Diane pointed to the X-ray showing the side view and ran a finger along a faint line—‘‘these irregular lines here, are almost fused. That pushes the age up considerably—say, at least past forty. I’ll need to examine the entire set of X-rays, but our mummy was well into middle age.’’
‘‘I want to know what’s in that package you brought with you, Kendel,’’ said Jonas. ‘‘You’ve had this little smile on your face since you got here.’’
Kendel sighed. ‘‘A member of the family that gave us the mummy sent this.’’ She opened the box and dug around in the bubble wrap. ‘‘They said it belongs with the mummy.’’
She pulled out a cut glass jar with a lid that ap peared to be sealed with wax. Something was inside the jar, and Diane and the others looked closely.
‘‘Is that his finger?’’ said Andie.
‘‘No,’’ said Jonas. ‘‘Definitely not his finger.’’
‘‘Oh, my God, that’s not his...’’
‘‘Apparently, it is,’’ said Korey. ‘‘Must have broken off during the unwrapping.’’
‘‘That’s terrible,’’ said Andie. ‘‘The poor guy ex pected his body to be safe throughout eternity, and he ends up the main attraction at a party where he loses his jewels. At least they put it in a pretty jar.’’
‘‘How confident are we that this belongs to him?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘His is missing,’’ said Korey.
‘‘The fact that this is a Victorian pickle jar . . .’’ began Kendel.
‘‘A pickle jar?’’ exclaimed Andie, as if this added insult to injury.
‘‘Yes. It’s authentic, so the time frame is right.’’
Diane remembered that jars and their history were an expertise of Kendel’s.
Korey took the jar and held it up. ‘‘This looks like an old seal. We’ll need a DNA sample from both to be sure.’’
‘‘Why don’t we just kind of put it with him when we wrap him back up?’’ said Andie.
Jonas cleared his throat. ‘‘That organ is the best place to find good blood residue. If we want to look for certain parasites and the like.’’
‘‘Parasites? In his . . .’’ Andie couldn’t finish.
‘‘That’s true,’’ said Kendel. She handed the jar to Diane. ‘‘Your forensic lab should be able to sample it for us, shouldn’t it?’’
Diane held the heavy leaded glass container in her hand. ‘‘Yes. We can handle it.’’ The thought of ex plaining this to Garnett flashed through her mind.
‘‘We’ll be able to get some good samples of flesh when we endoscope him,’’ said Korey.
‘‘We are more likely to get a good DNA sample from the root of a tooth,’’ said Diane. ‘‘We’ll extract one when we do the endoscopy.’’
Andie looked horrified.
‘‘We’re doing the least invasive tests on him,’’ said Diane. ‘‘He will be completely intact, for the most part, when Korey rewraps him.’’
‘‘I know,’’ said Andie. ‘‘It’s just that this isn’t what he expected from his death.’’
‘‘I know, but we will treat him with respect,’’ Jonas told her, ‘‘and we will be getting a lot of useful infor mation from him about ancient illnesses.’’ Jonas shifted his gaze from Andie to the X-rays of the skull. ‘‘The dead can have a lot to say, and I think it’s important to listen to them.’’
‘‘Andie, I need you and Kendel to go through the mail from people wanting access to the mummy and tell them that we will be glad to share with them the information that we gather.’’
‘‘Will do,’’ said Andie.
‘‘We need to make a form letter,’’ said Kendel. ‘‘These requests will continue.’’
‘‘Okay. I’ll rely on you to say something diplo matic,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Speaking of form letters, Andie, I’ve been getting another round of complaints about the crime lab being attached to the museum. Look through the ones I haven’t deleted and send that Email we generated the first time—the one thanking them for their concern, et cetera.’’
‘‘I’ll get on it.’’ With a last incredulous glance at the Victorian jar in Diane’s hand, Andie bounced out of the lab.
‘‘I’m going to Virginia to the home of one of the relatives of our mummy donor,’’ said Kendel. ‘‘They have a collection of amulets that purport to have come from the mummy wrappings. I’m going to take a look and try to wheedle them away from them. Failing that, I’ll get pictures.’’ She hurried to catch up with Andie.
‘‘If anyone can wheedle things away from people, it’s Kendel,’’ said Jonas. ‘‘I don’t know if you’ve no ticed, but after you’ve talked to her awhile, you really want to please her.’’
‘‘Yeah,’’ said Korey. ‘‘Underneath that soft femi nine exterior, she’s tough. You kind of get the idea she can be ruthless if she needs to be.’’
‘‘I’m glad you two approve of my choice,’’ said Diane.
‘‘She can sure get the job done,’’ said Korey. ‘‘She’s got a set of lungs on her too.’’
Jonas raised one of his white bushy eyebrows. ‘‘Lungs?’’
