"I've got it, Pentaweret, it's been staring me in the face all along! Pentaweret of course!" Roma called out and began to laugh and laugh like a crazy woman.
Evelyn opened the door to her bedroom to see what the fuss was about. Roma had been confined to bed until the headache and fever that had plagued her went away, and out of boredom, she had been consulting the pile of books on her bed that grew by the day. She had poured through them, searching for something that eluded her and must have found it at last.
"What have you found?" she asked, thinking, by the look of enthusiasm on Roma's face, it must be something of significance. Roma's illness had hampered her the first few days of her confinement, but now that she was better her days had been spent reading from the vast library the Wilkes-Emberlys kept in their home.
"I know who it is," she said, the excitement plain in her voice, "I mean, who the tomb belonged to," she explained, "It's Pentaweret, the son of Ramesses III—the one who murdered him. It's his tomb, it has to be."
This piqued Evelyn's interest, a papyrus had been discovered, that talked about the legendary Harem Conspiracy to murder Ramesses III by his secondary queen Tiye to put her son Pentaweret on the throne. The murder plot had been successful, but the court had not rallied around Pentaweret as his mother had anticipated. Ramesses IV, the designated heir, had succeeded his father.
"I wonder why they even bothered," Evelyn said, "Ramesses had been on the throne for thirty-two years, he wouldn't have lived that much longer, they could have tried to stage a coup then."
"He'd been a good pharaoh, or good enough," added Roma thoughtfully, "He was the last great warrior pharaoh of Egypt, the last to hold the country together. Ramesses IV didn't live long, neither did Ramesses V, Ramesses VI built a tomb in the Valley but he was the last one to do so."
"Well," asked Evelyn, what happened to cause him to be murdered?"
"Well, he was a successful warrior. He conquered Libya, Syria, and Mittani, re-establishing the old borders, restoring some of Rameses the Great's empire. But his wars were costly and emptied Egypt's coffers. Then there was a drought and people were starving."
"There's always been conspiring among wives in the harem. Rameses IV was the heir but he was weak. A lot of the nobles were unhappy with the state of the country and talk of replacing Rameses III on the throne was becoming more than just talk.
"Pentaweret was popular, a strong, capable young man, certainly preferable to the young Rameses. The problem was that he was the son of a secondary wife and not the rightful heir. He began to garner support, though, his mother was ambitious and she was gathering all the support from the nobles, promising much needed changes."
"There were at least sixty nobles who supported him, and it was decided that on the day of The Beautiful Feast of the Valley that they would put their plan into action."
"And so they assassinated Rameses III," said Evelyn, "And since we've both read the Turin Papyrus we know what happened. After the trial they left the temple and Pentaweret was allowed to commit suicide instead of being burned alive. How sad."
"I'm surprised they didn't burn his body, but they mummified it only they didn't remove his organs, or use unguents and oils. They wrapped him in a sheepskin which would have been considered unclean. They also didn't tie his mouth shut, so he screams for eternity at what he had to endure."
"They may have found his mummy, the one they call the "Screaming Mummy", in the cache in Amenhotep II's tomb. He may have a tomb in the Valley of the Nobles, I can't see him being buried in the Valle of the Kings or Queens."
"But if the tomb was the carved the way you said it was, it must have been prepared beforehand, before the conspiracy was even planned or carried out," said Evelyn.
"Maybe he had a premonition, maybe he and Tiye talked about it before it was actually carried out. I know that he was a priest of the Set cult, though may not have anything to do with it. This may explain the lack of any writing on the tomb wall and the omission of names. He may have wanted to remain anonymous for the protection of his family."
"They must have buried his body in secret. There's evidence that there were grave goods, and some of them must have been quite valuable, hence the robbing of the tomb sometime in antiquity. Someone must have known about his tomb for his corpse to be moved to the mummy cache, but who?"
"And the tomb lay forgotten all this time until you and Ardeth found it," Evelyn said in a thoughtful voice, "I wonder how many centuries it's lain open."
"Or why none of the Bedouin told the archaeologists about it? They can be a useful source of information because they know the desert. There are tombs in the cliffs that were used over time, but nothing like this. The carvings are exquisite and detailed, this is a tomb intended for a pharaoh's son or someone of importance, but why in the middle of the desert, he could have had a tomb prepared in the Valley of the Kings or at least the Valley of the Queens or the Nobles."
"We have to return to that tomb," Evelyn said, her voice full of enthusiasm, "If we can claim its discovery..."
"Our reputations will be made," finished Roma, "But first, I want to go to Cairo and check out that papyrus, I'm sure someone will let us see it. And I want to see that mummy, but it may prove difficult to get permission. We will have to find out if the tomb has been mapped, if it hasn't, Lacau may permit us to mount an expedition when the cold weather returns.
"Are you still afraid?" asked Evelyn, despite some unpleasant experiences her curiosity tended to overcome a sense of caution. She was eager to see the tomb, but she was not sure if Roma shared her enthusiasm.
"Yes, yes I am," Roma confessed, "But this is an opportunity we cannot pass up. I cannot let my fear guide my actions. I need to do this for myself."
Rick O'Connell was less than enthused when Evelyn announced that she and Roma intended to go to the desert to try to locate the tomb. They were in possession of what amounted to a treasure map, and he was hoping to find some long-lost Pharaonic jewels he could sell to the museum for ready cash, plus a couple less-valuable pieces to bring home as souvenirs.
Ardeth did not care about treasure, but he did not want Roma to return to the tomb, knowing what had happened before. Therefore, he became a willing ally with Rick to try to dissuade the girls from the plans they were hatching.
That night he tried to make Roma see reason. "You can't go to Cairo," he tried to be persuasive, knowing that he could not flat out refuse her permission. "You've just recovered from your fever, you need to take it easy for a while."
