Scattered Graves

She was wondering whether they all were that wealthy, or were they making a lot of money. The mayor alone was decked out in more than twenty thou sand dollars’ worth of clothes and accessories. The may or’s job didn’t pay that much, but perhaps his Atlanta business was doing really well. She had a lot of ques tions for Janice to look into. She wondered whether Janice had searched Peeks’ and Jefferies’ homes.

‘‘When are the funerals?’’ Diane asked. They all shrugged. ‘‘It looks like the mayor and his friends had a lot to leave their heirs. It would be interesting to discover who they are.’’

The door buzzer startled all of them. David went to answer it. After a few moments, he brought Jin back with him.

‘‘Hi, guys,’’ Jin said, raking his fingers through his black hair. ‘‘Good to see you back, boss,’’ he said.

‘‘Good to be back,’’ she said. ‘‘Is this a social call?’’

‘‘Nope, I just found something interesting. You know that guy who wanted me to hire him? Curtis something.’’

‘‘Curtis Crabtree,’’ said Diane.

‘‘Well, in the scuffle he left some epithelials behind and I decided to run them,’’ said Jin.

‘‘What did you find?’’ asked Neva.

‘‘He had alleles in common with Edgar Peeks,’’ said Jin.

‘‘Brothers?’’ asked Diane.

‘‘Cousins maybe; maybe uncle and nephew,’’ said Jin.

‘‘Did you know they were related?’’ Diane asked Rikki.

She shook her head. ‘‘No. It’s news to me.’’

Chapter 28

‘‘No,’’ said Jin, taking a big bite of pizza. ‘‘I’m Legolas. I’m always Legolas. You’re Gandalf, David. You’re the one who disappeared for a while, then came back.’’

‘‘All I know is,’’ said Neva, helping herself to a slice, ‘‘that I’m Arwen, the most beautiful creature in Middle- earth.’’

Diane listened to them happily discussing their Lord of the Rings character preferences. She had tried to get Frank on the phone to tell him they were having pizza in her office, but he didn’t answer. Mike had come to join them briefly but had to leave early to get ready for his class in gemology. Izzy had stayed. That was somewhat of a puzzlement to Diane. She didn’t know if he was asked to guard her or what.

Rikki had gone home. That was a relief to everyone. They didn’t know which side she was on, and Diane thought that, like her, they felt uneasy being con stantly just a little dishonest with her.

‘‘Okay,’’ said Jin. ‘‘Who’s Rikki?’’

‘‘Gollum,’’ both Neva and David said together, and they all laughed.

Diane was about to sit down and eat a piece of pizza when she heard a noise in Andie’s office. She opened the connecting door just as Andie was enter ing. She was all bundled up in slacks, a wool poncho, and gloves. She had a cap pulled over her frizzy au burn hair.

‘‘Oh, I’m glad you’re here,’’ said Andie. ‘‘I have your cell phone. Wait till you see this.’’

‘‘Would you like some pizza?’’ said Diane. ‘‘We have plenty.’’

‘‘Pizza? Thanks, but I just ate.’’ Andie took out a box and opened it. ‘‘This is great.’’ She slipped the phone from the box, flipped it open, and turned it on. ‘‘It’s a camera phone like the old one and has all the bells and whistles on it. But it also has this.’’

She punched a couple of keys and the phone started talking.

‘‘Take a left on Rose Street,’’ it said. ‘‘Go point two miles.’’

Diane looked at the map on the digital screen.

‘‘It has GPS mapping,’’ said Andie. ‘‘You just punch in the city and where you want to go and it will tell you how to get there. Cool, huh?’’

‘‘Yes, it is,’’ said Diane. ‘‘This is nice. It really is. How much more a month is this going to cost me?’’

‘‘Just ten dollars,’’ said Andie. ‘‘I put all your num bers in it. At least, the ones I know.’’

‘‘Thanks, Andie, I appreciate it. It’s a great phone. You off to your gemology class?’’

‘‘Yes, and I hope it’s uneventful this time,’’ she said. ‘‘Last time, we were just starting on opals. You know that’s my birth stone. Mike was saying they have water in them. I don’t understand that. He was about to explain when little Ethan turned up missing. And you know the rest.’’ Andie looked at her watch. ‘‘Well, gotta go. See you tomorrow.’’

Just as Andie was leaving, Frank walked through the door. ‘‘I thought I’d catch you still at work,’’ he said.

‘‘Hey, Frank,’’ said Andie. ‘‘See you.’’ She was out the door.

‘‘Was it something I said?’’ said Frank, watching Andie leave.

‘‘She’s off to learn about gemstones.’’ Diane paused. ‘‘I’m director of the crime lab again.’’

‘‘You always have such eventful days,’’ he said. ‘‘So, was the crime lab a reward for almost getting killed?’’

‘‘No, it was a reward for not being Bryce,’’ she said. ‘‘Because of him the evidence is now suspect from a whole string of crime scenes processed by the lab, and the city’s dealing with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from Jennifer Jeffcote-Smith, the forensic anthropologist he hired. Did I tell you I got served on that?’’

‘‘No. For what?’’