The Curse of the Pharaohs - Elizabeth Peters [134]
“I fear the Valley is exhausted,” he replied, stroking his chin. “There will be no more royal tombs found. But the Western Valley has possibilities. I will tell Vandergelt we ought to work there next season. And yet, Peabody…”
“Yes, my dear Emerson?”
Emerson took a turn around the deck, his hands clasped behind his back. “Do you remember the pectoral we found on the crushed body of the thief?”
“How could I forget it?”
“We read the cartouche as that of Tutankhamon.”
“And decided that our tomb must have belonged to him. It is the only possible conclusion, Emerson.”
“No doubt, no doubt. But, Peabody, consider the dimensions of the tomb. Would such a short-lived and ephemeral king have time enough and wealth enough to construct such a sepulchre?”
“You discussed that in your Zeitschrift article,” I reminded him.
“I know. But I cannot help wondering… You don’t suppose a gang of thieves would rob two tombs in the same night?”
“Not unless the said tombs were practically side by side,” I said, laughing.
“Ha, ha.” Emerson echoed my mirth. “Impossible, of course. That part of the Valley cannot contain any other tombs. All the same, Peabody, I have a strange feeling that I have missed something.”
“Impossible, my dear Emerson.”
“Quite, my dear Peabody.”
ELIZABETH PETERS was named a 1998 Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. A prolific author, she has written dozens of acclaimed mysteries, including The Hippopotamus Pool, The Mummy Case, and Crocodile on the Sandbank. She can also be credited with numerous other suspense novels written under the New York Times bestselling pseudonym Barbara Michaels.
Ms. Peters earned a Ph.D. in Egyptology at the University of Chicago, and she has established a scholarship for minority women mystery writers. In 1990 she was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters by Hood College. She lives in Frederick, Maryland.