Slowly von Schiller moved closer to the sealed coffin on its trestle,
until he was staring down at the portrait of the dead man upon its lid.
'The golden uraeus of Mamose. The personal jewellery of a pharaoh.' His
hand was shaking as he laid it on the coffin lid. 'If that is so, then
this find exceeds our most extravagant hopes.'
Von Schiller drew a deep steadying breath. 'Open the coffin. Unwrap the
mummy of the Pharaoh Mamose.'
It was painstaking work. Nahoot had performed the same task many times
before, yet never on the earthly remains of such an illustrious
personage as an Egyptian pharaoh.
Nahoot first had to establish where the joint of the lid lay beneath the
paint. Once he had done this, he could whittle away at the ancient
varnish and glues that secured the lid in place. Great care had to be
taken to inflict as little damage as possible: the fragile coffin in
itself was a priceless treasure. This work took the greater part of two
days.
When the lid was free and ready to be lifted, Nahoot sent a message to
von Schiller, who was in an executive meeting with his sons and the
other ' directors of his company in the library upstairs. Von Schiller
had refused to go into the city for this meeting: he could not bear to
be separated from his latest treasure. Immediately he heard from Nahoot
he adjourned the meeting until the following Monday, and dismissed his
directors and his offspring unceremoniously, Then, without waiting to
see them into their waiting limousines, he hurried down to the vaults.
Nahoot and Reeper had rigged a light scaffold over the coffin, from
which hung two sets of block and tackle. As soon as von Schiller entered
the vault, Reeper sent away his assistants. Only the three of them would
be present to witness the opening of the coffin.
Reeper brought him the carpet-covered block for him to stand on
and'positioned it at the head of the coffin, so that von Schiller would
be able to see inside as they worked. From this eminence the old man
nodded to them to proceed. The ratchets of the two blocks clicked, one
pawl at a time, as both Reeper and Nahoot gently put pressure on the
tackle. There was a faint crackling and tearing sound, at which von
Schiller winced.
'It is only the last shreds of glue holding the lid,' Nahoot reassured
him.
'Go on!' von Schiller ordered, and they lifted the lid er six inches
until it hung suspended over the body anoth of the coffin. The
scaffolding was on nylon castors which rolled smoothly over the tiled
floor. They wheeled away the entire structure, with the coffin lid still
suspended from it.
Von Schiller peered into the open coffin. His expression changed to one
of astonishment. He had expected to see the neatly swathed human form
lying serenely in the traditional funereal pose. Instead, the interior
of the coffin was stuffed untidily with loose linen bandages that
entirely hid the body from view.
'What on earth-' von Schiller exclaimed with astonishment. He reached
out to take a handful of the old discoloured wrappings, but Nahoot
stopped him.
