She frowned. “If the person stole it, then the police would probably be called, but if someone had just seen it, then probably Dr. Ray and Mr. Massan would only talk to that person to find out what they knew.”
“Oh.” I nibbled on my lip for a few seconds, my stomach still doing somersaults, not even the sight of Connor sitting down with a plate of grilled chicken and vegetables making me hungry.
“Is there anything you want to tell me?” Izumi asked, putting her hand on my arm.
“No. I was just wondering,” I answered, giving her a feeble smile.
She said nothing for a few seconds, then pressed my arm and mumbled something about my being able to tell her if I was in trouble.
“Trouble, that’s the understatement of the year,” I said to myself as I left the mess tent, heading straight for the small tent where the dig crew parked their backpacks. Everyone was at lunch or at prayers, so no one saw me as I squatted down before my pack, pulling out my notebook, bottles of water (which I had to avoid looking at in case I broke down and drank some), tissues, a crumbled candy bar, five pens, an extra t-shirt (Kay was a fanatic about us wearing only clean clothes into the tomb, which was really stupid, because the place was made of dirt!), and finally, at the bottom I found the bracelet wrapped up in a scarf Izumi had lent me and I’d forgotten to give back. “So. You’re real. And stolen.”
I turned the bracelet over in my hands. It still looked like a dirty black bracelet with a blue blob on the top, but as I ran a finger down one side, I recognized the symbols that read Set: the curvy reed like plant, a chick, a half circle, two slash marks, and the weird half-animal, half-man figure that Dr. Paolo said was called the Set animal. If I had any doubt before—and I didn’t, not really—seeing Set’s name carved into the onyx wiped it away. This was the bracelet that had been stolen from the antiquities trailer. But how had it ended up in a shop in Cairo? Why had the old guy given it to me instead of Blondie or Erik? While we were at it, who were they? And just what was Seth doing in the shop the night the bracelet was passed on to me? Was it coincidence that he was in the same shop as an artifact stolen from the dig, or did someone else know he would be there, and tried to make it look like he had something to do with the thefts? Or worse yet, was he responsible for stealing the bracelet himself?
No. I refused to believe that.
“I don’t care what anyone says; I don’t believe he’s a thief,” I said out loud, the sound of my voice making me feel a little less alone. “He might be a dawg, but he’s no thief.”
Despite the worry that burbled within me each time I thought about what the bracelet meant, hope rose at the thought that I might be able to uncover the truth. I tucked the bracelet away in my pants pocket and put my pack back as I stood up. Oh, I knew what I should do—I should march right up to Dr. Ray and hand the bracelet over, explaining how I ended up getting it. I hesitated to do that, though. It wasn’t that I thought I’d be in too much trouble if I turned it in (surely the old guy in the shop would verify he’d sold it to me); what I was worried about was how the whole thing would look for a certain long-haired, tattooed, two-timing hottie.
“Not that he deserves being rescued after playing kissy-face with Chloe, but a good journalist doesn’t mind martyring herself for a story, “ I told myself as I headed out of the tent. “I’ll just ask him what he was doing at the shop, and whether he knew anything about the brace—oh! That…that…oh!”
I jumped behind the tent nearest me, squatting down to peer around it as I watched Seth and Chloe approach. Chloe was laughing and reached up to touch the bandage on Seth’s forehead. He jerked away, but I noticed he didn’t leave her; he just kept walking while she chatted and giggled and flirted like mad with him.
All thoughts of turning the bracelet over to Ray disappeared in that moment. I waited until Seth and Jan ducked into the pack tent before racing behind it to the tent flying a Swedish flag. Chloe had complained the night before about having to sleep in Dag’s tent. Then I had felt pity for her, but now…I scanned the area quickly, but no one was around. Without waiting to think about whether or not it was fair of me to do what I was going to do, I slipped into the tent, and eyed the three cots. The bedroll on one of them was tightly rolled (had to be Dag’s), another was neat, but unremarkable (probably belonged to the third girl), and the last was a mess, with dirty, wrinkled clothes piled on top and a stack of glossy magazines scattered beneath it.
