wall. The pedestal table was now empty of the coffin. “They got what they wanted,” he said.
Riki sighed. “They were indeed tomb robbers.”
“What was all the gunfire about?” Summer asked.
“I guess they didn’t care for the mural.” Zeibig pointed his phone light at the wall. A small section of the lower corner had been targeted, obliterating the image painted there.
“That’s strange,” Summer said. “Why would they shoot up a mural?”
“Here’s something else that’s strange.” Zeibig stepped to the foot of the pedestal, where the clay figurines still stood. The jars and figures, the model boat, and the little gold chariot had been left untouched. “It doesn’t make much sense that grave robbers would steal a plain wooden casket and leave behind a gold artifact.”
Summer shook her head. “Perhaps they didn’t see it.”
“One other thing is odd,” Zeibig said. “I caught a glimpse of one of the men while we were in the anteroom. It appeared he had put on a surgical mask and rubber gloves.”
“I can see protecting the artifacts by wearing gloves,” Summer said, “but the mask is extreme.”
Riki brushed against Dirk’s side. “Is it safe to leave now? We need to get medical assistance for Dr. Stanley.”
“Of course. Summer, can you take the point again?”
Dirk and Zeibig took hold of Stanley while Summer led the others out of the chamber and into the inner corridor. A faint rumble sounded as she moved slowly down the passage, stopping and turning off her light every few steps in case the gunmen were waiting. Eventually she reached the first bend and peeked around the corner.
The outer corridor was dark and silent. She moved forward again until a mound of dirt blocked her path near where they’d entered the passageway. She looked up, expecting to see pinpricks of daylight through the broken limestone ceiling.
Instead, it was completely dark. She raised her light and saw why.
The front-end loader’s steel blade was wedged against the opening, sealing them underground with the ghosts of the ancient dead.
23
Dirk used the burial staff to pry at the cracked sections of limestone around the original entry hole. A few small pieces fell away. It was in vain. The front-end loader’s blade overlapped heavy slabs of limestone on either side of the opening, and there was no breaching those.
“My kingdom for a pickax,” he muttered, banging the staff against the wall. “Those other sections of stone aren’t going to be budged with a wooden stick.”
Zeibig flashed his cell light around the walls. “Solid construction, I’ll give them that. Thick limestone slabs for the walls, floor, and ceiling. Easy to see why it’s lain undisturbed for three thousand years.”
“That’s well and good for the Egyptian who was buried here,” Summer said, “but how do we get out?”
“Somebody will come to check on the dead antiquities agent, as well as the families of the two workers.” Riki motioned toward the laborers. “They’ll notice the loader is not where it should be.”
“True.” Summer nodded. “How long will that take?”
The corridor fell quiet. Then Dirk approached Stanley. “Professor, we fell into this place through the ceiling. How would one have originally entered the tomb?”
Stanley sat on the floor with his back to the wall, his skin as pale as the stone behind him. He teetered on the brink of unconsciousness, wrestling with the pain from his leg wound.
He looked at Dirk with glassy eyes and forced a smile. “Steps,” he said softly. “Look for steps that would lead to the surface, perhaps in a concealed entry.”
“Of course. Thanks, Professor.” Dirk looked to Zeibig. “Why don’t you stay here with Dr. Stanley and the others while Summer and I have a look around.”
Zeibig nodded. Dirk groped for the wooden staff, then rose and approached Summer. She guided him with the penlight to the pile of dirt at the end of the passage. They had to crouch as Summer moved her light about.
“We can’t get past this mess,” she said, “without some serious excavation.”
“There was just a block wall beyond,” Dirk said. “I think we can assume the entrance wasn’t there.”
“Let’s backtrack to the chamber.”
Summer turned and led them down the corridor, squeezing past the others. Dirk lingered a moment as he moved past Riki, inhaling the scent of her perfume as she gave him a light smile. He joined Summer as she ran the penlight up and down the side walls, stopping now and again to study the seams between stones. There was no hint of an unusual cut or a hidden door. The