‘‘One of the doors was blocked by that delivery truck,’’ said one of the guards. ‘‘There was a storage container in front of the door on the loading dock. We had to go around to the restaurant’s back entrance.’’
‘‘That’s the truck I told those guys not to leave un attended?’’ said Chanell.
‘‘Well, they did leave it,’’ said the other guard. ‘‘It was backed up against the door.’’
‘‘I’ll get on it right away, Dr. Fallon. I told those guys they had to unload and move the trucks, that they couldn’t block the doors.’’
‘‘Is that the material for the new exhibits?’’ said Diane.
‘‘Yes, ma’am,’’ said Chanell.
‘‘They were supposed to go to the east wing loading dock with that anyway,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Don’t I know it. These guys are stubborn and hard to deal with,’’ said Chanell. ‘‘They’ve been giving our workers a fit.’’
‘‘Then I’ll cross them off our list of shippers,’’ said Diane. ‘‘What was wrong with the outside door in the Arachnid Room?’’ said Diane.
‘‘That room’s being redone and it was locked off,’’ the guard said. ‘‘We thought we could get out the restaurant door quicker. We’re just really sorry.’’
‘‘We can sort the access problems out tomorrow,’’ said Diane. ‘‘What happened here?’’ Diane gestured toward Mickey and his wife. The two were huddled together.
Another of the security guards stepped forward and started to speak just as the police arrived, headed by Detective Janice Warrick. Out of the corner of her eye Diane saw Frank walking across the parking lot.
‘‘What happened here?’’ said Warrick.
Diane allowed Chanell to explain to Janice what had happened. Chanell and the security guard who had released Mickey told Janice the story, from the sound of the alarm, to the almost apprehension of the perpetrator, to releasing Mickey.
Frank came and stood by Diane. He looked at her face for several moments and gave her a handkerchief to replace the Kleenex.
‘‘Do you need to go to the emergency room?’’ said Janice.
‘‘No,’’ said Diane. ‘‘The last time I was there they offered me a season pass.’’
Everyone smiled or snickered except Frank.
‘‘Where are the others?’’ Diane asked Frank in a low voice.
‘‘With the computer in your office. Izzy wanted to come with me, but I told him if he wanted to work for you he had to start following your orders. I was under no such constraints. Are you all right?’’
‘‘Yes. I’ve had worse scrapes in a cave,’’ she said. ‘‘I know,’’ said Frank.
Diane listened to the stories. Mickey and his wife walked over together and told Janice what happened. The wife had been grabbed at home as she was getting groceries out of her car. The man, whose face she never saw, told her he had a partner at her parents’ home who would shoot them if she didn’t come with him to the crime lab. At the lab she was forced to get her husband, Mickey, to open the door. When she did, the masked man pushed his way in, slapped Mickey on the side of the head with his gun, and made Mick ey’s wife cuff her husband with disposable restraints. The perp then restrained her and took the elevator to the third floor. He was there for several minutes be fore he came down and demanded the code to the crime lab door. Mickey, of course, didn’t know it. The guy didn’t believe him and was threatening Mickey’s wife. Mickey told him help would be coming soon because the guy had set off the alarm by messing with the crime lab door, and that he, in fact, did not know the code for just such occasions. The perp cut the wife’s ties and told her to open the door an inch and if she tried anything she was dead. That’s when he burst out the door holding her.
Chanell explained the rest of the events, including Diane offering herself in exchange. Diane cringed. She knew Frank would be angry.
‘‘Why did you do that?’’ said Janice.
‘‘I could see Mickey’s wife was frightened and I thought that if I could convince the guy I knew what he was looking for and could get it for him, he would let her go and we could get the upper hand. Then she grabbed his ankle, tripped him up, and bit him, and from there things got out of control.’’
‘‘He threatened my family,’’ said Shara. ‘‘He hit my husband and he touched me. Nobody touches me.’’ She folded her arms under her breasts.
‘‘Has anyone heard from your parents?’’ Janice asked Shara. ‘‘Are they okay?’’
‘‘Yes, the first thing I did was call them,’’ said Shara. ‘‘They’re fine. The jerk was lying. There wasn’t any one at their house.’’
‘‘Let’s focus on the perpetrator,’’ said Janice. ‘‘Dr. Fallon, you think he was after the computer?’’
Diane nodded. ‘‘He seemed to be. When you find him, he’ll have a bite mark on his right leg, and his left thumb will be broken. And I imagine he’ll have a few minor cuts and scrapes from the fall on the pavement.’’
‘‘Do you have any idea who he might be?’’ said Janice. ‘‘Could he have been the shadowy figure in the video?’’
There was that sword hanging over her again. Diane had almost forgotten about it.
‘‘No,’’ she said. ‘‘This guy was smaller.’’
Diane quickly gave a description of the man’s build and his truck, hoping Janice wouldn’t bring up the shadow man again.
‘‘I know who I’d look at,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Curtis Crabtree. He was the same size, and he figures in all this in
