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“Kairo,” she began and immediately stopped. Her mouth opened and closed. She shook her head. “What is this nonsense? Are you trying to test me with this silly fake? You really need to get better about this.”
“Are you sure it’s fake?” Isidore asked, sounding disappointed.
“Mom—”
“Please, Dr. Jones,” Ed interrupted. “Can you study it again? The man who gave it to us was scared and on the run. He’s in trouble. He begged us to send it to you.”
Janet frowned, her eyes softening on him. “Edison, dear, he’s probably a scam artist trying to pass off a new type of fake on you. If I stake my reputation on this being real, then whoever made it will feel confident flooding the collectors’ market with expensive fakes.”
Ed’s stomach sunk. Was that all this was? That guy had taken one look at him and decided he was the perfect target for a scam.
Kairo reached out without drawing his eyes from the computer and patted his arm, trying to wordlessly reassure or comfort him. “Mom, please. Check it out again. I sent a picture of the bottom as well. There are about six hieroglyphics inscribed there. He also included a small note written in glyphs.”
Janet stared over her glasses at her son. “Is this something you should have been able to read?”
“Mother, this isn’t the time.”
She sighed heavily in a way only a disappointed mother can. Leaning close to the screen, she drew in a breath and chewed on her bottom lip. When she spoke, her voice was low and thoughtful. “Well, I will give you this is a very good fake. I’ve seen some variations on the jeweled scarab in my career and this is the best. It appears they actually used the ancient techniques for cutting the stones.” The mouse button clicked, and she jerked upright, blinking. “Kairo…where did you get this?” she whispered, sounding almost haunted.
“We told you—a man we encountered at the airport.”
“What did he look like?”
“White male with tanned skin, between five five and five seven. Brown hair and green eyes,” Ed answered succinctly.
“Does he sound familiar?” Kairo asked.
“Maybe…” She shook her head again and squinted. “I think this…might…be the genuine article.” She placed her fingers to her lips, and Ed noted that they now appeared to tremble. “Kairo, darling, this is the jeweled scarab of Kazemde, the High Priest Kazemde of Amon, the preeminent god of the New Kingdom and Thebes. According to a number of writings, there were only four of these made. They were buried with Kazemde’s most trusted priests. It was believed that one of them held crucial clues to where his final tomb was.”
“How many have been found? Who has them?” Ed pressed. Now they were getting somewhere!
“Three of them were uncovered through various digs. One is in the British Museum, and two are in the museum in Cairo.”
“The fourth?” Isidore inquired.
“That one,” she paused and heaved a heavy sigh. “That one is supposed to be in the hands of Dr. Max Sutton, a former student of mine and a very talented young man, if he can just stay focused on his work.” She dropped back in her chair and took off her glasses. With her empty left hand, she rubbed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “We’ve been corresponding for the past year. He believes he’s on the right track to locate High Priest Kazemde. If he’s correct, it will be one of the biggest finds in the past decade. Possibly even the past century.”
Kairo leaned toward the camera. “And do you think he’s right?”
“I do. At least, I think he’s got a good shot at finding it. I’ve been checking over his research and findings, and I agree with his translations and logic.”
“Are all the scarabs identical?” Ed chimed in.
“No. The three in the museum each have the name of the priest they were given to on the belly of the scarab. The fourth was supposed to have directions to Kazemde’s tomb.”
“And which one are you looking at pictures of right now?” Kairo prodded.
Janet swallowed hard. “The scarab that is supposed to be in Max’s possession. But this doesn’t make sense. He’d never let this out of his sight. Certainly never allow it to be copied. This has to be a mistake. He—”
“Does Max Sutton have green eyes and brown hair? Is he short?” Ed demanded. The words coming out more terse than he meant, but they needed to be sure. If they had a name, an identity, Kairo could do a hell of a lot when it came to tracking the poor man down.
“Y-yes.” Janet shoved her glasses on and frowned at the screen. “But this doesn’t make any sense. He’s a part-time professor and an Egyptologist with Brown University. He’s supposed to be headed to the US from Cairo to work on a proposal for his next dig. Why would anyone want to hurt him?”
