“I am eager to do so, but I am feeling queasy. I was at an excavation at Giza for the day and may have overestimated my stamina. When you are my age, son, you will learn the necessity of taking precautions against the stultifying heat of the desert.” He fanned himself with his hand. “Higginsnort, my pills are in a small brown bottle in my briefcase. Find them and be quick about it!”

“At once,” Ramses responded in the voice of a tremulous tenor (with a Welsh accent, of course). “Do you need a glass of water?”

“No, you ass, I simply want to have them nearby.” Sethos loosened his necktie and collar. “I am finding this room to be intolerably stuffy, Herr Gunter. I suggest we relocate to the dining room to enjoy the evening breeze. Higginsnort, help me to my feet.”

Gunter had no choice but to trail after them as Sethos staggered down the hall and into the dining room. “I am most concerned about your well-being, Professor. The ambassador has a private physician on call day and night. Shall I send for him?”

“No, but I appreciate your offer. I am confident I will feel better once the windows have been opened.” Sethos sank down on a dining room chair and cradled his face in his hands. “I must relate the gossip from the archaeologists at Giza. It involves a bust of Nefertiti, found at Amarna and in exceptional condition. It is rumored to be quite beautiful.”

Gunter sat down across from him, visibly salivating. “Please tell me more, Professor Doyle. I am ignorant in such matters, but I find the field to be of great fascination. Were you told what happened to this bust? Is it under the control of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft or the Service des Antiquités?”

“Not precisely,” Sethos said as he began to tremble. He blotted his forehead with a pristine handkerchief. “I need to go to the nearest lavatory. Higginsnort, do not sit there like an overly ripe plum. Assist me!”

Ramses helped his ostensible employer stand up and gave Gunter a quizzical look. Gunter led them to a lavatory and murmured solicitously as Sethos went into the small room. Ramses noted the presence of an armed guard leaning against the penultimate door. It was not one of the doors that he and David had investigated the previous day. It seemed logical that it opened on steps leading down to the cellar—or keller, if one preferred. The presence of the guard indicated there was something worth guarding, most likely a prisoner. Unless Gunter had a very bad habit of kidnapping people off the streets of Cairo, the obvious victim was David.

“I believe I should send for the physician,” Gunter said as he and Ramses returned to the dining room. “Professor Doyle is not well. What sort of pills is he taking?”