Early the next morning, Lya left the Hotel Continental and went to Mass at a nearby church. Troubled by dreams from the night before, she daubed herself with holy water to ward off evil influences.

Oswald and Sydney met Nell, Alisa, and Rupert (in native garb) for breakfast at Shepheard's.  Alisa told the others about a strange and vivid dream she had had the previous night.  In her dream, she was the Royal Treasurer to Pharaoh in ancient Egypt, with responsibility for the wealth of the kingdom.  She had been on her way to advise the Pharaoh when she awoke.

Oswald confirmed that he had sent the message from the Semiramis the night before and had denied it over the telephone because of the possibility of eavesdroppers.  The purpose of the meeting at Fishawi's was a mystery, though.

The group took a taxi to Fishawi's cafe, where they found Hassan eagerly awaiting them.  He pointed out a beggar woman across the street that seemed to be keeping an eye on them.  When Alisa and Nell approached the woman, she retreated and, in a roundabout way, approached Rupert (who was sitting at an outdoor table).  Hassan tried to shoo the beggar away, but Rupert recognized her as Lya in disguise and offered her a seat. Alisa and Nell returned to the table, somewhat miffed that Lya had avoided them.

Lya explained that she had set this meeting up in a somewhat mysterious way to confuse anyone following them.  Nell said Lya had done an excellent job of confusing them, too.

Lya told Oswald and Sydney that she was amazed that they had survived the night staying in the same hotel as Edward Gavigan.  She thought it a very bad idea to accompany him to Memphis.  She asked Rupert to give her some of the holy water he obtained from the Monastery of St. Mena but he refused, saying that he was saving it until they were in a critical situation.  Oswald gave Lya his room number at the Semiramis and asked how to get in touch with her.  Lya told him to contact her through Brother Paul, who was staying at the Jesuit school.

The group then made plans for the day.  Nell wanted to talk to members of current archeological expeditions to learn about the Clive and Carlyle expeditions.  Sydney thought it strange that the Carlyle expedition moved freely between sites, when dig permits were difficult to obtain.  She intended to talk to Dr. Kafour at the Egyptian Museum.  Rupert thought it a good idea to follow up on a lead from Faraz Najir and talk to the ulama (i.e. Islamic teacher) at the  Mosque of Ibn-Tulun.  Lya agreed and offered to accompany him.  She noted that a police inspector had taken an interest in the Carlyle expedition several years ago.  Oswald wanted to make an application for an antiquities export license, then go talk to Warren Besart and the Dutch archeologist, Jan Van Heuvelen.

Mr. Fishawi told Rupert that he had set up an interview with the leader of the Wafdist Party, Mr. Zaghlul, for tomorrow afternoon.

The group then spilt up, agreeing to meet back at Shepheard's at 7 Pm for dinner.

Rupert and Lya were guided by Hassan to the Mosque of  Ibn-Tulun, built in 879.  Compared to the crowded streets of Old Cairo it was an island of tranquillity.  Rupert approached the Nazir and, using phrasebook Arabic, attempted to find the ulama Ahmed Zehavi.  Once it became obvious that phrasebook Arabic was inadequate, Hassan demanded more money to act as an interpreter.  After the price was agreed upon, Hassan informed the Nazir that they wished to speak with Ahmed Zehavi.  Pleased that Westerners were interested in learning more about Islam, the Nazir had Rupert and Lya escorted to a private room, where they waited for Ahmed Zehavi to finish his class on the Koran.  About half an hour later, the Nazir returned with Ahmed Zehavi, a dignified, elderly man of about 70.

Rupert (through Hassan) asked Zehavi about the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh and was told that they were an evil cult of Unbelievers.   Rupert said that they had been threatened by these cultists in London and in Cairo.  Zehavi said that the Brotherhood was most likely interested in tomes or artifacts that they might possess.  The safest course would be to give such items to a museum or mosque, where they might be guarded.  He implied that similar items were closely guarded in the Mosque of Ibn-Tulun.  When Rupert asked about the legend of Nephren-Ka and Nitocris, Zehavi did not wait for Hassan's translation but warned Rupert not to speak those names in this sacred place.  When asked about the possibility of cultists in police or governmental posts, Zehavi replied that it was difficult for a True Believer to serve as a high government official.  Lya concurred, recalling her experiences in New York.

