meet another man, Lucas thought. That was the good news.
That left the bad news.
'Listen to me very carefully, Amaryllis. I will meet you at your place right after work. Don't leave home without me.'
Chapter 9
'This is the second date that you've managed to ruin.' Lucas stood next to Amaryllis in the deep shadows of the towering university library and studied the darkened en- trance of the building that housed the Department of Focus Studies. 'Don't think I'm not keeping a running score.'
'Stop whining,' Amaryllis whispered. 'I warned yon that you wouldn't want to come along.'
'Yeah, you did. Funny, I never would have guessed that you had a hobby like this.'
'Like what?'
'Breaking and entering.'
Amaryllis pulled the collar of her jacket up around her neck with an uneasy motion. The light from the twin moons lined her delicate profile. Her expression was serious and profoundly resolute. One glance told Lucas that he didn't stand a chance of talking her out of this crazy plan.
'I'm not going to steal anything,' she said. 'I just want to get a quick look at Professor Landreth's calendar.'
Lucas heard the thread of apprehension beneath the bravado and felt a twinge of sympathy. 'Do you think they'll drum you out of the Corps of Upright Ethical Prisms if anyone finds out about this?'
'I should think that you'd be more concerned with being laughed out of the Western Islands Adventurers' Club for failing to strike the right note of devil-may-care reckless- ness.'
'There is no Western Islands Adventurers' Club. I dissolved their charter in a fit of pique years ago.'
'There's no Corps of Upright Ethical Prisms, either. I think it was disbanded due to lack of interest.' Amaryllis glanced around. 'Come on, let's go. The sooner we get into the building, the sooner we can get out.'
Lucas swallowed another remark, which Amaryllis would no doubt have deemed negative, and followed her across the brick walkway. To his great relief, she did not head toward the front steps of the Focus Studies building. Instead, she led him along a shrub-shrouded path and around a corner to the rear of the department.
A moment later she came to a halt at what was clearly a service entrance. She studied the jelly-ice lock.
'With any luck, no one's changed the code since I left,' she whispered.
'Keep watch,' she hissed.
Lucas morosely did as he was told while Amaryllis punched in a series of numbers. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, campus security was lax in the extreme. He had seen no sign of a guard since they had arrived, and there was no one around now to witness Amaryllis's debut as a B&E artist.
'Ah hah.'
Her soft exclamation told him that the door had opened. She stepped into the dark hall and turned to beckon him.
'Hurry,' she said.
'Don't worry. I'm right behind you.' Lucas moved into the hall. He pulled the door closed behind him, cutting off the weak shaft of moonlight.
The darkness in the hallway thickened abruptly. Lucas heard a soft thud.
'Ouch,' Amaryllis muttered.
'What happened?'
'I forgot about the coatrack back here.'
Lucas dug out a pencil-thin flashlight and switched on the narrow beam. He aimed it at the floor. 'Better?'
'Much. Very clever of you to think of bringing that flashlight along with us.'
'As a professional sidekick, I try to make myself useful.'
Amaryllis started forward. 'Professor Landreth's old office is down this hall. I hope that no one's changed the code on that door, either.'
'Given the general state of security around here, I think you can count on it.'
'There's never been much of a problem with crime on campus.' Amaryllis paused in front of a door that had a frosted glass panel.
Lucas played the light over the name scrolled in black on the front. Euphemia Yamamoto.
Amaryllis punched in another code. The jelly-ice lock dissolved without protest. The office door opened easily when the knob was turned. Lucas saw the orderly stack of boxes against the far wall when he followed Amaryllis into the room.
'Five hells,' he muttered. 'There's a dozen of them. It will take hours to go through each box.'
'Mrs. Dunley is a very methodical person.' Amaryllis crossed the room to where the boxes were stacked against the far wall. 'I know her. She'll have organized everything very precisely. All I have to do is find the one that contains the items taken directly from the top of his desk.'
Lucas aimed the flashlight at the labels on the boxes. They were all clearly dated and labeled in excruciating detail. 'Landreth: Private Files--Focus Studies Research Reports,' 'Landreth: Private Files--Case Histories of Class- Two Talents and Associated Prisms.'
Lucas moved the light beam to another row of boxes and discovered more helpful labels. 'Landreth: Personal Effects--Desk Drawer Number One.' 'Landreth: Personal Effects--Desk Drawer Number Two.'
'I see what you mean,' Lucas said. 'Talk about a clerical mentality.'
'Be grateful.' Amaryllis shoved a box aside to gain access to the one behind it. 'Professor Landreth always said that Mrs. Dunley had a talent for organization. It was one of the reasons they worked so well together.'
Lucas flicked the light upward to get a closer look at the portrait on the wall. 'Is that the great man himself?'
Amaryllis glanced at the picture. Her face softened. 'Yes.'
'Vivien was right. He looks like a guy whose underwear is two sizes too small.'
'Don't be disrespectful.'
'Yes, ma'am.'
Amaryllis tugged another box forward. 'Here we go. This looks like a good candidate.'
Lucas moved closer to get a look at the label on the box she had uncovered. 'Landreth: Miscellaneous Items from Desk.'
Amaryllis started to lift the lid and suddenly hesitated. Lucas glanced at her. There was just enough light to see that she was nibbling uneasily on her lower lip.
'If you're going to search that box, then do it fast,' he said roughly. 'If not, let's get out of here. I don't like this situation one damn bit.'
Without a word, Amaryllis gingerly removed the lid and set it aside. Lucas raised the light and aimed the beam into the open box. Neatly bundled pens, pencils, and desktop accoutrements were packed inside. A large, handsome desk calendar bound in what appeared to be very expensive Green Specter snakeskin lay on the bottom.
'Looks like being head of the Department of Focus Studies paid well,' Lucas observed as Amaryllis removed the calendar. 'Green Specter snakeskin doesn't come cheap.'
'We took up a collection and gave him this calendar a few months before I left.' Amaryllis touched the bronze-green snakeskin with reverential fingers. 'It was in honor of his thirtieth year in the department. I picked this out myself. Professor Landreth was quite pleased.'
Something in her voice sent a jolt of alarm through Lucas. 'You're not going to cry, are you? Amaryllis, we
