Cynthia tries to maintain decorum, but at this stage has little patience for pleasantries. "I'm afraid our journey was not so peaceful. A number of good souls died to deliver this. I hope you are able to provide the security it requires. Where will the object be stored?"

In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg # 742):

"Splendid! Please, have some tea."

The learned sage absent-mindedly dismissed them with a wave as he took the belt that they had managed to safeguard all the way from the ibn Tulun Mosque to the museum. Muttering to himself he pulled a jeweller's loupe from his desk and fit it to his eye in order to get a cloer look.

A servant entered and began serving tea from a splendid silver service.

Dr. Khafour's face darkened. It was clear he was getting upset.

"Oh no, no no. Something is wrong. Is this some kind of prank you are playing on me? I warn you I do not find this amusing at all. This is not the real Girdle of Nitocris! It's a fake! A sham, a forgery! What have you done with the real one?" he demanded.

Controlling himself he placed the slender precious metal-encrusted belt back on his desk. It was clear he probably wished to hurl it out the window.

The Count could not help himself and a smirk played across his face. "It would seem that we have all been played for fools as this was what was given to us to deliver.."

He shock his head at the loss of life that had taken place for then to fail in their task.

-

JM's face darkened as well as the belt was alleged to be a forgery. "Do you think it was switched on us during the attack in the river?"

"It would be quite difficult given where it was... Although no more impossible than everything else we've seen occur. Since we already know it's fake, should we revisit the old temple? Perhaps all this effort was for a fraud from the beginning."

In reply to Dr. Ali Khafour (msg # 743):

Calming a bit now as he realised that he wasn't being played a fool, Dr. Khafour asked, "so please tell me then, what happened?"

In reply to Dr. Ali Khafour (msg # 747):

Alexander gave him the broad outline of the plan, and what happened.

In reply to Alexander Hussein Mahfouz (msg # 748):

Dr. Khafour summed up what they knew. "Gunmen attacked your decoy. Tentacles reached up from the Nile to snatch at the Girdle. It would seem that our adversaries had some kind of knowledge of your movements, if not your actual plan. Otherwise, if they knew for certain which object was real and what was the decoy why attack both groups?

"But of course neither group likely held the object. I would guess that the Girdle was switched before you received it. Only an expert antiquarian like myself or your Professor Fulty could have known by looking at it that this was not the real Girdle."

He appeared thoughtful. "So why attack at all if the artefact was switched?"

Leaving that aside he continued, "there is an explanation as to how someone might have tracked your movements. There are some powers and artefacts that might allow someone to remotely view events. Like that fiendish mirror you possess. And there are other items that can obscure you from mystic sight. Such as the Powder of ibn-Ghazi, which you also possess. However, I was forbidden to keep and examine that which you possess, and thus have been unable to teach you their use. But that was your choice."

JM listened and spoke up.  "Given that we are being tracked could we work with you to learn how to use the Powder more effectively?"

"Indeed, we are not against your lessons, only against the conditions placed on us by a person we are only now growing a relationship of trust with. But perhaps we should discuss lectures later and ensure the girdle is safe now? If our attackers don't know this is false, then there is no reason for us to deprive them of that belief. Please, take it, stow it somewhere safe, and we can go back to ensure the genuine girdle is still secured."

Cynthia doesn't share her other thoughts--that she would like to beat whomever made the loss of her colleagues' lives an empty gesture.

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 750):

The Doctor seemed calmer and more sympathetic now.

"You have the Powder, yes. You also have the mirror. With it you can do the tracking yourself! But I need to examine everything, to see that it's not dangerous. The superstitious might say it's cursed. But I am a man of science and history. Better to say I wish to determine if your items are... contaminated."

He replied to Cynthia, "capital idea! Now, where could it be? It doesn't seem unlikely that it was switched on the river. Logically, it was switched at the Mosque. That's the only thing that makes sense. Perhaps the Imam decided not to transport the item after all. Or else there was an agent of dark forces who took the opportunity of the handover to switch it himself?

