The Cult of Osiris

‘They might even wonder if you did know,’ said Siddig with veiled menace.

Berkeley looked shocked. ‘But - of course I didn’t! Why would I wreck my own career and risk going to prison?’

‘People risk all kinds of things for the right amount of money,’ said Nina. She was certain that he hadn’t been involved, but still took a little pleasure in watching him squirm.

Siddig seemed uncomfortable at the mention of money. ‘Dr Wilde, you believe the Osirian Temple is involved?’

‘That’s right.’ She crossed to the television. ‘This man on the left is Sebak Shaban.’

‘It could be anyone,’ snapped Hamdi.

‘So could his buddy on the right, huh, Dr Hamdi?’

‘Dr Hamdi has a point, though,’ said Assad. ‘The video never shows their faces. And there’s too much noise from the saw to identify their voices.’

‘It’s Shaban,’ Nina insisted. ‘The Osirian Temple is behind this.’

‘It’s certainly not a religion I believe in, or even approve of,’ said Siddig, ‘but the Osirian Temple is a major charitable contributor in Egypt. Khalid Osir doesn’t just help fund archaeological projects - he also donates money to health and agricultural causes. He’s a popular man.’ A small frown. ‘Even if he chooses to live in a Swiss tax haven rather than his own country.’

Hamdi made a theatrical shrug of disgust. ‘Now she is accusing Khalid Osir of being a thief. Who next, the president?’

Assad had his own questions. ‘Why would they only take the zodiac? The Hall’s other contents would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars on the black market.’

‘They don’t just want the zodiac for its monetary value,’ said Nina. She switched programs on the laptop connected to the television, bringing up the picture Macy had taken of the fourth papyrus. ‘This scroll - the one the Osirian Temple kept from the IHA - says the zodiac is the key to finding the Pyramid of Osiris. That’s their real objective - the pyramid’s treasures.’

Hamdi laughed sarcastically. ‘The Pyramid of Osiris? Minister, Ismail, why are you even listening to this woman? It’s a myth, a fantasy, no more real than the Garden of Eden.’ He shot Nina a malevolent smirk. ‘Anyone who believes it is real is obviously deranged.’

‘Well, I did think the guy you’re taking bribes from seemed a bit nuts,’ Nina fired back.

Hamdi rose to his full height. ‘False, baseless, slanderous accusations! In front of unimpeachable witnesses, no less. Dr Wilde, I will see you in court.’

‘Oh, sit down, Iabi,’ grumbled Assad. Hamdi looked offended, but obeyed his boss. ‘Dr Wilde, I would recommend that you don’t make any more accusations without proof. We will investigate this outrage, and those responsible will be punished, you can be sure of that. But we will not jump to any conclusions without evidence.’

‘But while you’re getting it, they’ll have nicked everything in the Pyramid of Osiris that’s not nailed down, then come back for the nails,’ Eddie said.

Siddig put both hands firmly on his desk. ‘Everyone involved in this robbery will be found and brought to justice.’ His stern gaze passed over everybody before him, finishing on Nina - though, she was pleased to notice, pausing for a moment on Hamdi. ‘Everyone. Now, go. Dr Assad, we have a lot of work to do.’

Hamdi waved an angry hand at Nina, Eddie and Macy. ‘You aren’t going to keep them in custody?’

‘If I had everybody arrested who might possibly have been involved in this,’ the minister snapped, ‘I would be arresting a lot of people. Including you! As Dr Wilde pointed out, she has only been in Egypt since yesterday, but digging this tunnel would have taken weeks. Now get out, all of you.’

He waved a dismissive hand towards the door. Everyone filed for the exit - except Macy, who instead approached the desk, hands held demurely in front of her. ‘Excuse me? Minister?’

Siddig glared up at her, but his face quickly softened at the sight of her wide-eyed and hopeful expression. ‘What can I do for you, young lady?’

She looked across at the laptop, next to various items from the Hall of Records - and her camera. ‘I was wondering if it would be possible for me to have my camera back?’

