Mar. 29 Mar. 30 Mar. 31
The next morning, Lya and Brother Paul took the first train back to Cairo. Brother Paul thought it best that Lya spend some time in contemplation and prayer at the mission. He arranged for her belongings to be forwarded from the Hotel Continental. Along with her baggage, the hotel forwarded a telephone message from Dan'l Boom, asking her to call him at the Hotel Victoria.
Dan'l explained that he had been touring Upper Egypt with Maud Deringer Daniels and Rick Grant for the past two weeks and was ready to move on. He and Rick proposed to travel ahead to China in search of Jack Brady.
Nell, Sydney, Oswald, and Alisa took a tour of the ruins at Memphis, including the Temple of Ptah. They made it a point not to venture anywhere near the Clive expedition camp. Rupert returned to the Red Pyramid, where he made a thorough examination of the interior. Nothing of interest was found.
Rupert, Alisa, Oswald, Sydney, and Nell took the evening train back to Cairo. Upon arriving at Shepheard's, Rupert was given a telegram from New York that had arrived on Saturday. It was from the research staff at Half Truths & Lies and listed Dr. Robert Huston's jounral publications.
Monday, Mar. 30At breakfast, Nell read the latest edition of the Cairo Bulletin and spotted two interesting articles. The first article noted the death of the Dutch archeologist Van Heuvelen. Fortunately there was no mention of Rupert, Brother Paul, or Hassan. The second article described a tragic incident at the Mosque of Ibn Talun. Nell recalled that Lya and Rupert had (via Hassan) interviewed the Nazir, Achmed Zehavi, a few days ago. According to the article, Zehavi had been injured when a building collapsed and was currently in hospital.
When the rest of the group joined Nell in the breakfast room at Shepheard's, she pointed out these articles. Nell speculated that the death of Van Heuvelen would attract police attention. Rupert thought it important to talk to Achmed Zehavi and find out what had happened.
Sydney read the corresponding articles in the Arabic newspaper and noted that, unlike the Bulletin, the type of wounds suffered by Van Heuvelen were not specified.
Oswald and Sydney recounted their interview with Omar Shakti last Thursday. Syndey noted that Shakti had a large white cat named "Hotep" nearby throughout the interview. Shakti said that he knew very little about ancient Egyptian culture and could not read hieroglyphics. He told Sydney that he thought "Hetep" meant "gift" in ancient Egyptian. Sydney smiled and did not correct him. Nell and Alisa commented that Shakti had "Hetep" with him at the Cairo Opera as well. Sydney also asked Shakti about the symbolism of the broken ankh but he said it meant nothing to him. Shakti was very interested in Olwald's business venture to export Egyptian carpets to the U.S. with hieroglyphic inscriptions.
Alisa reminded the others that Velu and Jessica were supposed to arrive today. She offered to wait at the hotel until they arrived.
At that point Lya arrived. She seemed agitated and babbled incessantly. She told them about Dan'l's interest in traveling to China. Nell thought this was a bad idea. She thought that Brady was probably alive and being sought by Penhew, Gavigan, and associates. So far they had been unsuccessful in locating Brady - perhaps he had some type of magical protection, interjected Lya - but that Dan'l might be able to find him and inadvertently lead Gavigan to him. Gavigan had certainly followed them to Egypt - might he follow Dan'l to China?
Noting Lya's mental state, Rupert excused himself and went to the hotel concierge. He arranged to purchase a one-way ticket for Lya from Cairo to Derby, England (where he was setting up a sanitarium) - just in case - and had the ticket couriered to Brother Paul for safekeeping.
Oswald and Sydney decided to visit the mosque of Ibn Talun. They found that a building adjacent to the historic mosque had collapsed, leaving a gaping pit strewn with wooden beams and broken stone. The site was being guarded by a Cairo policeman. As they watched, a European climbed up a ladder and emerged from the pit carrying two stoppered vials. Sydney quickly made friends and learned that the European was Dr. Emil Vabreaux, a forensics expert from Geneva, currently employed by the Cairo police department. After Vabreaux and the policeman left, Sydney urged Oswald to climb into the pit and investigate. Oswald climbed down the ladder and reached the cellar of the building. A strange smell permeated everything. It looked more like something had exploded rather than the building collapsing. Oswald noted one area where the stone cellar floor had been ripped up, almost as if something had erupted from below. Beams in this area appeared burned as if by acid. Several patches of greenish goo were visible. Sydney purchased a glass bottle from a glassblower and handed it down to Oswald, who filled it some of the green goop (being careful not to touch it) One corner of the cellar appeared relatively undamaged. Oswald noticed three cots, with blankets and pillows. No books or papers were seen.
Sydney spoke (in Arabic) with several worshippers at the mosque and learned that the Nazir had told everyone to keep away from the building in the weeks before the destruction. Several members of the mosque staff were missing, although Zehavi had survived and had been taken to the mission hospital.
