Murder at Downton (The Ralph Chalmers Mysteries Book 6)

by P. J. Thurbin

  “The place is a bit antiquated, as you can see,” she smiled as she returned to her chair behind the large oak desk. A brightly coloured oriental runner created a barrier between the desk and her visitors, but Michelle soon put them at ease.

  “Last month when I asked one of the staff to clear out one of those big old cabinets you can see there at the side, it almost caused a riot. It contained some old bugger’s notes and evidently he’d still not finished writing them up from ten or more years ago. Not much different to those students who never quite finish their doctoral thesis.” she let out a loud chortle that took him straight back to his Cambridge days. One of his tutors had had that same laugh. It defined her class and upbringing.

  “So let’s cut to the chase,” Michelle said. “The wedjat eye.” She walked around to the front of her desk and began pacing up and down the oriental carpet with her arms folded across her chest.

  “It might help if I give you some background, first.” With that she launched into a lecture which Ralph struggled to keep up with, but daren’t interrupt.

  “We believe that the amulet that we loaned to Highclere for their exhibition is one of a pair. Sometimes they are referred to as twins, but there are subtle differences. Legend has it that the two amulets together reveal the location of an as yet undiscovered tomb that could rival the tomb of Tutankhamun. But there are no hieroglyphics on the amulets, so even if someone should recover the one your American friend had, then it is unlikely it would unravel the mystery of the undiscovered tomb, that is, if another tomb even exists. It would certainly be a Herculean, if not an impossible task.” As she reached for her tea, Ralph took the opportunity to interrupt. Michelle looked surprised when he made an observation.

  “What with seismic detectors and infra-red scanners and all the technology available to archaeologists today, I would have thought that the Valley in Luxor would have been scoured to the point where there was virtually no chance of discovering any more tombs.”

  “That’s true to some extent,” Michelle said. “But the search will still go on. Human nature, I’m afraid. As long as someone thinks there are more treasures out there, they’ll go on looking. We know from their scrolls and hieroglyphics that the ancient priests dug up mummies and treasures and relocated them to the mountains of Deir el Bahri. We know about two sites, but there’s still a third, unconfirmed site as well,” Michelle explained.

  “But why would they do that?” Ralph asked.

  “To protect them from grave robbers, of course. The royal tombs contained vast amounts of treasures. The ancient Egyptians had their criminal element just as we have ours today. That would have been a prize too tempting.” She paused and picked up a folder from her desk.

  “I’ve printed out this chart, with the help of Google Earth. It shows you how impossible it would be to find that third cache.” She handed them each a map along with some photographs of the amulet. “You can see that the finds so far have been numbered KV1, 2 and so on. Since the discovery of KV62, the Tutankhamun tomb, we had to wait another 83 years before Otto Schaden discovered KV63. But before you ask, we don’t think that is the missing third cache. It contained a mummy, as you would expect, but no treasures such as were found in Tutankhamun’s. The theory is that the treasures were so well hidden that the grave diggers, and for that matter all the archaeologists, have never been able to find them.”

  “Not yet,” added Ralph. Michelle gave him that same look he recalled getting when he was a student and attempted to make a joke at his Professor’s expense.

  They chatted on about the likelihood that the two amulets would ever be found. Michelle and Cynthia agreed that, had they already been discovered, in all probability by now they would have been sold to specialist collectors or even melted down for their gold content.

  Michelle apologized for rushing them out but said that she had another appointment. They thanked her for meeting with them and sharing her knowledge, and Cynthia and Michelle promised to meet up again soon. After making their way through the long oppressive corridors of the museum, they agreed that it was good to be out in the fresh air again.

  Cynthia invited them back to her houseboat which was moored on the Thames near Hampton Court. She told them that Lance would already be there and he had promised to get provisions in for a barbeque. She called Peter on her cell phone and asked him and Marcia to join them so they could all catch up on the gossip over a few drinks.

  Her bright yellow BMW convertible was parked in a side road near the Museum.

