Scattered Graves dffi-6

by Beverly Connor

  ‘‘That’s all right, Diane. What can I do for you? Peeks isn’t bothering you, is he?’’ He sounded like he was eating, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t also working.

  ‘‘No, not yet. I just had an unfortunate situation at the museum.’’

  Diane explained about the incident with seven-year old Ethan McConnel, the docent, and the crime lab’s night security guard.

  ‘‘I explained things to him, and he was equally threatening to me. I called his supervisor, Lloyd Bryce, who not only refused to rectify the dangerous situation but, I fear, encouraged the confrontation. The guard is now sitting in a chair on the overlook. I have tapes of each incident. The father of the seven-year-old is threatening to sue. Is this something we can use?’’

  ‘‘Yes, it is. It absolutely breaks the terms of the contract, makes it null and void. You know Rosewood is short a judge for the moment, so this will take a little longer, but it won’t be too long. In the meantime, what are you going to do about the guard?’’

  ‘‘Tonight I’m going to evacuate the third floor. To morrow I’ll tell Bryce the guard cannot return. If I can’t get any satisfaction from him, I’ll call the chief of police—Peeks will be piqued by that. Oh, and a couple of other things happened lately too.’’

  She related the stories about Jin’s job applicant at the DNA lab and the incident with Goldilocks, the new forensic anthropologist. She left out the conversa tion in the closet and the lost bones.

  ‘‘This guy Bryce is out of control. Lucky for us. I’ll start on the paperwork.’’

  He said that the same way Diane would say she was going caving. He loved his work. Diane smiled.

  ‘‘Thanks. Again, I’m sorry to disturb you,’’ she said.

  ‘‘Not a problem.’’

  ‘‘Wow,’’ said Andie when Diane had hung up. ‘‘Are you really going to kick them out? What’s wrong with Bryce?’’

  ‘‘I don’t know,’’ said Diane. ‘‘But right now I have to go upstairs and ask the people working on the third floor to go home.’’

  ‘‘I think the archivist is working late too,’’ said Emily.

  The third floor was mainly offices and work space. The docents’ offices were there, so were Exhibit Prep arations, the Library and Archives, and Education.

  ‘‘I’ll make sure everyone is out,’’ said Diane.

  Emily’s hazel eyes clouded. ‘‘Do you really think he is dangerous?’’ she asked.

  Diane smiled. ‘‘Can’t take a chance, can we?’’ she said.

  Emily still looked worried, and Diane felt guilty. Part of her did feel that Bryce and some of his people were out of control, but she didn’t really think the guard would shoot anyone. She was just taking advan tage of the opportunity to use Bryce’s bad judgment against him.

  ‘‘Most of this is just posturing by Bryce,’’ she said. ‘‘But I need to stop it, and I want to make sure no one from the museum has to cross his path until I get it cleared up. No one should be afraid they will face a man with a bad attitude and a gun during the course of their day at the museum.’’

  Emily nodded and gave Diane a faint smile, and Diane patted her on the shoulder.

  ‘‘This guy is the definition of hostile workplace,’’ said Emily. ‘‘It’s just so weird.’’

  ‘‘I’ll say,’’ said Andie. ‘‘But weird is what we do here.’’ She grinned at Diane.

  ‘‘Good night, Andie,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I’ll see you in the morning.’’

  Andie nodded, said good-bye, and started to leave. She lingered at the door momentarily, as if there might yet be fireworks to see. Diane shooed her away.

  ‘‘Mike, you mind coming with me? There’s some thing I’d like you to help me with,’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘Sure thing, Doc.’’ Mike grinned. ‘‘I love working here. Always something going on.’’

  ‘‘I’ll go too. I need to get my purse,’’ said Emily. ‘‘It’s in the docents’ office.’’

  The three walked out to the elevator and rode up to the third floor. The guard was still there. Diane saw him at the far side of the building as she was about to enter Exhibit Preparations. He was sitting in the chair looking like a troll guarding the bridge, popping something—candy or popcorn—into his mouth and staring down the hallway.

  Mike looked down the long hallway at him. ‘‘So tell me,’’ he said. ‘‘Which Billy Goat Gruff am I?’’

  ‘‘Well, I know I’m the littlest one,’’ said Emily, ‘‘so I’m out of here.’’ She waved at them and went to the docents’ office.

  Diane went to each department on the third floor and told her employees to go home. That done, she told Mike what she was planning and the two of them walked down toward the west wing overlook. The guard stood up as she approached, expecting, no doubt, another confrontation. He was grinning, ready for it.

  Shipman. That was the name on his uniform. G. Shipman. He was a large, broad-shouldered fellow with short dark hair and a broad face with a nose that looked like it had been broken at least once. Diane wondered whether he was a bully when he was in school.

  ‘‘You’re going to have to bring someone bigger than that skinny runt,’’ he said, pointing at Mike. ‘‘He’s not much better than the broad you brought last time.’’

