After they’d ordered breakfast, the discussion turned to the tomb.
Lazlo took a sip of his black coffee. “I want to take my time going over the location today. I’m afraid that your Mexican colleagues are a little too quick to declare victory, for my liking.”
“They just aren’t as naturally suspicious as you are,” Sam said.
“Years of poor behavior and cynicism mold one, in that regard,” Lazlo agreed.
Sam’s cell trilled as their meals were delivered. He glanced at the number, puzzled, and answered it as Remi and Lazlo dug into their eggs. After a hushed discussion, he hung up and placed the phone on the table next to his plate, the blood drained from his face.
“Sam. What’s wrong?” Remi asked.
“It’s the site. It’s been attacked. Everyone killed, the treasure gone.”
“How is that possible?” Lazlo asked incredulously.
“Late last night. Someone murdered the soldiers and raided the crypt. All the artifacts . . . everything gone.”
“How many soldiers were there?” Lazlo asked.
“A dozen. That was Antonio on the phone. He’s absolutely devastated, as you might imagine.” Sam went on to fill them in on what Antonio had relayed. When he was finished, they stared at each other in stunned silence, the reality of the attack taking a while to settle in.
“So there’s nothing left?” Remi finally asked.
“At least they didn’t take the mummy.”
“Who even knew about the find? Had it been reported?” Lazlo asked.
Remi shook her head. “No. But, obviously, somebody talked. Could have been one of the laborers or one of the students or even one of the soldiers. Way too many fingers in the pie.”
“Antonio says that the place is crawling with Federales and TV crews. He said we were welcome to come up but to wait till the end of the day so the cops can do their thing.”
“This is unbelievable. We’re only rock-throwing d
istance from Mexico City . . .” Remi said, her thoughts a blur.
“Are there any theories on who perpetrated it?” Lazlo asked.
“A criminal gang. Cartels. Take your pick. But whoever it was had to be very, very good. Nobody heard anything until the day shift showed up at seven. Which means the attackers killed a dozen heavily armed soldiers in silence. None of the soldiers had even fired their weapons. It had to be almost instant.”
“Like SAS. Commandos. Nigh on impossible, I’d have thought.”
“They’re taking tire impressions, but Antonio didn’t sound positive. Something tells me that the Federales aren’t TV-style CSI.”
“No, I wouldn’t expect so,” Remi agreed.
Sam’s shoulders sagged. “I’ve pretty much lost my appetite.”
Remi pushed her plate away. “Me too.”
Lazlo continued plowing through his food as Remi sipped her coffee. After a final forkful of omelet, he sat back and gazed through the picture window at the traffic on the street outside.
“You know, one of the things I was studying last night was accounts of these sorts of tombs. For all intents and purposes, if you’re going to hide something, you should keep it a secret. But even so, secrets can leak. So if you have a treasure that’s unlike anything anyone’s ever seen before and it’s buried with your glorious leader . . . what would you do?”
“I give up.”
“Well, in a few instances, there’s been a decoy tomb. The one that makes everyone stop looking because they think they found it. Typically, with adequate riches to satisfy everyone that it’s the real thing. Ingenious buggers, some of them were.”
“You think this could be . . . a head fake?”