. Where's Keesing?'

'He's still in the tomb,' said Farrow. 'He's probably dead.'

'I found your book very helpful,' Dr Strengel told Farrow. 'I'm not a fool like Keesing. We've come prepared. No germs can get through these suits. Now we can take the mummy and treasure away before Inspector Salahadin arrives.'

Suddenly another voice interrupted them. It was Keesing. He had come out of the tomb while they had been talking. Now he was behind a rock. He was pointing a revolver at Strengel.

'You're not going to take the mummy or the treasure out of this tomb, Strengel,' said Keesing. 'I'm going to stop you.'

'Don't be a fool, Keesing,' said Strengel. 'You've been inside that tomb. The germs are in your body. You'll soon be dead like your friend, De Fries.'

'It was De Fries who was the fool,' replied Keesing, 'I didn't touch the mummy. It was De Fries who opened the case. I didn't touch it.'

'You've been in the tomb – that's enough,' said Strengel. 'You need help. I've got medicines in my lorry and I'm a doctor. Come down and I'll help you.'

There was a loud bang. A bullet from Keesing's revolver hit a rock near Strengel.

'That suit won't protect you if it's got a hole in it,' shouted Keesing, with a laugh.

Suddenly there was another shot from behind Keesing. The revolver dropped from Keesing's hand. Keesing fell slowly from behind the rock. He rolled down the gully towards them. The driver of Strengel's lorry had crept up the rocks behind Keesing. The driver was not wearing a suit.

'Keep away from here!' Strengel shouted to the driver. 'Go and get your suit on. It's dangerous here.'

Farrow remembered that he was in danger too. He moved away from the bodies lying on the rocks. Strengel looked down at Keesing. Keesing was not dead, but his face was turning black. He was in great pain.

'Shoot me – shoot me,' he said to Strengel. 'You were right. The germs are in my body. Shoot me now. Let me die quickly.'

'You knew that you were dying. And you wanted me to die in the same way,' was Strengel's cruel reply. He walked away, leaving Keesing turning and twisting in great pain.

Strengel turned to the two men who were with him, 'We can go into the tomb now and get the mummy. But we must he quick.'

'What about the radio message?' said Farrow, turning to Dr Strengel.

'What radio message?'

'They're holding my wife prisoner in Cairo,' Farrow explained. 'If Greer doesn't get a call from Keesing before seven o'clock, he'll kill my wife. And it's nearly seven o'clock now.'

'I haven't got time for that,' replied Strengel cruelly. He walked back to his lorry to get the equipment ready. They had powerful lights, spades, ropes, and steel bars. Strengel and his three men climbed up the gully. They were all wearing their protective suits.

Farrow stood thinking for a few moments. Then he walked down towards the lorry. He would try to use the radio to speak to Greer. He had never used a radio before, but he had watched Keesing using it.

In the Range Rover, Salahadin had also heard the explosion.

'That's them,' he said. 'They're near.'

'The explosion was on the other side of that mountain,' said the driver. 'It won't be easy to get there.'

'Which mountain?' asked Musa.

The driver pointed up to a mountain top to the east.

'That's the mountain shaped like a sitting man,' he said. 'We'll have to get round to the other side of that mountain.'

'Let's get there as quickly as we can then,' said Salahadin. 'The sun's setting now and it will soon be dark.'

'It'll be dangerous if we drive too quickly,' said the driver.

'Drive as quickly as you can,' Salahadin repeated. 'If they take that mummy out of the tomb, it could be much more dangerous for everyone.'

The driver drove the Range Rover round rocks and up over hills of sand. The passengers were thrown from one side to the other. Half an hour later, they reached the entrance to the valley. The driver stopped.

'We must be very near now,' he said to Salahadin. 'I've been in this valley before. There's a gully on the west side. It's below that great rock on top. The tomb must be in the gully.'

'Good,' said Salahadin. 'We can walk from here.'

They all got out of the Range Rover. The driver pointed to some tyre marks in the sand.

'We'll follow these tracks,' said Salahadin quietly.

They walked slowly down the valley. Salahadin and Musa went in front, with their revolvers ready. The three policemen and the driver followed them. They found the two lorries standing in the valley.

'Listen,' whispered Salahadin.

They stood and listened. A noise came from the back of one of the lorries.

'It's someone tuning a radio,' said the driver. 'I used to work as a radio operator. I'd know that noise anywhere.'

Salahadin walked up to the back of the lorry and looked inside. Someone was sitting in front of a radio with his back towards Salahadin.

'Put your hands up and turn round,' Salahadin said quietly.

Farrow was startled and jumped up and turned round. Salahadin was ready to shoot if the man had a gun. But he recognized Farrow immediately. He had seen his photograph on the visa application form in London.

'You're Farrow – Dr John Farrow,' said Salahadin. 'What's going on here? Where are the others?'

'Who are you?' asked Farrow.

'I'm Salahadin El Nur – a police officer.'

'Thank goodness you've come at last,' said Farrow.

Farrow quickly told Salahadin about the deaths of De Fries and Keesing, and about Strengel and his men.

'Where's Strengel now?' Salahadin asked.

Farrow started to explain about the danger in the tomb. Salahadin stopped him.

'I've read your book and I know all about that. Tell me about Strengel and his men.'

'They're in the tomb,' replied Farrow. 'But they're wearing protective suits, and they're protected from the germs. They're taking the mummy out -'

'They're not leaving here,' said Salahadin. 'The Queen of Death must stay in her tomb forever.'

'But how are you going to stop them?'

'I've got men with me,' was Salahadin's reply.

Farrow then told Salahadin about the radio call to Greer.

'I'll send the driver in to you,' replied Salahadin. 'He knows about radios.'

Salahadin hurried back to the others and told them what was happening. He pointed to the enormous rock that had fallen over the entrance to the tomb.

'They've found a way into the tomb above that rock,' he said. 'They're going to carry the mummy down the gully. They're wearing protective suits and they won't be able to move easily. That's where we'll be able to stop them.'

Salahadin then reminded them of the dangers of going too near the mummy.

'Don't go near the mummy,' he said. 'Remember – if you touch the mummy, you will die a horrible death.'

Salahadin turned to the driver.

'Go back to the lorry and help Farrow send a radio message,' he said. 'But do it cleverly. If the person in Cairo gets suspicious, he may kill Christine Farrow.'

Salahadin sent two of the policemen up one side of the gully. The third policeman climbed up the other side.

The policemen quietly took up their places and hid behind rocks. Musa climbed above the entrance to the tomb and stood in the shadow of a rock. The moon shone on Salahadin who was standing alone in the gully.