  They ignored him, and before Shipman realized what Diane was about, she’d pulled the metal accor dion gate from its slot in the wall. He ran at her, lunging at the expanding door, trying to wrestle it from her, grinning and staring her in the eyes the whole time. Mike stepped in and slammed it in the latch. Diane locked it.

  Shipman’s muscles, Diane guessed, were like Harve Delamore’s—all show. Mike’s were not. It was nice to have the testosterone advantage on her side this time.

  ‘‘Hey, you can’t lock me in,’’ he said. He shook his hands as if they hurt. Probably stung after Mike grabbed the gate from him.

  ‘‘I’m not,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I’m securing the museum. There’s a stairwell and an elevator to the left and right of the overlook. They lead down to the first floor. There will be guards at the desk and they can let you out. Or you can go through the crime lab to their private elevator,’’ said Diane. She closed the fire doors and locked them too.

  As Diane and Mike walked to the middle bank of elevators, she called security on her cell and told them to turn on the night lighting.

  After a few moments they were plunged into dark ness except for the foot lighting. They heard a muffled yell but couldn’t hear what Shipman was saying. She pushed the button for the elevator and the doors opened immediately. They got in and the doors closed, drowning out all sound.

  ‘‘I thought something was up the way you talked to Bryce—a little harsher than your usual tone.’’

  ‘‘Bryce had already lost two battles with me. I knew he wouldn’t want to lose a third, and I didn’t want to tempt him into being reasonable by making nice with him.’’

  ‘‘Doc, I didn’t know you could be so manipulative,’’ he said.

  ‘‘Of course you did,’’ retorted Diane.

  Mike folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall of the elevator. ‘‘Exactly where did this get you?’’ he asked.

  Mike was wearing tan slacks and a dark gray sweater, dressier than his usual Dockers and polo shirts. She was glad he was back. She hadn’t liked the idea of his ice caving any more than Neva had.

  ‘‘The terms of the contract between the museum and the City of Rosewood specify that neither the crime lab operation nor any of its employees shall put the museum, its staff, or any visitors in danger,’’ said Diane. ‘‘When the lab left my control, Vanessa and the board wanted the crime lab gone. I confess, I had already been thinking about it even before Vanessa suggested it. It would be nice to have the space back.’’

  ‘‘So Bryce really stepped in it this time,’’ said Mike. ‘‘When Neva gets off work her muscles are knotted up worse than mine after a hard rock climb. She really doesn’t like
the guy. And neither does David from what I hear. Neva’s worried about him.’’

  Diane didn’t say anything for a long moment. Fi nally she spoke. ‘‘We’re coming up on the anniversary of the massacre,’’ she said at last. She didn’t elaborate. People who knew her well knew what she was talking about. ‘‘It’s always hard on both of us. This year, more so on David.’’

  ‘‘Oh, Diane, I’m sorry . . . I hadn’t realized. I don’t think Neva did either.’’

  The elevator doors opened.

  ‘‘It’s not something we bring up without cause,’’ said Diane as they stepped off the elevator into a stream of people leaving the museum restaurant.

  Diane unlocked a door and ducked into the primate section to avoid being noticed by anyone she knew. The room had an eerie feel in the dark with only the foot lighting. The Neanderthal figures looked even more real in the dark shadows.

  ‘‘Are you going to be all right?’’ Mike asked.

  ‘‘Fine. David will be fine too. How about you? Is that a new scrape on the side of your face?’’ she asked, deflecting any talk about the massacre.

  ‘‘Frostbite. I got it in the ice caves. I have to tell you, ice caves are among the most beautiful places on earth, but I really hate them.’’

  ‘‘Don’t they have more experienced people with ice caves . . . ? I mean, that isn’t your thing,’’ said Diane.

  ‘‘We had ice cave experts doing the climb too. I didn’t really have to do that much. I wanted the expe rience. But now that I’ve had it, I much prefer the regular old caves we explore,’’ he said. ‘‘Though I have to say, the volcano expedition several months ago was interesting.’’

  They crossed over to the east wing lobby. Two of her security guards were on duty. Diane greeted them as she walked past.

  ‘‘You got a phone call from Lloyd Bryce,’’ said one of the guards. He grinned. ‘‘He said you locked his guard in the west wing?’’

  Diane stopped. ‘‘I did no such thing. Mr. Shipman has several egresses to choose from if he wants to leave. If Mr. Bryce calls again, I’m not here.’’

  ‘‘Sure thing, Dr. Fallon.’’

  Diane left Mike in the lobby on his way to pick up Neva to take her to a late dinner. Diane went to her office and called Frank to tell him she would be home soon and that she would tell him all about her latest adventure.

  Home, she thought as she hung up. She still hadn’t made up her mind whether to settle in with Frank or to get her own place. She wished she could do both. She sat in her chair listening to the water fountain on her desk. The bubbling, flowing sound was soothing.

