Dead Men

The sight of gold can do strange things to a man. Within in minutes of breaking into the chamber, Alfredo and Davide were fighting over an ornate cup. A fight which ended only when Huntingdon fired his gun into the air, bringing dust and plaster trickling down onto the heaped treasures. With some semblance of order restored, Huntingdon got the other two to start sorting through the piles of goods – some of which crumbled into pieces when touched.

Items which would, individually, have been the pride of any museum were tossed aside to allow the men access to still greater treasures. Behind the tomb itself, they uncovered the entrance to a further chamber – as filled with wonders as the first. When Huntingdon emerged after exploring it, he found Alfredo standing over Davide’s body, his knife covered in blood - black in the torchlight. Before Huntingdon could react, Alfredo was on him. Huntingdon fired two, three times and Alfredo fell away but Huntingdon’s hand was slick with his own blood.

After barely an hour during which it had contained light and life, the tomb was once again the preserve of the dark and the dead. Three dead men lay crumpled and awkward. The fourth dead man remained, undisturbed, inside the sarcophagus.