The year is 1919. An expedition led by famed archeologist, Professor Henry Fell, approaches an ancient Egyptian tomb deep inside solid rock--sealed from the outside world though long centuries. The international exploration team, which includes the popular British author, G.K. Chesterton, enters the burial chamber. Who would do such a thing? The sarcophagus is opened--but what they discover inside is not a three-thousand-year-old mummy but a freshly murdered corpse. Was it Sir Edward Narracourt, Fell's archrival who would like nothing better than to discredit the professor's work? Or Mamur Zapt, an escaped convict and revolutionary leader who is a member of the team only because of his knowledge of the geography? What about Elliot Jones, a journalist desperate to make name for himself? Or Colonel Race, the eccentric and secretive member of the party who formerly served in British Military Intelligence?