Dirk and Zeibig took hold of Stanley while Summer led the others out of the chamber and into the inner corridor. A faint rumble sounded as she moved slowly down the passage, stopping and turning off her light every few steps in case the gunmen were waiting. Eventually she reached the first bend and peeked around the corner.
The outer corridor was dark and silent. She moved forward again until a mound of dirt blocked her path near where they’d entered the passageway. She looked up, expecting to see pinpricks of daylight through the broken limestone ceiling.
Instead, it was completely dark. She raised her light and saw why.
The front-end loader’s steel blade was wedged against the opening, sealing them underground with the ghosts of the ancient dead.
23
Dirk used the burial staff to pry at the cracked sections of limestone around the original entry hole. A few small pieces fell away. It was in vain. The front-end loader’s blade overlapped heavy slabs of limestone on either side of the opening, and there was no breaching those.
“My kingdom for a pickax,” he muttered, banging the staff against the wall. “Those other sections of stone aren’t going to be budged with a wooden stick.”
Zeibig flashed his cell light around the walls. “Solid construction, I’ll give them that. Thick limestone slabs for the walls, floor, and ceiling. Easy to see why it’s lain undisturbed for three thousand years.”
“That’s well and good for the Egyptian who was buried here,” Summer said, “but how do we get out?”
“Somebody will come to check on the dead antiquities agent, as well as the families of the two workers.” Riki motioned toward the laborers. “They’ll notice the loader is not where it should be.”
“True.” Summer nodded. “How long will that take?”
The corridor fell quiet. Then Dirk approached Stanley. “Professor, we fell into this place through the ceiling. How would one have originally entered the tomb?”
Stanley sat on the floor with his back to the wall, his skin as pale as the stone behind him. He teetered on the brink of unconsciousness, wrestling with the pain from his leg wound.
He looked at Dirk with glassy eyes and forced a smile. “Steps,” he said softly. “Look for steps that would lead to the surface, perhaps in a concealed entry.”
“Of course. Thanks, Professor.” Dirk looked to Zeibig. “Why don’t you stay here with Dr. Stanley and the others while Summer and I have a look around.”
Zeibig nodded. Dirk groped for the wooden staff, then rose and approached Summer. She guided him with the penlight to the pile of dirt at the end of the passage. They had to crouch as Summer moved her light about.
“We can’t get past this mess,” she said, “without some serious excavation.”
“There was just a block wall beyond,” Dirk said. “I think we can assume the entrance wasn’t there.”
“Let’s backtrack to the chamber.”
Summer turned and led them down the corridor, squeezing past the others. Dirk lingered a moment as he moved past Riki, inhaling the scent of her perfume as she gave him a light smile. He joined Summer as she ran the penlight up and down the side walls, stopping now and again to study the seams between stones. There was no hint of an unusual cut or a hidden door. The ancient Egyptian masons had fitted the stones with expert craftsmanship.
They reached the first hairpin bend and made their way through the smooth, curved walls into the inner corridor. Dirk ran his hands along both sides until they reached the burial chamber. Inside the chamber and the anteroom, they examined every inch of the walls and floor. Nowhere could they find evidence of a step or a hidden entry. They made their way back through the passageway.
“There must be another way in,” Summer said.
Dirk tapped the floor with his staff, producing a dull thud. “Seems to be solid limestone in every direction we turn.”
At the outer bend, Summer squeezed through ahead of Dirk. As he followed her, the top of his staff brushed the wall.
Summer stopped. “Hey, do that again.”
“Do what?”
“Tap the wall. It sounded different.”
Dirk rapped the staff against the side wall. It produced the familiar deep thud.
“No, back where the bend is.”
Dirk backed halfway around the bend, then gave the curved wall a sharp rap. The sound was notably lighter. Dirk rubbed his hand against the curve and rapped his knuckles against it.