  Diane didn’t feel like she had just won a major bat tle. She thought she would feel more jubilant now that the museum had a way to reclaim all that space in the west wing and rid itself of a growing problem. She sat there feeling a little sad, not unlike the way she had felt when the chief of police and the mayor had re placed her. It had hurt more than she let on, more than she had told anyone, even Frank. In truth, she loved the crime lab and she had enjoyed it being in the museum. She knew Vanessa had too.

  Vanessa Van Ross was the real power behind the museum. She was old Rosewood going back several generations. She had money and she had power—but not enough power to change the new mayor’s mind. Vanessa wasn’t aware that Diane knew she had gone down to the mayor’s office after he fired her to talk him out of it. It must have been an odd feeling for Vanessa—being turned down. It didn’t happen often.

  Diane got up, put on her jacket, and turned out the lights. She walked through Andie’s office and opened the door to leave. Neva and Mike were standing there ready to knock. Neva was dressed in jeans and a short, lambskin-lined suede jacket and gloves. It must be get ting colder outside, thought Diane.

  ‘‘Well, hi,’’ Diane said. ‘‘Did you forget some thing?’’

  Mike shook his head. ‘‘Neva wanted to talk to you,’’ he said.

  ‘‘It’s David,’’ said Neva. ‘‘Did you know he re signed today?’’

  Chapter 13

  ‘‘Resigned?’’ said Diane. ‘‘When?’’

  Neva shrugged. ‘‘I just know he left a letter on

  Bryce’s desk. I’m really worried about him. He hasn’t

  been himself lately,’’ she said. Her dark brown eyes

  looked moist. She ran her fingers through her honey

  brown hair, but her bangs fell back in her eyes. ‘‘Come in,’’ said Diane.

  Neva frowned at the sight of Diane’s face, but she

  didn’t say anything. Probably knew that Diane was

  tired of people noticing.

  Diane turned on the light in Andie’s office. Mike

  and Neva sat on the sofa; Diane sat on a chair in the

  small sitting area in the corner of the office. The

  cottage-style stuffed furniture with its floral design and

  matching rag rug of pink, blue, and green were pretty

  and tranquil. It made Diane feel like she should be

  entertaining Peter Rabbit’s mother. She guessed that

  was what Andie had in mind.

  ‘‘He hasn’t been the same since you left the crime

  lab. You know David hated politics to start with.

  Now . . .’’ Neva shrugged again. ‘‘I know he never

  talked much about himself, but he talked to us about

  other stuff. Now the only time I have a conversation

  with him is when all of us have dinner. At work, it’s

  strictly business. He keeps to himself.’’

  ‘‘Do you know where he is?’’ asked Diane. Neva shook her head. ‘‘I tried calling his cell but

  didn’t get an answer. I went by his house while Mike was teaching his class tonight. He either wasn’t home

  or didn’t answer the door.’’

  ‘‘What about his rooms in the basement here?’’

  asked Diane.

  ‘‘I went down there before I left. Unless he locked

  himself in and is not answering the door, he’s not

  there.’’ She hesitated a moment, looked over at Mike,

  then back at Diane. ‘‘I know this is a hard time...’’

  She let the sentence trail off.

  ‘‘Sometimes David likes to be by himself, especially

  now,’’ said Diane. ‘‘And you know he won’t suffer

  fools—gladly or otherwise.’’

  ‘‘I know that,’’ said Neva. ‘‘Mike’s been telling me

  what Bryce’s been doing. Bryce has this thing about

  control. That’s what makes him so hard to work with.

  I can’t tell you how many crime scenes we’ve arrived

  at way late because he takes forever to assign one of

  us to go. By the time we get there, the scene has

  already been compromised. Often he’ll just send Lolli

  pop by herself.’’ Neva rolled her eyes.

  ‘‘You had no clue that David was going to resign?’’

  said Diane.

  ‘‘Not really. Neither of us have been happy up

  there. Jin is counting his blessings that he’s in the

  DNA lab. Frankly, I was thinking about applying for

  a job there when he gets around to hiring. It worries

  me that David would quit with no job lined up.’’ ‘‘Don’t be too worried. I’ll look for David and speak

  with him,’’ said Diane.

  Neva looked relieved. ‘‘Maybe you could talk him

  into coming caving with us sometime,’’ said Neva. ‘‘Not a chance in hell,’’ said Diane. ‘‘He’d rather

  work a crime scene with Bryce.’’

  Neva laughed. ‘‘You think he is all right, then?’’ she

  said.

  ‘‘I believe so,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I’m not really worried.’’

  This wasn’t exactly the truth. She had been mildly

  concerned about
him too. But she didn’t want to

  worry Neva.

  ‘‘I’ll let you get home, then,’’ said Neva. ‘‘You must

  feel awful, everything you’ve been through today.’’ ‘‘Not as bad as I look,’’ said Diane. But it really was. She and Mike stood up. Diane rose with them. ‘‘Good to see you, Neva. I’m glad you came by,’’