"I've taken it easy or over a week," she fumed, "And I may have discovered something important, but I won't know until I check out that papyrus. And," she added, "I need to see that mummy. I may have made an important discovery, something that has never been credited to a woman before. We won't be gone that long, Evie and I will spend a couple of days in the Cairo house, I'm sure it's been cleaned up by now. The only thing that will take a long time will be the boat ride."
"Remember what happened to your house in Cairo? And your nightmare? It is not safe for you to do this, you don't know what will happen."
"I had a Coptic priest bless the house, and an imam exorcise the spirit, surely that would be enough to drive out anything that was left. And now I have a strong young man, not an elderly gatekeeper, who I pay well to guard the house—that should take care of intruders. No matter what you say, Ardeth, I am going and you will not succeed if you try to stop me."
Ardeth sighed, this woman drove him to distraction but his love for her made him willing to tolerate her whims. "All right, Roma, but I am going with you and I think O'Connell is not willing to let Evelyn make the journey without him. Sometimes I think my father is right, you should have been married young and started a family so you would not have time then for these hair-brained schemes."
Rick was unwilling to let Evelyn make the trip alone so Roma booked two cabins on the next boat to Cairo. She would rather have made the trip without the men tagging along but it could not be avoided, and if something did happen having them along might prove handy.
In Cairo, it was proving easier to obtain permission to examine the papyrus than it was to see the mummy. Even her father's name was not readily opening the door she had expected it to. Neither did her reputation as the youngest archaeologist and a woman at that, to supervise an excavation in Egypt have the results she desired.
The "Screaming Mummy" was being kept from the public's eyes because it was considered too horrible for the "gentler sex" to lay eyes on. This was ironic, she thought, for the mutilated mummy of Seqen-Re II had been put on display, but he had the distinction of being responsible for driving the Hyksos out of Egypt thought it cost him his life.
The papyrus had been another matter. It had been brought out for them almost immediately, although at eighteen feet long there was way too much for them to examine in the time they had. Instead, they had concentrated on the trial and the fate that had befallen the conspirators—all sixty-two of them, as well as the fate of the prince.
"This is dreadful," said Evelyn in a soft voice, "And all for nothing in the end. How in the world did a minor wife think she'd get her son on the throne?"
"If he'd been smart he would not have listened to his mother. I wonder what happened to her? There were other members of the harem involved in this but they only say what happened to the men!" She bit at her thumbnail, "Evie, we have got to get a look at that mummy—but how? The only way I can see is to talk to Lacau himself."
"Well, maybe he could be persuaded, look at what you brought him! I've heard that the jewels you found are going to be given a special display case, you've brought him something quite valuable. Until Carter finishes clearing Tutankhamen's tomb you've provided him with the most valuable exhibition in Egyptian history. And who knows what else there might be if your father...oh my dear, I'm sorry," she said as she saw tears welling in Roma's eyes.
"It's all right, we were very close and I miss him horribly, he would be thrilled if he knew what I'd found. Let's find Lacau's secretary, I am determined to see that mummy. Lacau's a Frenchman, maybe I can charm him into allowing us a peek at the damn thing."
It had taken some persuading and no little amount of argument. The troubles Lacau was having with Howard Carter had left him in a perpetually bad mood these days and any favors asked of him were generally refused. Archaeologists had become a necessary evil, but they were petulant, sneaky, and demanding and he was tired of dealing with them.
Roma guessed this and used her softest, most persuasive voice--and her excellent French. And she did not hesitate to point out that she had brought the museum a set of valuable artifacts, ones that might have been lost to the black market had she not taken possession of them. She put to good use her soft blond curls, along with the deep blue eyes she had inherited from mother and all the feminine wiles she could conjure.
In the end, Lacau was not immune to her charms and granted her wish. He would accompany her and her friend, he said, this mummy was not like the others and extra care must be taken to avoid possible damage.
Neither she nor Evelyn was prepared for the sight of what lay before them. The man was young, but his corpse had been treated most cruelly. The moniker "Screaming Mummy" was apt, for his mouth was wide open, revealing his teeth which had survived twenty-five centuries. And the smell was horrible, not the usual sweet smell from being treated with oils and unguents, but the foul smell of the dead.
There was still wool present on the sheepskin his mummy had been wrapped in. Everything had been done to assure that he would not see the afterlife that Egyptians looked forward to but his soul was condemned to wander in purgatory for eternity.
"Do you have any idea who it might be?" she asked Lacau and he shook his head. "No, nothing but speculation, even that he might be an Asiatic prince who died in Egypt."
"We have a theory," Evelyn told him, not waiting for Roma, "We think he might be Pentaweret, the prince who assassinated Ramesses III."
The look on the Frenchman's face was priceless, "Indeed, and what has led you to think that?"
"Have you done any Carbon 14 dating on him yet? If the dating is close enough, our theory might prove to be correct. Look at how the body was treated, that says that this person committed some grave crime and what could be worse than killing a pharaoh? I think I've located his tomb, it's in the middle of the desert far from the Valley of the Kings. There are carvings on the wall but no names or any hieroglyphs, just the bottom half of a plain basalt sarcophagus." Roma looked at him, hope in her eyes.
"We'd like to find out if the tomb has been mapped or if it's undiscovered, then we'd like to get permission to excavate it." Evelyn was keeping her voice even, but only with difficulty.
"Between the mummy, the papyrus, and the tomb I think we've made an important discovery. Please let me have it, don't give it to someone else. Evelyn and I are just as educated as any male archaeologist, we deserve this. Please Monsieur Lacau, give us a chance to prove ourselves, for my father's sake if nothing else."