  Katie volunteered for the rather cramped bench seat and Ralph sat up front with Cynthia. She knew that Ralph was not the happiest of passengers at the best of times and wondered how he managed to chat amiably as Cynthia sped along the A3.

  ***

  It was the first time that Ralph and Katie had seen the houseboat, and they were duly impressed.

  “Isn’t it super?” Cynthia said. “I bought it from a rock group who had set it up as a recording studio. They had trashed it pretty bad so it needed a lot of restoration, but now it’s just like new. It’s perfect for Lance and me. We might even decide to stay here for a while. If we get fed up we can always buy a place further up the river.” Ralph was vaguely aware that Cynthia had some family money. It must have been quite substantial, he mused, if she could buy a place on the river. He knew that waterfront property could run into the millions.

  Lance was busily setting up the barbeque. He had laid out all the provisions on a white table on the varnished oak open decking. Having made sure that Ralph had a cold beer, Cynthia her gin and tonic and Katie her glass of iced water and lemon, He joined them on deck.

  “If you two ever do decide to get hitched you could get yourself a place like this. It’s really great,” said Lance.

  “You’ve only been engaged for a few months yourself and already you’re an expert,” Katie laughed. “You need to hang out your shingle, ‘Free Advice, £10’. Ralph was not sure if she was pleased or annoyed at Lance’s remark.

  “He’s a fine one to give advice to anyone else,” Cynthia interjected. “He only proposed so that I’d let him drive my car and go to rugby matches with him.” They all laughed. No doubt there was a grain of truth in her observation.

  “Hey. How do we get across?” They looked up and saw that Peter and Marcia were on the opposite side of the river and needed to get across.

  “We’ll come for you in the dinghy,” Cynthia shouted back.

  “Are you up for it, Ralph? If so, you can do the honors.” Cynthia teased as she waved at Marcia.

  Ralph rowed across to collect his friends. He pulled the boat up parallel to the bank and helped Marcia into the boat. She had been a top model when she was younger and he could see by the way she moved that the she had lost none of her grace. Peter hopped in once Marcia settled onto the middle seat. He and Ralph had known each other for a long time and were best friends. Peter was Professor of Music at Kingston, but he and Marcia had just returned from Singapore where he had been teaching for the past year while he was on sabbatical. He had been going through another bout of mid-life crisis, and when the opportunity to take a year away from Kingston and teach in Singapore presented itself, he leapt at the chance.

  After Ralph delivered his passengers safely back to the houseboat, Cynthia took Katie and Marcia below. She wanted to show them how she had refitted the interior. Ralph and Peter sprawled in deck chairs while Lance put the sausages and hamburgers on the grill.

  “You look a bit whacked out, Peter. Surely you’ve got over your jet lag by now,” Ralph observed.

  “No, it’s not that. I’m fine, really. It’s Marcia. She’s been on a bit of a downer ever since we got back. I guess the routine here at home is a letdown after the high life out in Singapore. You know how it is.” Actually, I don’t, Ralph thought, but he knew better than to interrupt his friend’s train of thought.

  Peter went on to say that he was fed up with teaching and had been thinking of getting out and setting himse
lf up to do some private teaching. Ralph knew that whenever his friend went through a bad patch he immediately thought about jumping ship. He hoped that it would pass as it always had before. With Peter, the best thing was to just let him get it off his chest.

  “How about you, Ralph?” Asked Lance. “I was serious about you taking the plunge and getting married. Katie’s, a great girl and you two get on well. You bought that cottage together in Devon and that must mean something. And you’ve been all over the world together. It’s more than most married couples have done. You must know by now if it’s serious, old mate.”

  “Ralph’s a confirmed bachelor,” said Peter. “I can’t see him getting tied down. He has his sailing and his fitness regime, and so far he doesn’t have to answer to anyone. Oh yes, and all that sleuthing he gets up to. All that would have to stop if he got spliced. Believe you me, I know only too well.”

  “I reckon that Jag of yours would be the first casualty,” Lance said. “You’d probably finish up with a Prius.” They all laughed.

