of a barefoot woman wearing a robe. Only, it featured the head of a lioness.
“Look at the headdress!” Summer said.
The figure wore a striped nemes headdress, commonly depicted on the images and funerary masks of Egyptian pharaohs.
“I believe that’s Sekhmet.” Brophy’s voice rose an octave. “If my memory serves, she was considered an Egyptian warrior goddess, feared as the ‘lady of terror.’” He raised a brow at Summer. “She was also a healer who could avert plague and cure illness.”
“I thought you were a Celtic historian?” Dirk said.
“I interned at the British Museum for a year in their Department of Ancient Egypt,” he said with pride.
Summer turned it over in her hands. “There’s no doubt it’s Egyptian?”
“Not unless someone planted a tourist souvenir for a hoax.” Brophy ran a finger over the statue. “Certainly looks like the real thing.”
“While it appears to be a genuine artifact,” she said, “there’s no evidence of a grave. Do you think it’s deeper than the GPR can read?”
“Perhaps, since this was only a foot deep.” Dirk kicked a clod of dirt back into the hole. He bent and pointed at the large stone.
“There’s something.” He brushed away a layer of soil that clung to the now exposed rock face. The dirt fell away, revealing a line of symbols carved into the rock.
“Hieroglyphics?” Summer asked. It was her turn for her voice to rise in pitch.
“Professor,” Dirk said, “hand me that shovel again.”
He dug down several more inches, exposing a flat section of stone. Faintly carved on its face was the image of a boat, with a clear line of hieroglyphics inscribed beneath.
Summer squeezed next to Dirk to take a closer look.
“It is! The markings are Egyptian hieroglyphics.”
“Well, I’ll be,” Brophy said, eyeing the inscription over her shoulder.
“This would make for a nice tomb marker.” Summer pulled out her phone and snapped several pictures. “I’ll see if Max can translate it.”
Dirk pointed to the image of the boat. “Looks similar to an Egyptian barque or Byblos boat.” He ran the GPR in expanding circles around the stone, then chased Summer out of the hole and dropped the unit into the pit. He studied the screen and shook his head. “Not seeing anything else in the vicinity.”
The clouds overhead began to open up, delivering a handful of sprinkles that grew into a downpour.
Brophy gazed skyward. “Perhaps the gods are telling us that’s all to be found here.”
“Or all that we’re meant to find.” Dirk pulled the GPR from the hole. Summer passed the statue to Brophy and grabbed the shovel. She refilled the pit, burying all signs of the carvings on the rock.
“I’ll notify the university,” Brophy said. “This should incite the archeology department to perform a thorough study.”
Dirk dragged the GPR back to the car and tossed it into the trunk as the others climbed inside. As he hopped into the driver’s seat, Summer checked her phone.
“I guess I had a phone signal on the way back. Hiram just responded.” She smiled. “Max came through, again.”
“Pray tell,” Brophy said. “What does the inscription say?”
“‘At this place, the Princess from Amarna died in victorious battle,’” Summer said. “‘She now rests at Falcon Rock by the sea, for her journey to the Underworld.’”
“The Princess from Amarna,” Dirk said.
“She died here.” Summer nodded. “The legend is true. But she was taken away . . .”
Dirk wiped a bead of rain off his brow. “Professor, any idea about this Falcon Rock?”
Brophy shrugged. “It’s not a landmark I’m familiar with. Must be somewhere along the coast.” He thought a moment. “We need to get to Killarney.”
“Is that a potential location of Falcon Rock?” Summer asked.
“It’s the home of the Franciscan Friary. Their library has a rich collection of early Irish manuscripts and geological records. I’ll bet my buttons they have a historical place-names reference or two that will give us the answer.”
Dirk started the car. “Which way to Killarney?”
“Head on down the road a spell. We’ll eventually turn east, leaving the Slieve Mish at our back. It’s about fifty kilometers, through a beautiful stretch of County Kerry.”
As Dirk pulled onto the narrow lane, he failed to notice a silver Audi parked behind a thick hedge. The concealed sedan had followed them unseen from Tralee. The Audi’s driver started the vehicle and entered the road, following just out of view of Dirk’s rental car.
42
A casual buffet breakfast was set up in the manor’s rotunda, teeming with Evanna McKee’s rich and powerful guests. Pitt and Loren found a quiet side table, where