by Laura Wood
“Harrumph,” I said in the voice of a girl who knows she looks like a crunchy salad vegetable.
The three of us went downstairs and joined the crowd mingling outside the great hall, where buffet tables full of tasty food had been set up and dashing waiters in black waistcoats were twirling around, balancing trays arrayed with tiny pieces of cheese and glasses of fruit punch. There were lots of people there looking very fancy, including Annabelle’s parents. I saw them talking to some of their snooty-looking friends and as we walked past them I heard Annabelle’s mother hiss to her husband, “For goodness’ sake, straighten your tie, Melvin!”
We lost Letty almost immediately as she waved at a boy who seemed to be wearing a full suit of armour and disappeared off to chat with him. I heard someone shouting my name and spotted Kip and Riley approaching, both looking very smart (and uncomfortable) in shirts and ties.
“There you are,” said Kip impatiently, running a finger along the inside of his shirt collar as if trying to stop it from strangling him. “We’ve been waiting for you. Come on! Let’s get in and see the exhibition!”
We started pushing through the sea of people towards the doors to the great hall, which were tantalizingly open. When we reached them we found that the exhibition space itself was actually a bit quieter – everyone else was obviously more worried about stuffing their faces before they tackled the artefacts.
And that, at last, was the moment when we came face-to-face with Ankhenamun. A red velvet rope hung around the brightly painted sarcophagus, and the lid had been removed, displayed next to it in all its glory. As we edged over and peeked cautiously over the edge, my heart was hammering like an overenthusiastic woodpecker.
Ankhenamun lay inside, his shrivelled, bandaged body somehow smaller than I had imagined. I stood looking at him for a moment. It was absolutely cuckoo-pants crazy to think that thousands of years ago, this very body had been behind the robbery that had carried such terrible consequences.
“He’s so—” Ingrid said hesitantly.
“Small,” said Kip, an edge of disappointment creeping into his voice.
“Yeah, small but scary. Like you!” said Riley, shoving Kip in the shoulder. “Seriously, though, it gives me the creeps. I mean, that’s, y’know” – his voice dropped to a whisper – “a dead body.”
We all stood and stared for a few more seconds, and then Ingrid said brightly, “Shall we look at something else?” and we all agreed very quickly.
There was loads of really cool stuff displayed in cases around the room. There were pieces of jewellery with beautiful turquoise stones, and small statues of Egyptian gods with animal heads, and wooden chests. It was strange seeing the ordinary objects – like a wooden chair and a funny mirror – that reminded you that these things once belonged to real people just like us, who brushed their hair and had dinner with their families.
“Hey, look at this!” yelled Kip, and we rushed over.
“What?” said Riley.
Ingrid and I shared a secret look, because Kip was standing in front of a cabinet with a sign that said “The Eye of Horus”. It contained lots of pieces of gold sculpted into the shape that we had seen written on the blackboard in the chemistry lab.
“Pym was right!” I muttered under my breath.
“What?” said Riley again, looking more and more confused.
“Nothing,” I sang quickly, blasting him with a big smile.
Riley’s ears turned as red as strawberries. “Y-y-you look nice tonight, Poppy,” he finally spluttered.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Are you making fun of me?” I asked suspiciously.
“N-no!” he exclaimed. “You look really nice. Like a … a … beautiful grasshopper,” he gasped. “Anyway, gotta go … oh, look, is that Eddie?!” He swivelled his head around and without another word legged it back out into the crowd. Strange, I thought, spotting Eddie looking at a collection of old coins in the opposite direction to the one Riley had just run off to. I felt my own cheeks going a bit pink and turned round to see Kip looking as if he had just accidentally eaten a worm.
“Shall we go and look at the beetle?” I said quickly.
Two serious-looking security guards stood near the case in dark suits. By now there was a crowd around the glass case in the middle of the room, so it took a few minutes for us to elbow our way through. Once we did I felt my breath stick like a gobstopper in my throat. It was even more beautiful than I had remembered. Its red glow washed over the faces of all those people huddled around the case, lighting them up like ghoulish monsters. I could see from Kip and Ingrid’s big round eyes that I wasn’t the only one thinking that the ruby was the kind of treasure a lot of people would like to get their mitts on. In silent agreement, we all tore our eyes away and shuffled over to look at a collection of canopic jars. These jars were the ones that contained the organs removed from Ankhenamun, but somehow even these jars of insides seemed less creepy than the dangerous glow of the ruby.
