LC 04 - Skeleton Crew

by Beverly Connor

  "I can understand that," one of the paramedics commented.

  "I think he may have been taking something for it," Lindsay said. "He seemed very happy lately, almost manic sometimes."

  "Yeah," Gina agreed. "I just thought he was adjusting."

  "Here they come," Lindsay said.

  Juliana and Trey hurried over and Trey thrust a pill vial into the hands of the nearest paramedic, who looked at the label. "Prescription. But the doctor may not have known he was an asthmatic."

  They strapped a pale Jeff to the stretcher and with the help of Steven, John, and Trey, hoisted him to the top of the dam where they carried him down to the boat. John climbed to the top of the dam to assist.

  "Someone should go with Jeff," Gina said.

  "If you like, you can get cleaned up and I'll have someone take you to the hospital later," Trey said. "There's nothing you can do now. Lindsay, I need to talk to you."

  As Lindsay followed Trey to the field desk, she heard Gina ask Juliana what was wrong.

  "Nothing," Juliana snapped. "Let's get back to work." The anxieties of the past several days were getting to all of them.

  "What is it?" Lindsay asked, looking at Trey's worried features.

  "While Juliana and I were looking for medicine, we found some things."

  "What things?"

  "A gold and emerald cross and what looks like soggy leather books or something."

  It took a moment for what Trey told her to sink in. "No."

  "I'm afraid so. Juliana was really upset, of course."

  "It doesn't make sense. Why would Jeff do that?"

  "Why anybody? If Jeff's been in some altered state of awareness the last few days, he may have thought he had some good reason."

  "Not to attack Boote, wearing a ski mask." Lindsay thought back to the incident. Jeff was shorter than she thought the attacker was, and she had a sense that the thief was heavier. But then again, the best view she got of him was when he knocked her down. Jeff's eyes were the right color, but hazel eyes are common. "I don't like this."

  "Neither do 1, but maybe, you know, the guy just went nuts. Jeff was a little peculiar when he got here."

  "Peculiarity doesn't lead to criminal behavior."

  "He had the items tucked away in the bottom drawer of his chest."

  "Where are they now?" Lindsay asked, then saw a box he had put down on the field desk.

  "I've got to call Carolyn and find out what to do with the stuff. I can't believe this." Trey took the box and he and Lindsay went up the ladder to the top of the dam and into one of the trailers.

  Lindsay looked in the box at the waterlogged contents. One item appeared to be a book with an embossed leather cover. Another piece of leather or something lay in a pile in the corner. It looked like it was disintegrating. An object wrapped in a rag lay in the end of the box. Lindsay picked it up and unwrapped it. It was startlingly beautiful-a seven-inch shiny gold cross encrusted with huge emeralds. It weighed heavy in her hand as she rubbed her fingers across the stones. She could see how something like this was tempting. The beauty of it had its own vitality. This piece alone was worth a princely sum of money. She couldn't imagine an enormous ship full of objects like this.

  "Rather intoxicating, isn't it?" she asked.

  "Too much so." Trey called Carolyn and told her about the found artifacts, omitting mention of the cross and Jeff. "She said to put a seawater-soaked cloth on them and get them to her. I fear some of them are already ruined. Look, I'm going to take this myself."

  "What are you going to do about the cross?" asked Lindsay.

  "Give it to Lewis-" he began.

  Lindsay interrupted. "What about Boote? It was stolen from his house."

  "It's an artifact," Trey said emphatically.

  "His lawyer, and he will get one, will tell you that you don't know for sure where it came from. And you don't. I have to tell you, I think he'll have a good claim on it."

  "Damn. I don't want this kind of problem."

  "You've got it anyway."

  "Jeff has a lot to answer for," Trey said.

  "I wonder where Keith found it?" Lindsay commented. "That might help Nate with his program. What do you think of it?"

  "The program? I was skeptical at first. What Nate described in his prospectus was virtually a simulation of the ocean, or at least a part of it. Do you know how many variables are involved?" Lindsay said she did. "The ocean is a very intricate ecosystem, and we've only begun to understand how all the parts interact. But he's only dealing with the variables that contribute to motion. That helped me to be more enthusiastic. What do you think?"

  "Same thing. But he has a lot of data on currents and he's had some successes with mapping artifacts from the Estrella back to her."

  Trey stood up. "I'll take the cross to Lewis and we'll figure something out." He grinned at Lindsay. "I'll tell him you're our conscience."

  "Thanks, he'll love that."

  Later in the day they received word that Jeff was in fair condition. Lindsay was correct, he had overdosed on prescription tranquilizers.

  When Lindsay arrived back at the lab, everything was in an uproar. The first thing she witnessed was Lewis and Trey ganging up on Harper in Lewis's office.

  "What were you thinking?" Trey was asking.

  "I was thinking about doing what I've been doing all alongtranslating night and day, copying and delivering the translations to the staff. It's what I'm getting paid to do. If you wanted me to use my powers of clairvoyance, I charge a lot extra for that! How was I to know you were keeping some big secret?"

