because she was just too sick of mass graves. That’s
what prisons were like to her—a mass grave of the
living. It was too depressing.
Chapter 6
Diane pulled into her parking space in front of the RiverTrail Museum of Natural History. The building almost always impressed her with its massive granite stones and nineteenth-century gothic architecture, looking like a medieval palace. On any ordinary day she would have paused to appreciate the many cars and tour buses that signaled good attendance at the museum. But not today.
On her way back from the prison Diane had stopped at a convenience store to get a cold drink when she saw the headlines on the Rosewood newspaper.
MAJOR SCANDAL AT RIVERTRAIL MUSEUM
Prominent Board Member Says Assistant Director to be Fired.
Director Diane Fallon Not Available for Comment.
Diane grabbed the paper and stood in the store reading it, oblivious to customers squeezing past her to get out the door.
‘‘Son of a bitch,’’ she muttered under her breath, then paid for the paper, walked out, and got into her car, slamming the door.
Carrying the newspaper rolled up like a club, Diane entered the museum. There weren’t any visitors in the lobby at the moment, but a tour was going on just beyond in the Pleistocene room. The voice of the docent telling a group of Japanese visitors about mammoths drifted into the lobby. A blond young woman wearing a white Richard III T-shirt sat at the information desk talking with a lanky, dark-haired young male docent in a matching T. Amber and Hunter, Diane noted mentally. She made it a point to remember the names of all her employees.
‘‘Dr. Fallon,’’ Amber called as Diane walked by. Diane stopped. ‘‘Yes.’’
Amber spotted the paper in Diane’s hand. ‘‘I guess
you’ve seen that,’’ she said.
Diane noticed that Amber had a copy of the newspaper just below the desktop. Undoubtedly she and Hunter had been discussing it. Their eyes stayed fixed earnestly on her.
‘‘Yes, I’ve seen it,’’ said Diane.
‘‘It’s not—’’ Amber began.
‘‘No,’’ said Diane, ‘‘it’s not true.’’
‘‘I told you,’’ she said to Hunter before turning back
to Diane. ‘‘There’s a man from the FBI looking for you. I directed him to your office. I didn’t know what else to do with him.’’
Diane could see the worry in both their faces. ‘‘What is his name?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘Kingsley. Ross Kingsley.’’ Amber enunciated his
name carefully. ‘‘He doesn’t look like he is from the FBI. Don’t they always have short hair?’’
‘‘He had a beard too,’’ offered Hunter, as if maybe the guy claiming to be from the FBI was an imposter, possibly a reporter.
‘‘It’s not about the museum,’’ said Diane.
She watched them both relax as they realized it had something to do with the crime lab on the upper floor of the west wing. The museum staff called that part of the building the dark side and they called all things relating to the crime lab dark matters. She could see they had just mentally filed Ross Kingsley under dark matter.
‘‘If any reporters come by, call Andie. Don’t send them into the office,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Oh, we wouldn’t do that,’’ said Amber. The two shook their heads in unison.
Diane walked to her museum office. Her heels clicked on the shiny granite floor, almost keeping time with her rapid heart rate. The brief interaction with her employees hadn’t mediated any of her anger and she was glad. Right now she wanted to be angry. She went through the large double doors and down the hall to her office.
Mike Seeger, the geology curator, was there entertaining Andie and Ross Kingsley with tales of his latest adventures in searching out extremophiles. Mike and Andie were wearing the same style T-shirts as Amber and Hunter. Mike greeted her with a wide grin. Andie was frowning.
Kingsley stood and nodded a greeting to Diane. He looked more like a history professor than an FBI profiler in his vest and suit. He started to speak but Andie got there first.
‘‘Dr. Fallon,’’ said Andie and paused as she saw the rolled-up newspaper in Diane’s hand. ‘‘You’ve seen the article.’’
Diane nodded.
‘‘Diane. I was hoping you could spare me a few minutes,’’ said Kingsley quickly.
‘‘I’m sorry, Ross. I have a board meeting in a few minutes. It will have to wait until after that.’’ Diane turned to Mike. ‘‘If you have time, will you show Agent Kingsley around the museum?’’
‘‘Sure...’’ began Mike.
The telephone rang. Diane imagined that all Andie had been able to do all day was answer the telephone.
‘‘Excuse me, Dr. Fallon,’’ said Andie. ‘‘It’s the DA.
insists on speaking He’s called several times. He
with you.’’
‘‘He insists? Tell him unless
his arm out of its socket and beat him with the bloody
end of it, he’ll wait until I have time to call him.’’ ‘‘Ooookay,’’ said Andie. She took the DA off hold.
‘‘Sir, Dr. Fallon can’t be disturbed. She’ll call you just
as soon as she has a chance.’’ Andie doodled with her
pen as she listened. Her springy auburn hair bounced
as she nodded into the phone. ‘‘I know, sir, but she is
