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The bodies were pointing north and if he were a crow, he would fly directly into the British Museum. They had a large collection of Egyptian artifacts of which many had come from tombs that were claimed to be cursed.

Rocky had seen this once before at the beginning of his career. At the time, he didn’t believe in magic or curses, but he had seen enough on that one case to eliminate any skepticism he ever had.

Rocky leaned down over one of the bodies and searched for evidence he hoped he wouldn’t find. But hope had flown with the crow and between the fingers of one of the victims was a small piece of cream-colored paper rolled up. He would bet his retirement that it wasn’t just any paper but actually made from papyrus.

“Who is taking photos?” he asked Agent Harris.

“Gil, bring the camera over here,” Harris commanded the forensic photographer.

As Rocky put on gloves, he gave specific instructions to Gil, “Take pictures of the hands where the paper is. I’m going to remove it and I want you to take pictures of it as I’m reading it. Understood?” Gil nodded and began taking shots.

With two fingers, Rocky gently removed the papyrus from between the fingers of the victim and unfurled it. The flash of the camera made it more difficult to read but the detective managed.