“Probably lip gloss catalogs,” I snorted, stuffing the bracelet beneath her pillow. “We’ll just see how those sparkly lips of yours laugh their way out of this! Bwahahahahah!”
FLOWERS CAN KILL!
“Morning! Oooh, breakfast, num. So, has there been any news of that cursed bracelet being found?” I asked just as I had asked every morning for the last three days. I grabbed a bagel, scooped some chopped fruit into a bowl, added a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkling of granola, and poured myself a cup of the hot, syrupy mint tea that everyone in Egypt seemed to drink.
“The bracelet?” Dr. Paolo looked up, frowned in concentration, then shook his head and returned to process of stuffing his face. “No. It has not yet been found.”
“Oh.” I stirred the fruit and granola and yogurt together as I avoided Izumi’s eyes. Although she hadn’t said anything more to me about the bracelet or asked if I had something to tell her, I knew she knew I knew where it was.
I scarfed my breffie down in record time, and ran back to my room to grab my notebook, quickly flipping through it to read through the interviews I’d done over the last couple of days.
January James’ Investigative Notes Regarding Theft of
Handmaiden of Tekhnet (Ugly Black Bracelet)
Interview with Dr. Reshed Tousson (AKA Dr. Ray):
Dr. Ray said bracelet had been locked up in artifacts trailer along with other finds. Seems to be really angry that it’s gone, so I don’t think he’s the guilty person. Asked him who had keys to trailer, and he said he did, Mr. Massad did (guy in black suit from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities), Dr. Battista (the head archaeologist) did, and Cy had one, as well.
Suspect list: Dr. Ray (he could have stolen it without anyone knowing)
Mr. Massad
Dr. Battista
Cy
Interview with Mr. Massad:
Mr. Massad was really snotty, and told me he didn’t have time to talk to me. I followed him when he went to the latrine tent, and stood outside it asking him questions until he finally caved and said that he had seen the bracelet only twice before it disappeared. He said it was worth a fortune, and that he had no idea who could have taken it. He also said that once the dig artifacts have been cleaned, cataloged, photographed, measured, and all that stuff, then he became responsible for them. Once the dig season is over, all the artifacts will be taken to the Antiquities Council people and later put in a museum.
Then he said rude things about school newspapers, which I ignored because I’m not really writing this article for my school’s paper as I said I was. Felt guilty about lying to him, but it was a lie for a good reason, so it doesn’t count.
Suspect list: Dr. Ray
Mr. Massad (if he wanted to steal it, he could take it at the end of the dig season)
Dr. Battista
Cy
Interview with Dr. Battista:
Spent half hour sitting on rock listening to Dr. Battista go on and on and on and on about the stupid bracelet. It’s evidently really valuable, which makes me sorry I stuffed it under Chloe’s pillow. What if she sells it and makes millions of dollars? January James, wonder idiot. Dr. Battista then talked about how exciting the finds in the burial chamber are, and how unique it is to find a tomb of a manicurist, and why it’s going to make her career, yadda yadda yadda. Nice lady, but way too serious. Don’t think she’s guilty, although she could be.
Suspect list: Dr. Ray
Mr. Massad
Dr. Battista (might be guilty, might not. Must do more investigation)
<
br /> Cy
Interview with Cy:
Grilled him re: the bracelet after dinner, at the dig site. Tried to kiss me. Slapped him. He’s obviously the thief.
Suspect list: Dr. Ray:
Mr. Massad
Dr. Battista
Cy (ding ding ding! guilty!!!! Now just need to find proof)
Of course! Cy was guilty! Cy was the thief! It made perfect sense! Wasn’t Cy the one who received mysterious packages of money in Cairo? Hadn’t he mentioned going to the shop? Who else took such pleasure in having his twin blamed for his actions? Clearly he was setting Seth up to take the fall, although so far no one but me seemed to know Seth had been at the shop in Cairo that night. As much as he was disliked and feared by everyone, I just knew that if people found out he had been there, he’d be hauled off with no questions asked. Except Kay. She would probably ask questions.
