Read Online Sherlock Holmes and the Mummy's Curse by Stephanie Osborn - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Stephanie Osborn
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, Mystery, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Thrillers & Suspense, Pulp, British Detectives, Traditional Detectives
Ads: Link
“But the Professor explained that it was little more than regular dirt and soil at this point, and it took an expert to even be able to tell…”
“And Udail backed me, Lord bless him,” Whitesell added. “So we managed well enough. Everyone understood, and no one was offended.”
“Good.” Holmes nodded knowingly.
“Yes. So we have the living areas well defined,” Beaumont noted, “but the work areas—where the tomb or tombs may be—seem still to be lost to us.”
“There are only a few places where tombs can be,” Nichols-Woodall pointed out. “The layout of the valley is not unlike that at the Wadi al Muluk 26 , or for that matter at Ta-Set-Neferu 27 . There is a large mountain ridge backing the valley, which is what my American colleagues would term a box cañon , 28 with outlying spurs defining the sides. It is only along these that the tombs could possibly have been built; the sediments in the cañon floor would have been far too thick, even in Ka’s time, for a vertical shaft approach.”
“Yes, mon ami , but that is still a very long base line over which to search,” Beaumont observed. “We can reasonably assume that the current surface level is considerably above what it was in Sekhen’s day, which means we must dig a trench of unknown depth along the bases of the mountains. And that is a great deal of digging to do, through sand and scree. There is much talus accumulated at the foot of the mountains.”
“Granted, but chances are, we only need worry about the vertical faces,” Nichols-Woodall argued. “The scarps of the mountains are, traditionally, where the tombs were built, because of the greater stability of the ceilings due to uniform thicknesses.”
“That is still a great deal of expanse,” Beaumont replied.
“True…” Nichols-Woodall admitted, quirking his mouth in frustration. “We desperately need a way to narrow down the search.”
“Professor, I have not thought to ask,” Holmes interjected then, “but how exactly did you settle upon this site to begin with, if you had not yet discovered relics here?”
“Oh, well, as you know, I have been searching for Sekhen for a long time,” Whitesell explained, and the others paid close attention. “I was re-reading a translation of one of the ancient histories, when I suddenly realised that a particular passage about Ka-Sekhen’s funeral seemed more awkward than was warranted. It seemed poorly translated to me. I accessed transcriptions of the original hieroglyphics, compared them to the common translation, and recognised that the translator had missed some complex idioms and metaphors. Once those had been properly inserted, the passage became a kind of riddle, all about ‘backbones and ribs,’ and ‘stones of the sky,’ and treaties, and the like. I did a bit of leg work, and found that the little puzzle could only be solved—at least in part—by assuming it described this area. I checked with Parker, and ascertained that the mountains could not possibly have changed to such an extent in the intervening time as to be unrecognisable. So I filed a request to conduct an archaeological exploration. And here we are.”
“Do we have a topological map of the area?” Holmes asked.
“We do,” Nichols-Woodall confirmed, going to a stash of large, heavy-weight pasteboard tubes in the corner. “Topographic, geological outcroppings, and more. Some of which I had to make myself; I have been here since the latter part of summer, working.” He fetched several tubes and carried them to an empty table, beginning to remove the rolled maps inside. “Perhaps if we all put our heads together over this, we may determine some probable target sites for test pits.”
“Capital idea, Parker,” Whitesell agreed. Leighton tugged at Holmes’ arm.
“Come, Sherry,” she murmured. “Let’s leave them to their stuffy old maps, and go for a walk.”
The men all froze, staring at the pair. Holmes, in his turn, stared at Leighton,
“And Udail backed me, Lord bless him,” Whitesell added. “So we managed well enough. Everyone understood, and no one was offended.”
“Good.” Holmes nodded knowingly.
“Yes. So we have the living areas well defined,” Beaumont noted, “but the work areas—where the tomb or tombs may be—seem still to be lost to us.”
“There are only a few places where tombs can be,” Nichols-Woodall pointed out. “The layout of the valley is not unlike that at the Wadi al Muluk 26 , or for that matter at Ta-Set-Neferu 27 . There is a large mountain ridge backing the valley, which is what my American colleagues would term a box cañon , 28 with outlying spurs defining the sides. It is only along these that the tombs could possibly have been built; the sediments in the cañon floor would have been far too thick, even in Ka’s time, for a vertical shaft approach.”
“Yes, mon ami , but that is still a very long base line over which to search,” Beaumont observed. “We can reasonably assume that the current surface level is considerably above what it was in Sekhen’s day, which means we must dig a trench of unknown depth along the bases of the mountains. And that is a great deal of digging to do, through sand and scree. There is much talus accumulated at the foot of the mountains.”
“Granted, but chances are, we only need worry about the vertical faces,” Nichols-Woodall argued. “The scarps of the mountains are, traditionally, where the tombs were built, because of the greater stability of the ceilings due to uniform thicknesses.”
“That is still a great deal of expanse,” Beaumont replied.
“True…” Nichols-Woodall admitted, quirking his mouth in frustration. “We desperately need a way to narrow down the search.”
“Professor, I have not thought to ask,” Holmes interjected then, “but how exactly did you settle upon this site to begin with, if you had not yet discovered relics here?”
“Oh, well, as you know, I have been searching for Sekhen for a long time,” Whitesell explained, and the others paid close attention. “I was re-reading a translation of one of the ancient histories, when I suddenly realised that a particular passage about Ka-Sekhen’s funeral seemed more awkward than was warranted. It seemed poorly translated to me. I accessed transcriptions of the original hieroglyphics, compared them to the common translation, and recognised that the translator had missed some complex idioms and metaphors. Once those had been properly inserted, the passage became a kind of riddle, all about ‘backbones and ribs,’ and ‘stones of the sky,’ and treaties, and the like. I did a bit of leg work, and found that the little puzzle could only be solved—at least in part—by assuming it described this area. I checked with Parker, and ascertained that the mountains could not possibly have changed to such an extent in the intervening time as to be unrecognisable. So I filed a request to conduct an archaeological exploration. And here we are.”
“Do we have a topological map of the area?” Holmes asked.
“We do,” Nichols-Woodall confirmed, going to a stash of large, heavy-weight pasteboard tubes in the corner. “Topographic, geological outcroppings, and more. Some of which I had to make myself; I have been here since the latter part of summer, working.” He fetched several tubes and carried them to an empty table, beginning to remove the rolled maps inside. “Perhaps if we all put our heads together over this, we may determine some probable target sites for test pits.”
“Capital idea, Parker,” Whitesell agreed. Leighton tugged at Holmes’ arm.
“Come, Sherry,” she murmured. “Let’s leave them to their stuffy old maps, and go for a walk.”
The men all froze, staring at the pair. Holmes, in his turn, stared at Leighton,
Similar Books
