The Deadly Curse by Tony Evans Page A

drawing room.’
    When we arrived at the opulently furnished room the inspector led us to the large fireplace. There, in front of it, were two large ceramic pots, badly broken, with shards scattered around as if they had been dropped from a great height. The lids of each were still almost intact and made it immediately obvious even to one with no specialist knowledge that they were Ancient Egyptian artefacts. Both lids were in the shape of a stylised animal head: the first of a powerful bull, the second of a fearsome falcon.
    ‘You see what I mean?’ Delland said. ‘This is old Egyptian pottery, sure as eggs. Found by the servants this morning – they’ve never seen these jars before. Now, one thing that my job’s taught me over the years is to be very suspicious of coincidence. Here we are on Thursday morning in Mayfair with a horrible murder on our hands, and some old Egyptian items – perhaps valuable, perhaps not –¬ at the scene. Now, last Monday night – or early Tuesday morning – another bizarre killing took place in Islington in a house cluttered up with Egyptian tomb relics. There has to be some connection.’
    ‘Do you have a theory, Inspector?’ Van Helsing asked.
    ‘I do,’ Delland said with an air of some satisfaction. ‘And that’s where you can help me. I’d be greatly obliged if you could take the remains of the pots and ask your friend Miss Wilton if she could give me her opinion of them. I’d particularly like to know if they came from the Wilton Collection. I’ll be honest with you – I could get someone at Scotland Yard to look into it, and I’d get my answers next week if I’m lucky, or the week after if not. But I need to know in the next few days, while the case is fresh.’
    We agreed to Delland’s request and were soon loading the remnants of the pots into two cardboard boxes provided by Peretti’s butler. I noticed that within the largely intact base of each pot there was a handful or two of what looked like dried vegetables or seaweed.
    ‘Do you think these containers were used for food storage?’ I said to Van Helsing.
    ‘I rather think not,’ he replied. ‘If I am right, they are what’s known as canopic jars – but Sarah will be able to explain their purpose better than I.’
    Mina held up a shard. ‘This piece is covered in little signs and symbols,’ she said. ‘In fact, the whole jar is.’
    I examined the fragment. ‘I don’t see anything,’ I said.
    Mina took the piece and turned it around so that the concave side faced towards me. Van Helsing peered over my shoulder. ‘No, the symbols are inscribed on the inside of the jar,’ she said. She picked up another shard. ‘You see - the whole of the inner surface is covered with them.’
    ‘Remarkable,’ Van Helsing observed with excitement. ‘First the craftsman throws the pot on his wheel and then inscribes the wet clay on the inside with a stylus before firing it. But how? The necks of these vessels are narrower than the walls. I shall be most interested to hear what Miss Wilton makes of it all. Inspector Delland, may I ask you what you were able to discover regarding the dispatch of the khopesh – the item that failed to reach Dr Levin in Edinburgh?’
    ‘Of course. Flinzer’s valet has explained the matter very clearly, and the parlourmaid has corroborated his statement. Three weeks ago Flinzer instructed Simpkins to have a small wooden crate prepared and to line it with straw. Last week – on Wednesday November 3rd – Simpkins was summoned by his master, who wanted the crate nailed up and posted. It so happened that Flinzer left the room for a few minutes, and in his absence Simpkins gave way to his curiosity and took a look inside. He described to me what he saw – it was definitely the khopesh . The nailing up was completed, and Simpkins took the crate to the post office. He remembers that it was sent to an address in Edinburgh.’
    ‘That is most interesting,’ Van Helsing said, glancing