I chewed my pen for a few minutes trying to figure out how I was going to prove Cy was guilty, but had to stop when Kay yelled for me to get in the van. On the way in to the site I stopped worrying about proving Cy guilty, and started worrying about the bracelet. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned Chloe having it? It had been three whole days since I planted the horrible thing on her…she must have found it by now! Why hadn’t there been a big fuss? Why didn’t they at least drag her to Dr. Ray’s tent and yell at her for a bit?
I gnawed on my lower lip the whole of the morning as I cleaned the last bit on the gold vulture headdress, wondering if I shouldn’t go check to see whether the bracelet was still under Chloe’s pillow. What if the thief—who had to be Cy—had seen me plant it on Chloe’s bed, and had stolen it back?
“How are you doing alone, dear?” Kay asked as I’d made the decision to do a little covert work during lunch.
“Huh? Oh.” I stepped back so she could see the bright, clean paint that I had just finished working on. “Fine, I guess. I’ve just got this little corner of the headdress left, then I’ll start on Nekhbet’s face.”
She gave me a mom smile. “You’re doing wonderfully, but then, I knew you would. How can you help it with your artistic background?”
“Um…yeah.” I stepped back in front of the painting, not wanting her to start in on how wonderful my family was again. I heard it almost every night at dinner, and although each time I’d managed to escape having to show Kay my nonexistent leaf-mold sculpture, she left me feeling even more like a loser. I couldn’t paint, couldn’t draw, and now it seemed I couldn’t even plant evidence properly. What sort of journalist would I make if I failed covert activities?
She patted me on the shoulder. “I know it’s hard work, but don’t despair! Seth is back from his trip to Armana, so I’m sure he’ll join you this afternoon.”
He was back from his mysterious trip that no one would talk about? He had been in Armana? Where exactly was Armana? “Oh. Uh…that’s good he’s back.”
She gave me a sly look. “Yes, I thought you would like to know.” She suddenly leaned close and whispered, “I don’t believe I’m giving away any secrets if I say that when he returned this morning, he had a lovely bouquet of flowers for someone.”
Flowers? Did she mean for me? Or was she talking about Chloe? I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant, but nothing came out but a squeak.
Journalists do not squeak!
Before I could get the squeaking stopped, Kay patted my cheek, and moved on to check with the rest of the team. Even though she did no actual conservation work herself, she made a point of coming in each morning and seeing what everyone was doing.
“Flowers,” I whispered to Nekhbet as I cleaned off her vulture head. “But for who? Or should that be whom? Oh, great, Jan, your life is falling apart, and you’re having a grammar crisis.”
“What’s wrong?” Sayed asked, pausing as he walked past where I stood arguing at a wall.
“Nothing. Sorry. Just talking to myself.”
He gave me an odd look and moved over to his wall. I spent the rest of the morning waffling back and forth about what I wanted to say to Seth when I saw him. A lot depended on whether or not the flowers were for me.
I thought of begging a ride with the water truck as it went back to the monastery so I could see Seth and the flowers, but in the end, I decided that my time would be better spent doing what I was there to do—writing a totally fabulous story about Cy, the antiquities thief. And that meant I had to find out what happened to the bracelet I slid under Chloe’s pillow, and find proof that Cy was trying to frame Seth.
I waited until everyone headed off to lunch and prayers before emerging from where I’d hidden in the pack tent. Two dirty dogs wrestled in the shade of the mess tent, a couple of chickens were wandering around pecking lethargically at the ground, but no one else was visible. From the far side of the camp I could hear the chants of Muslim prayers. The mess tent was bustling as usual, with its wonderful smells and happy chatter of people not fasting.
I hurried off toward the tent with the Swedish flag, keeping my eyes peeled, but didn’t see a soul. Chloe’s cot was just as messy as it had been the first day—covered in dirty clothes, books, magazines, and a makeup bag that had opened and spilled out its contents on the blanket. I was just about to reach for the pillow when I heard voices. Chloe and Connor stood arguing just outside the tent. Connor left in a huff, but Chloe walked straight toward the tent. I looked around for another door, but there was only one. There was also nowhere to hide, so in the end, I grabbed a handful of Chloe’s clothes and sat down on the foot of her cot, trying like mad to think of a reason for being there. Maybe I could tell her I’d seen a snake crawl into her tent? A scorpion? A herd of scorpions?
