Following their trip to Italy, it is now January 1901, and the Wilsons are on their way to the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. Abigail persuades a reluctant Daniel to venture into the pyramid via the entrance to the Robbers' Tunnel - using a flaming torch for light, they travel just a short distance, when they come upon the dead body of a man who has been garrotted. Investigations by the local police reveal him to be Simeon McGruder, a wealthy American who is financing an exploration of the pyramids. When Daniel and Abigail return to Cairo they are asked by the American Embassy if they can take on the case, but they have a difficult path to tread as they try to keep different factions onside: the British and American authorities, the puppet Egyptian Government and officials, while at the same time facing lies and deviousness from McGruder's associates and friends.