| It happens in novels, but it has
never happened to Amelia and Emerson before. A Mysterious
stranger comes to their room at Shepheard's to offer to show them to
a hidden tomb of a Queen.
They would have laughed it off, but the
stranger is killed on the spot. As everyone rushes to seek help,
Emerson remains with the body. Only to be hit on the head and
have the body spirited away from the room before the others return.
A body and a hidden tomb - it's just too much
for anyone to resist, so off they go to Luxor and the Valley of the
Kings, with Ramses, Nefret, Anubis and The Cat Bastet. Sailing
up the Nile in the "Amelia", a dahabeeyah that Emerson has
purchased for Amelia.
The joy of their Cairo departure in this new
vessel is marred by the procession of servants heralding the arrival
of the hippopotamus-sized villain Riccetti. Riccetti bluntly
warns them of danger and opposition to their hunt for the tomb,
confirming, in Amelia's mind, at least, that it exists.
In Luxor they find that the antiquities thieves
have gotten bold following the apparent withdrawal of
Sethos, The Master Criminal, from Egypt (see The Snake, The
Crocodile and the Dog). Emerson heads right into the center of
the activity, the village of Gurneh to confront the prominent
thieves and forgers.
In one of the dirty forger's dens they
come across a secret that Abdullah has not revealed. His
grandson, David Todros, the son of his daughter and a Christian
foreigner is held in semi slavery as an apprentice to the master
forger Hamed.
The tomb is eventually discovered, David is
rescued from his ignoble fate, Ramses if kidnapped and retrieved at
least once,
and the thieves are revealed. But somewhere in the middle of it all,
Sethos reappears and seems to be helping them protect the open and
vulnerable tomb.
As a final "interference" to
archaeology, Nefret is kidnapped by cult worshipers of Isis, but she, like Ramses proves to be able to effect
her own escapes, as well as stir up her own trouble.
The seeds of hate are harvested as Berthe and
a gang of female thieves turn out to be the villains.
The tomb of Queen Tetisheri is often spoken of
lovingly by the Family in later volumes of what are being called
Amelia's Memoirs. It is Emerson's claim to fame, as it were.
But no tourist has seen it, because he installed heavy doors and
refuses to give the keys to the Antiquities Department.
This book introduces the recurring characters
of Sir Edward, David Todros and Berthe's capable assistant Matilda.
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