“This is Ben Florian,” said Andie.
“We met briefly at the hospital.” She opened her door and motioned him in.
He followed her, holding a cup of coffee in a museum mug.
“Good to see you again,” she said. “I was going to call you. I’m glad you came by.”
He stood in the middle of the room and looked around. “Nice office.”
“Thank you. Have a seat.” Diane sat down behind her desk. “I just saw Frank this morning. I guess you know he had a setback, but he’s doing well.” She kept telling everyone he’s doing well-it was as if it was only her positive declaration that was keeping him alive.
He frowned. “I hadn’t heard. What happened?”
“Infection.”
“Oh, that’s bad. My old sergeant got an infection after open-heart surgery. Wouldn’t heal. They ended up putting sugar in the wound and it finally healed up. Of course, that was a long time ago. I’m sure they have more modern methods now. Like I said at the hospital, Frank’s tough.”
“His brother tells me he’s responding well to antibiotics.”
As she said it, she realized that was not what he said at all. In fact, he hadn’t really told her anything-she simply kept pulling positive notes from what he said. The thought alarmed her.
“I’m sure he’s right.” He must have seen the expression on her face.
Ben looked to be about ten or fifteen years older than Frank. He wore the same gray suit he had worn at the hospital. He ran a hand over his short brown hair and pulled out a small notebook and a sheaf of papers from a pocket inside his coat.
“I suppose this is a smoke-free building.”
“Yes,” said Diane. “Museums have to be.”
He nodded. “I have the results from some tests Frank wanted processed.” He handed the papers to her.
They were the test results from the blood analysis and the analysis of the plastic she’d found near Jay Boone. The plastic had powder residue, as she suspected.
“Thanks. This helps.”
“Good. I have some information, too. Frank was checking on some falsified documents for you. He asked me to pass along what he discovered.” Ben flipped open the notebook. “He was checking the backgrounds of some of your employees. One name popped out and he circled it. You have an employee named Leonard Starns?”
“Yes. He’s one of the night security guards.”
“His youngest son, Danny Starns, is an agent in the Mark Grayson Real Estate Agency. Are you familiar with them?”
“Yes,” said Diane, “I am. Grayson is one of my chief detractors.”
“That may be something, then. He said you wanted to handle this in-house.”
“I do. Nothing has actually been stolen. But duplicates of some very expensive exhibits were ordered illegally. I appreciate the information. I hope you didn’t have to drive all the way from Atlanta just for this.”
“No, I thought I’d try to see Frank this afternoon. I thought maybe he’d be in a private room by now.” Ben put the notebook back in his pocket. “Frank said you might have some fingerprints or something?”
Diane took out the envelope of photographs and the fingerprint card from the conservation lab break-in.
“One of the labs was broken into a few days ago. They upset a lot of supplies and emptied drawers, but nothing was stolen, so the police here really can’t do much. I took some fingerprints. I was wondering if you could run them for me.” She handed him the envelope.
“That shouldn’t be a problem. Sounds to me like you have some vandals running around the place. I can’t stand people whose only mission in life is to tear up other people’s stuff. It’s as bad as stealing. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Yes. This concerns Frank and what happened to him.” Diane laid out the whole story of the skeleton, the Boones, the attack on her and then Frank.
“Yes, you mentioned in the hospital that you were attacked, or someone did. You think all this is related?”
“Either that or a lot of coincidences.”
“Yeah, too many coincidences.”
“I’ve analyzed the skeletal remains, and this is what I came up with.” She took her laptop and plugged it into its docking station, called up her report and printed it out.
She cast a glance at the laptop Kenneth had sent, which was sitting on the table. She hadn’t even tried it yet. In fact, she’d forgotten that Dylan Houser was bringing it over. It must have been brought when she’d been out, which lately was entirely too much. She should at least give it a try. Her absence from the museum was weighing her down.
The page came out of the printer, and Diane handed it to Ben.
“This is what we think we know about the remains. I make it clear in the report what’s observation and what’s simply possibilities.”
Ben read the report and whistled. “This seems pretty thorough to me. Didn’t know you could get this much stuff from bones.”
“We haven’t found the skull yet, unfortunately. That could tell us a lot more.”
“Frank said you’re a forensic anthropologist. I didn’t know museums had them.”
“Many have forensic units. Museums are often repositories of skeletal collections, so a lot of research goes on in them. I’d like to try to match up this information with a missing person.”
“I’ll put it out. Not every place in the country, or even Georgia, will see it right away, but who knows? We might get lucky.”
“I hope so. I think this might be the key to everything.”
“All we can do is try.” He stood. “Nice museum you have here. I might bring my wife and kids when it opens up.”
“Please do. We’re very proud of it. Your kids will especially enjoy it. Many of the exhibits are designed for kids to interact with.” She rose and shook his hand. “And thanks so much for coming.” Diane walked him through Andie’s office and to the door, grateful for help.
“I’m going to get some work done,” she told Andie. “So unless it’s an emergency. .”
“Sure. I’ve got a letter from Leonard Starns. He’s quit.” Andie sounded incredulous, astounded that anyone would quit a job there.
Diane would have smiled at Andie had she not felt so angry with Leonard. She’d be willing to bet it was his key used to gain access to the conservation lab. But if that were true, what was the purpose of the fake break-in? She thought it had to do with the bone, but why didn’t they break in the faunal lab? That would be where they would expect bones to be stored-or her office.
“You think he’s sick?” said Andie. “He’s had to miss work the last couple of evenings.”
“Is he due another paycheck?”
“Yes, payroll’s going to mail it to him.”
“No. Go tell them to call Leonard and tell him he has to come pick it up from you. Then bring it to me.”
“Is there something going on?”
“Maybe. There seems to be a lot going on. I want to see Leonard before he quits. Oh, Chanell Napier’s going to drop by. Send her in when she comes. She’ll need some paperwork. I’m promoting her to head of security. Also find out about training slots at the GBI police academy to send her to.”
“Will do,” said Andie, reaching for the phone book.
Diane started back to her office. “Oh, Dylan Houser’s been assessing our interactive computer needs. How’s that going?”
“Well, I think he’s been to all the departments. He said sometime next week he’d like to make a presentation to you and all the upper management. Speaking of which, Donald has been looking for you. He’s been complaining that you are never around.”
Diane sighed. “Next time he comes over, show him in. Has the snake been found?”
Andie laughed. “Donald makes you think of snakes? As far as I know, it’s still loose.”
“Tell the herpetologist that I’ve rethought the idea of live examples. I don’t care what they’ve built to accommodate them. We aren’t a zoo, and I shouldn’t have said yes. Bad decision.”
