20 July 2022
Wednesday. New management. I have opened a new journal to mark the occasion, the old one being full and slightly sandy.
For the record, since nobody else keeps one: I am Hester Plumb, for twenty-two years expedition secretary to Dr Smith, the archaeologist. The Doctor went into the desert after the treasure of Pharaoh Khufu, wrote that he was close, and has not written since. He left me in charge of his study with two instructions: dust the relics, and do not read his post. I have dusted.
The study has stood on The Corso in Manly since the days when the sign outside said Room Eight. How a desert study came to be a short walk from a ferry wharf I cannot tell you. The Doctor never explained his filing either.
Today the people who bought the place came to look it over. They were very polite about the sarcophagus and very interested in the hourglass. One asked whether the study was haunted. I said it was occupied, which is not the same thing.
Humphrey, the Doctor’s camel, inspected them from the doorway and did not spit. That is as close to a reference as Humphrey gives.
— H. Plumb (Miss), Expedition Secretary
