prepared by Jin indicates that Clymene was separated from her sisters and moved around for a number of years, but that the other sisters stayed in closer proximity to each other. That would lend support to the conclusion that the woman in your timeline of events is in fact Clymene and not her sisters,’’ said Frank.
‘‘I feel fairly confident the timeline belongs to Clymene, but I like to keep my mind open for other possibilities. Clymene does have an unusual capacity to surprise.’’
‘‘More wine?’’ asked Frank.
Diane shook her head and snuggled back into Frank’s arms. ‘‘This is cozy,’’ she said.
‘‘You know, you could have it on a more regular basis,’’ he said.
‘‘What do you mean?’’ she said.
‘‘You know what I mean. You need a home. Move in here. This is a big house. You can have your own space if that makes you feel easier about it. You can have the whole upstairs if you want it.’’
Diane was silent for several moments. It sounded like such a commitment—moving into Frank’s house. On the other hand, it felt really good nestled against Frank. She would like coming home to that.
‘‘I’m not hearing you say anything,’’ he said. ‘‘You need a place to stay while you look for a house. Just take your time looking. Try it out here for a while. You might like it. Besides,’’ he added, ‘‘I need someone who can cook lasagna like that.’’
Diane laughed and started to push him away, but he kissed her.
‘‘This is nice,’’ she said after a moment.
‘‘It’s more than nice,’’ he said. He rubbed his thumb across her lips. ‘‘It feels right, doesn’t it?’’
‘‘I’ll stay here while I’m looking,’’ she said.
‘‘Okay, I’ll take that as a yes,’’ he said and kissed her again.
‘‘I already have a lot of my things here,’’ she said.
‘‘See, it’s already working out,’’ said Frank.
‘‘You’re good to talk to,’’ she said. ‘‘This thing with Clymene and the artifacts have my mind completely occupied.’’
‘‘You think she’s a sociopath?’’ said Frank.
‘‘She says not,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Would you believe a sociopath?’’ asked Frank.
‘‘That’s the thing about Clymene. It’s easy to fall into believing her. And it’s not the big things; it’s the smaller ones, the subtleties, like her giving the money to Redding’s daughter and ex-wife. Was that sincere or just part of her act to make people believe in her? The same with her concern for Grace Noel and Eric Tully’s daughter. She really did
the daughter, and I believed it,
mene’s special gift,’’ said Diane.
seem concerned for but subtlety is Cly
‘‘Interesting case. I can see why Kingsley is fascinated by her. She must be a profiler’s dream girl. I’m going to get some ice cream,’’ he said. ‘‘Want some?’’
‘‘Yes, please. What kinds do you have?’’
Diane knew he had more than one flavor. Frank always got more food than he needed, just so he’d have lots of choices. She supposed that was why he had such a large freezer on his back porch.
Frank’s kitchen matched the rest of the house. The cabinetry was dark wood similar to the Queen Anne style of the house. His appliances were bright white and the floor was a deep green slate. It was a comfortable kitchen to cook in. Certainly more comfortable than the small kitchen in her apartment.
‘‘How about rum raisin?’’ he said.
‘‘Sounds fine.’’
Diane watched as he got two pints out and opened
them and gave her a spoon.
‘‘Out of the carton?’’ she said.
‘‘Of course. Only way to eat ice cream.’’ He
grinned, and they sat in the kitchen around the island and ate ice cream.
‘‘I won’t be able to eat all of this,’’ she said.
‘‘Save it for later. How is your artifact problem coming?’’ he asked.
‘‘It’s not. It’s at a complete standstill. The good news is that nothing directly implicates the museum or any of us. The bad news is that it doesn’t clear our reputation. Frankly I’m not sure what the FBI guy is doing. He’s spent a lot of time on the Clymene case.’’
‘‘The Clymene case? Why?’’ asked Frank, savoring a spoon of ice cream.
‘‘Actually, that’s not true. He and Ross Kingsley are friends and he visited with Ross a while. He got the idea that Clymene might be behind the artifact thing. She does know about archaeology, but . . .’’ Diane shrugged.
‘‘You don’t think so?’’ he asked.
‘‘I don’t know. It’s as good a theory as anything else we have, which is nothing,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s felt like a game from the beginning. So did the thing with the blood in my apartment. I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything going on was a series of moves in a game.’’ Diane shook her head. ‘‘This ice cream is really good.’’
‘‘You’ve never had this flavor?’’ he asked.
