‘‘I do,’’ said Diane. She picked up the phone and
called Jin. He was probably down in the basement in
his new DNA lab caressing his equipment. ‘‘Jin,’’ said
Diane, ‘‘you are on break, aren’t you?’’
‘‘Sure, Boss, I’m on my own time,’’ he said. That
was one thing Diane liked about Jin. He was always
quick. She couldn’t really use any of her crime scene personnel on non–DNA lab museum business—not at
this point. But she could use them on their own time. ‘‘I assume that Neva is on her break too,’’ said
Diane.
‘‘Sure is,’’ said Jin. ‘‘What can we do for you?’’ ‘‘I want you to go to the conservation lab and open
the crates marked . . . Just a minute.’’ She looked up
at Kendel.
‘‘EG970 through EG975,’’ said Kendel. ‘‘There are
six boxes.’’
Diane relayed the numbers to Jin. ‘‘I need you to
process the artifacts. No fingerprint powders or
glues—these are antiquities. Use the big camera and
high-contrast film for any latents. I also want every
piece photographed from all angles, collect any dust
and detritus you find, get a sample of the packing
material—anything that might help us trace their origin. You can use powders on the outside of the
crates.’’
‘‘I get to use David’s cameras,’’ said Jin. ‘‘He’ll
love that.’’
Diane could almost see him grinning on the other
end of the phone. To Jin everything was fun. Maybe
she should send Kendel to take notes from him.
‘‘Don’t forget the lighting in your zest to get into David’s cameras,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Boss . . . I know about photographic enhancement
and latent prints,’’ he said in mock hurt.
‘‘Good. I want you to be thorough and very fast.’’
The question from the reporter about queries from
the FBI nagged at Diane. She didn’t want the objects
to be confiscated before she had a chance to have a
good look at them.
‘‘Thorough and fast,’’ said Jin. ‘‘Got it.’’
‘‘Have Korey there as you work. We need to have the conservator oversee the process. When you finish, search the National Stolen Art File and see if any of
the pieces are in it.’’
‘‘Will do,’’ said Jin.
After hanging up with Jin, Diane immediately dialed David Goldstein, another member of her crime
scene crew, who was supposed to be leaving for vacation today. David had worked with Diane at World
Accord International when she was a human rights
investigator and had been a friend for a long time.
She hated interrupting his time off, but she knew he
would love it.
‘‘Diane,’’ he said immediately, ‘‘want me to come
in and look into that artifact thing I’ve been reading
about?’’
‘‘You sound like you’ve been waiting by your
