Carter starts the story by telling the reader that he needs to “tell this story quickly, or we’re all going to die” (1). Carter and Sadie Kane, along with their trainees Jaz and Walt, are breaking into a museum to steal a statue of Khnum (the moose-headed version of Ra at sunset) that will help them find the Book of Ra. After breaking the magical locks on the museum’s dome so they can escape with the statue, Carter and Sadie check on Jaz and Walt, who quickly stop holding hands when the siblings arrive. The group enters through a window, and after searching through exhibits that feature familiar Egyptian objects, they find the statue near a frieze (protector statue) of a griffin.

Khnum was known for forming humans from clay, and the statue depicts him molding a person’s head. Sadie taps her wand to the scarab charm around the human’s neck, and its head pops open, revealing a scroll. Sadie takes it, triggering protective spells that set her hand on fire, and the griffin frieze comes to life with a scream “like a really large, really angry parrot” (14).