Gail glanced up at me and laughed. “Where’s the fun in that?”
I pointed at the monitor. “There are the names of the two Professors who were killed.”
She nodded and highlighted the rows with their most recent finds. “Yeah, looks like they led a dig on the other side of the river. Another Mound Indian site, I wonder why they’ve just now found it.”
“There’s why,” I said, pointing to a line on the screen. “The new site is a few miles south of here in a swamp. Nobody wants to dig in a swamp. I don’t understand what led them to the site.”
“Tell you what,” Gail said, “if we save one of these guys, you can ask him or her.”
“Hah hah, now how do we figure out which thing is causing the damage?”
Gail filtered the file’s contents on the two professors and everyone of their finds appeared, along with all co-finders. “There you are. Two dozen items all from the same date, the day before the first killing, and with only two other names listed as collaborators on those finds.”
Gail transferred the file to the thumb drive and then called up a search program. A minute later, she had the addresses of each of the surviving archeologists.
“Okay, we know where they live, but where did they stash what they found?” I asked.
“The file just says Murray Hall, B30 and then a bunch of bin locations; I’m guessing it’s the basement of a campus building and B30 is a room.”
“So we’re at the wrong location?”
“Looks like it. We’d better get moving.” Gail shut down the computer and removed her thumb drive. She tucked it back in a pocket.
I opened the office door, took a quick glance around the museum, and motioned for Gail to follow. We were half way back to the outer doors when headlights illuminated the outside sign.
“Uh-oh,” I said.
Gail grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind a glass case with a life-sized native. We crouched and peeked around opposite sides of the display as the headlights drew nearer. The lights grew brighter and then a vehicle pulled to a stop near the doors. It was a security company’s car.
I swore under my breath. “Shit, what was that you were saying about the alarm system?”
“That alarm system is off. It must be a routine check of the grounds.”
“I certainly hope so. I’m not looking forward to explaining why we’re in here after hours with weapons.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s just part of the job. Sometimes you have to make bail, sometimes you have to high tail it before they can catch you.”
“Are you sure about the alarm system?”
“Yes, trust me.”
The driver’s door opened and a middle-aged officer got out. Leaving his door open, he approached the entrance to the museum.
“Stay down,” Gail said, following her own advice.
I glanced around the room, making sure the fire exit I had spotted earlier was still there at the back of the room. It hadn’t gone anywhere.
Something bright caught my attention and I tracked it with my eyes. “Uh oh.”
“What now?” Gail asked turning to me.
I motioned with my head toward the back corner of the room. Hanging in the corner was a convex mirror and in its reflection: the front doors and the cop who was checking the lock.
“If we can see him in the mirror, then he can see us,” I said.
“Yeah, don’t move. As long as we’re still he’ll probably not notice the mirror.”
A moment later the guard stepped close to the glass and put a hand above his eyes to improve his view of the museum’s interior.
“Have I said uh oh yet?” I asked.
“Yes, you did. You see that exit sign at the opposite end of the building?” Gail said without taking her eyes off the mirror.
“Yeah, I see it.”
“If he starts to unlock the door, I’ll race you to that exit.”
“There’s no cover outside, it’s just open fields all around the mounds,” I said.
“Yeah, but I’m betting we’re faster than him. Just get out the door and turn right.”
The guard stepped back from the door and keyed the mike attached to his uniform at the collarbone.
“Well, unless he just got another call, he’s summoning backup,” I said.
“Yeah, the question is, do we run now or wait until he gets help?”
“I vote for now,” I said and judged the distance to the rear exit.
“Okay, give him a couple of seconds. We need to know whether he’ll come inside or go back to his car.”
“What if he doesn’t have keys to the place?”
“Then he’ll be summoning police and the museum staff to unlock the door.”
Our wondering stopped when the guard lifted a ring of keys from his belt.
“Okay, that answers—” I was surprised when Gail leapt up and ran for the rear exit. It took me a second to react, but then I was up and after her. I glanced over my shoulder toward the door and saw the guard step back from the door in surprise.
Gail maintained her lead until she reached the rear exit. As she hit the crash bar, I caught her by the arm. “Wait, stop.”
She turned as an alarm went off. “We don’t have time to talk, Jesse. Come on.”
“No, wait. When we made a break for it, he stopped. I think he’s circling around the building to cut us off.”
Gail let the door slam closed and looked at the front door. “Damn, you’re right. Okay, out the front, quick.”
I followed her step for step until we reached the front. The patrol car was gone. We pushed through the doors and stepped outside. Staying in the shadows, we looked out. The car was driving across the manicured lawn and we watched it disappear around the side of the building.
“Go,” Gail said. “Straight across the road and to the nearest trees.”
Running flat out, I reached the tree line before Gail. Under the tree’s canopy, far enough off the road that the light from the moon didn’t reach us. I slowed and glanced back. Headlights were
