Page 31 of Fighting for Mallory

On the road Mallory risked calling Judd. She couldn’t remember the autopsy report on Captain Valentin and wanted to know if his and her husband’s heart were missing.

“Mallory! Are you and Luca safe?”

Judd’s concern surprised her. “Yes.”

“Look, I believe you’re innocent. No, I know you’re innocent, and I’ve been working with Faith Stoker around the clock trying to prove it. We’ve learned some details you need to know.”

He brought her up to date, and when Judd mentioned the missing hearts, Mallory gasped. “That’s why I called you, Judd. So, it’s true, then.”

“Yes. Right now, Faith and I are working on the Lapeno family deaths.”

“Luca and I are on our way to a university to speak to a professor about Nehebkau. I’ll keep in touch, Judd. Thank you for your belief in my innocence.”

“We’re going to get to the bottom of this, Mallory. Trust me.”

“I do. We’ll talk again soon.”

Luca pulled onto the shoulder of the highway. “You were on the burner too long, and we need to destroy it.” She handed it to him, and he stomped it into tiny pieces that he scattered across the blacktop.

It took six hours to reach Memphis from Gatlinburg. At two o’clock, Luca parked in a visitors’ lot near the social sciences building where they would find Patricia Samir. They had decided against calling ahead to make an appointment, but discreet inquiries proved useful. The professor’s office hours began at two, so they expected to find her there.

Luca and Mallory located Dr. Samir’s office with little difficulty and found the door propped open. It looked as one might expect. Wood paneling lined with an abundance of informational textbooks, histories, and novels. Behind a large mahogany desk sat Dr. Samir. Luca could only think of one word to describe her. Regal. Her sleek dark hair wound around her head in braided ropes and emphasized the length of her neck and classic Egyptian facial features. Dr. Samir’s dramatic makeup lent her the appearance of a princess of Egypt.

When she heard their approach, she glanced up from the papers she was marking with a red pen. “May I help you?”

Luca couldn’t resist remarking, “Dr. Samir, is it safe for you to be here alone with your door open?”

“In light of recent school shootings? I am not afraid.”

He shut the door behind him and Mallory. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Dr. Samir indicated a pair of chairs across from her. “Please sit.”

Luca chose not to introduce himself and Mallory. “Dr. Samir, we’re interested in Nehebkau and the Court of Ma’at. What can you tell us about them?”

“You’re not students.”

“No,” Luca replied. “But we have need of your expert knowledge.”

“You do not need to flatter me. You come armed with some knowledge. Share it with me.”

Luca explained the limited details he and Mallory had gleaned from the internet. From the frown on Patricia Samir’s face, she didn’t think much of their source of information. Before he’d finished speaking, she’d pulled an ancient text from one of the shelves next to the window behind her.

She opened the tome. Using her instructional tone, she enlightened Luca and Mallory about the Court of Ma’at. In every Egyptian temple, she explained, there was the hall of Ma’at, or hall of two truths, where a man’s heart was weighed against a feather to see if the man would move on to an afterlife or have his heart consumed by the devourer. Reading aloud from the text, she continued, “‘The seven principles of Ma’at are truth, justice, harmony, balance, order, reciprocity, and propriety.’”

“Where does Nehebkau fit into this?” Mallory asked.

“He was one of lesser gods assigned to the Court of Ma’at to assist Osiris in the weighing of the heart.”

“Is that it?” Luca interjected.

“Yes.”

“It says here that Ma’at’s symbol is a feather,” Mallory pointed out. “Not a snake?”

“No. An ostrich, perhaps, but not a snake.”

Luca glanced at Mallory, and she gave a slight nod of her head. “Dr. Samir, this is going to sound like a strange question, but have you heard of a modern-day Court of Ma’at operating in the U.S., in particular California?”

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