The Mummy Page #2

All right, you drive.

You think we'd better

tie that down?

- What for?

- The road's bumpy.

Just past the nursing home, he said.

Only half a mile.

The mummy.

It's waiting. It's always there.

Help! Help!

- That's from the nut house!

- Perhaps one got out!

The box is moving. You'd better

slow down over the causeway.

I won't have my throat cut

by no lunatic...

...not for all the relics in Egypt!

Take care there.

You'll have me in too. Be careful.

It's hopeless.

Parts of this bog are bottomless.

We'll never find it.

Now for some particulars, if you

don't mind. What was on the cart?

A ruddy box. We was taking it

to the house up the ways.

- What was in it?

- I don't know.

- I reckon it's better in the bog.

- Why do you say that?

There was something in it

which wasn't quite right.

I see. Now, where did you say

you was taking the box?

Up the ways.

A big house, set back, he said.

- Who said?

- I said, officer.

Morning, sir.

You was expecting this box?

Yes, I was. I engaged this man

to transport it from the station.

I see. Well, hard luck, isn't it?

Losing it like this.

Is it quite irrecoverable?

- Oh, yes, sir. Quite.

- I see. Thank you, officer.

One moment, sir, if you don't mind.

The contents of the box?

Relics, officer. Egyptian relics.

Nothing more.

I'm very sorry.

I simply cannot explain it.

First, this recovery, and now this.

I've never known him so violent.

He seems to have a persecution mania.

He thinks someone wants to kill him.

- When did it start?

- Yesterday evening.

There's nothing I can do.

Nothing whatever, I'm afraid.

We have him in a padded cell.

- Is that necessary?

- We can't afford to take any chances.

He may do himself a serious injury.

With this persecution complex...

...he's liable to take his own life

to cheat whoever is after him.

What could have done this to him?

He hasn't an enemy in the world.

Great Karnak,

god of all light and darkness...

...hear this prayer from

the humblest of your servants.

Help me in my task.

Make my way easy,

that I may achieve your desires...

...and return to the land

of my forebears.

"Return, O Ka, the double.

O Ba, the soul.

Pulse strong, O Ab, the heart.

Make supple the limbs

and strong the sinews.

Refill this heart with tenderness

that he may walk the land of Khem...

...in all thy strength and beauty...

...and wear once more the Urolith. "

O Karnak, through me...

...guide this, thy servant,

on his appointed task.

Go now. Go and destroy those who

desecrated the tomb of our princess.

Those unbelievers who gazed

upon her long-dead face.

Go.

And let the spirit of Karnak,

our god, go with you.

If you want anything in the night,

ring this bell.

It's no good shouting or banging

on the door. We won't hear you.

All right now?

Good night, Mr. Banning.

Help! Help! Help!

The nature of this deed...

...points to the fact that it was

committed by a homicidal maniac.

If it weren't for the evidence

of forced entry...

...I wouldn't hesitate

in telling the doctor...

...to look among his own inmates.

However, there is no doubt...

...that the perpetrator

came from outside...

...and left the premises

immediately after the crime.

I can only exhort the police...

...to apprehend this individual

with the utmost dispatch.

The verdict of this court is murder

by person or persons unknown.

- "Person or persons unknown. "

- Coroner said it was a maniac.

I can't believe that.

There must be a motive somewhere.

Let's go through his papers. He was

in the nursing home for three years.

Before that, 10 years in Egypt.

We'll have plenty to work on.

Father kept a record of everything.

I don't know what we're looking for.

I don't know myself. A letter, a note.

Anything that may give us a lead.

Uncle, you knew Father well.

Did he ever mention anyone

to you who bore him a grudge?

Your father never said

a harsh word about anyone.

- Except that Egyptian fellow.

- What Egyptian?

The day we entered Ananka's tomb.

The man who tried to stop us.

I remember.

That sort of thing always happened.

"Unless this account is settled... "

He was so methodical, but he would

leave paying bills to the last minute.

He was always being sued.

Remember the argument

when you took him in hand?

He said he could deal

with his own affairs.

Then there was someone serving a writ.

We had a good laugh about it.

You were fond of your father,

weren't you?

- Yes. Yes, I was.

- In spite of that leg.

That was my own fault.

I could have gone back to base.

Then all the trouble started.

Do you remember that day?

I shall never forget it.

That look on your father's face

when he discovered Ananka's tomb.

And then afterwards.

It was never established

what made him crack, was it?

- Overwork and excitement.

- The doctor's verdict.

That's it. What else was it?

I can't get out of my mind

what Father said.

The nonsense about the mummy

and the Scroll of Life?

You'd better, otherwise you'll

be having a breakdown too.

What's that?

The Ananka folio.

You know the legend?

Vaguely. What about it?

- Do you know it?

- No, I don't really.

Some wild story about the living dead.

That sort of thing.

And here it is.

"In the year 2000 B.C.,

the Princess Ananka...

...high priestess of Karnak,

set out on a pilgrimage.

She was bound for Amtak,

the reputed birthplace of her god.

They traveled for three months,

when the princess fell ill and died.

The princess lay in state

in her tent...

...while the mourning ceremonies

took place. "

I am come unto thee, O Osiris...

...who art cleansed of all impurities.

Thou goest 'round heaven.

Thou seest Ra.

Thou seest the beings

who have knowledge.

Behold, thou art in the Sektet boat...

...as it goeth 'round

the horizon of heaven.

Prosper thou for me.

All the ways unto thee.

Homage to thee, Osiris.

Thou mighty and beneficent being.

Thou holy god.

Thou prince of eternity.

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Hail, Osiris, triumphant.

The goddess Wa

hath given thee birth.

And Anubis, who sitteth

upon the hill...

...hath set thee in order...

...and will fasten thee

thy swathings.

Thou art more beautiful

than a goddess...

...and hath been begotten for

transformations more numerous...

...and with a created form

more perfect than those of the gods.

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The god, Ta Sekret...

...hath given unto thee the honors

of the divine house which he hath.

Peoples and nations exalt thee.

The majesty of thy terror is

in the hearts of men and the dead.

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Hail to thee, child of the god Shu.

The underworld has gained

mastery over his diadem.

Like the Hammamet beings,

may thou arise...

...even as Karnak doth arise

and fare forth.

Have power over the speech

of thy mouth.

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"O, thou lord of souls.

O, thou lord of the tomb.

Thou mighty one of Amentet.

Let not these limbs be

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