Chloe came into the tent grumbling to herself until she saw me. “Jan? Hi . . . what’s up?”
“Uh…” I blinked a couple of times, praying for the old oxygen thing to work, but it didn’t.
“Ooookay. Did you want something?”
Yeah. I wanted her to keep her lips off of Seth, but until I knew who was getting the flowers, I couldn’t get pushy with her. So I just looked down at the clothes I held in my hands and blinked a bit more at something I recognized. “Uh. This is Seth’s jacket, isn’t it?”
“Is it?” Chloe took it from me. “I guess it is. I should give it back to him.”
Well, duh! I couldn’t help but get a bit riled about the possessive way she fondled the leather, just like she had a right to touch it. “It is his jacket, not yours.”
Her glossy, sparkly lips smooshed together in a pout. “Um, I know that, thanks.”
Then again, maybe she did have a right to be possessive. Maybe the flowers were for her. Ugh! “Did he tell you you could keep it?” I asked, worried that maybe he had.
“What do you think? And what are you doing here?”
“Me? Um. I was…uh…I thought I saw a snake. But I guess I didn’t. So I’ll go. Bye.”
“Wait a minute! A snake? Is that the best excuse you can come up with for wanting to go through my things?”
I glanced at the wad of dirty clothes piled on the bed. “Excuse me? Like I want to touch your stuff?”
Her eyes were narrowed with suspicion. “What other reason would you have to be sitting on my bed, holding my clothes?”
“I told you, I thought I saw a snake,” I lied, crossing my fingers behind my back. “Maybe if your stuff wasn’t all over the place, people wouldn’t have to touch it to sit down.”
“We don’t have padded wooden hangers and cold storage facilities on the excavation team,” she said in a snotty tone. “We’re used to doing actual work here, not spending our time being pampered at the monestary.”
Pampered! Oh! I could tell her a thing or two about just how hard it was working in the stifling part of the tomb, but I knew she wouldn’t believe me. Obviously her lip gloss had leeched into her brain. And then she started caressing Seth’s jacket.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking the pockets to see if I left anything in them.”
<
br /> I ground my teeth and was about to tell her what she could do with Seth’s jacket (GLOSSY-LIPPED HUSSY RUSHED TO HOSPITAL FOR EMERGENCY BUTTECTOMY), when Connor popped into the tent. He started to say something to Chloe, then stopped when he saw me.
“Connor, you know Jan, don’t you?”
Connor said hi, but I just gave him a sympathetic look. Poor guy, he obviously didn’t know what a player Chloe was. “Yes, I know him. I just hope he knows the real you.”
“Excuse me?” the two of them said together.
Chloe got a bit snarky with me then. I just wanted out of there, but before I could go she shoved the jacket in my hands. “Since you’re so hot and bothered about the jacket, you take it.”
“I’m not the one who’s hot and bothered,” I said with much dignity, pausing only long enough to warn Connor to be careful.
Once I escaped the tent, I ran back to my hiding spot (in the shade of the trailer used to house the expensive electronic dig equipment), and stood for a moment holding Seth’s jacket, smelling the wonderful leather-spicy smell that made me think of the kiss we’d shared. It made me think of other things, too, like why he ran off three days ago without saying anything to me, and why he kissed Chloe and gave her his coat right after he had said he liked me. “And most of all, just what has he been doing in Armana?” I said out loud.
“Visiting my grandmother. Cy and I take turns visiting her when she demands to see us. This time it was my turn.”
I jumped straight up, shrieked, and did a half-twist as Seth’s voice spoke behind me, his jacket flying out of my hands as I clutched at my chest. “Jeezumcrow, just scare me to death, why don’t you?”
“Sorry,” he said, looking fabulously kissalicious as he bent to pick up his jacket. “You were speaking out loud so I thought you knew I was there.”