The Curse of the Bronze Lamp
John Dickson Carr
 Lady Helen Loring doesn't believe in the ancient Egyptian curse associated with an ancient artifact, a bronze lamp that is a gift from the Egyptian government. It comes from a tomb that Helen and her father, Lord Severn, helped excavate. In defiance of the dire predictions of an Egyptian soothsayer, she brings the lamp back to Severn Hall, her ancestral home in England. At the door, Helen stepped out of the car, leaving her friends to follow her into the Hall. Less than three minutes later, they did—and Helen had vanished. On the floor, in the middle of the vast entrance hall, were her coat and the bronze lamp. Luckily, Sir Henry Merrivale is nearby and unafraid of any and all spirits and soothsayers; after another murder shocks the inhabitants of Severn Hall, he solves both the disappearance and the murder.