neck.
“When I first met you, in her office, you seemed very nervous around Dr. Jeannotte.”
“She’s been wonderful to me. She’s a lot better for my head than meditation and heavy breathing.” She snorted. “But she’s also demanding, and I worry all the time that I’ll mess up.”
“I understand you spend a lot of time with her.”
Her eyes went back to the skeletons. “I thought you were concerned about Amalie and these dead people.”
“Anna, would you be willing to talk to someone else? What you’ve told me is important, and the police will definitely want to follow up on it. A detective named Andrew Ryan is investigating these homicides. He’s a very kind man, and I think you’ll like him.”
She gave me a confused look and whipped hair behind both ears.
“There’s nothing I can tell you. John could, but I really don’t know where he’s gone.”
“Do you remember where this seminar took place?”
“Some kind of farm. I rode in a van and didn’t pay much attention because they had us playing games. Coming back, I just slept. They kept us up a lot and I was exhausted. Except for John and Amalie, I never saw any of them again. And now you say she’s—”
Downstairs a door opened, then a voice rolled up the stairs.
“Who’s there?”
“Great. Now I’ll lose the key,” Anna whispered.
“Are we not supposed to be here?”
“Not exactly. When I stopped working in the museum I just sort of kept the key.”
Terrific.
“Go along with me,” I said, rising from the bench.
“Is someone there?” I called out. “We’re here.”
Footfalls on the stairs, then a security guard appeared in the doorway. His knitted cap stopped just above his eyes, and a water-soaked parka barely covered his paunch. He was breathing hard, and his teeth looked yellow in the violet light.
“Oh, God, are we glad to see you.” I overacted. “We were sketching
“You can’t be in here now. The museum’s closed,” he rasped.
Obviously my performance had been wasted.
“Of course. We really need to be on our way. Her husband will be crazy wondering where she is.” I gestured at Anna, who was nodding like a box turtle.
The guard shifted watery eyes from Anna to me, then tipped his head toward the stairs.
“Let’s go, then.”
We wasted no time.
Outside, rain was still falling. The drops were thicker now, like the Slushes my sister and I had bought from summer vendors. Her face rose from a niche in my mind. Where are you, Harry?
At Birks Hall Anna gave me a funny look.
“
“It popped into my head.”
“There is no white-tailed deer in the museum.”
Did the corners of her mouth pucker, or was it merely the cold? I shrugged.
Reluctantly, Anna gave me her home number and address. We parted, and I assured her that Ryan would call soon. As I hurried down University something made me turn back. Anna stood in the archway of the Gothic old building, motionless, like her Cenozoic comrades.
When I got home I dialed Ryan’s pager. Minutes later the phone rang. I told him that Anna had surfaced and outlined our conversation. He promised to inform the coroner so a search could begin for Amalie Provencher’s medical and dental records. He rang off quickly, intending to contact Anna before she left Jeannotte’s office. He would phone later to fill me in on what he’d learned during the day.
I ate a supper of salad nicoise and croissants, took a long bath, and slipped into an old sweat suit. I still felt chilled, and decided to light a fire. I’d used the last of my starter logs so I wadded newspaper into balls and overlaid them with kindling. Ice was ticking against the windows as I lit the pile and watched it catch.
Eight-forty. I got the Belanger journals and turned on “Seinfeld,” hoping the rhythm of the dialogue and laughter would have a soothing effect. Left on their own I knew my thoughts would run like cats in the night, rooting and snarling, and raising my anxiety to a level where sleep would be impossible.
No go. Jerry and Kramer did their best, but I couldn’t concentrate.
My eyes drifted to the fire. The flames had dwindled to a few sparse tongues curving around the bottom log. I went to the hearth, separated a section of paper, tore and balled up several pages, and stuffed them into the embers.