There was a high, pinging noise and I turned around to see Miss Baxter standing nearby, tapping a fork against the glass in her hand.
“Thank you, everyone. Thank you for being here this evening. It’s a very special night for Saint Smithen’s, and we are honoured to have this amazing collection here even for a short time.” Miss Baxter smiled. “I hope that all you students are making the very most of this wonderful opportunity. It’s not every day that you get to see such an amazing piece of the past up close like this.” There was a little burst of applause, and Miss Baxter’s smile grew even bigger. “I know you are all looking forward to the big circus performance later this evening, but now, as a special treat, here is a surprise guest of honour to dazzle and delight you. It is my pleasure to introduce THE MAGNIFICENT MARVIN!”
There was a bright, dazzling flash, a loud CRACK! and from nowhere Marvin appeared next to Miss Baxter. He caught my eye and winked. It was time to put the plan into motion!
Chapter Twenty-Six
As The Magnificent Marvin began his routine, moving through the crowd to stop and chat and perform a trick amidst oohs and ahhs, I knew I had to track down Miss Susan as quickly as possible. I peered around the room. Eventually I spotted her, and my heart started racing when I realized she was standing next to the very glass case with the ruby beetle in. As I made my way towards her, I spied several other teachers in the room as well: there was Professor Tweep, his walrus face shiny and happy; Miss Baxter was there of course, with Gertrude standing behind wearing her crumpled purple cardigan; Mr Grant was looking sharp and dangerous in his suit; and Dr MacDougal was standing next to Madame Patrice, who was absolutely drowning in sequins. When I reached Miss Susan, she looked down at me, her face flushed. Was it my imagination or was she wearing that nervous look again?
I stared straight ahead, pretending to be watching The Magnificent Marvin pull a canary out of Professor Tweep’s mouth. Whenever I felt that Miss Susan’s attention was also on the show, I tried to be tricksy, like they are in books, and look at her out the corner of my eye. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to look at anything out the corner of your eye, but as eyes are round, I think it’s a bit of a silly idea, to be honest, and I just stood there, my eyes bulging like daffodil bulbs, giving myself a headache. In the end I had to settle for turning my head and giving Miss Susan lots of little lightning-fast glances. She was wearing a clean white dress and a pretty watch, the band made up of lots of pearls strung together; her hair was pinned up and she even had some make-up on. I had to admit that she looked very pretty, and not at all like her usual frosty self. I also noticed that she had a large black bag at her feet with a corner of crimson material poking out of it. Strange indeed.
I was feeling very proud of my sneaky detective skills when I heard Miss Susan’s voice in my ear. “Are you quite all right, Poppy?” she asked. “You seem to have developed a terrible twitch. You’re jumping all over the place!”
“Er, yes,” I muttered. “I was just wondering if you were enjoying the show?”
Miss Susan looked anxiously at her watch, and answered in a distant-sounding voice, “What? Oh, yes. Very good.”
“And now,” I heard The Magnificent Marvin boom dramatically as he came closer towards both us and the ruby, “for my grand finale, I will undertake an impossible task. Many of you know the story of the ruby scarab beetle, that it carries an ancient and” – he paused, his eyes wandering around the room – “some say deadly curse. You may even think that this curse has been making itself felt even since the ruby reached Saint Smithen’s.” I looked quickly at Miss Susan’s face to see how she reacted to the magician’s words. I could see no change in her face, but as The Magnificent Marvin continued to talk, I saw that she once more glanced impatiently at her watch. What was she waiting for?
“—and when they pulled away his bandages what should they find, in the dried-up chasm of his empty body, in the place of his heart, but this glistening, spectacular ruby?” I was torn away from my own thoughts by The Magnificent Marvin bringing his story to a close. Even though, by now, everyone was familiar with the story of the Pharaoh’s Curse, I still felt a collective shiver run around the room, and instinctively I, like many others, turned towards the sarcophagus where Ankhenamun lay – so near and yet so far from his precious ruby.
