if not a friend.
‘‘Well, Warrick overheard the mayor talking to
Peeks about replacing you as director of the museum,’’
he said.
Diane laughed. ‘‘What? The mayor has no authority
over the museum or me.’’
Izzy nodded and gestured with his hands. ‘‘I know,
but you see, that’s the way they look at everything.
You’d think Jefferies was elected emperor of the uni
verse and not mayor of Rosewood. They’re crazy. And
let me tell you, you were making them crazier.’’ ‘‘Who knew I had so much power,’’ Diane com
mented drily. ‘‘Did they say how they proposed to
replace me?’’ said Diane.
‘‘No, but I wouldn’t have put anything past them,’’
said Izzy.
Diane hadn’t liked the mayor, or the people he as
sociated with, and had serious doubts about which di
rection their moral compass pointed, but still she was
surprised at the picture Izzy was painting of them. She said, ‘‘I know they wanted Garnett to lie about
who the forensic anthropology lab belonged to, but
how could they possibly think they would get away
with that? I keep more records than the IRS.’’ ‘‘I don’t know. They just like to throw everything
at an enemy at once, hoping to overwhelm them, I
suppose. Make them more willing to negotiate. That’s
why they threatened to arrest you, you know. They
don’t have much of a prayer to do that.’’
‘‘Why?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘Because the bottom of the gorge is just across the
county line. The GBI handled the scene. Didn’t you
know that?’’
Of course, the county line; she had forgotten. Diane
felt an overwhelming sense of relief. She realized that
she was truly afraid that she was going to be arrested
and framed.
‘‘You been worried about that?’’ he said. Diane nodded.
‘‘Can’t say as I blame you. Who knows how those
people think? They might have tried to come up with
something. I know they would have pulled some other
dirty trick out of their hat to back up what they were
saying about your bone lab. They would have given
you a run for your money. Kept you real busy dealing
with them anyway.’’
‘‘Tell me more about Garnett and the mayor,’’ said
Diane.
Izzy sat back on the couch.
Diane could see this was going to be a long conver
sation. ‘‘Would you like me to have the restaurant
send us up lunch?’’ she asked.
‘‘That would be nice,’’ said Izzy. He grinned. ‘‘You
