you tomorrow,’’ said Diane.
Frank, Neva, and David were ordering food from
the museum restaurant when Diane got to her sit
ting room.
‘‘Not pizza,’’ said Diane.
‘‘No,’’ said Neva and David together.
David was about to open the laptop when they
heard another knock on Diane’s private back door. ‘‘Someone else find the ghost?’’ said Neva. Diane started to open it, but she stopped. ‘‘Who is
it?’’ she asked.
‘‘Jin,’’ the voice said.
She opened the door. ‘‘I thought you were working
on the evidence,’’ said Diane, frowning at him. ‘‘I lifted the prints. I found Bryce’s. A thumb and
partial index. I called Warrick with the information. I
also matched the bullet. It’s in the database as belonging
to Bryce. I know we’re not ballistics, but it was just a
matter of photographing the striations and matching
them to the database. I gave that info to Warrick too.
She was giddy with excitement. The DNA analysis I
can’t get done tonight if I plan to eat dinner and go to
bed at some point. So unless you want me to go down
to my lab and work myself literally to the bone, I’d
like to come and eat with you guys. You ordered din
ner, didn’t you? I’ll bet it wasn’t pizza.’’
‘‘Come in, Jin. No, I don’t want you to starve. Call
the restaurant and add what you want to the Fallon
order,’’ said Diane.
While they waited for their food, Diane and Frank
told them what Rikki had said in her statement. Jin,
Neva, and David sat openmouthed at the revelation
that Jefferies and company had begun implementation
of a plan to kill Diane and Vanessa.
David stood up, his face flushed. ‘‘Are you telling
me that if you hadn’t kicked the crime lab out of the
museum, you would be dead? Who in the hell do they
think they are that they have the right to do that?
Because they wanted something you have, they were
going to kill you? This is what we left in South America.
This is why Margaret died, and Damian, and Caridad,
and Abigail, and Joe, and Martin, and, and Ariel.’’ He
stopped. ‘‘And all the others
that monster,’’ he whispered.
who were massacred by Tears had settled in his eyes, not spilling down his cheeks, but damming up until his eyes were shiny black. ‘‘Are you sure we should be
looking for their killer?’’ he said quietly.
Neva, Jin, and Frank sat in silence, looking sympa
thetically at David. Diane could see by the set of their
mouths, the creases of their foreheads, they too were
upset. On the way over in the car Frank hadn’t let go
of her hand but held on tight.
Diane looked up to see Izzy standing in the door
