Doctor Who: The Ruby’s Curse by Alex Kingston

Author:Alex Kingston [Kingston, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781473532861
Google: KkwDEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B08WHHT7XY
Publisher: BBC Digital
Published: 2021-05-19T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

EGYPT, 30 BCE

The cat had curled up on my lap. Cats appeal to me. They answer to no one and go where they please, seeking company if they happen to desire it but remaining perfectly content with solitude. Not a bad way to live your life.

I wasn’t planning to read The Ruby’s Curse all the way to the end in one go, but after that part where we all get set to go to Egypt, I found myself hooked. Plus, I didn’t want to disturb the cat. I read to the end and – I have to say – I put it down feeling fairly unsatisfied. Not so much as an author horrified at the mangling of her darling, but as someone hoping to find an answer which still eluded them.

Ventrian’s denouement was different to my intended one and he’d not spotted all the clues I’d laid out for Melody to find, but none of that mattered. I knew I had to find the message he was sending me.

But nothing was leaping out at me at all. I rapidly flicked through the 160-odd pages again – still nothing.

Of course, a major part of the story is a cipher, and it was some sort of code or cryptogram I’d been hoping to find. Not that I had gone so far as to actually create a cipher – I mean, this is pulp fiction, no one’s expecting to dig up a golden hare at the end of it. Alas, it seemed that Ventrian hadn’t added one either. At least not obviously. But I kept going back to that strange verse at the beginning:

Beware the Ides – now Caesar’s gone

The Eye’s the only Rubicon.

If it wasn’t a red herring, it must mean something. It would need to be solved.

But perhaps I needed more information?

While the story concerned itself with murders and jewels, and Melody’s function in the plot was to uncover the killer, the ultimate goal, outside of plot constraints, was given as the discovery of Cleopatra’s tomb. And here I was in Alexandria, place of Cleopatra’s death, mere months after that death had taken place.

Her tomb had never been discovered – Ventrian and I had discussed that. I may even have mentioned my disinclination to use time travel to solve archaeological mysteries. But here I was, right place, right time. Surely, that had to be my goal?

I had to find Cleopatra’s burial place.

I spent the rest of the morning canvassing locals. An approximate location should’ve been easy enough to find; Cleopatra may have been dethroned and the Ptolemy dynasty ended by Rome, but she would not have been laid to rest in secret. There were probably hundreds of workers around who had worked on building the tomb – I knew from ancient sources that Cleopatra had ordered its construction before her death.

What I learned made me convinced I was on the right path. Yes, the tomb had been built; it was unfinished at the time of her death, but the workers

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