When the guard in the Egyptian Room turned away for an instant at the sound of the closing buzzer, Nick had simply stepped into one of the large upright sarcophagi against one wall and pulled the lid almost shut. The guard passed once, glancing around, but apparently assumed that Nick had left by the other exit. He flicked off the light switch and Nick was alone in his own dark tomb. The sarcophagus was far from comfortable, being a bit shorter than Nick’s six feet, but he knew he would have to remain inside for at least an hour.
Through the crack in the lid he watched the dusky remains of daylight filter through the overhead skylight until the Egyptian Room settled into total darkness. Then at last it was night, and he slipped from his cramped hiding place to move silently through the darkened halls. It was easy to spot the electric eye alarms in each doorway, and just as easy to avoid them by bending very low. They would have trapped only the most amateur of thieves. He entered the Etruscan Wing and crossed the marble floor toward the Hall of Great Reptiles. So far, all was well.
Then he froze, hearing a guard’s voice far off, echoing through the lonely building. It was answered by the barking of a dog. Nick listened and moved a bit faster.
Avoiding the electric eye at the entrance to the Hall of Great Reptiles, he made his way toward the enormous white skeleton in the center of the room. He took a moment to shine his narrow-beam flashlight at the walls, but there was nothing except the tall dusty display cases filled with fossils and petrified footprints from ages ago. He wondered why he’d done that and then realized there was something wrong. It was — what? — a feeling that he was not alone here?
He tensed his body, but no sound came. Then he allowed the flashlight to return to its target on the dinosaur’s bony tail. He went under the rope and clamped the flashlight to his left wrist, leaving both, hands free. As he had assumed, the individual bones were strongly wired together, but a few quick snips with his wire cutters should free them.
The ominous feeling came again, and this time he knew that someone else was in the room. He raised his left arm slightly, until the flashlight beam targeted a black-clad figure crouched like a cat some ten feet in front of him. Despite the black knit cap that covered her sandy hair, he had no trouble recognizing Lynn Peters.
“What in hell are you doing here?” he whispered harshly.
“The same thing as you,” she said with a grin, sliding closer across the polished floor. “You hid somewhere after the place closed, so I did the same thing.”
“But — you mean you’ve been following me?”
“Of course. You’re the famous thief Nick Velvet, aren’t you?”
“Where did you hide?” he asked, ignoring her question.
“In the Ladies’ Room. The male guards never think to check it. I had this black outfit on under my raincoat, just in case. You’re after the jewelry, aren’t you?”
He shifted the light from her face and brought out his wire cutters. “No, I think that’s your game. If you really knew anything about me, you’d know I don’t steal anything valuable.”
“But you’re working for Kincaid,” she insisted.
“I have what I want right here.” He snipped away at the wires, carefully disengaging about fifteen inches of the tail section. The bones felt zero-cold in his hands.
Then suddenly they heard voices nearby, and the barking of a dog. “Come on,” Nick snapped. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
“What are you doing with those bones?”
“Stealing them.” He grabbed her arm.
“But the jewelry—”
“No time for your jewels now. If those guard dogs catch our scent we’re in trouble — big trouble.”
He led her back through the Etruscan Wing, grasping her wrist with one hand and the dinosaur’s tail with the other. The voices seemed farther off, and for a moment he relaxed, certain they were going to make it.
“Duck under here,” he warned. “It’s an electric eye.”
She ducked, but not low enough. Instantly a clanging alarm bell shattered the silence. “Damn!”
“I’m sorry.”
He tugged her and broke into a run. “A fine burglar you’d make!”
“I never pretended to be one.”
“Then what in hell are you doing here?”
There were shouts and running footsteps now, and up ahead the lights were going on. “Nick, I’m scared!” she cried as the barking of the dogs sounded closer.
“You should be. Right now I’m scared myself.”
They had reached the main hall of the museum, and the front exit was only a hundred feet away. But already they could see the guards converging. Someone spotted them, shouted to the others, and more lights came on.
“Run!” Nick told her.
Their running footsteps echoed on the polished marble as they retreated toward the Egyptian Room. He remembered the mummy cases, but knew the dogs would sniff them out in a minute.
“There’s no way out, Nick.”
Ahead, appearing suddenly like some hound of hell, a large German shepherd blocked their path. Nick reversed direction, dragging Lynn with him.
“I–I can’t—”
The dog started after them, so close they could hear its panting as it ran. “I know just how Sir Henry Baskerville must have felt,” Nick gasped.
“We can’t make it,” Lynn moaned.
Nick slid to a sudden stop and pulled a handful of capsules from his pocket. The dog was only twenty feet away, coming fast, as Nick hurled the capsules to the floor, breaking them.
“What’s that?” Lynn asked.
The dog slowed its charge, turning its nose to the floor. “Come on! That’ll only divert him for a minute or two.”
“But what—?”
“It’s a chemical that looks like blood and has a strong meat scent. Fishermen use it to attract good catches. I thought it might distract the dogs for a minute if I got into a jam.”
The German shepherd had paused, sniffing, but already it was losing interest in this new odor. It turned again toward them. “Now what, Nick? I can’t run any more.”
“There they are!” a guard shouted from the corridor ahead of them.
Nick sighed and braced himself. “Through the window. It’s our only chance.”
“The window!”
“We’re on the first floor. It’s no worse than falling off a horse.”
Ten minutes later, bruised, cut, and out of breath, they sat in the front seat of Nick’s car as he pursued a winding route through upper Manhattan.
“Do you always cut things that close?” she asked him.
He tried a relaxed smile, and it didn’t feel bad at all. There was a glass cut along one cheek, but it wasn’t deep. “Not usually. I hadn’t counted on your being there. What about your car?”
“I parked it a few blocks away, just in case. But they’ll find my raincoat in the Ladies’ Room.”
“Any identification in it?”
“No.” She grinned at a sudden thought. “My, won’t they be surprised when they discover the only thing missing is the dinosaur’s tail!”
“Sorry you didn’t have time for the jewels.”
“Look, Nick — Mr. Velvet — I was only there because you were, the same as yesterday. I thought Kincaid hired you to steal that jewelry.”
He took one hand from the steering wheel to rub a bruise on his arm. “But why would you care anyway, unless you were after the jewelry yourself?”