  Ralph knew Peter and Marcia had gone through another bad patch a few years back when he had got involved in one too many affairs. He had seemed like a reformed character after Marcia gave him an ultimatum, but it seemed he still hankered after his old life.

  Ralph knew that his friends were partly joking, but they had struck a chord. He realized that in the next few months he would have to make up his mind about what sort of future he wanted and whether he really was ready to settle down. He found Katie enormously attractive and they had some great times together, but he wasn’t quite ready for the sort of commitment his friend Lance had in mind, and he was pretty sure that Katie felt the same way.

  After a splendid meal, they sat around what Cynthia had dubbed ‘the Captain’s Table’ and Ralph told them what had happened at Highclere and what he suspected about the connection with the murder in Luxor.

  “You’re out of it now, Ralph,” said Peter. “Just let the police do their job. From what I can see, you two have done your bit and it’s time to step back.”

  “It’s not that simple, Peter,” Ralph replied. “I’m certain that both murders are linked to these amulets and I’m determined to find that link.”

  Ralph explained what Michelle had told them about the twin amulets possibly being the key to the undiscovered tomb and treasure. When he had finished, Cynthia was the first to speak.

  “It’s a nice idea, Ralph. But you only have the pictures of the amulet that Michelle gave you this morning. So without your friend Liam’s pendant, you’re stuck.”

  “Not quite,” said Ralph. He explained that when he had got back from Highclere he had contacted Liam’s brother, Everard, in Grand Rapids. He had decided not to mention his suspicions that Liam had been murdered, but he did tell him that Liam’s pendant was missing. Everard promised to send Ralph some close-up photos that had been taken of the pendant so that Ralph could pass them on to the police.

  “So you’ve got photos of both amulets,” said Katie. “You never mentioned that to me.” Peter gave Ralph a knowing look.

  “Let’s clear the table and see if we can make any sense of this 5000 year old mystery,” Marcia suggested. “I used to be quite good at puzzles. Who knows, we might all be millionaires by midnight. Is anyone else up for it?”

  Ralph spread the Goggle Earth map that Michelle had given them out on the table and placed the photos of the amulets alongside the map.

  “What surprised me was when Michelle said that there were no hieroglyphics on the amulets,” said Katie. “Looking at the photos you can see that’s the case. But they must contain some sort of clue. Michelle did say that there were some subtle differences between them, but she didn’t say what they were.”

  For a brief moment Ralph had an eerie sensation that they were being watched. He even glanced around at the curtains, but they were pulled to keep out the evening chill. The propane gas fire burned brightly in the grate, but an involuntary shiver still shook his frame.

  “Do you realise that we are the first people in thousands of years to see the two amulets side by side?” Marcia remarked. “It’s a bit creepy.”

  “If they are so valuable, it doesn’t seem like it was such a good strategy to bury them in the same tomb,” said Lance.

  “Look. Everyone knows how fanatical the Egyptians were about mathematical puzzles and the use of measurement, so perhaps that’s the clue,” said Katie as she took a closer look at the photos.

  Ralph stared at the chart and the dot marking Tutankhamun’s tomb and thought about what it might represent. If KV62 is the starting point, then KV63 must be close by, just as Michelle had told them. They could form one side of a triangle. But how to find the other two sides? On a blank piece of paper he marked a dot to indicate KV62 and drew a horizontal line. On Liam’s pendant there were 34 horizontal lines and 40 that were at a slight angle .He marked out 34 cm from KV62 and put a dot to indicate KV63. Then he marked another from the dot and marked it with an X. Could that be the third cache? Of course the Egyptians didn’t have tape measures, so they had used the distance between the elbow and an extended middle finger, about 18 inches or 45 centimeters, and they called this measurement a cubit. Once he reckoned the relative measurements, all he needed to do was figure out the angles and convert to cubits.

  “What on earth are you doing?” Asked Peter.

  “If I know the relative lengths of the triangle, I should be able to figure out the distances,” Ralph explained.

  “It’s hardly likely that the old Egyptians had a Google Earth map and just happened to use the exact scale as you, old boy. It looks like a complete waste of time to me. I think we could use our time far better by having another drink.”

