Murder in the Queen's Armes

clothes, and climbed the hill, it'd practically be dark. How about a drive in the country instead? To Cricket St. Thomas.'

'Because you like the name?'

'Of course.'

'Fine. I had such a good time not finding Wootton Fitzpaine, I bet not finding Cricket St. Thomas would be just as much fun.'

'If we can't, there's always Burton Bradstock or Whitechurch Canonicorum. Or, in a pinch, Sleech Wood.'

'IT'S only a little thing,” Abe muttered, “but still I don't like it.” He was staring at a three-by-five-inch index card in his hand. With his other hand he tugged gently at his lower lip. “Something funny, something funny.'

Gideon had arrived at Stonebarrow Fell at 8:30 a.m., expecting to be the first one there, but Barry, Leon, and Sandra were already at the trench, working under Frawley's direction, and observed by a yawning police constable. Abe had been in the shed, poring over the expedition records spread on the table in front of him. The heater had thoroughly warmed the building, indicating he'd been there for some time, and the coffeepot was already halfway down.

Gideon poured himself a cup. “What's funny?'

'There's no milk for the coffee,” Abe said, still looking at the card, “only powdered stuff. Tomorrow I'll bring some real milk, from cows. Partially hydrogenated coconut oil who needs?'

'I'll bring it,” Gideon said. “What's funny?” he asked again.

Abe handed him the card. “Have a look at this.'

It was a “find card,” a device that is commonly used on archaeological digs. Its purpose is to make an immediate, on-the-spot record of every object discovered the moment it was found. The dirt smudges on this one suggested that it had been used as intended.

The card was made up as a printed form with blank spaces for written entries. Gideon scanned it quickly. Site: CHA 2-2; Date: 11-1; Loc: Q1- 5; Depth: 21” (12” had been written in before it, but had been crossed out); Descr: Human femur, left, partial. Proximal 100 mm.

There was illegible information scribbled after Matrix, Orientation, and Remarks; and finally, at the bottom, after Recorded by, Leon Hillyer's name had been scrawled.

It was strange, Gideon thought, that he hadn't heard anyone mention the earlier finding of a human bone. The femur, of course, was the thigh bone, and the “Proximal 100 mm.” would consist of not the shaft itself but of the ball that inserts into the hip socket, along with an inch or two of femoral “neck'—the small, diagonal column of bone that joins the all to the shaft.

When he looked up, Abe said, “So? What do you see?'

Gideon shrugged. “Well, I hadn't known they'd found any human remains—that is, before Pummy came up— and yet this was discovered a month ago. Aside from that, I don't see anything strange.'

'Okay, now look at this.” He slid an open bound notebook across the table. “This is the field catalog. Look at November first.'

Gideon looked and blinked with surprise. “There's only one entry: ‘Number one-forty-nine: Four faience beads.’ There's no bone listed.'

'That's right, and that's what's funny. Nathan is a little fartootst, but he knows how to run a dig, and when a dig is run right, every night you take the find cards and you enter the information in the permanent field catalog. You don't miss a night. Otherwise, numbers get mixed up, things get lost....You know this; what am I telling you?'

'You're right,” Gideon said. “It was probably Frawley's job to maintain the catalog.'

'It was definitely Frawley's job.” Abe took back the notebook and placed his thin hands on it, one on top of the others. “I looked through the whole thing, and nowhere is a mention of a human bone; not a peep.” He closed the book and finished his coffee with a gulp. “So the big question is: Why not? Why didn't Frawley write it down in the permanent catalog? And where is this mysterious human femur, left, partial? It's not in with the other finds.'

Gideon looked at the card he still held in his hand. “Isn't it possible that when Frawley had a look at it he concluded that it wasn't really a bone? That Leon had misidentified it? It happens all the time. That's one reason a worker doesn't enter it directly into the catalog himself, isn't it?'

Abe looked at him quizzically. “It happens all the time that you find four faience beads and you think they're a leg bone?'

Gideon laughed. “Maybe you're onto something, Abe— although I'm not sure what. I don't see how this can have anything to do with the Poundbury skull—'

'Poundbury? Of course not. This was a month ago. Besides, this one is a femur. Pummy is... what was it?'

'Left parieto-occipital; hard to confuse the two, even for an archaeologist. It'll be interesting to hear what Jack Frawley has to say.'

'That I'm very interested in myself.” He put the card into a file box and closed it. “Well, Inspector Bagshawe will be here in a few minutes, so why don't we go outside and get to work?'

'Bagshawe's coming here?'

'He was here yesterday, too, interviewing everyone, picking up tools, looking under potsherds. It makes everybody nervous, but I guess it's got to be done.'

'Good, there's something I wanted to mention to him.'

'Good morning, gentleman!” Detective Inspector Bagshawe's booming, peaceful voice reverberated in the shed. He closed the door behind him, hung his vast checked overcoat on a peg, and