"Hello, Director." Ahmad spat out the sand from his mouth and answered the phone as he walked through the Giza Heights and quickly left the scenic spot.

"Where are you, Ahmad?"

"I ...... On the way to Hurghada. ”

"Haven't you gone far?"

"I'm sorry, Director, I've gone far." Standing on the side of the road, Ahmad watched as the military police began to cordon off the scene in the distance, "I'm already on the highway, and I'll be in Hurghada in about four hours." ”

"You kid walks so fast!"

"Hey, I don't sound right, don't tell me that the vacation is canceled, the hotel I booked is a special room and cannot be refunded."

"The vacation is canceled, brother."

"Oh, shit! I don't want to be your brother, I don't support 996, I just want a poor vacation, and I really can't come back on the road. ”

"No, no! Even if you take off your pants and march in the streets, you have to come back to me! "The director was visibly a little angry.

"That's big news – Cairo's best detectives are running naked on the streets on Sandstorm Day!" Ahmad let it go, and he didn't want to go back to the pyramid after beating him to death, "I don't think you want to see such news, especially when the sheriff of Cairo is running naked on the streets of Hurghada!" ”

“Shit！”

Ahmad heard the chief swear in English, then hung up his phone.

……

Five days later, after enjoying his Red Sea vacation, Ahmad drove back from Hurghada to the Cairo police station to report. He was ready to be trained and even transferred to a remote area to manage law and order, and even if he no longer wore a police uniform and returned to the mosque to serve the elderly imam, he would not say much about the things in the pyramid.

He knocked lightly on the chief's door.

"Ah, Ahmad, you've come back just in time." The director didn't look like he was going to dismantle him, "There is a case that you just need to deal with, it's a bit tricky, and others may not be able to handle it." ”

"What case?" As long as it's not a pyramid matter, Ahmad is happy to handle the case.

"Professor Alepf is dead." said the director.

Ahmad's heart sank, and he was really afraid of something.

"But five days have passed, isn't this case still over?" He said.

"Five days?" The director was stunned for a moment, "Oh, no, no, he died yesterday, and the body is still in the forensic office." ”

"Yesterday?" Now it was Ahmad's turn to be surprised, "What the hell is going on?" Didn't Professor Aleph go to the pyramids? ”

"You know that, too? You're well informed! "When you are on vacation in Hurghada, you don't forget to care about Cairo, so good, Ahmad!" ”

Ahmad knew he had missed, and he didn't want people to know that he had been to the pyramids with Professor Aleph, whether it was a dream, or he had been cursed by Pharaoh, or had traveled through time.

He coughed twice in embarrassment and said with a smile: "Ah, it should be, share your worries for the director!" That one...... On the day of the sandstorm, nothing happened, right? ”

"It wasn't a big deal. The earthquake shook the entrance to the underground palace of the pyramid, and several tourists and vendors in the scenic area who wanted to go in to hunt for treasures died inside. This is normal, human nature is greedy, who will not be greedy when they see treasures! "But things are getting a little troublesome now, Professor Alef has imprisoned himself in the institute since he came out of the pyramid, and yesterday, he died." ”

"He didn't have an accident in the pyramid?"

"No, he came out fine."

"What about the others? The ones who went in with him? ”

"The others are fine too."

Ahmad thought it was a little strange, things were a little different from what he expected. "So how did those tourists die?" he asked. What's new to discover in the dungeon? ”

"Oh, this was originally a level 1 top secret, but you are about to take over this case, and you have the right to know." The director looked mysterious, "A mask that is older and more precious than Tutankhamun has been found in the dungeon, but unfortunately the mummy of Khufu has not been found. The tourist's death was tragic, the cause of death is currently unknown, and according to Aleph, he was cursed by the pharaoh. ”

"Cursed?"

"We don't believe it either, but last night Alef died, as did the two gendarmes who went down to the dungeon with him. Here is the post-mortem report, you can take a look at it. The director threw over a document in his hand, "The government has sealed off the pyramid and no one is allowed to enter it again. Of course, if you want to get in, I can help you apply. ”

"Well, okay. Yes? Oh no, no, I'm not going in! Ahmad took the autopsy report, and after a glance, he was sure that what he had experienced was not a dream, and that the way Alef died was exactly the same as those who died in the underground palace.

He suddenly remembered Adullah, the long-named steward who had saved his life, and asked, "What about Adullah?" Is he dead too? ”

"Adullah?" The director looked puzzled, "Who is Adullah?" ”

Ahmad instantly understood that Adullah had not gone down with Alepf. He remembered that he had appointed Adulla to go down with him at that time, and if he didn't go, naturally Adullah wouldn't go down.

He felt a lot lighter, and the little worry and guilt that had arisen from his escape disappeared.

"Oh, maybe I'm mistaken, you know I've just finished my vacation, and my mind is still soaked in the water of the Red Sea!" Ahmad said perfunctorily.

"Then pour the water out of your head, from now on, the case of Alef will be handed over to you, remember, everything about the pyramid and this case is top secret!" ”

Ahmad nodded and exited the director's office. When the door closed, he heard the director say "**", but he wasn't sure if it was aimed at him or because of something else.

……

Alep's death was indeed a strange one. He had a semi-official, semi-private institute, and it is said that this was the only unofficial institute in Egypt that was qualified to study pharaonic mummies and artifacts.

He died in the room where the mummies were kept in the institute, exactly like the dead in the Pyramid Vault. His stomach was dissected, his nose and palate were lifted, and his internal organs and brains were gone, except for his heart.

Bloody handprints were found at the scene and in the pyramid dungeon, but strangely fingerprints could not be extracted, and the police judged that the murderer was wearing leather gloves, but the fingers were very thin.

Two soldiers who were responsible for protecting Alef and a female intern at the institute also died, and according to the results of the on-site investigation and the forensic autopsy report, their methods of death were slightly different.

Residual ether was detected in the female intern's blood, which was presumably injected with anesthetic before death. The incision in her abdomen was flat and had been cut with a sharp metal knife such as a scalpel; Her skull has been opened and her brains have been removed, not from her face like everyone else.

The two gendarmes died a more violent death, having their necks twisted before their entrails and brains removed. And Alef was the worst, he was taken alive and was not injected with anesthetics. That is to say, the other person is not dead, and he is watching his stomach being cut open and his internal organs being pulled out little by little. But strangely, both the scene and the autopsy proved that he had not struggled.

Judging from the wounds, the murder weapon that dissected the stomachs of Alef and the two gendarmes could not have been a knife, but a sharp cone, which is consistent with Ahmad's judgment when he was in the pyramid vault. Experienced forensic doctors have come up with a bizarre guess - nails! 8)