Free Murder Most Egyptological (A Mrs. Xavier Stayton Mystery Book 3) by Robert Colton Page A

“You’ll be most impressed with these, Mrs. Stayton.”
       A delicate pair of leather sandals decorated with gold beads was placed on the table before me.
       “Oh, yes, these are quite nice,” I remarked, in awe of the ancient footwear.
       Lucy asked, “The hieroglyphics on them, is that what Kamose’s name looks like?”
       Jacob traced his finger over the symbols. “We call him by a name, as if he were a European monarch, but his people had a variety of titles for him, god-like titles—yes, Mrs. Smith, I know that today is the Sabbath!—they would call him, Son of Ra, Ruler of the Nile, Beloved of Amun, and the like.”
       “How very interesting, Mr. Saunders,” I remarked, as this time, Lucy and I exchanged glances. It seemed by his tone of voice, when directed toward Wilma, the young Egyptologist had a rather short temper.
       The Smiths excused themselves, and after Lucy and I were shown a few more fantastic artifacts, the professor remarked, “The air is getting a little thick in here, isn’t it?”
      This was the professor’s subtle hint for us to leave. Jacob politely commented that he had more work to do, so Lucy and I allowed ourselves to be led out of the tent. 
       Stepping out into the brilliant light, I shaded my eyes. Almost under his breath, Kinkaid said, “Wilma gets on Jacob’s nerves; he usually doesn’t fly off the handle like that.”
       The man wanted me to say something agreeable; instead, I just looked at him. Kinkaid gave a shrug and said, “Frankly, Mrs. Stayton, we are all a bundle of nerves right now, and well … well, your presence has us all concerned.”
       I tried to smile sweetly as I asked, “Why is that, Professor?”
       “Obviously, the disappearance of Kamose’s mummy is unacceptable, but it seems you are here to blame someone for Percy Huston’s …” Words failed him.
       “Disappearance?”  I nudged.
       “That’s just it, Mrs. Stayton, just because he’s gone doesn’t mean he’s disappeared,” pleaded Kinkaid.
       I gave the man a shrug. “Then if nothing sinister has occurred, why does my presence concern you?”
       He fumbled for words for just a moment and then blurted out, “We’ve read about you in the papers: a woman bludgeoned to death, a butler sent to the gallows, a Russian countess strangled, a famous woman leaps into the Atlantic … you seem to leave a wake of disaster. Even your husband’s demise is shrouded in mystery; one story goes that he was eaten by giant fire ants, another that he fell off of Mount Fuji!”
       I noticed that Lucy took a step back as I moved a step closer to the professor. “Come to your point.”
       “No one wants you here. They are afraid of you, more afraid of you than any mummy’s curse.” Kinkaid’s brow was dripping with sweat as he spoke.
       “I see.” Reaching into one of my vest pockets, I retrieved my little silver snuff case.
       “Percy is gone, and truth be told, the one person who should know anything about it is right there,” hissed the professor.
       I looked across the valley to the where Kinkaid’s shaking finger pointed. “Sandy?” I remarked incredulously.
       “Sandy, Percy, and Onslow Farber, they all grew up together, old friends and all that. That’s why Farber stuck Percy with us, and Sandy was always popping up from time to time.” Kinkaid’s manner concerned me; was he paranoid, genuine, or attempting to set me down the wrong course?
       The nervous fellow leaned into me, as if his voice might carry to where Sandy stood speaking to the foreman. “We started off, you know, just Martha, Jacob, the Smiths, and Hat Tem. After we found the tomb, you hired Fox, an odd, unsociable chap, and Farber sent Percy. Things changed.”
       It was true, Mr. Farber had arranged for Percy to join the team, and he’d referred to the photographer as someone he could trust.
       “How so?” I asked.
       Kinkaid’s mouth