“Nor do I, but it has to be there. Otherwise, we have wasted a great deal of time collecting forgeries—and being targets of gunfire and upsetting Mr. Baehler. I have an unsightly bruise on my arm from the hypodermic needle. We are in debt to Sethos, which makes my stomach churn. Look! Harun has stepped aside. On the table there are two busts, distressingly similar. Shall we retrieve them?”

“With caution.” Ramses continued to a door and tested the knob. “It is locked, and the door is sturdy. If we break through it, Harun may have time to snatch up the original Nefertiti and disappear through a back door. I am not inclined to waste more time searching for his next workshop. Let us circle the building.”

David had already reached the far end of the brick facade. “I see no windows or doors on the side,” he said as he returned. “If this was used for storage, there must be a large entrance where the crates were unloaded.”

They went to the backside of the building and located a set of double doors facing an alley. A rancid odor came from discarded food and rotting fish. The doors were flimsy and yielded when Ramses pushed them open a few feet. They slipped inside and crept into a dark corner.

“Do you see anyone other than Harun and his apprentices?” Ramses asked softly.

“I do not see an armed guard, if that is what you’re asking. It does not preclude the possibility that one is sitting in the shadows.”

“True,” Ramses acknowledged grimly, “but there is only one way to find out. Harun is fluttering around what must be the original Nefertiti. His apprentices are working on rough blocks of limestone. He has completed a skillful copy, worthy of his reputation as a master forger. I will circle around this way, and you go the other way. If neither of us encounters a guard, we can rush the table and grab the two busts. We can determine which one came from Thutmose’s studio when we are in a more comfortable circumstance.”

David’s teeth glinted in the darkness. “And as for Harun? He has defied the Father of Curses and inconvenienced us. Is he to be punished?”

“He is an old man. I cannot cause him physical pain, but I will do whatever it takes to achieve our goal. Should he attempt to thwart us, he will do so at his own peril. You go left and I will go right. When I signal you, both of us will storm the middle of the room, bellowing like savages.”