The Third Gate

19

Late that afternoon, a small group gathered in the forensic bay of Rush’s tidy medical suite. In addition to Rush himself, there was an assisting nurse, Tina Romero, and Jeremy Logan. When Logan had entered, Rush opened his mouth-apparently to protest, given Porter Stone’s standing order for compartmentalization-but then he simply shrugged, smiled faintly, and gestured him forward.

The archaeological team had finished their initial examination of the skeleton discovered by the dive team-now it was up to Rush to perform what would be, in essence, a postmortem.

The collection of bones themselves sat in a blue plastic evidence locker, set upon a wheeled cart of stainless steel. As the others watched, Rush snapped on a pair of latex gloves, then pulled the ceiling-mounted microphone toward him, pressed the Record button, and began to speak.

“Examination of remains found on day sixteen of project, in a shallow cave within grid square G three. Ethan Rush performing the analysis, with Gail Trapsin assisting.” A pause. “The matrix of silt and mud surrounding the remains has apparently acted as a preservative, and the skeleton is in very good condition, considering. Nevertheless, there is considerable decay.”

He took the cover from the evidence locker, then began carefully removing the bones and placing them on the nearby autopsy table. “The cranial and facial bones are intact, as are those of the rib cage, arms, and vertebral column. Dive teams have searched for the remainder of the skeleton, without success, finding only a few leathery fragments of what might once have been sandals. The archaeological team has speculated that only the upper portion of the body was preserved in the silty matrix, and that the lower section has completely decayed and is no longer extant.”

He placed the bones on the table, roughly in anatomical order. Logan looked at them curiously. They were a dark brown, almost mahogany, as if varnished by their five-millennium-long mud bath. As Rush worked, bringing out more bones, the room began to smell of the Sudd: peat, vegetal decay, and an odd, sweetish smell that made Logan feel faintly nauseous.

Rush spoke into the microphone again. “Radiocarbon dating by mass spectrometer indicates that the bones are approximately fifty-two hundred years old, with a two percent margin of error due to the natural contaminants in the surrounding matrix.”

“Contemporaneous with Narmer,” Romero said quietly as she toyed with her ever-present fountain pen.

“Found with the body was a round shield, badly deteriorated, and the remains of what appears to be a mace.”

“Equipment of the pharaoh’s personal bodyguard,” Romero added.

“While, as I mention, the shield is in poor condition,” Rush continued, “the archaeology team has used reverse-investment casting, in concert with digital enhancement, to sharpen the remains of what seems to be ornamentation on the shield’s face. Archaeology believes the ornament to be a serekh, enclosing two symbols: a fish, and what appears to be a tool of some kind.”

“A catfish and a chisel,” Romero said. “The phonetic representation of Narmer’s name. At least, that’s what I assume-if March would ever let me take a look at the damn thing.”

Rush pressed the button on the microphone. “Christina, would you mind reserving your comments until after I’ve finished my report?”

Romero inclined her head and pressed her fingers lightly to her forehead in mock genuflection. “Sorry.”

Rush addressed the microphone again. “As for the bones themselves, the skull is relatively intact, the neurocranium and the splanchnocranium suffering the least amount of damage. The temporal bones are missing. The mandible, hyoid bone, and clavicle show somewhat more deterioration. Most of the teeth are missing, and those that remain show the advanced caries common to the period.” He paused to examine the rest of the bones. “The articulated vertebra grow increasingly damaged and decayed as we move from the cervical to the thoracic to the lumbar. The last extant vertebra is L two-the sacral and coccygeal vertebrae are entirely missing. Ribs one through eight are extant. While the lower of the existing ribs become increasingly damaged, there are distinct marks on the anterior of rib six”-here he paused again for a closer look-“that suggest the scraping of a knife or sword. This would lead one to assume the manner of death to be homicide.”

“I knew it!” Romero shouted in a triumphant voice.

This sudden outburst, in marked contrast to Rush’s even, reasoned tone, caused Logan to jump. Once again, Rush turned off the microphone, an irritated look crossing his face. “Christina, I have to insist that you-”

“But you’re wrong about the manner of death,” Romero interrupted again. The note of triumph had not left her voice. “It wasn’t murder. It was suicide.”

Rush’s look of irritation turned to something closer to disbelief. “How can you possibly know-”

“And that isn’t all. Not far away-maybe fifty, maybe a hundred yards north of where this was discovered-we’re going to find more skeletons. A whole hell of a lot more skeletons. I’m off to tell Valentino where to concentrate his divers.” And without another word she turned and walked briskly out of the medical bay, leaving Logan and Rush to look at each other in bafflement.