Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 When they arrived at Sennari House, Theo tossed a bundle of bills at the driver and spoke a few words in Arabic. "Baksheesh," he told them. "Gesundheit," Dan said. Theo grinned. "No, baksheesh means a tip. Now he'll wait for us." Theo moved ahead to walk with Nellie, and Dan turned to Amy. "Not that I'm not really excited about going to yet another museum, but what exactly are we looking for?" "I don't know," Amy admitted. "This connection to Napoleon seems a little… uh… random." "I know. It's not much to go on. But we didn't

have much to go on in Philadelphia, Paris, Vienna, Salzburg, Venice, Tokyo, and Seoul. We still managed to find clues. We know Napoleon was a Lucian. We think there is a clue in Egypt. So if he found it, or if he found something, he might have left a hint here for the Lucians." "It would be fun to steal something out from under Comrade Irina's nose," Dan admitted. Theo insisted on buying their tickets. They passed through a small door and into a courtyard. Small date palms and red-flowered bushes created a cooling effect despite the lack of shade. A fountain sat in the center. "Sennari House was built in 1794," Theo explained. "It's an example of classic Islamic domestic architecture, built around a central courtyard, called a sahn. I believe it has some of the most beautiful mashrabeya screens in Cairo." "Those are the carved wooden screens in the windows," Amy explained, pointing. "Napoleon's scholars created Egyptology for the West," Theo said. "After their writings were published, it started a craze all over Europe for

everything Egyptian." "That's fascinating," Nellie said. "I'm on the edge of my seat," Dan said. Nellie stepped on his foot. "They used to have a permanent exhibition of Napoleon's personal collection long ago, but it was removed in 1926," Theo explained. "The building was renovated back in the 1990s. Now they have some fine examples of textiles and ceramic art." Dan held on to the end of Amy's T-shirt so she couldn't follow the two as they moved off. If he didn't stop her, Amy would spend hours in a dusty, old museum, sopping up completely useless information. "Dude, we have work to do," he told her. "Where should we start?" "I guess just wander around and look at the stuff that seems original," Amy said. "Okay, not much of a plan, but it's a plan." They explored all over the building, but it was hard to tell what was absolutely original to the structure and what had been repaired or renovated. Finally, they found an old stone

staircase leading back down to the courtyard. "The Lucians are all little Napoleons," Dan grumbled. "Look at Ian and Natalie. Just a couple of smarty-pants with cash. Comrade Irina? A smarty-pants with a tic. Napoleon? He was a smarty-pants with an army." "Thanks, professor, for that illuminating lecture on the Napoleonic Wars," Amy said. "Look at those carvings! Theo was right. These screens are amazing. And look at these gorgeous tiles," Amy said, running her hand along the wall. "You sound like Ian Kabra. Remember when he admired Alistair's window moldings?" Amy's face fell. Oops— he'd mentioned the name. Every time he let it slip, Amy got that boo-hoo my hamster died look on her face. Amazing that a fourteen-year-old, close-to-normal girl could fall for such a serious creep. He'd thought— well, he'd hoped— that a sister of his would be cooler than that. Amy's lost look suddenly changed to curiosity. She pointed to a tile. "Doesn't that look familiar?" Dan squatted down. "It's the Lucian crest!" The

crest was hidden within the design, but he recognized it. "It's the only one like this." "This has got to be some kind of hint!" Amy said excitedly. "Maybe there's something behind it." She tried pushing the crest, then the corners. "It's been there for over two hundred years," Dan said. "Maybe it needs a little help." He took out a penknife from his pocket. He fit the blade into the mortar surrounding the tile. "If I can just…" "Dan! We're in a museum!" "Dur." "Someone could see!" "Well, you'd better be a lookout, then," Dan grunted as he pushed the penknife in. He could feel the tile loosening. He heard Amy's footsteps pattering away. His sister was so rule-happy. It really got in the way sometimes. He eased the knife farther and wiggled it. He could just manage to get his fingers behind one corner. He pulled carefully. The tile fell out, right into his hand. Behind the wall there was now a narrow hole. Dan reached inside, hoping his

fingers wouldn't find a scary, crawly Egyptian insect instead of a Clue. But his fingers met something smooth and round. He pulled out a slender leather tube. "Just what do you think you are doing?" The bellowing voice almost made Dan drop the tube. He hid it behind his back as an Egyptian man dressed in a gray suit yelled up at him from the bottom of the stairs. He was heavyset, so he probably wasn't too thrilled about climbing up toward Dan. Still, he looked like some sort of museum official. And he was carrying one of those walkie-talkie jobs that would no doubt bring security goons in seconds. Excellent lookout job, sis. He heard Amy's quick steps behind him on the stairs. "Uh, w-w-w—" he heard her stammer. As usual, Amy's brain froze in the face of authority. But Dan was used to encountering red-faced adults. It had started with his preschool teacher, Miss Woolsey, and had gone on to homeroom teachers, art instructors (love that poster paint!), principals, the Boston fire department. This guy