Nell, Alisa, and Sydney took a taxi to the Egyptian Museum, where they were able to get an interview with Dr. Kafour.  Syndey asked about the difficulty of getting a digging concession and was told that during the war and the period between Armistice and peace treaties (summer 1919) concessions were easier to obtain.  The Penhew Foundation (through the influence of the British governor-general) had obtained multi-year concessions at several sites, and the Carlyle expedition made use of that to move freely between Giza, Saqqara, and Dashur.  Sir Aubrey Penhew had established his reputation at Dashur before the war and made significant contributions to the study of the Old Kingdom.

Nell asked about the Dutch archeologist who had been fired from the Clive expedition and was told (off the record) that Jan Van Heuvelen had a bad reputation as a drinker and was even suspected of having had a hand in the theft of the mummy back in January.

Alisa asked if Kafour knew how to contact van Heuvelen and was told that the police would know, since all foreigners are required to register with the police (hotels take care of this for their guests, of course).

Oswald took a taxi to the Ministry of Antiquities and made an application for an export license (accompanied by a generous amount of baksheesh).  Returning to Shepheard's, he hired a guide recommended by the hotel (Fariq) and made his way through the Old City to the Street of Scorpions.  Locating the address given as Besart's, he found it to be a second-hand clothing shop. After generously tipping Fariq to act as interpreter, Oswald purchased several outfits of clothing (some of them practically rags), and asked the storekeeper about Warren Besart.  The storekeeper denied knowing anything about Besart, but his nervousness and glances toward the back room indicated that he was lying.  When Oswald mentioned that he had money for Besart, a pale, disheveled, bearded European man stepped through a curtained archway at the back of the shop and said that he was Warren Besart.

Besart invited Oswald into his tiny room, which consisted of a foul bed, two filthy cushions, and a worm-eaten low table.  The smell of hashish permeated the room and aggravated Oswald's asthma.  Amid wheezes and coughs, Oswald told Besart that he would pay generously for information about the Carlyle expedition.  Besart lit a pipe of hashish and told Oswald that everyone was doomed and that there was no point in fighting against it.  He then told Oswald a long, rambling  tale about what happened in June of 1919, occasionally lapsing into French, gutter Arabic, or incomprehensible phrases.  Oswald was deeply disturbed by what Besart said.  He gave him a 10 pound note and left as soon as he could.

After returning to Shepheard's and dismissing Fariq, Oswald visited the offices of the Cairo Bulletin.  He asked the editor, Nigel Wassif, if he remembered anything about the Carlyle expedition.  Wassif replied that only yesterday someone asked about the ill-fated group and showed Oswald the back issues of the newspaper that chronicled their time in Egypt.  Oswald asked in particular about Jack Brady and was told that Brady had accompanied them to Kenya, where (presumably) he perished with them.  In return, Wassif interviewed Oswald about his impressions of Egypt and business plans for a future story in the Bulletin.

On his way back to Shepheard's, Oswald stopped at an English-language bookstore and purchased an almanac.  He carefully noted the dates of the New Moon.

At dinner that evening, the group compared notes.  Besart's story shocked and dismayed the others - the role of Herbert Atherton, the strange events at the Bent Pyramid, the orgy of death in the desert - how much was truth and how much the ravings of a hashish smoker?  Sydney pointed out the importance of Dashur and the Bent Pyramid in the Szeged scroll.  Lya was curious about the identity of the seven figures in the desert.  Noting that Brady seemed untouched by the rampant madness in the expedition, Rupert recalled that Brady's nickname was "Brass" because he wore a brass talisman inscribed with runes and glyphs given him by his mother.  Lya wanted to know where she could get one of those.

Oswald handed out old clothes to the group, for future use in case they needed to look like beggars.

After dinner, Oswald and Sydney went to the nearby Central Police Station.  Sydney used her charm to get the address of Van Heuvelen from the duty officer.  Oswald left a business card, stating that he wanted to talk to Van Heuvelen about authenticating antiquities he might purchase.  Noting the bad reputation of the quarter of the Old City where Van Heuvelen was living, Sydney asked if they could get a police escort.  The duty officer told her that he would be off duty in an hour and could be hired to accompany them.  While waiting, Oswald returned to the bookstore and bought six copies of Baedecker's Guide to Egypt.  He also left a message at Shepheard's for Alisa, informing her where he and Sydney were going.

