The Mummy Case (11 page)

Frank and Joe went upstairs and walked through halls lined with artifacts of ancient Egypt. They saw stone panels covered with hieroglyphics, statues of pharaohs and queens of Egypt, and pictures of war, hunting, and domestic life.

Suddenly a blaze of gold met their eyes. They had come to the Cairo Museum's most famous exhibit, the treasures of Tutankhamen.

First, they noticed a great sarcophagus that resembled the one they had seen in New York except that it was much more splendid. The image of the pharaoh was sculpted onto the lid of the case, the eyes half-closed in a passive stare.

Instead of a scepter, one hand held a shepherd's s crook, symbolizing the fact that the pharaoh was the shepherd of his people.

“King Tut looks like he's going to sleep,” Joe commented.

Frank chuckled. “Maybe he's had a hard day at the palace.”

Joe pointed to the forehead of the ornate headdress, where a Nile cobra was portrayed in an upright position as if prepared to strike. “This looks just like the one we saw in the New York museum.”

The Hardys admired the golden masks of Tutankhamen, golden images of gods, golden furniture, and golden carvings representing life in ancient Egypt.

Then they paused before the mummy of Tutankhamen. The head was distorted by a backward extension of the skull. The nose was flattened, the teeth protruded through the lips, and the skin was crinkled like wax paper.

Joe shuddered at the sight. “Embalming didn't do him much good!”

A voice behind them spoke up. “I think the embalmers made a mistake!”

Turning, they recognized Mahmoud Salim. “I believe they used too many fluids, he continued. ”Instead of preserving the corpse, they caused it to deteriorate. “ He paused for a moment, then smiled. ”I have come to inform you that Professor Kemal has arrived and is waiting in the basement. If you will join him, our new mummy can be removed from its sarcophagus.“

The three returned to the downstairs room where the Hardys met the professor. He was a stout, short fellow wearing the fez of modern Egypt, a high red hat with a flat top from which a black tassel dangled. He had a pleasant smile, and greeted the two Americans cordially.

“I expected to see Najeeb Salim,” he declared. “But I am pleased that the mummy had two escorts instead of one. It made the journey from New York so much safer.”

Kemal ordered his workmen to begin. Using chisels, they broke the metal seals around the crate. Then they hammered the top boards loose, placed them to one side, and removed the padding that protected the sarcophagus. At last they reached the mummy case itself which was wrapped in burlap held in place by three leather straps.

The men lifted the sarcophagus out of the crate onto the floor. They undid the straps and pulled the burlap away. The image of a pharaoh gazed at them from the lid of the case.

“They sure didn't take any chances when they wrapped the coffin in New York,” Frank commented. “I had no idea it was packed in so many layers!”

Kemal rubbed his hands together with glee. “This is a wonderful moment for all Egyptologists. I long to look upon the mummy of the pharaoh who once ruled here on the banks of the Nile. Open the case!

The workmen loosened the lid and took it off. Kemal gasped, and the Hardys stared in disbelief.

The sarcophagus was empty!

“Where is the mummy?” Kemal exploded.

Frank scratched his head. “I have no idea, Professor. We made sure the crate was guarded while it was on the ship, and the seals were not broken.”

“You mean the crate was never tampered with?” Kemal demanded angrily.

“One of the metal bands snapped during a storm,” Frank replied. “We figured the violent motion of the ship caused it.”

“Could somebody have opened the crate and removed the mummy during the storm?” Kemal asked.

“I don't think so,” Joe replied. “It was tough to keep on your feet with the freighter pitching up and down. How could anyone have opened the case, removed the mummy, and then put identical seals on?”

An idea struck Frank. “Perhaps someone substituted this crate for the real one in Alexandria!”

“But how is that possible!” cried Joe. “We never let it out of our sight!”

“I know.” Frank turned to Kemal. “Let me call the ship. The radioman is a friend of ours. I'll have him ask Captain Baker to order a search of the freighter.”

Kemal gave his consent and Frank phoned the
Admiral Halsey.
Quickly he told Biff about their problem, then hung up.

“The ship will be checked right away,” he announced. “Biffs going to call back and let us know if they found anything.”

The group waited anxiously until the phone rang. “Nothing here, Frank,” Biff reported. “There's no mummy crate aboard. However, something's happened that might interest you.”

“What's that?”

“Butch Londy jumped ship! He's gone!”

Frank gritted his teeth. “I wonder if he has our mummy.”

Crestfallen, the Hardy boy reported the news. He told the professor about the difficulties they had encountered and the missing seaman who had acted so suspiciously during their journey.

“The real crate must have been smuggled ashore,” Kemal declared. “You will have to hurry to Alexandria to find it!”

“We will go right away, sir,” Frank said. “But I suggest you call the police.”

“I will,” Kemal said. “And I expect to hear from you soon!”

The boys walked out into Independence Square and sat down on a bench.

“I never felt like such a fool!” Frank complained. “How could a thing like this have happened?”

Joe shrugged unhappily. “I don't know. We watched that crate as closely as we could.”

“I don't think going to Alexandria is such a good idea,” Frank said. “Whoever has the mummy has probably taken it out of town already.

“Frank, let's go to Luxor!” Joe exclaimed suddenly. “The mummy mask we found in the lifeboat had a Luxor tag in it. And the paper you saw in Reggie Watson's house in Loma mentioned Luxor. Since there is a connection between the Rubassa case and the museum thefts, maybe we'll find a clue in Luxor!”

Frank jumped up. “Great idea! How do we get there?”