  “Don’t you think you’ve had enough already? We can’t have you getting back into those old habits,” Marcia said in an unconvincing effort to sound lighthearted. Peter gave Ralph another knowing look as if to say, I warned you.

  “Why don’t I make us some coffee,” Cynthia suggested. “We’re not going to solve this riddle unless our minds are alert.”

  Cynthia got up and made the coffee. While she was doing that, Ralph noticed that his X coincided with one of the other tomb sites.

  “I remember seeing a documentary about some American archaeologists who tried to recreate the methods the Egyptians used to build the Sphinx. They used the notion that a triangle has a centroid, or balancing point. Like this.” He quickly connected the mid-points of each side to the midpoints of the side opposite. He marked it KV64. The others sat back and laughed at this ridiculous assumption.

  “If any of my students offered that up as a proof, it wouldn’t even merit a D minus,” said Lance. “Still it’s been a bit of fun. And if nothing else, it’s convinced me that I was right to forego any thoughts of becoming a mathematician.” They all agreed that it was probably time to call it a night. Lance and Cynthia suggested they stay the night and bunk down in the spare rooms, and no one put up much of an argument.

  Ralph threw the calculations and papers in the trash can. After a few jokes from Peter about borrowing some pajamas, they retired for the night.

  Ralph lay awake thinking about the puzzle. He felt a nudge from Katie.

  “We could get a place like this, you know,” she said.

  “Well it does seem quite dry considering we are on a boat on the Thames,” Ralph replied. “It can get very damp at sea.”

  “Good night, Ralph.” Ralph knew she was right. A romantic he was not.

  ***

  Ralph decided it was time to take action. Granger had given him a free reign to return to Highclere. He knew that if he wanted to glean any more information about the amulets from Anton and Justin he needed to get back there. He had some marking to catch up on, so he decided that he would do that in the morning and then drive to Highclere later that afternoon. Katie had gone to stay with a friend who had offered to help her find a job with one of the London colleges, so Ralph was a free agent.

  The M
4 motorway was solid with traffic. It finally thinned out near the exit for Newbury and Ralph was able to relax and enjoy the English countryside. The roads narrowed and he had to drive slowly as he approached Highclere, but it gave him time to enjoy the countryside and listen to his favorite Beethoven symphony as the evening sun sent shadows across the hillsides. He had not driven outside of town in a while and now he reveled in the feeling of power and security that his vintage car provided as it took the tight turns along the twisting country road.

  ***

  Ralph was surprised to meet Omar Naser in the foyer of the Vineyard. As it was close to dinner, they agreed to share a table. Ralph realized that he had not eaten since breakfast, and he was famished.

  “How are you enjoying your leave?” Ralph asked once they were seated in the dining room.”

  “Yes, it’s been really nice. I got to do everything on my list.”

  “What is it this week, more visits to Newbury Racecourse?” Ralph remembered that Omar had told him how passionate he was about the racing.

  “No, I’m afraid not. I fly back to Cairo tomorrow. I have the new semester to plan for and of course there’s all the marking that will be waiting for me when I get back. You know what it’s like.”

  “Don’t I just. As a matter of fact that’s what I was doing all morning at Kingston before I left to drive here,” Ralph said. “By the way, I guess you heard about Liam Wilkes, one of the American party I was with?”

  “Yes. A terrible business. I read in the papers that the police say it was a heart attack,” Omar replied.

  Ralph just stopped himself from sharing his views about Liam’s death. As they chatted on, he decided to tell him about the amulets and what he had discovered about the possibility of a third cache of treasures. Omar was a good listener and Ralph apologized for bending his ear so unmercifully.

  “Not at all, Ralph. As you know, it would certainly boost our economy if the authorities could find a new way to attract the tourists. From what I can see, the Muslim cause would welcome a chance to put Egypt back in a more positive light. The media have certainly had a field day with the troubles there and it’s kept the tourists away.” Ralph was quite interested in what was happening in the Middle East and in the rest of the world, but his mind kept going back to the riddle of the amulets.