Case 10 - The Tomb Intruder

Leo Winterhold had finally managed to sit down.

It was late, the rain was hammering against the windows, and for the first time in several days, nobody was missing, cursed, possessed or attempting to eat anyone.

He had a takeaway on the coffee table, a drink within reach and absolutely no intention of doing anything remotely productive for the rest of the evening.

He’d even turned his phone face down.

That was when someone knocked on the door.

Leo stared at it.

“No.”

Another knock followed.

He sighed, pushed himself off the sofa and trudged across the office.

“If this is another vampire with a property dispute, I’m charging double.”

He opened the door.

A woman stood outside in the rain.

She looked to be in her early thirties, with shoulder-length dark brown hair plastered against her cheeks and a pale, exhausted face. Beneath the rain and exhaustion, she had the athletic build and sharp, adventurous look of Lara Croft brought to life: practical rather than glamorous, with the air of someone used to climbing into places sensible people avoided. Her clothes were soaked through, a dark coat clinging to her shoulders, and a small leather bag hung from one hand. There were shadows beneath her brown eyes, and she kept glancing over her shoulder towards the street as though expecting someone to appear behind her.

She looked as if she hadn’t slept properly in days.

“Are you Leo?” she asked.

"Depends who’s asking.”

She hesitated.

“Someone who needs help.”

Leo took in her appearance again. Whatever had brought her here, it had clearly frightened her.

He stepped aside.

“Well, you’re certainly not going to get any drier standing out there. Come in.”

She hurried inside, and Leo closed the door behind her.

“Mind the step. I’ve been meaning to fix it for weeks, but apparently I’m better at dealing with ancient curses than basic maintenance.”

The woman managed a faint smile.

Leo led her to the sofa and disappeared into the small kitchen area. He returned with a clean towel and placed it beside her.

“Here. You look like you’ve been dragged through a river.”

“Thank you.”

She dried her face and pushed her damp hair away from her eyes. Leo took the armchair opposite her, studying her quietly.

“Right. Let’s start with the obvious question. Who are you, and what’s happened?”

“My name’s Maya Hayes. A few people at the museum gave me your name. They said you’d helped them with some... unusual problems.”

“That’s one way of putting it.”

“They said you wouldn’t laugh at me.”

Leo leaned back.

“Maya, I’ve spent a considerable amount of my life dealing with things that most people would dismiss as impossible. I’m not going to laugh at you.”

She looked relieved, though the tension in her shoulders didn’t disappear.

“I think something is following me.”

Leo waited.

“At first, I thought I was imagining it. I’d catch movement out of the corner of my eye, or I’d have this horrible feeling that someone was watching me. Whenever I turned around, there’d be nothing there.”

She twisted the towel between her hands.

“Then things started moving. I’d leave a room and come back to find something had been shifted. Drawers left open. Objects moved from one side of a table to the other. Once, I found muddy footprints across my bedroom floor, even though I’d locked every door and window.”

“Have you seen anyone?”

“No. That’s the worst part. I never see anything. I just know it’s there.”

She swallowed.

“I haven’t slept properly in days. Every time I close my eyes, I feel like something is standing over me. I moved into a hotel yesterday, thinking a change of location might help, but it followed me there too.”

Leo’s expression grew more serious.

“How long has this been happening?”

“About two weeks.”

“And you came here tonight because...?”

“Because I couldn’t take it anymore. I was walking through the rain and kept getting the feeling that something was right behind me. I thought I saw a figure standing across the road, but when I turned around, it was gone.”

She looked towards the office door.

“And then I came in here.”

“What happened?”

Maya frowned.

“For the first time in weeks, I felt safe. The moment I stepped through the door, that feeling just disappeared. I could breathe again.”

Leo glanced towards the windows.

That was interesting.

He’d placed protective wards around the office when he’d first moved into the building. They weren’t designed to keep out every supernatural being in existence, but they made it considerably more difficult for anything unwelcome to cross the threshold.

Anything that had been following Maya would have been unable to enter without his permission.

Which meant one of two things.

Either the woman was mistaken about being followed, or something very much not human had taken an interest in her.