Oswald and Sydney returned to the hotel, where they found a message from Inspector Ibrahim Hussein, requesting that they drop by Police HQ at their earliest convenience. There they were asked a few questions about their relationship with Dr. Van Heuvelen. How long had they known him? Did he have any enemies? Did he have in his possessions any artifacts? Was he still in contact with the Clive Expedition? Having answered these questions satisfactorily, Sydney persuaded Hussein to tell Vabreaux of their interest in the events at Ibn Talun and in the strange greeinish substance.
Meanwhile, Velu and Jessica finally arrived from London, having travelled first-class aboard the British steamship Excelsior. They met Alisa and told her what they had researched in London before leaving. According to records, Penhew had been declared dead by a court in Kenya and London in 1920. Tewfik had testified at the London hearing. He had purchased the Blue Pyramid in 1922. Penhew's estate had been willed to the Foundation. Alisa then brought them up to date on what had been happening in Egypt. She gave them the assignment of interviewing Achmed Zehavi at the hospital. She also reserved two rooms for them at the Hotel Khedivial and requested that they keep an accurate account of expenses.
That evening, Jessica and Velu went to the mission hospital. Jessica went in first and was told that Zehavi was not receiving visitors. Velu then tried to sneak in as a janitor. His ruse was detected by the receptionist when she noted that he could not speak Arabic. The two detectives decided to try a different tactic the next day.
Rupert and Lya, meanwhile, contacted Hassan and ordered him to purchase more catnip. They also tried to visit Zehavi but were turned away. Lya checked on the brass plate she was having made and found that it was ready. She asked the artisan to add the Eye of Light and Darkness to the plate but was told that he had other jobs to finish first (the plates for Nell and Alisa). Lya gave him a gratuity to complete her work first. Rupert then escorted her back to the mission.
There he spoke with Brother Paul, who told him that he had been interviewed by a police detective. He had told the detective that, "I had only recently met Mr. Van Heuvelen in the course of researching a book. Van Heuvelen was an alcoholic and I brought him food and coffee. Later he accompanied me, an associate (Mr. Rupert Madasheck of New York), and a guide to a building purported to be linked to the worship of Bast. It was my understanding that he had stolen something from them. While I was still climbing down the ladder, Van Heuvelen was attacked by a large beast - perhaps a lion or panther - and in the confusion shots were fired. In the end Van Heuvelen was dead. When I learned of his demise, I took his body back to the mission. Oh yes, I believe the gun belonged to the guide. I never learned his name".
Tuesday, Mar. 31The next morning, Velu and Jessica purchased a dozen copies of the Koran. Jessica dressed as an upper-class lady while Velu dressed as a native laborer. They returned to the hospital in the guise of "Red Crescent" volunteers and were admitted to the native ward, where Velu (supervised by Jessica) distributed copies of the Koran. They located Achmed Zehavi and Jessica spoke with him in Arabic. She told him that she and her associates were fighting against the Dark Pharaoh and wanted to help. He told her that he had been the custodian of an accursed artifact, the Belt of Nitocris, that had supposedly belonged to the ancient ruler. The Brotherhood of the Dark Pharaoh had sought this item in vain for many years A picked band of holy warriors had guarded the Belt in the building adjoining the mosque. They had successfully defeated numerous attempts by the cultists to steal the Belt. Then, last Thursday, he and his companions had been attacked by a monstrous thing that burrowed up into the cellar. Only he had survived - the rest were missing and presumed dead. He was certain that the cultists had summoned this creature to attack them. The fact that they were willing to display their evil power so openly indicated their great need for the artifact. He thought that it might be used in summoning a great evil from the past.
Zehavi remembered speaking with Rupert and his "wife" earlier and asked if Jessica was allied with them. He then asked her to bring Rupert and Lya to visit him.
Meanwhile, Rupert visited the American University but was unable to locate any of Dr. Huston's journal publications.
Nell, Oswald, and Sydney visited the Scientific Library of Cairo and discovered bound copies of the articles they sought. While Nell read them, Oswald and Sydney visited the Entomological Institute of Cairo and gave a sample of the green goop to an entomologist for examination. They then visited the Egyptian Museum, where Sydney looked up Dr. Derry. Oswald gave him a sample of the green goop for analysis.
Later that afternoon, Rupert accompanied Velu and Jessica to the mission hospital to see Achmed Zehavi. Rupert showed him the dagger rubbing, which Zehavi translated as "the death of Nitocris". Zehavi told Rupert that he was an old man and would not live out the year. He asked Rupert if he was willing to continue the battle against the Dark Pharaoh and his minions in his stead. When Rupert agreed, Zehavi told him to return to the Mosque of Ibn Talun and speak with a man named Suleiman al-Wahib. He will lend Rupert the Sword of Akmallah, which is only to be wielded against the Dark Powers. He will also provide Rupert with scimitar training. Rupert thanked Zehavi for his trust in him.
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