Jane laughed. “Since when did Alice go woo-woo on you?”

“It’s theoretically possible, you know, to travel back in time,” he said. “Bring a gun back to ancient Egypt.”

Maura cut in impatiently: “Can we stick to real possibilities here?”

Jane frowned at the bright chunk of metal that looked like so many she had seen before glowing in countless X-rays of lifeless limbs and shattered skulls. “I’m having trouble coming up with any of those,” she said. “So why don’t you just cut her open and see what that metal thing is? Maybe these archaeologists are right. Maybe you’re jumping to conclusions, Doc.”

Robinson said, “As curator, it’s my duty to protect her and not let her be mindlessly ripped apart. Can you at least limit the damage to the relevant area?”

Maura nodded. “That’s a reasonable approach.” She moved to the table. “Let’s turn her over. If there’s an entrance wound, it will be in the right calf.”

“It’s best if we work together,” said Robinson. He went to the head, and Pulcillo moved to the feet. “We need to support the whole body and not put strain on any part of her. So if four of us could pitch in?”

Maura slipped gloved hands beneath the shoulders and said, “Detective Frost, could you support the hips?”

Frost hesitated, eyeing the stained linen wrappings. “Shouldn’t we put on masks or something?”

“We’re just turning her over,” said Maura.

“I’ve heard they carry diseases. You breathe in these spores and you get pneumonia.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” said Jane. She snapped on gloves and stepped up to the table. Sliding her hands beneath the mummy’s hips, she said: “I’m ready.”

“Okay, lift,” said Robinson. “Now rotate her. That’s it…”

“Wow, she hardly weighs anything,” said Jane.

“A living human body’s mostly water. Remove the organs, dry out the carcass, and you end up with just a fraction of its former weight. She probably weighs only around fifty pounds, wrappings and all.”