Leo stood and walked towards the window.

Rain ran down the glass in crooked streams, distorting the streetlights outside. He scanned the pavement, the parked cars and the narrow alley across the road.

At first, he saw nothing.

Then something moved.

A shape slipped around the corner of a building half a street away. It was too quick to make out clearly, but Leo caught the impression of a small figure moving with an unnatural, jerking motion.

He kept his eyes on the corner.

Even after the figure disappeared, he could still feel something watching him.

It was a faint sensation, like a fingertip pressed against the back of his mind.

Leo’s mouth tightened.

“Oh, that’s interesting.”

“What is?” Maya asked.

He turned away from the window.

“I think we have a lead.”

Leo returned to his chair and began asking questions.

“Tell me about the last two weeks. Have you travelled anywhere recently?”

Maya nodded.

“I was in Egypt about a fortnight ago. I work as an archaeological contractor. I was part of a team helping to catalogue a site near Luxor.”

“An archaeologist?”

“Something like that.”

“That sounded suspiciously vague.”

She hesitated.

“I do a bit of private work as well. Collectors sometimes hire me to find specific objects that aren’t available through ordinary channels.”

Leo raised an eyebrow.

“You’re a tomb raider.”

Maya winced.

“When you put it like that, it sounds terrible.”

“It does rather. Do you prefer freelance archaeologist?”

“Actually, yes.”

“Noted. Freelance archaeologist who breaks into ancient tombs for wealthy clients.”

“I don’t break into them.”

“You just happen to arrive when the doors are locked?”

She gave him a look.

“Are you always like this?”

“Only when I’m awake.”

For the first time, Maya laughed properly. It was brief, but the tension in her face eased a little.

Leo smiled before returning to the matter at hand.

“What did you bring back from Egypt?”

“Several pieces. A few small statues, some pottery fragments, an old bronze mirror and an amulet. Nothing particularly unusual for the work I do.”

“Where are they now?”

“Most of them went to the client who hired me. He’s a private collector here in Washington. He wanted several items from the site, and I delivered them shortly after returning.”

“What’s his name?”

“Alistair Pembroke.”

Leo considered the name.

“Did anything happen while you were in Egypt? Anything strange at the site? Unusual markings, disturbed graves, objects that seemed out of place?”

Maya thought for a moment.

“There was one chamber we were told not to enter. The local team said it had been sealed for a long time, and the structural supports were unstable. I never went inside.”

“But the amulet came from the site?”

“Yes. It was found in a smaller burial chamber nearby. It was inside a stone box with a few other objects. There was nothing unusual about it.”

“Did anyone mention a curse?”

“No.”

“Of course they didn’t.”

Leo rose and retrieved his coat.

“Come on. We’re going to see your client.”

Maya blinked.

“Now?”

“Unless you’d rather spend another night being followed by an invisible nightmare.”

She stood immediately.

“Now sounds good.”

Leo grabbed his keys.

“Excellent. I do enjoy a client who understands the importance of prompt action.”

Alistair Pembroke’s residence was the sort of property that made Leo suspect its owner had never encountered a problem that money couldn’t solve.

The mansion sat behind tall iron gates on a private estate, surrounded by immaculate lawns and carefully trimmed hedges. Security cameras watched the drive, and two guards stood beside the entrance.

Leo slowed his car as they approached.

“Subtle,” he remarked.

Maya glanced out of the window.

“He’s always been like that. He likes people to know he’s wealthy.”

“Nothing says confidence quite like putting a small army around your front door.”

One of the guards stepped forward as Leo stopped at the gate. Maya lowered the window and explained who they were. After a brief exchange over the intercom, the gates opened.

They drove up to the mansion.

The front doors opened before they reached the steps, and a man emerged into the porch light.

Alistair Pembroke was in his late fifties, tall and broad-shouldered, with neatly combed silver hair and a close-trimmed beard. He wore a dark green dressing gown over an expensive shirt and trousers, and a gold watch gleamed at his wrist.

His face carried the polished friendliness of someone accustomed to getting what he wanted.

“Maya! I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.”

