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Sean sat in the darkened theater with the group as they watched Sayptian Museu he knew or had heard about the movie

He’d seen it before--in this very theater He’d seen it with Eddie and Alistair and a number of the other employees at the studio

It certainly wasn’t the most famous of film noir movies It had done well in its day, but both of the leads--John De La Torre and Audrey Grant--had died soon after its release, de la Torre in the service and Audrey in a plane crash as she was flying out to entertain the troops After that, Saotten" He wondered why Probably because neither of the two perfor name There’d been an accidental death on the set as well--a bit player had been electrocuted These days it sees would make a movie more popular; in the middle of World War II, there was already too much death Sean reht it was excellent because there were only two suspects in the murder of Dianna Breen’s husband--the priest, A, direction and action scenes were so effective that it wasn’t until the very end that you knew the as innocent, and you knew because the evil priest killed her just as Sam Stone discovered the truth and killed hiht to life… But as Saured out that it was mechanically run and the priest was a sham Alistair had loved the movie so much because he’d wanted to direct and produce from the time he’d been a little kid This movie had exceptional special effects for the day--done at this very studio--and that, too, was part of its appeal

"Sam!"

They were almost at the final scene Dianna Breen cried out in horror, and Sa the priest off Dianna, nearly insane to save the wo into another of thea dagger Mopat was killed, dying dramatically, but when Sam went to help the fallen Dianna, she opened her eyes for a moment, told him she loved hio back to the projection booth and stop the hts came on

Knox stood and looked at Sean

"So What did this do? Any good at all?"

Sean stood, too He wasn’t sure why Knox was trying to intimidate him, but he was taller than Knox, so at least he had a physical advantage

"It did a lot of good," Sean said

Eddie was co back from the booth "What? What did you see in the et it," Mike Greenwood murmured

"You don’t notice it, Mike--or you, Andy--because you haven’t been down in theto his team, "because you’d never seen the tableau before and wouldn’t knohat had changed Helena, I’m not sure how familiar you are with the tableau--"

Before he could finish his explanation, Madison juasp

"You know?" he asked her

Her eyes er is gone--the dagger in the hands of the ancient Egyptian warrior It’s gone" She looked at Sean again "That’s why it seehtly, not back exactly where they should’ve been The sarcophagus was at an angle, the big jackal was too close to the warrior But the dagger, the dagger that killed the priest in the er?" Knox asked

"Those tableaux have been up for nearly fifty years," Eddie said "Yes, it was real Not frous is real, too--yptian craftsmen to the correct proportions and rules of funerary art" He walked over to Madison, taking her by the shoulders "Madison, you’re sure? Is there anything else? I have to get down thereelse was different"

Before she could respond, Helena stood, co in a low voice "Eddie, the dagger is gone, but…how does that help? So now the police know that a prop was stolen from the tableau All that does is tell us what the ht have been"

Eddie looked sick for a minute, but turned to Sean hopefully "It helps, doesn’t it? It helps?"

"Anything we know helps," Sean assured him

"You’re sure it’s not there--somewhere?" Knox asked

"Detective, you don’t think your teaer?" Sean said with more than a hint of sarcasm "Even if it had been precisely where it was supposed to be, they would have taken it for testing"

Knox seeh after all these years to have slashed the young woain "I need to go down to the tunnel"

Knox said, "There’s no way I’ around in that tunnel When we release it, teams have to come in to clean We can’t allow it to becoan broke in "Benny, why don’t you and Sean take Eddie down there? With Madison We’ve already been, but Eddie Archerelse that’s ao in when you caht of the murder?"

Eddie shook his head "It was a crime scene, cordoned off I just listened in complete disbelief when Detective Knox briefed me, and then…then I ith Alistair"