“Let's try the hydrofoil. I saw an advertisement for it when we drove by a travel bureau just down the street.”

The boys were informed that the hydrofoil to Luxor would be leaving in three hours. They decided to use the extra time for a visit to the Cairo bazaar.

Soon they found themselves in the most romantic quarter of the Egyptian capital. Shops lined both sides of the main street. Colorful banners waved in front of places selling everything from luxurious cloth to strange medicines. Vendors wandered along the street carrying large baskets of bread on their heads. Men pushed heavy carts loaded with baskets, hats, and shoes, while women carried jars of oil. There was a mingling of traditional Egyptian costume with modern Western dress.

Merchants called their wares from the doors of their shops as the Hardys went along.

“Look at this!” Frank exclaimed as he stopped at one shop and pointed to a row of masks hanging from a pole outside. They were replicas of mummy faces! I

As the Hardys stared in fascination at the display, the proprietor came out to speak to them. He wore a fez and had his hands folded over his stomach.

“I see you are interested in mummy masks,” he said in a soft voice. “There is another inside that you might care to see.”

Overcome by curiosity, the boys followed him through the front part of his shop into the back room. A single mummy mask hung on the rear wall.

“Frank,” Joe muttered, “that looks like the one the guy on the ship used!”

“It sure does. But it can't be, can it?”

“Perhaps you would like a closer look,” the merchant suggested. He bowed and extended an arm toward the mask.

The Hardys moved forward. Suddenly the floor gave way under them and they plunged through a trapdoor!

Landing with a thump, they were stunned for a moment. Then they realized they were in a small, subterranean room lit by a single weak bulb in the ceiling. The door had been pushed shut above them. Solid walls enclosed them except for one place where they could see the outline of a narrow door.

“I doubt it's open,” Joe grumbled. “Boy, did we ever walk into this one!”

“I don't get it,” Frank said. “We don't know this guy from Adam. What's he want from us? He had no idea we would even come here today.”

Joe had approached the door and was just about to try the knob, when it opened and four men burst inside. One of them was Butch Londy!

Frank and Joe stared at them in surprise.

“You didn't expect me, did you?” Londy grinned maliciously.

“What do you want? Frank demanded.

“I want to get even!” Londy said softly. “You gave me a hard time on the ship, and I'm giving you a hard time now!”

Realizing they were about to be attacked, the Hardys decided to go into action first. Joe caught Londy in a flying tackle and bowled over the ship's s carpenter. Frank seized the Egyptian merchant in a bear hug and wrestled him to the floor. A battle royal raged and the boys used their karate training to overcome their antagonists. Frank pinned the merchant down while Joe got a hammerlock on Londy.

But the other Egyptians grabbed the Hardys from behind. Four against two proved too much, and finally Frank and Joe were overpowered.

Londy rubbed his arm where Joe had twisted it. “You'll pay for this, double in spades!” he snarled.

“Indeed, the price shall be a high one!” the merchant declared venomously as he retrieved his fez from a corner where it had rolled during the fight.

Suddenly another figure came through the doorway—a man wearing a mummy mask. He gave a high-pitched cackle similar to the one they had heard during the night they guarded the mummy case in the New York museum.

Then the man whipped the mask off. He was Ahmed Ali!

“Hardys, I fooled you,” he scoffed at Frank and Joe.

“You stole the statuettes from the museum!” Joe blurted out.

“And you tried to frighten us away from the mummy by wearing that weirdo mask!” Frank added.

Ali smirked. “You are correct. I stowed away on the
Admiral
Halsey. I was the one you chased through the hold. But you failed to capture me.”

Londy laughed. “I helped him. I told you guys I hadn't seen anyone on deck. But I knew Ali was hiding in the lifeboat. Same thing when he looked through your porthole. The Hardys ain't so smart after all!”

Frank saw the point. “You followed us from the freighter to the carnival in Nicosia, Ali.”

The man nodded. “Butch was watching your friends, Morton and Hooper. He got the mask out of the lifeboat when they were not looking. I sneaked off the ship during the turmoil of unloading the cargo at Nicosia. I waited to see if you two would leave. When you did, I followed you all the way into the Tunnel of Horrors.”

“Well, at that point we fooled you!” Frank said. “We didn't scare.”

Ali scowled. “It doesn't matter. I flew from Cyprus to Cairo to see that nothing further went wrong. I followed you from the museum, and when you came to the bazaar, I arranged with my friend to trap you in his shop.”

A light dawned on Frank.
“You
also tampered with the mummy crate when you were hiding in the hold. That's why the metal band was open and the board loose!”

“I did.”

“Where's the mummy?”

“Where I wish it to be.”

“Which is?”

“We've talked enough!” Londy interrupted. “Let's get this show on the road. I'm in this for money and I want my payoff as soon as possible.”

“What about us?” Frank asked.

“You come with us!” Ali put in. “We'll hold you captive in case your father appears on the scene and attempts to interfere with us. Oh yes, we've heard what happend to the rebels on Rubassa. That'll not happen to us. Fenton Hardy won't dare to make a move against us when he learns that his sons are our prisoners. ”

“And when it's all over?” Joe queried.

Londy scowled. “You'll take a swim in the Nile. All the way down!”

Ali waved to the others and went off by himself. The rest of the gang hustled Frank and Joe out of the shop to the rear where two cars were parked. Two more men, both Egyptians, were already inside one car.

The drivers guided the cars through Cairo to a landing strip on the outskirts of town, where their captors pushed Frank and Joe into a small plane. After everyone was seated, the pilot turned to Londy. “Where to this time?”