His gaze shifted to Leo.

“And who might this be?”

“Leo Winterhold,” Maya replied. “He’s an investigator. I wanted him to look at the objects I brought you.”

Pembroke’s smile faltered slightly.

“An investigator? Whatever for?”

“Something has been following me since I returned from Egypt. I thought it might be connected to the artefacts.”

For a moment, Pembroke said nothing.

Then he laughed.

“My dear Maya, surely you don’t believe a few old Egyptian trinkets are responsible for your troubles?”

Leo stepped forward.

“At the moment, I’m not ruling anything out. Would you mind showing us the collection?”

Pembroke looked him over, clearly unimpressed.

Then he shrugged.

“Very well. Follow me.”

He led them through the mansion, past marble statues and paintings in heavy gold frames. The interior was as extravagant as the exterior, with polished floors, crystal chandeliers and furniture that looked far too expensive to sit on comfortably.

Eventually, they reached a set of double doors.

Pembroke unlocked them and ushered them inside.

The room beyond was enormous, with display cabinets lining the walls and glass cases arranged across the floor. Egyptian statues stood beside Greek pottery, Roman coins and a collection of objects whose origins Leo couldn’t immediately identify.

It was less a private collection and more a museum that had decided admission fees were beneath it.

Pembroke gestured proudly.

“Everything here has been acquired through private sales, auctions and archaeological contacts. I take great care to ensure that my collection contains only the finest examples of ancient craftsmanship.”

Leo glanced at a small statue whose head had been replaced with what appeared to be a modern repair.

“Clearly.”

Pembroke ignored the comment.

Maya began pointing out the objects she’d delivered.

“There are the pottery fragments. The mirror is over there, and the statues are in the cabinet near the wall.”

Leo examined them carefully.

At first, he noticed nothing unusual. The objects appeared old, but their energy was unremarkable. Some carried the faint magical residue common to ancient artefacts, while others were entirely mundane.

Then he saw the amulet.

It sat inside a glass case near the centre of the room, suspended on a small stand. It was made from dark gold, with a scarab-like design at its centre and tiny hieroglyphs running around its edge.

A faint glow pulsed beneath its surface.

Leo stopped.

“What’s that?”

Pembroke followed his gaze.

“Ah. The amulet.”

“Did Maya bring that to you?”

“Yes. It’s the most interesting piece she recovered.”

Leo stepped closer to the case.

“Do you know anything about it?”

“Only what I’ve read. I came across a reference to it in an old book several years ago. When I heard that Maya’s team was working near Luxor, I asked her to keep an eye out for it.”

“You specifically asked her to find this?”

“Indeed. It was the principal reason I hired her.”

Leo looked at the amulet again.

The glow was faint, but unmistakable.

“And you didn’t think to mention that to her?”

Pembroke frowned.

“Why would I? It’s a historical artefact. Nothing more.”

Leo turned towards him.

“Where’s the book?”

“In my library, of course.”

“Excellent. I’d like to see it.”

Pembroke looked as though he intended to object.

Then a loud crash echoed from somewhere deeper in the mansion.

A vase had smashed against the floor.

Pembroke spun around.

“What on earth was that?”

Another crash followed, this time accompanied by the sound of something heavy scraping across the floor.

The collector’s face reddened.

“Who did that? Where are my guards?”

He stormed towards the door, shouting for his security staff.

Leo watched him go.

Then he looked at Maya.

She had gone completely pale.

Her hands were trembling, and she was staring at the far corner of the room.

“You can sense it again, can’t you?” Leo asked quietly.

She nodded.

“It’s here.”

Leo moved closer to her.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”

A sharp crack came from the adjoining room.

Something struck the wall.

Then another vase shattered.

Leo’s eyes narrowed.

“Right. Let’s go and find that book.”

He opened the display case, removed the amulet and slipped it into his pocket.

Maya stared at him.

“Should you be taking that?”

“Probably not. But I suspect it would be considerably worse if we left it here.”

He took her hand and guided her towards the door.

“Stay close. And if anything tries to bite you, let me know before it gets its teeth in.”

