Depth of Deception (A Titanic Murder Mystery) (49 page)

In 1982, Dr. Robert Ballard received funding from the US Navy to find the wreck of the
Titanic
so long as he found two sunken submarines first. He did so, and
Titanic
's awesome prow was seen for the first time in nearly 75 years on September 1, 1985.

There are more historical detai
ls and reference photos on the 'Bonus Features'
page on the official website for
Depth of Deception
. You will be asked for a password. If you have read the novel, you will know the password when prompted.

http://
www.DepthOfDeception.com

Here is a preview of Alexander Galant's next historical thriller novel:

BLOODY MARY KELLY

To be published in 2013

Prologue

Egypt – in the year 1323 BCE

"
The Blade of Anubis will get the heart!
"

The words growled and echoed through the dark, empty high ceilings of the palace of
Labushhkamaukkn
near Giza, Egypt. Horemheb, the young commander of the military and advisor to the Pharaoh, immediately recognized the voice and prayed to Ra, the Sun God, that he was wrong.

All the servants had been dismissed for the night but Horemheb continued his patrol of the royal grounds. Four other women had been found brutally murdered over the last four moons. It was his charge to keep the palace safe, especially since the Pharaoh’s new queen could be a target. Horemheb drew his sword and crept ever so quietly, pressing himself around the wide column, avoiding the sharp precious stones embedded into the painted relief. He froze at the sight he beheld. In the flickering light from the torches that illuminated the hall, a woman lay dead. A stream of her blood cascaded down the marble steps that led to an altar for the god Anubis. Horemheb immediately recognized the victim, Sheriti, one of the ladies who tended the baths. Sheriti's killer stood above her, still holding her beating heart in one hand and the murder weapon in the other.

"
Hold!
"
Horemheb commanded. The killer turned his face toward him. Horemheb’s heart sank as he recognized the familiar angular features, confirming his worst fears. Suddenly Horemheb's sword became too heavy to hold, but it no longer mattered. He could not use it here. Certainly not against his own king.
"
Your Highness, how could you?
"

"
I’m dying,
"
wheezed the deformed young Pharaoh,
"
This is the only way to preserve my life... allow me to reign... forever.
"

Horemheb looked at the weapon in the King’s hand and immediately recognized the jagged, twisted crescent of gold and the head of the Jackal bedecking the hilt: The Blade of Anubis, from a forbidden dark sect of the God of the Underworld. On a cycle of the blood moon, the ritual calls for the extraction of certain internal organs from five different impure women. These organs are placed into
five
special canopic jars. Usually there are only four of these ritual jars to hold the organs of royalty for mummification, but these ones are different. Beautiful but corrupt, with one more than usual: with the snake head of Aapep, for storing the heart. In normal mummification, the heart is not preserved. It is set aside for the god Anubis to weigh against the feather of Ma’at to determine the fate of the soul in
Duat
, the Afterworld. Keeping the heart in a jar was a desecration of their beliefs and customs. A Pharaoh of Egypt should know better than to take the heart.

"
You murdered all those women?
"
cried Horemheb.

"
They gave their lives to save their King,
"
smirked Pharaoh, his tar-dark eyes full of venom.
"
Just as you swore to sacrifice your life for me in battle.
"

"
I am willing to lay down my life for the good of Egypt. But these women were innocents..."

"No! They were all impure and beyond redemption... just as I was instructed."

Horemheb cursed the foreign Magi that had corrupted the Pharaoh's mind with his wild tales of the forbidden occult. "You cannot believe that. There is no certainty that there is any truth to the Blade of Anubis.
"

"
But what if there is?
"
rebuked Pharaoh.
"
What if my deformity will heal with tomorrow’s sunrise? What if my bones finally harden? I am willing to sacrifice five good-for-nothing women to rule with strength. Is that not good for Egypt?
"

"
Do you really expect this sacrilege to give you everlasting life?
"

"
It is my only chance to preserve my lineage. I cannot sire children, so I shall rule forever.
"

"
But what if it is not forever? Will you continue to kill women to save your own life?
"

"
If it must be,
"
replied the Pharaoh as he placed the heart into the jar. It plopped to the bottom with a squelch.
"
It shall be done.
"

"
I cannot allow this perversi
on to continue,
"
Horemheb said as he finally raised his sword.
"
Give me those vile vessels.
"

"
Are you really so high of morals? Or is it because my immortality would cost you the throne?
"

"
What? No!" Hormenheb desperately tried to reason with him. "By Ra, I swear I am trying to protect you from the wrath of the gods. Now give me the jar.
"

Horemheb briskly stepped forward and grasped the white snake-headed jar. The frail Pharaoh refused to surrender his prize but his grip was no match for Horemheb's strength. Horemheb nearly pulled the young king fully off the ground, but the Pharaoh's slim fingers lost their hold. The young Pharaoh cried,
"
You have no right! I command you to give it back or die!
"

Horemheb looked upon his king with pity. He had no words left to say. He quietly turned to gather the other four canopic jars sitting upon the marble slab that held the stone statue of Anubis, with the body of a man and the head of a jackal.

