No one could have tampered with the contents of the trunk while it was being transported, he thought with a scowl. It was obvious that someone had disturbed its contents since then, and that could only mean that the culprit had hidden himself somewhere nearby. Ramses had been too distracted by the assailants from the German embassy to search behind the cargo for a lurker. The identity of the lurker was obvious. Sethos had entered the freight car at a previous station, perhaps alongside Gunter’s henchmen.

Which meant that Sethos was present.

Ramses returned to the corridor and entered his compartment. He stepped over the students’ legs to reach his seat and then leaned forward to tweak David’s nose.

Startled, David awoke and stared at him. “What is wrong with you?” David whispered angrily.

Ramses was reluctant to disturb the other passengers, especially Latif. He motioned for David to join him in the corridor. When David vehemently shook his head, Ramses repeated the gesture and hissed, “Sethos!”

It took David a few minutes to extricate himself from Latif’s arm and shoulder without awakening him. As Ramses had done, David stepped gingerly over the students’ extended legs as he made his way out of the compartment. “What about Sethos?” he demanded. “Did you go for a stroll and spot him in another compartment? Did he join you for coffee at the service bar? What the hell is going on?”

“There is no need to be grumpy because I roused you from a dream about Lia,” Ramses replied. He related what he had discovered when he opened the trunk. “I have concluded that Sethos is hiding in there. That is intolerable, even if he has been unable to identify the original bust of Nefertiti because of the darkness. We must take action.”

“I agree with you. Do you have any ideas how to proceed? As you said, it is very dark in there. We will not be able to see him—and he is likely to be armed with a pistol.”

“I do not care if he has a rifle with a bayonet!” Ramses declared as he opened the door to the freight car. As soon as he and David had stepped inside, Ramses closed the door and listened for a faint intake of breath. He had not expected the Master Criminal to expose his location so easily. The blackness was absolute. Reluctant to grapple with the oversize crates and luggage, since Sethos could track his and David’s movements as they prowled, Ramses opted for a straightforward approach. “Sethos, we know you are here! Eventually we will find you, and if necessary, drag you by your heels out of your hiding place. There is no need for any of us to crawl through spider webs or encounter scorpions. Well?”