The library was at the opposite end of the mansion.

They moved quickly through the corridors, passing several rooms in which furniture had been overturned and ornaments lay broken across the floor.

No one appeared to be around.

The guards were nowhere to be seen.

Leo began to wonder whether Pembroke had hired them for their security skills or their ability to disappear at inconvenient moments.

They reached the library after several minutes of searching.

The room was lined with towering bookshelves, their contents arranged according to a system that appeared to make sense only to the person who’d created it. A large desk stood beneath a window overlooking the gardens, covered in papers and several open books.

One volume lay open near the centre.

Leo approached it.

The title was written in an old form of Greek, though the pages contained translations into English and a mixture of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

He leaned over the text.

“This looks promising.”

Maya moved beside him.

“What does it say?”

“Give me a moment.”

Leo scanned the page, reading through the translated notes. The text described an amulet recovered from an ancient burial chamber and the curse that accompanied it.

The object was said to have belonged to a guardian of the tomb, a small supernatural creature tasked with protecting the burial goods. When an object of particular importance was taken from its resting place, the guardian would mark it and pursue it until it was returned.

The text referred to the creature as a Tomb Intruder.

Leo read further.

The mark was not a physical symbol. It was a magical connection that allowed the creature to sense the stolen treasure, no matter how far away it travelled. Attempts to hide or destroy the object only strengthened the creature’s pursuit.

There was, however, a way to end the curse.

The marked treasure had to be returned to the guardian, and the theft had to be acknowledged. The creature was not necessarily malicious. It was bound to protect what it considered its own.

Leo straightened.

“Well, that explains a great deal.”

Maya looked at him anxiously.

“What does it say?”

He turned towards her.

“When you said you were on an archaeological dig, you were being rather generous with the terminology.”

She grimaced.

“Yes. I’m a tomb raider. If someone wants something in particular, I go and find it for them.”

“At least we’re being honest now.”

“I didn’t think it mattered.”

“It matters when the object you’ve stolen comes with a supernatural tracking system.”

Her eyes widened.

“What?”

Leo tapped the page.

“This amulet is cursed. It belongs to a creature that guards the treasure in the tombs where it lives. When someone takes an object it has marked, it follows them until it gets it back.”

Maya looked towards the door.

“How do I get rid of it?”

“By returning the treasure to its rightful owner. And, judging by the state of the mansion, I think I know what’s been hunting you.”

Before he could explain further, the library door slammed open.

A blast of freezing air swept through the room.

The papers on the desk scattered. The lamps flickered, and the temperature plunged so rapidly that Maya’s breath appeared in front of her in a pale cloud.

Something growled from the doorway.

Leo turned.

A small figure stood in the shadows.

It was no taller than a child, but its proportions were wrong. Its body was thin and hunched, with long, crooked limbs and fingers that ended in sharp, dark claws. Its skin resembled cracked, dried mud, and patches of sand clung to its shoulders and back.

Its head was wrapped in strips of ancient linen, some of which had unravelled to reveal a narrow, leathery face. Two enormous eyes glowed from beneath the wrappings, burning with an amber light. Its mouth was filled with small, uneven teeth, and a low growl rattled in its throat.

Sand drifted around its feet despite the lack of wind.

It looked like something that had crawled out of a forgotten tomb and had been deeply offended to discover the world had moved on without it.

Leo regarded it for a moment.

Then he smiled.

“Got you.”

The creature snarled and lunged forward.

Leo raised his hand, and a thin sheet of ice spread across the floor between them. The creature skidded to a halt, claws scraping against the frozen surface.

It hissed.

“Easy,” Leo said. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

The creature’s glowing eyes shifted towards his pocket.

The amulet began to pulse.

Maya backed away.

“Is that what has been following me?”

“Yes. A Tomb Intruder.”

The creature growled again, its gaze fixed on the amulet.

Leo slowly reached into his pocket and removed it.

The creature immediately went still.

Its shoulders lowered, and the growling faded into a series of low, almost mournful grumbles.

Leo held the amulet out in front of him.

“Is this what you want?”

The creature took a cautious step forward.