"
NO!
"
the Pharaoh screamed as he limped toward him. He then raised the Blade of Anubis to strike. Seeing the advancing shadow from behind him, Horemheb spun around and deflected the downward strike with his sword. Never having experienced battle, and hindered by a club foot and delicate back, the force of impact caused the Pharaoh to lose his balance. The young Pharaoh teetered as he tried to regain his footing but he slipped on his victim’s blood on the top of the marble steps.

Horemheb dropped his sword as he desperately reached out to grab the Pharaoh’s arm. It was as if Horemheb’s feet were stuck in quicksand and time slowed against him. He watched in horror as the Pharaoh struck the back of his head on the sharp marble corner of the base of the pillar flanking one side of the steps.

Horemheb finally reached the Pharaoh but it was too late. The king was dead. He wept as he knelt over the lifeless body of the young Pharaoh in his arms, horrified and uncertain of what to do next.

"
What have you done, Horemheb?
"
asked a voice. Horemheb looked up and saw only the frowning statue of Anubis holding the altar.
Is it possible that it had spoken?

Suddenly a dark figure appeared from behind the statue. Horemheb recognized the feeble, withered features of Ay, the Pharaoh’s vizier and Maya, Overseer of the Royal Treasury.
How long had the old man been lurking in the shadows?

"
It was an accident,
"
stammered Horemheb
, looking down at his dead king
.

"
Fear not,
"
interrupted Ay.
"
I know your loyalty and I do believe you.
"

Horemheb sighed with relief. At least he had an ally.

"
But,
"
Ay continued,
"
There are others in the court who will not believe you and will call for your head.
"

"
But you can tell them about the Blade of Anubis.
"

"
It matters not,
"
cackled Ay.
"
A scandal will always overshadow the truth.
"

"
What scandal?
"

"
Were you not made the Pharaoh’s
rpat
, his successor to the throne, even though he had recently taken a new young wife?
"

"
The king’s illness prevented him from siring an heir,
"
rebutted Horemheb.

"
But since the king did not want to seem less than a man, that’s not common knowledge.
"
Ay argued. He gestured to the corpse of the king, and sneered.
"
How does it look that shortly after your appointment, the King is found dead at his successor's feet? The people will only see a young commander and advisor suddenly thirsting for power and killing his own king to seize the throne of Egypt.
"

Horemheb stared at him. The truth may be bursting through every thread of his being, but he knew that Ay was right. Perception would overshadow the truth. It did not look good for him.
"
What would you advise me to do?
"

"
Appoint me to the throne.
"

"
What?
"

"
I’m an old man,
"
replied Ay.
"
No one would suspect that I would be physically capable of murder. And by you appointing me as the new Pharaoh, it would take the motive away from you, and thus taking away all suspicion from you.
"

Horemheb knew Ay was stacking the odds in his favour, but it seemed like the best plan. Besides, Horemheb told himself, Ay was well over 70 years of age and would likely not sit on the throne for very long. Ay also had no heir, save for a boy who was also the son of a
courtesan
, a prostitute, and thus had no claim to the throne of Egypt. Horemheb could bide his time and regain the throne of Egypt once this old man died. For the good of Egypt, he relented.

Horemheb nodded,
"
So shall it be.
"

Ay's wrinkled lips cracked into a smile.
"
You are a good man. Now get rid of that abhorrent Blade of Anubis and destroy all those reviling reliquary jars. We will have all reference to them stricken from the temple. No one must ever know their dark, perverse secret. Now, if you will excuse me, I will attend to the funeral preparations of the boy king.
"

Horemheb looked solemnly down at the boy king’s dead body,
"
Safe travels to the Afterworld, King Tutankhamun.
"

He watched as Ay hobbled out of the room. Gathering his strength, Horemheb took the knife out of the king’s dead hand and looked at it. It was heavier than he expected. The jackal head was carved from black onyx, the eyes were rubies. Upon the gold blade was the forbidden mark of death. Their language did not allow for the symbol of death as they did not believe in death but rather
Duat
, a world in the afterlife. This blade had to be destroyed.

Deciding to have it melted in the ironmonger's fires, he placed it on the altar next to the other four traditional canopic jars, then looked back for the unholy fifth.

He walked over and scooped up the fallen jar, taking a moment to sneer at the carved serpent head of Aapep that sat upon it. A marking appeared upon the jar and then seemed to vanish.
What was that?
Horemheb wondered. He held it up to the torch light. From within the alabaster porcelain, the markings detailing the ritual appeared. As soon as he pulled the jar away from the light, the markings were imperceptible. He held it up again but this time not only did the writing appear but the sound of the sloshing heart from within the jar reminded him of the grim matter at hand.

He set the jar upon the altar, then turned and looked down at the body of his king. Horemheb had seen how years of deformity and growing illness had crippled the Pharaoh’s spirit. He had seen the agony in the boy’s eyes. This ritual must have been an act of desperation to end that pain. But future generations of Egypt would not be aware of that torment. History would not be kind. Horemheb couldn’t stand the thought that the boy king would be remembered as some merciless killer. Then he turned to the body of the murdered woman. He would have to dispose of her body as well.