Nina’s mouth compressed into a sour line. ‘Yeah, thanks for reminding me.’
‘So when will Dr Berkeley be back at the dig? We should get back there - the sooner you talk to him, the sooner you’ll be able to check out the construction site.’
‘She’s got a point,’ said Eddie.
‘All right,’ Nina muttered, reluctantly leaving the sarcophagus. ‘I’m going to be pissed if you’ve dragged me out of here and he still hasn’t arrived when we get there, though.’
To Nina’s annoyance, Berkeley indeed had not yet returned from his TV appearance when they got back to the Sphinx compound. He was expected in thirty minutes - thirty minutes Nina could have spent exploring the Great Pyramid.
When he eventually did arrive, it was closer to fifty than thirty minutes later, which did not improve Nina’s mood. But she put on a pleasant face, knowing she would need to charm him into allowing her access to the dig. Berkeley got out of a white-painted government car, its driver emerging as well. ‘Hey,’ Eddie whispered.
‘What?’
‘The other bloke, he’s the one from Macy’s photos. The one she clocked with her camera.’
‘Crap, you’re right.’ Berkeley’s companion was Dr Hamdi. She glanced past the Temple of the Sphinx at the more intact Valley Temple to the south. Macy, still in her baseball hat and sunglasses, was lurking amongst the milling tourists, as close as she dared come to the dig site. ‘If Macy’s right, then he’s not going to want anyone to go near that tent.’
‘Bit late to start wondering if she’s right, innit?’
‘Maybe we’ll find out now - we’ll see how this Dr Hamdi responds.’ She approached Berkeley, Eddie behind her. ‘Hey, Logan! Logan! Hi!’
Berkeley reacted with first surprise, then wary uncertainty when he realised who was calling to him. ‘Nina? What are you doing here?’
‘Oh, just on vacation,’ she replied airily. ‘We wanted to drop by and say hello, seeing as it’s your big event tonight.’
‘Tomorrow morning, technically - the live broadcast starts at four a.m., local time.’ Berkeley’s wariness was creeping towards outright suspicion, not believing for a moment that their presence was a holiday-related coincidence.
Hamdi had an odd look of half-recognition. ‘Friends of yours, Dr Berkeley?’
‘Colleagues,’ Berkeley said firmly. ‘Ex-colleagues. Nina, Eddie, this is the SCA’s representative at the excavation, Dr Iabi Hamdi. Dr Hamdi, Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase, formerly of the IHA.’
Nina noted that Berkeley had omitted her title from his introduction, but had no time to make a sarcastic correction before Hamdi spoke. ‘Dr Wilde! But of course! How could I not have known?’
‘Well, I did change my hairstyle.’
He smiled. ‘A great pleasure to meet you.’
‘Likewise.’ She shook the Egyptian’s hand. ‘And this is Eddie, my husband.’
‘Husband?’ said Berkeley, taken aback. ‘You got married?’
‘Don’t worry, we weren’t expecting a present off you,’ Eddie said.
Nina looked over the ruins to the Sphinx. ‘I was wondering . . . would it be possible for us to see the actual excavation site?’
‘Sorry,’ said Berkeley, tight-lipped. ‘Authorised personnel only.’
Again, Nina restrained herself from remarking on his dismissive attitude. Instead, she addressed Hamdi. ‘That’s a shame. Couldn’t the SCA make an exception, Dr Hamdi?’
The Egyptian was more polite, but just as unhelpful. ‘I’m afraid not, Dr Wilde. Once the Hall of Records has been opened and everything properly catalogued, then perhaps, but for now we have to maintain strict security.’ He nodded towards the guards at the nearby gate. ‘We had some trouble on the site recently.’
‘So I heard.’
Berkeley frowned. ‘You did?’
‘Yeah. A girl called . . . Macy Sharif, wasn’t it?’ She watched their responses closely. Berkeley seemed stung that word had got out about something so potentially embarrassing - but Hamdi physically flinched, as though he had just received a real sting. ‘Something about her stealing a piece of the Sphinx, wasn’t it?’
‘And - and assaulting me, yes,’ said the flustered Hamdi, rubbing his nose.
Berkeley’s expression darkened. ‘Where did you hear about that?’ he snapped. ‘It was Lola, wasn’t it?’
‘No, it wasn’t, actually,’ she said, defending her friend. ‘It was Macy.’
Whatever had stung Hamdi was now draining the blood from his face. ‘You’ve spoken to her? Where?’
‘In New York,’ she said casually. ‘She told me an interesting story about what was going on here.’ Her gaze hardened, fixing on Hamdi. ‘And after what happened when I met her, I’m inclined to believe her.’
‘What did happen?’ Berkeley asked.
‘Things went a bit Michael Bay,’ said Eddie. ‘Gunfights, car chases, explosions - the usual.’
‘Whatever she told you is a lie,’ Hamdi said, a little too quickly.
Nina indicated the wall below the road. ‘There’s an easy way to find out. Logan, there’s a tent over there. If you take a look inside, I think you’ll find something interesting.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like a shaft that leads to a second entrance to the Hall of Records. Somebody’s trying to beat you to it.’
Berkeley stared at her. ‘Absolute horseshit,’ he finally said.
‘Excuse me?’ said Nina, affronted.
‘This is pathetic, quite frankly. Maureen told me you’d been to see her with some holier-than-thou protest about the opening of the Hall being televised - as if you’ve never taken advantage of the media when it suited you! The cover of Time? Appearing on The Tonight Show?’ His face curled into a sneer. ‘Well, now it’s someone else’s turn in the spotlight, and you just can’t take that, can you?’
‘It’s nothing to do with me,’ she growled. ‘It’s about protecting an archaeological treasure - and maybe even saving you and the IHA from a huge embarrassment.’
Berkeley rolled his eyes. ‘Oh, please. The only embarrassment to the IHA is you, Nina. I suppose after that Garden of Eden garbage you were spouting last year, whatever nonsense Macy came up with to cover her ass was probably right up your street.’
Nina could tell that Eddie was on the verge of punching Berkeley, and moved to block him, though she was sorely tempted to take a swing herself. ‘I wasn’t “spouting” anything - that was a smear job. Not that I expect you to believe me. But you don’t have to believe me about this either. Just look in that tent. I’ll even wait right here, so if I’m wrong and there’s nothing there you can call me an idiot to my face! How about it?’
‘This is ridiculous,’ blustered Hamdi. ‘There is no shaft, there is no robbery.’
‘Well, you would say that,’ said Eddie. ‘Seeing as you’re on the take.’
The Egyptian’s eyes bulged in outrage. ‘That - that is slander!’
‘Easy way to prove it, isn’t there? Look in the tent.’
Hamdi scurried for the security gate. ‘Dr Berkeley, I refuse to stand here and be insulted. I will see you at the excavation - and I am very tempted to have these two removed from the plateau!’ One of the guards raised a hand to stop him, apparently unaware who he was, but the other said something and he stood back.
Berkeley shook his head. ‘You know, it’s really sad that you’ve come down to this level, Nina. I don’t know whether I should pity you or laugh at you.’
‘One of ’em’ll hurt you a lot more than the other,’ Eddie rumbled.
Berkeley looked decidedly uncomfortable at the not-so-veiled threat. ‘I always thought you were too close to the edge,’ he sniffed as he followed Hamdi. ‘Guess I was right.’