Leo crouched, keeping the amulet in his open palm.

“Here. It’s yours. You’ve got what you came for.”

The creature approached slowly, its long fingers trembling as it reached for the object.

For a moment, Leo wondered whether it might attack him anyway.

Then its claws closed around the amulet.

The glow faded.

The cold in the room began to lift, and the creature’s posture relaxed. It held the amulet close to its chest, examining it with an almost tender expression.

Leo watched quietly.

“Now, I don’t know whether you can understand me, but I’m going to assume you can. She’s not going to take anything else from your tomb. You’ve got your treasure back, so leave her alone. Understood?”

The creature looked up at him.

Its amber eyes studied Leo’s face for several seconds.

Then it lowered its head.

A bow.

Leo blinked.

“Well, that’s surprisingly civilised.”

The creature turned towards the doorway. Its body began to dissolve into a cloud of golden sand, the grains swirling around it in a tight spiral.

Within seconds, only a faint shimmer remained.

Then it was gone.

The room fell silent.

Maya stared at the empty doorway.

“What... what just happened?”

Leo stood and brushed the dust from his trousers.

“That, Maya, was a Tomb Intruder.”

She looked at him as though he had just announced that the creature had been a particularly unusual household pet.

“A what?”

“A creature from Egyptian mythology. Tomb Intruders are supernatural guardians that make their homes among buried treasure. They become attached to particular objects within their hoards and mark them with their magic.”

He gestured towards the empty space where the creature had stood.

“When someone takes a marked object, the creature can sense it wherever it goes. It follows the treasure until it gets it back. Distance doesn’t matter, and hiding the object won’t help. The creature will keep coming.”

Maya swallowed.

"So it was following me because I took the amulet?”

“Precisely.”

“But I didn’t know it belonged to anything.”

“I believe you. Unfortunately, supernatural curses aren’t particularly interested in whether someone understands the consequences of their actions.”

She looked down at her hands.

“How many people have been hurt because of me?”

Leo considered the question.

“From what I’ve seen, the creature was more interested in recovering the amulet than harming anyone. The damage downstairs was probably the result of it searching for the object. It may have been trying to frighten you into returning it.”

“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“Not especially. I was going for honest.”

She let out a shaky breath.

“Thank you. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t helped me.”

“Hopefully nothing worse than a few more broken vases.”

Maya glanced towards the corridor.

“Speaking of which...”

A loud crash echoed from somewhere downstairs.

Leo closed his eyes.

“Please tell me that was the last one.”

Pembroke returned to the library several minutes later, accompanied by two guards who looked deeply embarrassed.

He stopped in the doorway when he saw the state of the room.

“What happened here?”

Leo turned towards him.

“Your collection has a rather serious problem.”

Pembroke glanced at the open book, then at Maya.

“Is she all right?”

“She’s fine. The creature that was following her has gone.”

“What creature?”

Leo gestured towards the book.

“The one described in here. The Tomb Intruder. It was following Maya because she took an amulet from its hoard.”

Pembroke’s expression changed.

For the first time since Leo had met him, the collector looked genuinely uncomfortable.

“You’ve read the text?”

“Yes. Very interesting reading. Particularly the part about the curse.”

Pembroke cleared his throat.

“I was aware that the amulet might possess certain unusual properties.”

Leo stared at him.

“Unusual properties?”

“I had read some accounts suggesting it was associated with a guardian spirit. But such stories are often exaggerated.”

“You knew it might be cursed?”

“I didn’t believe there was any real danger.”

Leo stepped closer.

“You sent Maya into an ancient tomb to retrieve an object you knew might be connected to a supernatural guardian, and you didn’t tell her?”

Pembroke’s expression hardened.

“I paid her to recover the artefact. She accepted the job.”

“She accepted the job without knowing she was going to be hunted by a creature from Egyptian mythology.”

“She should have done her own research.”

Leo stared at him for several seconds.

Then he shook his head.

“That is an astonishing level of stupidity, even by the standards of wealthy collectors.”

Pembroke flushed.

“I won’t be spoken to like that in my own home.”

