So instead of a hotel, she’d hunker down here. Remembering her childhood, she wished she had a shot gun. Or at least a dog or two. She’d have to work with what she had. Before heading to bed, she pushed her large vertical buffet over a few feet so it blocked the door. If anyone tried to get in, they’d be sure to knock over the heavy piece of furniture and it would surely wake her.
Hopped up on adrenaline, Dallas lay awake most of the night, thinking about what the break in meant. Had Caldwell really been so desperate based on a random comment she’d made at his book signing? The implication that she had a different theory than him? Was he that insecure about his own theory that he’d broken in to try to find what hers was? And why her home office and not her work. It didn’t add up. What about someone else in the room? Had someone followed her from the reading?
It was still dawn when she dialed the number on the card the detective had given her. She examined it more closely. His name was Alfred Dunnigan. Poor, unfortunate soul. Didn’t parents realize what power names had. He answered immediately.
“I’m sorry if I woke you,” Dallas said.
“Nah. I’m still up. Night shift you know. Plus, I wanted to make some progress on your case. I’m leaving town later today.”
“Oh.” She knew she sounded dejected. “Anything?”
“Well, yeah. We were able to track down Caldwell. Unfortunately, he’d already left town early yesterday morning, probably based on the timelines you gave me, before you’d even left for work.”
“He’s out then?”
“Looks like it.”
Dallas was stumped. But then she remembered why she’d called. “My office at the school? I’m heading there in a few hours, but I guess it doesn’t make sense that someone would break into my home office and not my work one?”
“Stay put. I’ll send some officers over to check on it and get back to you asap.”
Dallas made an espresso and downed it and then decided to venture into her living room. Unlike her office, her living quarters were fairly Spartan and modern. A sleek couch. A slim leather chair. A TV and a few pictures. The only knick-knack type items were a small statue of a sphinx and a ceramic replica of a cuchimilco couple from 1200 A.D. Peru that was supposed to keep evil spirits away.
“Guys, you didn’t really do your job,” she said, scolding the couple who were standing with their arms out. “Or maybe you did.”
Surprisingly few things were out of place in the room, mainly pillows and cushions tossed around and books torn off bookshelves. She had the room straightened up before Detective Dunnigan called back.
“I’m sorry to have to ask you this, but is your office at the university is usually, um, well, messy?”
Dallas rolled her eyes. But it wasn’t his fault. “Yeah, it’s normally a train wreck. But I spent all day cleaning it yesterday.”
“Well, sorry about that. You’re going to have to start over again. Someone clearly was in here based on the mess we’ve found, but also the school’s security company reported an alarm going off there early this morning. When officers went to investigate last night, however, they didn’t find anything suspicious.”
“I’m on my way,” Dallas said, reaching for a hoodie that was on a hook by the door.
“Did you have a laptop or computer in the office?” he asked.
“No, I have a laptop I cart to school and back home every day.”
“Oh good. Glad they didn’t take that.”
“Me too,” Dallas said. “I’ll head to the U now and take a look.”
“Meet you there.”
The first thing Dallas realized was that the picture she kept on her desk was gone.
“Anything missing?” Dunnigan asked. He stood in the doorway watching as Dallas looked around.
“They took a picture,” she said. Her voice was low.
“A picture?”
She swallowed. “Of me with my mom and dad.”
The detective didn’t answer.
After a few seconds, he spoke to someone behind him in the hall. “Can you get Jackson in here to scan for fingerprints? He turned back to Dallas “Anything else?”
Dallas’s eyes searched the small space. She took a step toward her bookshelf. It was mostly empty with all of her books now on the floor. What she saw made her freeze.
“Ms. Jones?”
“Um, detective? Have you ever heard of a burglar leaving something instead of taking something?”
In fact, Detective Dunnigan had heard of burglars leaving mementos behind after they broke into homes. And they weren’t items anyone would want to find. Gross things. Dallas knew that he was trying to lighten the mood but the stories he told her were disgusting.
“I mean I guess someone leaving a picture of a black crow is a lot better than the guy who would take a dump on the kitchen table.”
“That’s a fact,” Dallas said. She glanced again at the small card featuring a black crow. She knew enough about ancient Egypt to know crows were bad omens.
“They say people do that—defecate—as a kind of power trip,’ Dunnigan said, still talking about pooping burglars.
Dallas was half listening. The picture was a warning. Left by the intruder.
Someone was telling her to back off her search for Cleopatra’s tomb. She grabbed her cell. It went straight to Colton’s voice mail.
“Listen, I’m leaving tonight on a flight to Cairo whether I got the sabbatical leave or not and wanted to let you know,” she paused for a second before adding, “I hope you understand. I have to do this.”
Once she put her office back together, Dallas took her laptop out of her bag and got online to make arrangements for trip to Cairo.
The Happy City Hotel was only $18 a night, which both excited her and worried her. At least it wasn’t $18 an hour, right? She scrolled through the pictures. The rooms looked like a little old grandma’s house – pink walls