‘I’m afraid it’s evidence,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Oh.’ Her lips quivered into a small, sad pout. ‘It’s just that it’s got all the pictures and videos that I took for my grandparents. They were from Egypt originally, and they wanted to see what the country was like today . . .’

‘I’m sorry,’ Siddig repeated, ‘but I can’t return it until the investigation has finished.’ He thought for a moment. ‘But I suppose we could make a copy of the memory card. For your grandparents.’

Macy gave him a delighted smile. ‘Oh, that would be awesome! Thank you, Mr Siddig, thank you so much!’

‘I’ll have somebody get the copy to you, Miss Sharif. Now, if you’ll excuse us?’

‘Thank you,’ Macy said again, beaming as she backed away. ‘You’re a really cool guy.’ Siddig’s reaction suggested it was not a compliment he generally heard, but he took it with good grace.

‘What was that about?’ Nina hissed as Macy caught up with her and Eddie outside.

Macy smiled smugly. ‘We’ve still got the zo-di-aaaac,’ she sang. ‘Well, on video, anyway.’

‘So we have,’ Nina realised. A straight copy of the camera’s memory would duplicate all its contents - including the video of the zodiac’s last piece. ‘But how did you know he’d go for it?’

‘Didn’t you see the photos of the kids on his desk? He’s way too old for them to be his. So I figured he was a grandpa - and I played the “grandkid doing something nice for her grandparents” card. Although it didn’t totally work, because I really did want my camera back! But at least we’ve got something.’

‘I don’t know how much it’ll help, though,’ said Nina. ‘The zodiac’s probably out of the country by now. And we’ve only seen one piece of it - they’ve got the whole thing. If it really is a way to find the Pyramid of Osiris, they’re the only ones who’ll be able to use it.’

‘Hey, hey,’ Eddie chided. ‘I thought you were going to pack it in with the pessimism? Look at it this way - you found the Hall of Records, and we just walked out of there without getting thrown in jail. Plus, you visited the pyramids. This is like a holiday for you!’

She smiled a little. ‘Maybe. But I don’t know what we can do next, even with a video of the zodiac.’

‘They were talking - maybe they said where they were taking it,’ Macy suggested.

‘Talking in Arabic,’ Nina reminded her. ‘And anyway, we couldn’t hear them over the saw.’

Eddie looked thoughtful. ‘I know someone who might be able to help with that.’

‘Nina!’ said Karima Farran, hugging her. ‘It’s wonderful to see you again. Though I did see you not long ago - on the news.’

Nina returned the Jordanian woman’s embrace. ‘Yeah, that wasn’t exactly planned. I’ve had some bad experiences with the media lately.’

Karima was one of what Nina had jokingly come to call Eddie’s ‘international girlfriends’, contacts from his time as a soldier and freelance contractor who always seemed to share certain characteristics: a great loyalty to Eddie . . . and equally great physical beauty. This last had in the past caused her the occasional pang of jealousy, but she had trusted him enough to accept that his friends were indeed just friends - whatever he might suggest otherwise with his cheeky innuendoes.

His recent dissembling about Amy in New York had made the joke considerably less amusing, but though Karima was even by ‘international girlfriend’ standards quite stunningly attractive, Nina saw that she had no cause to suspect Eddie of any improprieties, as she had made the short flight from Amman to Cairo accompanied by a man of her own. ‘This is my boyf—my fiance, Radi Bashir. Rad for short,’ Karima said, ushering forward a tall, strikingly handsome Arab man with a mane of glossy black hair. Eddie and Nina shook his hand. ‘I finally got him to make a commitment - by using you two as an example.’

‘She wore me down,’ said Rad in mock complaint, an Oxbridge tinge to his accent. ‘ “Eddie and Nina” this, “Eddie and Nina” that. Although it was your trip into Syria with her that really forced me to pop the question - it was the only way I could think of to keep her out of trouble!’

Eddie laughed. ‘Trust me, mate - it doesn’t work.’