“Then perhaps you should stop hiring people to steal cursed objects and pretending you have no idea what might happen.”

For a moment, neither man spoke.

Then Pembroke looked away.

“What happened to the amulet?”

“The guardian took it back. It’s gone, and I suggest you leave it that way.”

The collector looked genuinely disappointed.

“That artefact was incredibly valuable.”

Leo gave him a flat look.

“And now you know exactly how much it costs to own something you shouldn’t have touched.”

Pembroke said nothing.

Leo turned towards Maya.

“Come on. Let’s get you out of here.”

She followed him towards the door, pausing briefly to look back at the collector.

“I won’t be working for you again.”

Pembroke opened his mouth as if to protest, but she was already gone.

The rain had eased by the time they reached Leo’s car.

Maya stood beside the passenger door, looking up at the night sky.

“I still can’t believe it,” she said. “That thing was following me for two weeks.”

“Technically, it was following the amulet. You were just carrying it.”

“That’s not particularly comforting.”

“No, but it is an important distinction.”

She looked at him.

“How did you know what it was? And how did you make the ice appear?”

Leo considered his answer.

He could have explained the basics of magic, but he suspected that would lead to a very long conversation. Instead, he raised one finger to his lips.

“Some questions are better left unanswered.”

Maya frowned.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the best one you’re getting tonight.”

He reached for her hand.

She hesitated, then allowed him to take it.

A thin layer of frost formed across his fingers, spreading over her skin without causing pain. The cold was sharp but strangely gentle, like touching fresh snow.

Maya stared at their hands.

Then she looked up at him.

“You’re a magician.”

“Investigator, actually.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Leo released her hand, and the frost melted away.

“Let’s just say I’ve spent a lot of time learning things most people never have to.”

She studied him for a moment, clearly trying to decide whether to ask more questions.

Eventually, she smiled.

“All right. I’ll let you keep your secrets.”

“Much appreciated.”

He opened the car door for her.

“But if you ever find yourself in possession of another mysterious artefact, I strongly recommend checking whether it comes with a supernatural tracking system before you take it home.”

“I think I’ll take a break from tomb raiding for a while.”

“Give it a week. You’ll get bored.”

She laughed.

They drove back towards the city, the roads shining beneath the streetlights. For the first time in weeks, Maya looked relaxed.

Before he dropped her off, they exchanged phone numbers.

“Thank you, Leo,” she said as she stepped out of the car. “I genuinely don’t know how to repay you.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just try not to steal anything that belongs to an ancient supernatural creature for the foreseeable future.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“And if you need help again, you know where to find me.”

Maya smiled.

“Something tells me I will.”

Leo watched her disappear inside before driving back to his office.

By the time he returned, the rain had stopped completely.

He locked the front door, checked the wards and headed into the kitchen to make himself a drink.

His takeaway had gone cold.

He stared at it for a moment.

“Wonderful. Another evening ruined by a cursed amulet.”

He reheated his food, settled onto the sofa and finally allowed himself to relax.

The Tomb Intruder had been an unusual case, even by his standards. The creature hadn’t been evil, exactly. It had simply wanted its treasure back, and it had pursued Maya relentlessly until someone finally understood what it wanted.

There was something almost reassuring about that.

Not every supernatural encounter needed to end in a fight.

Sometimes, all it took was returning a stolen amulet to an angry little creature from an ancient tomb.

Leo took a sip of his drink.

He’d just decided that the evening might finally be salvageable when his phone buzzed.

A message from Maya.

Home safe. No mysterious shadows so far. Thank you again.

Leo smiled and typed a reply.

You’re welcome. Try to avoid anything with hieroglyphs for a while.

He put the phone down and leaned back.

For the moment, the office was quiet, the wards were holding, and nothing was trying to get inside.

He took another bite of his now-lukewarm food.

Perhaps tomorrow would be different.

Perhaps he’d finally get a full day without supernatural interference.

Leo glanced towards the ceiling.

“Probably not.”

He switched off the lamp and settled into the sofa, hoping that the next person who knocked on his door would have a problem that didn’t involve an ancient curse.

He wasn’t holding his breath.