Tombquest: Book of the Dead

Tracking the Enemy

Alex was sitting in the living room, resting his throbbing head on his arm. Another beautiful summer day, and another feeling of overwhelming helplessness.

"Enjoy the sun!" Adele said loudly as she passed by Alex.

"Some fresh air will take that frown off your face," added his uncle Gerry.

Alex looked at them. (A) you don't know me at all, he thought. And (B) no it won't. My mom is still missing!

He didn't say any of that, though, just told them to have a good time at the farmers' market and picked up their discarded Post. He wondered if his mom's subscription to the Times was piling up outside their door.

The lead story caught his attention immediately. The chaos at the museum had been knocked out of the top spot by a strange story about stolen stones. And not small stones: One of the famous lion statues had been stolen from in front of the New York Public Library overnight. One of the columns had disappeared from the old Union Square Savings Bank building, too. A few stone blocks had even been swiped from the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The last one was the worst and had its own little story. "Scared to Death?" read the headline. A guard had been found dead near the bridge. The police suspected a heart attack since there wasn't a mark on him. Alex thought of Oscar and the rest of the guards at the Met. He considered them friends.

What if something happens to one of them?

What if it's because of me?

He shook his head hard and the paper rattled in his hands, but he read on. The stone blocks from the bridge were huge and weighed tons. They reminded him of the blocks used to construct the Great Pyramid: 2.5 tons each.

Like the other thefts, this one had involved a bogus construction project, a flatbed truck, and surprisingly few witnesses. He looked at the picture: massive stones removed like LEGO blocks. He grabbed his phone and texted Ren.

An hour later, he met her outside the museum. "You still grounded?" he said.

"No," she said, "they think I've suffered enough."

Todtman let them in the staff entrance. Once they reached his office, he pointed to a box of doughnuts in the corner. "For yesterday," he said.

Alex perused the selection. Two sugar-covered jelly doughnuts for four hours in the sewer seemed about right to him. Ren chose a chocolate glazed. "These are so bad for your teeth!" she said between large bites.

Then they got down to business. Todtman — who'd surprised them both by opting for a doughnut with pink sprinkles — spread a map of the city out on his desk. "You've seen the news, yes?" he said. "Before we talk about the subway, let's look at what happened last night."

Ren and Alex crowded around as he smoothed out the map and picked up a yellow highlighter. He made a circle. "This is Forty-Second Street, the public library," he said.

"The lion," said Alex.

Another circle. "This is Union Square," said Todtman.

"The column," said Ren.

A third circle. "Brooklyn Bridge," they all said.

"Connected to our problem, I think," said Todtman.

"Ancient Egypt and big stones." Alex nodded. "Like peanut butter and chocolate."

Todtman straightened up. "Now, let's talk about the subway," he said. "Tell me what you found."

Ren smiled. "We're already talking about it."