Led by the off-duty policeman, Oswald and Sydney made their way through the narrow, twisting streets of the Old City, until they reached the Street of Moths.  Van Heuvelen's address was that of a small room built onto the roof of a tailor's shop.  While the policeman waited nearby, Oswald and Sydney made their way to a rickety staircase leading to Van Heuvelen's room.  As they climbed the stairs, they noted a large number of stray cats in the vicinity - some of them sitting on the stairs, others in the nearby alley, and others on the roof.  Knocking at the flimsy wooden door, they heard the sound of things being moved about before they were invited inside, followed by a stray cat.

Jan Van Heuvelen was a shabbily dressed, unshaven man, with tiny spectacles, who reeked of the smell of alcohol and perspiration.  The room was meagerly furnished with a cot, a makeshift table, a keg for a chair, an oil lamp, and a couple of wine-bottle candles.  A few books and numerous sheets of paper were visible on the table.

Oswald introduced himself and Syndey and said that he was interested in hiring Van Heuvelen to assist him in authenticating antiquities he might purchase in Egypt.  Van Heuvelen seemed quite interested in making some money, and began telling them about his qualifications and previous work as an archeologist.  Steering the conversation to the Clive expedition, they learned that he was still on good terms with them and had been "let go" simply due to a lack of funds, caused by the shift to Memphis.  Van Heuvelen asked if Oswald would give him some money for dinner, and was given a pound.  Van Heuvelen then went out onto the roof (shooing the cat out) and commissioned a beggar boy (Abu) to purchase food from a street vendor.

Oswald invited Van Heuvelen to accompany them to Memphis in the morning but he declined, stating that he was hard at work on a sensational discovery.  He told them that a week ago he had been visited by the assistant leader of the Clive expedition, Martin Winfield.  He told him about a vision the group's psychic, Agatha Broadmoor, had had.  In the vision the location of a subterranean temple of Bast, located beneath the streets of Old Cairo, was revealed.  Winfield offered the information to Van Heuvelen as a means of assisting him until the expedition could re-hire him.

The next night, Van Heuvelen followed the directions given him and, after a circuitous journey, came to a small dark chamber far underground containing a small brazier set before a large, obsidian statue of a sleek cat.  The walls of the chamber were covered with hieroglyphics in praise of Bast and depictions of cats.  After examining the statue, he found a secret compartment in its base containing twelve ancient papyrus scrolls.  He took the scrolls with him and has been working at translating them into Dutch, for eventual publication.  Despite Sydney's best attempts at cajoling, he refused to reveal the location of the temple or show them the scrolls.  Sydney was convinced that the scrolls were hidden somewhere in the room.

He did, however, show them his translations of two scrolls, which he read to them since neither of them could read Dutch.  The first scroll consisted of the exact text of the  Szeged  scroll!  Van Heuvelen thought it to be a prophesy written by a priest of Bast named Keraph during the 12th dynasty.  The second scroll described the  legends of Nephren-Ka and Nitocris, also written during the 12th dynasty.

Oswald gave Van Heuvelen 20 pounds as a retainer and left his business card.  He and Syndey were escorted back to Shepheard's by the off-duty policeman.  After leaving a message for Alisa that they had met Van Heuvelen and learned about "unseen things", they took a taxi to the Semiramis Hotel.

Meanwhile, Alisa and Nell decided that a night on the town was in order, and they took a taxi to the Turf Club.  While Alisa looked for business prospects, Nell made inquiries about archeologists.  Eventually she found the chatty wife of a curator at the Egyptian Museum, who told her several interesting things.  Sir Aubrey Penhew had spent the years during the Great War serving as an officer in British Intelligence.  During that time he had had a mistress, a black African woman (she didn't recall her name).  In 1917 Penhew was retired for medical reasons and went to the United States on a lecture tour, taking his mistress with him.  Nell also learned that the assistant leader of the Clive expedition, Martin Winfield, is not an archeologist at all, but the second son of a wealthy British M.P. who is providing much of the financial support for the current Clive expedition.  Nell made a note of the chatty woman's name (Mrs. Mortlake)  for future questions

Alisa and Nell then moved on to the Heliopolis Club, which had a jazz band and dancing.  There they met Jeffrey Matheson, a hunter and expedition leader from Kenya, and Maxwell Dawson, a researcher from Boston.  Matheson said that he was returning to Nairobi soon but to contact him if they wanted to go on safari (as Nell implied they might do in a few months, to escape the heat).  Mr. Dawson proved to be an erudite scholar of the occult, and Nell invited him to join the group for dinner one evening later that week.

