DOA Detective Files Book 2 , livre ebook

SONJA CHANDRACHUD
Contents
About the Author
Map
DOA Detective Agency, Asia HQ, Mumbai ki 13th Bogey
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
A Note on the Ancient Egyptians and Hatshepsut
DOA Detectives Dhamaka Dossier
Acknowledgements
Copyright Page
PUFFIN BOOKS
REVENGE OF THE PHARAOH
Dubbed the Desi Rowling , Sonja Chandrachud is the author of Potion of Eternity and Pearls of Wisdom, the first two novels in the much-loved Hilarious Hauntings Adventures book series.
Her latest series, DOA Detective Files , takes you deep into ancient times where cryptic curses, mysterious murders, and lost treasures beckon. The first DOA case- Trouble at the Taj -was listed on Landmark s bestseller list of children s books.
Born in Mumbai, Sonja has lived in Africa, the Middle East and USA. Copywriter, columnist and now children s writer, she currently resides in Pune, India, with her three rambunctious children, a golf-crazy husband, Cheetos the frisky family cat, and madcap friends, always hoping to travel the world through her stories. She truly believes that a sense of humour makes life sparkle and that a bit of dreaming can make magic happen! To know more about her upcoming works, visit her Facebook page or www.sonjachandrachud.com
Read More in This Series
Trouble at the Taj

DOA Detective Agency, Asia HQ, Mumbai ki 13th Bogey
Dear Aspiring Snoop,
Greetings! Welcome to the Dead or Alive Detective Agency Case Files.
Now that you have bravely decided to stick your nose in other people s shady business, be prepared for some serious mystery and mayhem. There s quite a bit of that floating around our world, I assure you. Ancient treasures. Cryptic curses. Lost scrolls It s mind-boggling. Anyway, before you go rushing off to read how the DOA detectives solve this particular case, let me introduce the DOA gang who were brave enough to answer my newspaper ad:
Can you read people s thoughts? Do your dreams come true?
Can you get in and out of forbidden places without getting caught?
Can you jump from a turret without breaking your bones?
And finally, are you obsessed with history, mystery and magic?
Then you are just the person we re looking for
Dial 1-800-DOA-DETECTIVES to set up an interview. Come well prepared to demonstrate the three most important skills a detective must have-deduction, action and intuition. No references required. Two passport-size photographs. Adults do not apply.
Forty-eight hours of grilling over fifty applicants, I finally found the detectives I was looking for:
Chintan Desai: This portly, spectacled foodie nerd from Malabar Hills is a walking talking encyclopedia and a closet Houdini. But will he willingly use his powers to get the DOA gang out of danger? Or will he stick his nose up in the air and let them down?
Katrina: This frizzy-haired jeb katri from the alleys of Dharavi is a desi Charlie s Angel, who happily flings herself off the highest ledges, delivers lethal karate kicks, dives into the deepest waters without batting an eyelid. But the one thing she fears the most is dark, dingy tunnels.
Pagal Pappu: This shy, scrawny, spiky-haired urchin can read people s thoughts heck, he can even read your cat s thoughts! What s more, his dreams have a way of coming true, which makes him a rather unusual detective to have around.
Bandar: Pappu s pet is a whiz chimp. Show him any trick and he ll master it in minutes. All it takes to get this Bandar going is a bunch of bananas.
Tuk Tuk: The most unusual time machine of a rickshaw gifted by the crazy Maha Yogi (when I solved the Case of the Missing Mantras), which makes chasing these wily villains through time and space so much fun!
PS: With the DOA gang in place at the HQ, I m on vacation somewhere on a sunny island nursing a broken heart thanks to a certain rival agent but that s really none of anybody s business. Anyway, do email any mystery that you chance upon to doamystery@gmail.com and the DOA gang will look into it right away. So enjoy reading this whodunit as much as the gang did solving it!
Yours truly, Madame X
Chapter One

