Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Dr. Tweed was standing by the front doors talking with two police officers. Dink dashed over to them. "Excuse me," he said, his mouth suddenly dry.

"Can we help you?" one of the officers asked. The name tag on her shirt read S. WASHINGTON. "My friend found the mummy in the ladies' room!" Dink said. "Show us," said the other officer. His name tag read P. PETERS. Everyone rushed over to where Josh and Ruth Rose were standing outside the rest rooms. "Will you come inside with me?" Officer Washington asked Ruth Rose. Ruth Rose and the officer walked into the rest room. A few seconds later, they both came out again. "Dr. Tweed, will you step in with me, please?" Officer Washington said. Dr. Tweed followed the officer back inside the rest room.

"So where was it?" Josh asked Ruth Rose. "You know those tables they have so parents can change a baby's diaper?" she said. "It was right there on the table!" "In plain sight?" Dink asked. Ruth Rose nodded. "At first I thought it was a big doll, so I took a closer look…." "Yuck!" Josh said. The rest room door opened again. Officer Washington walked out, with Dr. Tweed behind her. He was carrying the child mummy in his arms. "The mummy seems to be undamaged," Dr. Tweed said. "But I'll have to examine it in my office." Dr. Tweed and the two police officers crossed the lobby and disappeared through the door behind the counter. "I guess we might as well go home," Dink said. "Some Mummy Monday," Ruth Rose grumbled. "Look, there's a cafeteria," Josh said. "Let's get something to drink." The kids entered the large room, paid for cold drinks, and sat at a round table.

"I wonder where the thief went after she left the mummy in the rest room," Ruth Rose said as she sipped her lemonade. "What do you mean?" Dink asked. "There weren't any windows in there, so she couldn't have gotten out that way," Ruth Rose said. "And if she'd come through the door, she would have bumped right into us." "But a woman did come out," Josh said. "Remember, she was talking on a cell phone?" "Yeah, but she looked totally different," Ruth Rose said. "Maybe she was in disguise," Dink said. "Maybe the mummy snatcher changed clothes in the rest room!" "She might've hidden her dress in the briefcase," Josh said. "And the blond hair could've been a wig." "Guys, I just realized something," Ruth Rose said. "When that woman came out of the rest room, she walked toward the tomb. Maybe she went back to steal something else!" The kids left their drinks on the table and ran to the tomb.

"Open, sez me!" Josh said. He pressed the stone and the door rumbled open. Tiny lights shone from the tomb ceiling, casting shadows on the floor. The child mummy's sarcophagus lay empty. Its lid still leaned against the wall. The other two mummies stood guard over the room. Ruth Rose grabbed Dink and Josh and pointed them toward the treasure chamber. Without speaking, the three tiptoed under the arch. The treasure chamber, like the tomb, had a stone floor partly covered with sand and gravel. The walls were also stone, with no windows. "She's not here," Dink whispered, glancing into the chamber's dim corners. His arms suddenly bristled with goose bumps. "Yeah, but look at all the gold!" Josh said, pressing his nose up against a glass display case. There were six cases in the chamber. Four were filled with pottery and farming equipment. The other two held gold carvings and jewelry.

"You'd think if someone wanted to steal something," Dink said, "it'd be this treasure, not a mummy." "These cases are locked, and they have alarms," Ruth Rose said. She pointed to thin gray wires running along the edges of each case. Suddenly, Dink heard a low rumbling noise. "What's that?" he asked. "It sounds like the tomb door!" Ruth Rose said.