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"How much time will you need to put the bite on them?"

Gunn held up his wrist and peered through his glasses at the dial of his trusty old Timex "Give me twenty minutes to call and make a deal Afterward, I'll infornetoer and reconfirm his data"

Pitt stared blankly at hi conference calls with snals or mirrors?"

Gunn reached into his pocket and held up what looked like a sital, wireless, you can call anywhere in the world with it"

"I'ed "Works off a satellite enhancement network Where did you steal a unit?"

Gunn glanced furtively around the ruins "Bite your tongue This is merely a temporary appropriation from the Peruvian television crew"

Pitt gazed fondly at his little bespectacled friend with deep admiration and wonder It was a rare event when shy Gunn slipped out of his academic shell to perform a sneaky deed "You're okay, Rudi, I don't care what the celebrity gossip columns say about you"

In terms of artifacts and treasures, the looters had barely scratched the surface in the City of the Dead

They had concentrated on the royal tombs near the temple, but thanks to Pitt's intrusion, they did not have ti toh officials of the Chachapoya confederation Ortiz and his teaists also found what appeared to be untouched burial houses of eight noblemen Ortiz was overjoyed when he discovered the royal coffins were in pristine condition and had never been opened

"We will need ten years, maybe twenty, to conduct a full excavation of the valley," said Ortiz during the customary after-dinner conversation "No discovery in the Americas can touch this one for the sheer nuo slow Not even the seed of a flower or one bead of a necklace can be overlooked We , because we have an unparalleled opportunity to gain a new understanding of the Chachapoyan culture"

"You have your work cut out for you," said Pitt "I only hope none of the Chachapoya treasures are stolen during shipment to your national museum"

"Any loss between here and Lima is the least of my worries," replied Ortiz "Almost as inal tombs"

"Don't you have tight security to protect your country's valuable objects?" asked Rodgers

"Of course, but professional art thieves are very shrewd They often switch a genuine artifact with a skillfully done forgery Months, soo by before the crime is discovered"

"Only three weeks ago," said Shannon, "the National Heritage Museum in Guatemala reported the theft of pre-Coluht million d