Midnight
A group of rather unusual-looking apparitions with kohl-rimmed eyes, wigs and strange writings scrawled all over their tiny bodies huddled fearfully in the waist-high grass that surrounded an abandoned bogey in a deserted Mumbai railway station.
Oh great Pharaoh, are you sure this is the place? What is that funny monument with flashing lights? a tiny worried voice whispered, pointing to the eerie white lights flickering in the darkness of the night. What land is this?
I hope Minhotep hasn t sent us on a wild goose chase, a second voice piped up. After all, he is a Sem priest
Oh great Osiris, one never quite knows what s in store when spells from the Book of the Dead are evoked! whispered a third apparition, shuddering as strange sounds floated through with the rise and fall of those flickering lights. I say we go back to Kemet!
Quiet, minions! Speak only when spoken to! a gravelly voice hissed.
Everyone knows of this great place. This is where the great Madame X resides. And this is her per-aa DOA Detective Agency, Asia HQ, Mumbai ki 13 th Bogey. A bandaged finger with an enormous emerald scarab ring pointed towards the bogey.
Stop your incessant babbling, shabtis, and clear the path. It is time for this great Pharaoh to make his appearance.
Pappu scowled, taking a sip of Coke and wolfing down the last piece of pizza. He had been outvoted by Chintan and Katrina of all people and forced to watch that horrible, terrifying movie, The Mummy Returns, instead of a decent no-brainer Hindi movie. Ugh! All those bloodcurdling scenes of the half-dead mummy stomping around spooky tombs, its eyeballs popping out, seeking revenge, flesh-eating scarabs devouring everyone in sight, and all that rising from the dead talk was definitely going to give him nightmares tonight. He shuddered. I have to think of a way to sleep through the night without freaking out, he told himself.
What was that noise? Somebody was opening the trapdoor! Pappu froze, paralysed with fear. Drat it, where was Bandar when you needed him? Not that the monkey was of any real use in these kinds of situations. Pappu took a deep breath and slowly began inching his way back to the living room, his heart hammering away, when suddenly the foulest stench filled the air and a group of tiny stone figures hurled themselves through the trapdoor, knocking him to the floor!
Hey! What are you? Leave him alone! Or I ll make kheema out of you! yelled Katrina, charging into the kitchen on hearing Pappu s frantic screams with Chintan huffing behind her. She grabbed one of the figurines, ready to bash its head into pieces, when a gust of vapours poured in through the open trapdoor, filling the bogey with an even worse stench. Dazed, she shook her head, trying to clear the smelly fog that was rapidly dulling her senses.
What on earth are you ? she sputtered, staring at the bejewelled, bandaged apparition that had materialized before her.
Chintan couldn t believe his eyes. He was face-to-face with a pharaoh! It was unmistakable-the turquoise and gold death mask, the crook and flail, the ankh around its neck, and the scarab amulet at its heart. These were typical pharaonic symbols! He had seen these at the British Museum s Egyptian Antiquities section during a holiday in London with his parents. He stared goggle-eyed at the apparition, his mind racing.
Was this mummy King Tutankhamen? That would be so cool, helping the famous boy king find out who murdered him! Chintan thought excitedly.
Wait Kat, don t bash him up! It s a pharaoh and these are his shabtis. He rushed over and snatched the nunchaku from her before she knocked off the Pharaoh s decayed arm with it.
Greetings, oh great Pharaoh! Welcome to the Dead or Alive Detective Agency. How can we help you? Chintan smiled ingratiatingly, held out his detective badge with I am a DOA Detective written on it and bowed low, keeping his eyes to the ground.
The Pharaoh s eyes glowed. He recognized the badge; it was the same one Madame X had. But who were these children? Aha, they must be her slaves! He clapped his hands and a shabti shuffled over, bowed and solemnly handed Chintan a papyrus filled with the strangest of symbols.
What on earth is this? What are all these birds and arms and wavy lines? Katrina frowned, peering over his shoulder. Chintan, who are these people and what do they want from us?
Relax Kat, it s a summoning from Egypt and these are hieroglyphs, he replied excitedly. Quick, get the Waters of the World. It s time to talk like an Egyptian! He hurried to the overhead luggage rack.
Katrina had reluctantly begun clambering on to his shoulders when suddenly the shabtis lunged forward, grabbing their ankles and pinning them to the floor!
Whoa! Hey! Back off, okay! We re trying to help you, oh great Pharaoh! Chintan yelled. But the mummy wasn t listening. He seemed to be looking for something as he wafted through the bogey, picking up things, peering at them intently and then disdainfully discarding them.
What is he doing? hissed Katrina. He can t just float in and start rampaging through our stuff!
It s Madame X s stuff, Chintan reminded her when it struck him like a lightning bolt. I know what he s looking for. Pappu, stop snivelling and come here. Go to the glass cupboard where Madame X has kept all the DOA Case no. 13s. He s looking for DOA Royal Files Case no. 13-the gold scarab. Take it to him. N