  "Surely," said Lewis, "you could have used some judgment."

  "Judgment? Judgment? You want to talk about judgment? What about hiring one disinterested retired guy who only cares about model trains to guard the whole island!"

  Lindsay stood with her arms folded; Bobbie stood beside her frowning. "Guys," Lindsay interrupted.

  "Have you read the diary?" Lewis asked with irritation. "It tells all about the silver galleon-Harper handed out copies and now everyone knows about it."

  "Yes. The cat's out of the bag. Why didn't you let Harper in on the secret?"

  "How were we to know that there was a connection between the two ships?" Trey asked.

  "The same way Harper was to-what did you call it, Lewisuse her judgment?"

  "So, you're on her side?" Lewis asked. "Is this a male versus female thing?"

  "No, it's an acting like an adult and being reasonable thing. Lewis, Harper has done an outstanding job here. What's wrong with the two of you?"

  Trey closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his fingers. "I know. I'm sorry, Harper," he said. From the look on Harper's face, that wasn't going to be nearly enough.

  "Lindsay's right," said Lewis. "You were just a target we had in sight. Everybody else is out of reach."

  "Has anything else happened?" asked Lindsay.

  "Jeff is going to be arrested for attacking Boote and stealing the cross. Agent Ramirez is coming to take possession of it. Jeff is also being questioned about the murders."

  "Arrest him? I don't think they have enough evidence. Are you sure?"

  "The cross was found in his possession," Trey said.

  "No," said Lindsay. "It was found in his room. There's a difference. They would need to have some corroborative evidence in order for the DA to charge him."

  "Maybe they've found something." Trey shrugged.

  "I don't believe it," Bobbie said. "I've been working with Jeff, and I just can't see it."

  Lewis's phone rang and he picked it up, listened a moment, then cursed. "Can you get hold of the picture?" he said. Pause. "Well try. And fax it to me." He slammed the receiver down. "Son of a bitch. It looks like the diary thing is academic anyway."

  "Who was that?" Trey asked.

  "A lawyer who's watching things for us. Damn."

  "What?" asked Trey.

  "It's that Jones woman," Lewis said. "She's recovered a bell and is getting a court order
to have it arrested."

  "For what?" Harper asked. "Pealing without a license?"

  "I guess those bells can be dangerous," muttered Bobbie.

  "You are going to have to explain that one," Lindsay said.

  Lewis raked his hands through his hair. "She's discovered the wreck of the Concepcion and is in the process of becoming salvor in possession. In order to lay claim to a wreck, the law requires that you have an artifact from the wreck and put it in the hands of a U.S. marshal who issues an arrest warrant for it. It's one of the peculiarities of treasure salvage."

  "Won't it belong to the state?" asked Bobbie.

  "Depends on how far out," Lewis answered. "Rights to the Atocha were given to the salvor. At any rate, the university will have no claim."

  "She still has to meet certain criteria," Trey said. "Look, Harper. I am really sorry for jumping down your throat."

  "I'm going to have a cup of coffee," Harper responded. She turned and left the office.

  "I think I'll join her," Lindsay said.

  Lindsay, Bobbie, and Harper sat at a table in the break room listening to the conversations around them. Everyone was talking about the ghost ship-the golden galleon-the Concepcion.

  "You know," Harper said, "I just think the diary is a great story."

  "It is," Lindsay agreed. "Trey and Lewis aren't doing too well under pressure right now."

  "So," said Bobbie, "we know the murder victim was Lopezand the murderer was Sancho. That's really interesting."

  "The diary explains the injuries to Valerian's servant, Jen," Lindsay said, "Perhaps it really was dysbaric osteonecrosis."

  "You know," Harper said, "even with the murders, getting stranded at sea and on land, the threat of hurricane, I was still having a good time."

  Lindsay put a hand over hers. "Harper, you will again. They were wrong and they know it."

  "Yeah," Bobbie agreed. "Just tell Trey he was an ass, but you'll forgive him if he doesn't be one again."

  Harper smiled at the two of them, then frowned. "Uh-oh. Here they come."

  Trey and Lewis came and sat down at their table, still looking glum. "I thought you all would like to see the fax of the artifact Jones has in her possession," Lewis said.

  Lindsay took the fax from Lewis's hand and examined it. Her lips twitched. She pushed it across the table.

  "What do you think, Harper?"

  Harper looked at the picture. Bobbie leaned over her shoulder.

  "I think the guys had better go raise some money and bail that bell out of jail," said Harper.

  "I agree," said Bobbie.

  "What?" Lewis asked, clearly not understanding.

  Lindsay looked at him and Trey in turn. "I don't normally use strong language to make a point, but I'm going to make an exception with you guys. Get your heads out of your butts and be a little more observant."

  She took the picture from Harper and handed it back to them. They stared at it.

  "What?" asked Trey.