Lya spent the evening at the Hotel Continental writing in her journal.  She noted the dream she had had the previous night - she was living in ancient Egypt, serving as Chief Scribe to Pharaoh.
 

Alisa tried to sleep in the next morning but was awakened at 7:30 by a knock at the door.  It was Oswald and Sydney, who told her about their visit to Van Heuvelen the night before.  Sydney was intrigued by the similarity between the Szeged scroll and the Bast scroll.  Nell and Alisa agreed to visit the Dutch archeologist and try and obtain the scrolls.  Oswald and Sydney would accompany Gavigan to Memphis, and Rupert would interview the leader of the Wafdist Party.  What Lya planned to do, no one knew.

Oswald and Sydney returned to the Semiramis and met Edward Gavigan in the lobby.  He was nattily attired in a Savile Row suit and accompanied by his Egyptian valet (Ahmed).  Gavigan ordered that his car be brought around, and the four of them drove off to Memphis.

As soon as she saw Gavigan leave the hotel, Lya walked into the lobby and approached the front desk.  She gave the clerk an innocuous message and said that it was for Mr. Gavigan.  She tried to notice which slot he placed the message in but was unsuccessful.

Lya then left the hotel and spent an hour in Ezbekiyah Gardens.  She returned to the Semiramis and ordered a bottle of champagne sent to Gavigan's room as a gift.  She followed the bellboy and found that Gavigan was staying in a top-floor suite.  The bellboy knocked on the door, got no reply, and returned the champagne to the restaurant to be kept chilled until Gavigan returned.  Lya remained behind and tried to open the door but failed.  She waited around until the maid came by to clean the room.  Lya told the maid she had left her key in the room and tipped the maid generously to let her inside after finishing cleaning the room.  Lya then searched the room thoroughly but found very little of a personal nature (including medicine - a curious omission for a man on medical leave).  It almost seemed as if Gavigan spent little time here.  In the closet she found two tickets to the Thursday night performance of Tosca at the Cairo Opera House.  In a nightstand drawer she found a revolver (and removed the bullets).  Lya then returned to the Hotel Continental and made inquiries about artisans who worked in brass.  Visiting a nearby shop, she commissioned a 4" square brass plate, to be inscribed with the glyphs on her business card.  She then visited the Cairo Opera House and purchased two tickets to the Thursday night performance of Tosca.

Alisa and Nell (in native garb) went to Fishawi's cafe, where they met Hassan.  After some confusion and wrong turns, he led them to the Street of the Moths. They both noted a large number of cats in the vicinity of Van Heuvelen's room.  Nell purchased a bottle of Greek wine from a nearby shop and told Hassan to deliver it to Van Heuvelen and tell him that it was a gift from Oswald.  Hassan asked Alisa if she would buy him a new set of European-style clothes.  After she agreed to do so later, Hassan took the bottle and climbed the stairs to the room.

Hassan delivered the wine without incident, and remained outside listening after the door was closed.  A few minutes later he heard a scuffle inside, followed by hissing and cursing in Dutch.  The door opened, a cat was flung out of the room, and the door slammed shut.

The trio then waited awhile, until Van Heuvelen left the room and walked down the street to a food vendor (followed by a herd of cats).  After being ordered to search the room, Hassan drew a rusty pistol, to the shock and consternation of Nell and Alisa.  Alisa told him to give her the gun immediately, which Hassan did reluctantly.  While Alisa and Nell walked around the block, Hassan climbed the stairs, opened the door (no lock), and searched the room but found nothing other than a half-full bottle of gin.  Hearing footsteps outside the door, Hassan panicked and jumped out the window into the alley below.

Alisa and Nell returned to find Hassan, bruised and bloody, sprawled in the street.  After dragging him to a nearby pump and dousing him with water, they hurried back to Fishawi's cafe.  True to her promise, Alisa took Hassan shopping and purchased a set of European-style boys' clothes for him, reasoning that it would make it easier for him to enter Shepheard's and pick up instructions from Rupert.  After taking Hassan back to Fishawi's, Alisa returned the gun to him and told him to be very careful with it.

