A quarter past one
`` A goddess , Rob , of which Egyptology knows nothing ! -- a mystical religion the existence of which has been vaguely suspected by a living French _ savant _ ... but this is no time -- '' Dr. Cairn closed the manuscript , replaced it and relocked the drawer . He glanced at the clock . `` A quarter past one , '' he said . `` Come , Rob ! '' Without hesitation , his son followed him from the house . The car was waiting , and shortly they were speeding through the deserted streets , back to the house where death in a strange guise was beckoning to Myra Duquesne .