"Either way it seems that the mosque itself is where you should look. There is not telephone service there, of course. You'll need to go yourselves."

JM relaxed himself as the situation with the doctor defused. "Cynthia is right.  There may be a period where we can strike to regain the real Girdle while our foes think we are deluded with the fake."  He considered their options.  "If we leave the Girdle, even false here will you be safe Doctor?  Lives have been lost in the quest for this item and I would be loath to put you at risk."

"But how will we recognize the real girdle? If there's one fake, there could be two. Meanwhile, it may be prudent to retrieve the mirror and bring it here. If the real girdle is traveling, that may be our only way to retrieve it. Alexander, perhaps you would be able to arrange such a delivery here while we are doing our investigation?"

In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg # 754):

"I wonder if the guards may have been duped as well and the real girdle is now in the hands of the enemy ?"

In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg # 754):

"Yes Cynthia, I will do my best to deliver it here."

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 753):

"The museum is protected by many strong means, both physical and arcane. I shan't go into detail but for one there are many wards here to protect this structure. And a small army of very dedicated guards.

"If your efforts are shielded from the eyes of watchers then I have no doubt you will be more successful in further attempts.

"There is perhaps no easy way to tell if there are other fakes. We are dealing with those who have a weak grasp on reality! I cannot speculate who might have switched items or why.

"To allow the Girdle to pass from his care, the Ulama would need to... take down or relax the protections that were keeping it safe. After that was done, but before you took possession of the Girdle would be a vulnerable period. The Ulama is a wise and pious man, but he and his fellow imams are very old and their eyes are not young. It could be switched, yes, at that time. For what purpose, who knows?"

JM seemed relieved that the museum would be safe and they would not be introducing anything that Dr. Khafour and his colleagues could handle.  "We should take precautions to mask our movements before we go to the mosque to start asking questions."

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 758):

Dr. Khafour looked thoughtful. "I believe if I have the Powder of ibn Ghazi I should be able to mask your presence. That is its reputed mystical ability."

"And at what cost would we be invoking these spirits?"

In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg # 760):

Dr. Khafour scoffed. "Using this Powder does not cost one's soul, if that's what is worrying you. Making it will drain the user temporarily. But I will be doing the special additional preparation that will make the powder useful for our purposes.

"The Powder of ibn Ghazi is primarily intended to reveal that which is hidden. Seeing that which is not meant to be seen can come at a great cost to one's sanity but using the powder in and of itself does one no harm. It is merely blown onto something unseen to reveal it. Perhaps blown through a tube or tossed on the breeze.

"Now, you say you have some already made, gained from I know not where. I can add a special ingredient that will instead conceal someone or a small group from the kind of non-corporeal sight our enemies use. I can alter a small amount of the Powder you possess tonight, enough for one application. It will not conceal you from the sight of normal people, but again will prevent someone using mystical abilities to see you from afar."

In reply to Dr. Ali Khafour (msg # 762):

Alexander watched with interest. If the group assented to the use of the powder then he would fetch it from its hiding place in his manor. But if not, he intended to keep quiet out of loyalty to his friends.

JM was not versed in the arcane as the others although he'd come to firmly believe in the results.  "Thank you for the offer of aid with the powder Doctor.  How long will it last to protect us from magical detection?"

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 764):

He thought for a moment.

"I should think it should very well last perhaps two hours, maybe three. If you were to all get close together I could apply it to you all as a group. Or perhaps sprinkle it on a motor carriage."

JM continued his questioning as it was in his methodical nature to seek to understand such things.  "Do we each actually have to be physically covered with the powder?"

The Count had his hand on his chin as the various questions and answers flew back and forth. He was not that surprised that they had been deceived, but it still crated somewhat especially because they had needlessly taken causalities.

He continued to brood as he listened to Dr. Khafour outline his alterations to the powder.

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