crime lab.
‘‘Andie said you were on your way up.’’
‘‘Yes. I have an idea.’’
‘‘Chief Garnett called. He traced the E-mail and
talked to Officer Lenderman and his daughter.’’ Diane’s cell rang and she held up a finger motioning
David to wait while she answered it. The ID showed
Frank’s work number.
‘‘Hey,’’ he said. ‘‘Loved seeing you last night.’’ ‘‘Me, too. Frank, I’m...’’
‘‘I traced the origin of the E-mail. It was from inside
the museum.’’
Diane stood there, dumfounded. ‘‘Inside the
museum?’’
David began nodding in agreement.
‘‘You need to tell Garnett,’’ said Frank.
‘‘I will, Frank. Thanks. David’s here, and I think he
has some more information on it.’’
‘‘Good. Call if you need me.’’
‘‘Inside the museum?’’ Diane asked David. ‘‘Yes. Garnett talked to the daughter. She’s a stu
dent at Bartram and comes to the museum to work
on a paleontology project. She said she sometimes
uses the computers in the restaurant—that’s where the
E-mail originated from.’’
‘‘She sent it?’’
‘‘She says not. She remembers sending some mes
sages and leaving the computer for a minute or two
when she saw some friends come into the restaurant.
That’s when someone must have hijacked her E-mail
account. She was still logged on.’’
‘‘Damn. Does she remembering seeing anyone?’’ ‘‘No. I think she was very focused on herself and
her friends.’’
Diane put her hands to her face. ‘‘Not the museum.
This is my worst nightmare.’’
‘‘Wait a minute,’’ said David. ‘‘Why are you worried
about the museum? Whoever this guy is, he’s focused
on you.’’
‘‘But he’s coming into the museum. I can’t have
that. Did Garnett have anything else to say?’’ ‘‘Yes, he wants you to meet him at his office in
about an hour. He’s meeting again with Sheriff Braden. I have a file full of reports you can take to each
of them.’’
‘‘Good. I prefer going over there to them coming
here.’’
‘‘They’re talking to Kacie Beck,’’ David said. ‘‘Kacie Beck. Isn’t she...’’
‘‘Chris Edwards’ girlfriend.’’
‘‘Why is that?’’
‘‘She was there very close to the time of death.
They’ve discovered a witness who puts her there even
earlier than she reported—a lot earlier than her 911
call.’’
‘‘I can’t see her hitting him over the head, dragging
him to the closet and tying him up like that. She
weighs what, a hundred ten pounds at the most?’’ ‘‘They’re thinking maybe she had help—like Steven
