neighbors calling up and telling me to be quiet. And
my neighbors across the hall live to eavesdrop on
what’s going on in my apartment—they even broke in
once because they were sure I was harboring a forbidden cat.’’
He smiled and shook his head. ‘‘Do you know who
the blood belonged to?’’
‘‘The DNA is a match to Clymene O’Riley,’’ said Diane. He looked startled. ‘‘Ross’ Clymene?’’ he asked. ‘‘The very one,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I thought she was in jail,’’ said Jacobs, ‘‘. . . or did
I hear that she escaped?’’
‘‘Yes, she escaped, right after I visited her at her
request. That’s another long story,’’ she said. ‘‘Well, you’re right. None of this makes any sense.
Why would Clymene escape and then show up at your
apartment?’’ he asked.
‘‘I don’t know. Why would someone else decide to
kill her there? The whole thing had to be premeditated and coordinated. And why drug me?’’ said
Diane. ‘‘I’m aware that all of this makes me look
guilty of something.’’
‘‘Maybe that’s the point. If Clymene blamed you
for her conviction, could she be behind the artifact
problem? It started before her demise,’’ he said. ‘‘I don’t see how . . .’’ She stopped.
‘‘What?’’ he asked.
‘‘Clymene’s late husband, the one she was convicted
of murdering, was an amateur archaeologist. Clymene
boned up on archaeology in order to lay her trap for
him,’’ said Diane.
‘‘So she could have made contacts,’’ said Jacobs.
‘‘See?’’ He patted Diane on the hand. ‘‘You need to
tell your doctor all your symptoms, no matter how
much you think they are unrelated, and let him make
the diagnosis.’’
Diane smiled. ‘‘It hadn’t occurred to me that Clymene might have masterminded this. All she would
have to do is get Golden Antiquities to switch the
artifacts and make a call to the newspapers.’’ ‘‘That’s a possibility,’’ said Jacobs. ‘‘I’ll look into it.
I’ll see if Randal Cunningham had any dealings with
Clymene. Did she have friends, known associates?
Some people in prison have a following.’’
‘‘She had visitors. And there’s a possibility she
conned Rev. Rivers, the prison counselor, into helping her escape. He was found murdered at his home after
she broke out,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Something went bad for her,’’ mused Jacobs. ‘‘If
it’s true that she orchestrated all of this, I wonder
what went wrong.’’
‘‘Orchestrated. That’s what’s been going through my
mind. The whole thing feels like some kind of game.
If it were just a simple crime, it wouldn’t be so hard to
understand. Motives would be more straightforward. I
know there is no way either Kendel or I or anyone
else at the museum could make the artifact switch