During the drive to Memphis, Oswald told Gavigan of his intent to open a Cairo office.  He would like to purchase items from Penhew Foundation-sponsored expeditions that are deemed "not of museum-quality" for import into the U.S., with the Penhew Foundation providing certificates of authenticity.  Gavigan seemed interested and directed Oswald to contact Thomas Cardwell in London, who is Acting Director of the foundation while he is on leave of absence.

After about an hour, the group arrived at the site of the Clive expedition digs.  The site was surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by Egyptian police.   Not much activity could be seen.  Gavigan introduced Oswald to the members of the expedition: Dr. Henry Clive  (leader), Martin Winfield (assistant leader), Dr. James Gardner (archeologist), Dr. Johannes Sprech (archeologist), and Mrs. Agatha Broadmoor (psychic).  Oswald took an immediate dislike to Winfield, noting him as arrogant and a bully.  Sydney noticed that Mrs. Broadmoor was held in some derision by most of the group.  She also noticed that Sprech was carrying a holstered pistol.

Gavigan and Clive showed Oswald some of the artifacts recovered from the excavations at the Temple of Ptah.  Most of them were earmarked for either the Egyptian Museum or the Penhew Foundation, but Gavigan pointed a few scarabs and pieces of pottery that might be available for later sale, once all the items had been catalogued.

Mrs. Broadmoor offered to perform a tarot card reading for Oswald and invited him and Sydney over to her tent.  Using a set of tarot cards of her own design, she laid out a Celtic pattern and came up with:

Personal influence - The Silver Key
Opposition - Dark Pharaoh
Past influence - The City of a Thousand Pillars
Future influence - The Philospher's Stone
Things to work with - The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan
Ultimate Results - Imprisonment or Freedom

She interpreted these cards as follows:  "You are a seeker after hidden knowledge and truths.  Malign forces oppose you in this, but success is within your grasp, if you make full use of your abilities and friends.  Seek wisdom in the writings of the East.  Success will bring freedom from darkness and error; failure will ensure bondage to the material world."

At that point Gavigan came by and told them that he was going to stay overnight in Memphis but that Ahmed would drive them back to Cairo whenever they were ready.  Oswald and Sydney accepted the offer and returned to the Hotel Semiramis in Cairo in the mid-afternoon.

Rupert spent most of the day studying spells from  Dark Cults of Africa , then went to Fishawi's to  interview the leader of the Wafdist party, Mr. Zaghlul , for a future article in his New York newspaper Half-Truths and Lies.

That evening, the group gathered at Shepheard's to discuss the day's events.  After hearing what everyone had done, Oswald stated that he thought that Gavigan was a "front man" and not really in charge.  Either Cardwell in London or Martin Winfield was really directing events.  At that point the conversation ws interrupted when a well-dressed Egyptian man approached the table.  Identifying himself as Inspector Ibrahim of the Egyptian Special Police, he asked for a few words with Oswald in private.  Lya recalled hearing Faraz Najir mention Ibrahim as having asked him questions about the sale of antiquities.

Inspector Ibrahim asked Oswald the purpose of his visit to Dr. Van Heuvelen and was told that he wished to hire him to authenticate purchases.  The Inspector warned Oswald against purchasing stolen antiquities and asked him to contact him if anyone offered to sell him such illicit goods.  He strongly implied that Van Heuvelen was under investigation as an accessory in the recent theft of a mummy from Giza.  After Inspector Ibrahim left, Oswald returned to the group.

Alisa asked Rupert if he gave Hassan a gun.  Rupert denied it and asked why she had returned it to him.  Alisa said she did not want to be found carrying such a poorly made and unreliable weapon, and besides, Hassan was Rupert's protégé.

In Oswald's description of the encounter with Agatha Broadmoor, Lya recognized the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan as a set of occult tomes of great rarity and antiquity.  Now she thought she knew why Jack Brady was in China - to study these books!

In reviewing Warren Besart's story, Alisa found the reference to "the night before the moon is slimmest" troubling.  Consulting the almanac, they noted the dates for that night in 1925 as: Jan. 23, Feb. 20, Mar. 20, April 17.  Alisa noted that Feb. 20 was the date Velu and Jessica had witnessed the shocking ceremony at the obelisk near Colchester!  Was there a connection?

Alisa further speculated that eclipses might be times of great significance to these cultists.  Consulting the almanac, Oswald noted that the next total solar eclipse was January 14, 1926.  The path of totality stretched across East Africa, the Indian Ocean, Western Australia, China, and Japan.

At that point dinner was served.