“Yes,” said The Magnificent Marvin solemnly, nodding, “there lies the man himself, a man willing to risk it all, a man willing to murder, a man willing to die for this beautiful jewel.” The magician had the crowd eating out the palm of his hand now, as hundreds of round, goggling eyes stared at the beetle locked in its impenetrable chamber. “And how did he come to possess it?” said The Magnificent Marvin, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Did he ask for it? No! Was it a gift? No! He took it. He STOLE it.” I glanced up at Miss Susan’s face again, and this time she was staring intently at The Magnificent Marvin.
“And so, for my final trick this evening, I too will attempt, before your very eyes, to steal this prized artefact from its glass prison.” The Magnificent Marvin’s voice thundered out, and next to me I heard Miss Susan let out a small gasp. My heart jumped, but I told myself not to get too carried away; after all, a lot of other people had gasped as well. Marvin was doing such a good job.
“But how to go about it?” I heard Marvin muse thoughtfully. “The ruby is protected by an impenetrable glass case, and Miss Baxter tells me the case is alarmed.” He looked over towards Miss Baxter, who nodded in agreement. “Perhaps,” said Marvin, “I should just … take it.”
And with that he pushed his fingers against the side of the cabinet. I felt the crowd tense, waiting for the alarm to go off, but it didn’t. Then, slowly, miraculously, Marvin’s fingertips began to push through the glass. This time it was definitely not only Miss Susan who gasped – everyone did, and then the room fell so silent you could have heard a feather hit the floor. Slowly, slowly, The Magnificent Marvin’s whole hand appeared inside the glass case, and his long fingers closed around the ruby.
I held my breath. Even though I had seen Marvin do similar tricks before, I was swept up in the excitement of the crowd. I even forgot about Miss Susan in that moment. Very carefully Marvin pulled his hand back, through the glass. He lifted his hand high in the air, and there it was, the ruby scarab!
A great big roar of applause burst out and I joined in enthusiastically. Next to me, Miss Susan was clapping too, her eyes sparkling. Marvin held up his hand for silence like the conductor of a great orchestra, and the applause stopped instantly.
“But wait,” said The Magnificent Marvin, smiling broadly. “Now, like Ankhenamun, I have a problem. If I wish to keep my treasure, I must make it … disappear.” I looked at Miss Susan, but this time she was frowning, looking worriedly at her watch again. I couldn’t believe it. What on earth was she waiting for?
The Magnificent Marvin held the ruby outstretched in his hand and the crowd swayed forward, their eyes glued to the beetle, all of them under Marvin’s spell. All but one. Miss Susan was now shuffling anxiously from foot to foot.
Suddenly there was a bright explosion in Marvin’s hand, and when the mist cleared, the ruby had disappeared! The applause welled up again, filling the room like a thunderstorm. I wanted to see if Miss Susan looked worried by the ruby’s disappearance, but she was looking down at the floor as she picked up her big black bag.
“But don’t worry, Miss Baxter, I am no thief,” laughed The Magnificent Marvin. “I only like to borrow these things,” and with another golden flash the ruby reappeared inside its case.
“Hooray!” shouted the crowd, clapping and wolf-whistling as The Magnificent Marvin threw his hands up in the air and took a bow.
And then, suddenly, there was another bang, and all the lights went out. The clapping stopped abruptly, and someone near me muttered, “Is this part of the show?” I strained my eyes in the dark, trying to see what was going on, but the soupy darkness was black as black could be. Anxious muttering started to fill the room. Then, as unexpectedly as they had gone off, the lights came back on, and we all stood blinking into the brightness.
Someone let out a short, sharp shriek. “The ruby! It’s gone!” And with a feeling of horror creeping over me I realized that The Magnificent Marvin stood once more behind an empty glass case, his own mouth open in disbelief. The ruby was gone. And so was Miss Susan.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I whipped my head from side to side but there was no sign of Miss Susan anywhere. I pushed my way towards Marvin, who was drooping next to the glass case, his mouth moving as if he was trying to find some words but failing miserably. Everything was chaos, with people shouting and pushing. The two security guards were shouting into their walkie-talkies. I managed to get through to Marvin and tugged on his sleeve. He turned to me, his eyes clouded over in a fog of confusion.
