Read Online Sherlock Holmes and the Mummy's Curse by Stephanie Osborn - Free Book Online

or thereabouts.”
    “Very good. Thank you, Professor,” Watson said. Holmes nodded concurrence, and the two men entered the tent for the evening as Whitesell walked away.

CHAPTER 3
    The Work Commences
    —::—
    The next morning after breakfast—during which rancour once more erupted between Beaumont and Nichols-Woodall, though this time, it was Nichols-Woodall who provoked it, and both Phillips and Leighton unsuccessfully attempted distractions to interrupt the argument at the far end of the table—Nichols-Woodall took Watson off to introduce him to his nursing assistants. Lord Trenthume nodded at Whitesell before rising and leaving the tent as well. Udail came by to see if Professor Whitesell had any specific instructions, then left to begin the day’s dig. Whitesell turned to Holmes, Phillips, and Beaumont.
    “Come, gentlemen,” he said. “Parker will be along later, and Cortland has volunteered to take on the task of trying to locate that damnably wandering hospital tent.”
    “I expect that means he’ll just be chivvying the poor quartermaster,” Phillips opined. “He’s a good enough bloke, I suppose, but I don’t think the man has ever had a unique thought in his head. He just waits for someone else to come up with an idea, and then pursues it with relentless determination. He makes a nice clothes rack, though.”
    “Hush, Landers,” the Professor rebuked. “It does not do to speak ill of one’s patron.”
    “Even if it is true,” Beaumont added. The Professor bit his lip.
    “And we?” Holmes wondered, conveniently—and deliberately—offering Whitesell an escape.
    “We will go over to the artefact tent, and try to organise what we have discovered thus far,” Whitesell explained. “With any luck, someone will discern a pattern in the various relics, and it will lead us to the specific place where the tomb is located.”
    So they all trooped across the camp to the artefact tent, located on the border between the camp and the dig proper, a curious Leighton tagging along behind.
    * * *
    Within the artefact tent, a plethora of wooden boxes and trays sitting on rows of tables met Holmes’ eyes. Fascinated, the sleuth stepped forward, moving among the tables; as with one mind, the others stood back by the tent opening, letting him explore, and curious regarding his reaction. Even Leighton remained beside her father, watching. A few minutes later, Nichols-Woodall arrived, and joined the group watching Holmes.
    * * *
    Holmes let his hands float through the air over the boxes, studying their contents without touching them. He quickly discovered that many, indeed most, of them were empty as yet, but there were still quite a few relics: small pots and potsherds; a necklace here, a bracelet there, several mismatched earrings; two different bronze mirrors, polish gone, a dull greenish patina encroaching over the entire surface; several plates and cups; the bones of small animals, each showing the classic knife marks of having been butchered. In addition to this collection, there were two stone-carving chisels, one broken, one not; an engraved tablet; two badly damaged tablet fragments; and a mallet.
    “Mm,” Holmes hummed, thoughtful. “I presume you have a log of the locations where these were all found?”
    “We do, Holmes,” Whitesell said, moving into the tent. “Over on the table in the far corner. What do you make of it all?”
    “That you have obviously found the workers’ camp, but not the work site,” Holmes decided.
    “Why do you think that, Sherry?” a curious Leigh asked, coming to his side and peering into one of the trays; it happened to contain what Holmes adjudged to be charred chicken bones, surrounded by bits and pieces of charcoal. She wrinkled her nose in distaste as she, too, recognised the contents, then looked up at him.
    “Because I see much to do with day-to-day living, Leigh, and little in the way of the sorts of tools that would be required to carve out a tomb from