Scattered Graves

as one of these babies. I don’t get it. They tell time. My fifty-dollar watch keeps perfect time. Of course it ain’t got diamonds, but some of these don’t either,’’ he added. ‘‘What was he doing with them, you think?’’

‘‘Gifts,’’ said Diane. ‘‘When you finish here, we’ll debrief in my museum office,’’ said Diane.

‘‘You found out something, didn’t you?’’ said David.

‘‘Yes, I think so. I don’t want to talk about it here,’’ she said. ‘‘Have you noticed anything... unusual with Rikki?’’

‘‘After we searched the master bedroom, she showed a lot of interest in coming down and helping Izzy sort through all these books,’’ he said. ‘‘Mainly, she’s inter ested in how I’m going to decrypt the mayor’s com puter. By the way, Frank’s working on it today. He said he has to be in Rosewood anyway. I told him to use your museum office. I hope that’s okay,’’ he said.

‘‘That’s fine. You think the two of you can get into the computer?’’ asked Diane.

‘‘Depends.’’ He shrugged. ‘‘We’ll see.’’

‘‘We’ve checked all the artwork, lamps, cereal boxes, everything we could think of for hidden com partments,’’ said David. ‘‘Nothing.’’ He grinned. ‘‘Neva found a Bic lighter in the back of a drawer. You should have seen Rikki’s eyes light up. She thought it was a flash drive. I think she’s definitely waiting for us to find whatever it is they are looking for.’’

‘‘Let’s hope we don’t disappoint her.’’ Diane stood up. ‘‘I need to get back to the museum.’’

‘‘Jin’s found some good blood transfer,’’ said David, rising from his chair. ‘‘Did you see him when you came in?’’

‘‘Yes. He told me about the guest bathroom,’’ said Diane.

‘‘Did he tell you about the stain under the chest in the foyer?’’ said David, pointing to the doorway.

‘‘No, I guess he was saving it. What did he find?’’ she asked.

‘‘We moved the chest to look under it because it was so close to Peeks’ body. We found blood smears with a faint pattern in the middle of them, almost parallel lines. Don’t know what it means. We’re going to see if we can find an image when we get back to the lab,’’ he said.

‘‘Good work, guys,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Seriously. You’re doing very good work.’’ Diane had to admit it felt good to be back in charge of the crime lab again.

‘‘Hi, Andie,’’ said Diane as she entered her office. ‘‘How was your gemology class?’’

Andie was changing the ink cartridge in her printer. Today she was dressed in a black jumper, white sweater, and patent leather Mary Janes. She looked up from her task and grinned broadly. Diane noticed that she was working on the museum’s newsletter.

‘‘Great. Barb McConnel was back. Ethan didn’t come. His father stayed home with him. She seemed to be having a good time. Did you know you can’t let opals dry out or freeze? It’s the water thing, which I still don’t understand. I mean, water’s wet. Anyway, Sheriff Canfield came by and left you a package. He said he didn’t want to take it to the crime lab, even though you are back in charge. Which he was real glad about. He knew Rikki was still working there and didn’t know if Bryce might pop back in. Is he really suing the city?’’

Diane took the package from her. ‘‘Who, Bryce or Canfield?’’ asked Diane.

Andie grinned. ‘‘Bryce,’’ she said.

‘‘I’ve heard that he is,’’ said Diane.

‘‘Well, he won’t win,’’ said Andie.

‘‘Probably not,’’ she said. ‘‘You doing the newsletter this time?’’

‘‘Yeah. I’ve been getting a lot of calls on what the dress code is for ‘white tie.’ So I’m putting it in the newsletter,’’ she said.

Diane smiled. ‘‘Excellent idea, Andie. Good think ing.’’

‘‘I think there’s going to be a lot of tiaras and prom dresses at the event. But I don’t think tiaras are worn much anymore,’’ said Andie, ‘‘except to proms.’’ Diane agreed. ‘‘Though I’ve been looking at white-tie events on the Internet, and this woman is wearing a tiara that’s more like a crown.’’ Andie flipped views on her computer and pointed to a picture on the screen.

‘‘Andie, that’s the queen of England,’’ said Diane.

‘‘Oh.’’ Andie squinted at the picture. ‘‘I think I need glasses. I thought it was the president’s mother.’’

‘‘I’ll be in my office,’’ said Diane. She walked past Andie’s desk and opened the door that separated their offices. ‘‘I’ll be here for a while if you need me.’’

‘‘Frank’s here,’’ said Andie. ‘‘With a computer. He said you’d know what it is.’’

‘‘I do,’’ she said. ‘‘Thanks.’’

She took the package in and sat down behind her desk. No one trusts the crime lab, she thought, not David or Frank. Not even me. David told Frank to work in Diane’s office. She told her crew to meet her here instead of at the lab. Establishing confidence again in the crime lab was going to be her top priority when this was over.

The box was wrapped in brown paper and tied with jute. It had her name on it and the address of the museum. The return address was the Rose County Sheriff’s Office. She cut the jute and tore off the paper.

There was a note taped to the top of a cardboard box about half the size of a shoe box. It was from the sheriff saying they hadn’t found anything more after a sweep of the area, except for a bullet, which was sent to the GBI ballistics lab. Canfield wasn’t even trusting Rosewood ballistics. She couldn’t blame him. Losing those bones was a major blunder. The note also had a PS: I’m glad to see you back at the crime lab.

She took the lid off and pulled away cotton batting. Four pieces of bone lay on another layer of cotton batting.