“What’s going on?!” I yelled over the noise.
“I … I … I don’t know!” Marvin managed to choke out.
We both stared at the empty cabinet in front of us. I crouched down so that my eyes were level with the case.
“Don’t touch anything, Poppy!” hissed Marvin, his mouth clamped in a thin, troubled line. “The police will want to see everything exactly as it is.” He pushed his hands through his hair and groaned. “How can it be gone?”
I wasn’t touching anything – I was a Dougie Valentine fan, after all, and I knew better than to contaminate the evidence. But then I spied something in the case on the green velvet cushion where the ruby had been resting … something small and white and round, something smooth and slightly shiny…
“A pearl,” I breathed.
“What?” said Marvin, bending down beside me.
“It’s a pearl,” I said, “on the cushion … I’ve seen it before…” I scrunched up my nose, trying hard to remember.
“I can’t believe it’s gone!” Marvin said again, interrupting my thoughts. “What are we going to do, Poppy?”
“Did you manage to get anything useful while you were performing and chatting with the teachers?” I asked in a whisper.
“Not really,” Marvin whispered back. “That Mr Grant seemed a bit nervous, like he wasn’t really paying attention, and Professor Tweep started to tell me that the Van Bothings had some sort of family scandal in the past, but that headmistress’s assistant interrupted us before he could get to the juicy details.”
“Oh,” I said, disappointed, “we already know about that anyway, from the article about the curse, all those deaths and accidents.”
Our conversation was cut short by the sound of sirens and screeching brakes outside.
A few moments later a man in a creased suit pushed his way into the room.
“I am Detective Inspector Arthur Hartley,” he said in a calm, smooth voice that somehow made everyone snap to attention. “If you could all file out into the
hallway, please, there are policemen here who will need to take everyone’s statements, and I’m afraid you will all have to be searched as a matter of procedure.” Everyone started moving out of the room, muttering and whispering to one another. “Apart from you, er” – Inspector Hartley appeared at my side and consulted the notebook in his hand – “Magnificent Marvin. I would like to take your statement myself. And Miss Baxter, could you stay as well?” I hadn’t noticed Miss Baxter standing there. Her face was so pale that her freckles stood out like full stops on a page, and her eyes were enormous. She nodded.
I slipped my hand into Marvin’s and squeezed it. “I’m staying too,” I said, and he looked down at me gratefully.
“And who are you?” asked Inspector Hartley, his sharp grey eyes looking me up and down.
“I’m Poppy Pym,” I said, sticking my chin out and trying very hard not to look frightened.
“Poppy is Marvin’s … um…” Miss Baxter floundered for a moment.
“She’s family,” said Marvin quietly.
“Fine,” said Inspector Hartley briskly, “she can stay as long as she’s quiet.” And again he fixed me in the cool stare of his grey eyes, and I felt like he could see right inside me and read my mind. I nodded.
“Now, Mr … Magnificent,” began Inspector Hartley, “I understand that you were performing some kind of magic trick when the ruby disappeared.”
Marvin nodded. “Yes, well … I had just finished, actually, when all the lights went out. When they came back on the ruby was … gone.”
“Fine,” said the inspector, making a note on his pad, “and during this magic trick, you made the ruby appear and disappear? Is that correct?”
“Yes, it is.” Marvin agreed.
“I’m afraid I will need you to tell me how the trick was done.” The inspector looked at Marvin steadily from beneath his eyebrows.
Marvin paused for a second and then nodded. “Yes, of course,” he said quickly. “This morning I went to see Miss Baxter to talk to her about the trick. I told her that I would need to replace the glass part of the cabinet with one of my own, just before the exhibit opened, but that the alarm could be kept on at all times, apart from when I was performing the trick, and then the alarm would be turned straight back on. It seemed so straightforward … I mean, I thought … who would steal it while the trick was happening and there were hundreds of people staring at the ruby? I never imagined…” He broke off, shaking his head, his hands trembling.