  "It's Valerian's diving bell. It has his seal on it. It belongs to our ship-the Estrella. Chances are, Jones found a collection of artifacts and jumped the gun, thinking she had found the Concepcion. Now what you have to do is get the digital camera and photograph the insignia on top of Valerian's trunk and the pages out of the translation that describe Valerian's crest on his ring and the ones that describe his diving bell and fax those to your lawyer. Tell him that bell has to be well cared for because it has extremely important his torical significance. It is an artifact from the earliest recorded incident of deep-sea diving off the coast of Georgia, perhaps in the Western Hemisphere."

  The two of them looked dumbfounded for a moment. "You're right," Trey said. "It is Valerian's crest."

  "We've got to get on this right away," Lewis urged. As he and Trey rose to leave, he turned to Harper. "Look, Harper, I talk to everyone like that at one time or another." They went off to thwart Evangeline Jones.

  "Was that an apology?" asked Harper.

  "I think so," Lindsay replied.

  Carolyn came over and sat down with them. She turned to Lindsay. "Do you think Jeff is guilty? I've had classes with him, and he just didn't seem like the kind of person who would do any of this. He's a little odd, but aren't we all?"

  "I don't know. People do funny things. What size shoe does he wear?"

  "I don't know," Carolyn said. "Maybe we should find out."

  "What happened to your hands?" Bobbie asked Carolyn.

  "I have no idea. Korey says it looks like poison ivy. It sure itches like the dickens. But I stay either in the lab or in my apartment just about all the time. I sometimes go out to look at the alligator and occasionally go out to dinner, but that's all. I hate the outdoors, so I don't know how I could have gotten this. I hate it."

  "You think you could be developing an allergy to the chemicals?" asked Harper. "You've used them for a long time. That sometimes happens."

  "God, I hope not."

  "Can you salvage the artifacts?" asked Lindsay.

  "I'm not sure. One was a leather scroll. It's in bad shape. I'm going to try to flatten it out and get Korey to photograph it. That may be our best representation of what it is. The other two are leather bound books. They are in better shape, but I'm not sure about them, either. That's another thing. Jeff knows better than this. I just can't see him doing it."

  "I'll be right back," Lindsay said. Gina, Juliana, and some of the others had just come into the room and Lindsay rose to meet them. "Do any of you know what size shoe Jeff wears?"

  "How would we know that?" someone said.

  "I'm not sure," Juliana said, "but when we were having lunch one day, I noticed that his feet aren't much bigger than mine. I wear a size seven. I don't know what that translates to in guy sizes."

  Certainly not eleven or twelve, thought Lindsay. "That's something in his favor. If my calculations are correct, his feet are too small."

  "That'll be good if he has to go to court," Carolyn said.

  "No, not really. I couldn't testify for sure that the stain I'm basing the shoe size calculation on was even part of a footprint."

  "What?" asked Bobbie and Harper. Lindsay explained her rather tenuous procedure to them.

  "It will give Jeff some comfort, anyway," Bobbie said. "I'm sure he must be terrified."

  "What's the hurricane doing?" Lindsay asked. "Anyone heard?"

  "I went to the weather office to ask," Carolyn said. "William was on duty. He said something about wind vectors or something. I didn't know what he was talking about and decided I didn't want to know."

  Debriefing was canceled. Trey and Lewis were busy on the phone trying to counter Eva Jones's sudden move. John was doing double duty at the cofferdam. Lindsay, Bobbie, and Harper decided to visit Jeff in the hospital.

  Jeff was awake and already had a visitor. "Hello, Lieutenant Ramirez," Lindsay said.

  "Good to see you. I was just talking to your friend here."

  "He thinks I did it, all of it," Jeff said. He looked pale and there were dark circles under his eyes. "I don't know how those things got in my room."

  "For the record, Agent Ramirez, we believe Jeff," Lindsay said.

  "You do?" Jeff responded. He looked more surprised than elated.

  "Why is that?" Ramirez asked.

  "Many reasons. Several of the crew know him and say this just doesn't fit." Lindsay took out the photograph and her calculations. "I'll tell you up front, this is not the hardest of evidence, but look at this water mark on the floor jutting out from the larger stain where the tank was drained. It looks like the toe of a shoe."

  "It does somewhat," conceded Ramirez.

  "Bones have a consistent size relationship to one another. The tip of the toe is here, the distal end of the first metatarsal connects with its corresponding phalanges at this curve here on the medial side of the footprint. I measured this, taking into account the size ratio from the photograph to real size. I did this by measuring one of the artifacts and its image in th
e photograph. If I know this part of the foot measurement, then I know the size of the whole foot. This partial footprint represents about an eleven and a half to size twelve shoe."

  "I wear a size nine," Jeff said.

  "This person, I believe, was squatting, looking at the artifacts. I think that because the entire toe area of the shoe left a mark, like he had been leaning forward. In running shoes the toe area is elevated slightly when standing and wouldn't leave a print with something so subtle as a water stain. It's important to note that neither Isaac, who found the open chest, nor Steven, who came in after him, walked among the artifacts. It was not their feet."

  "Interesting, but as you hinted, not completely convincing."

  "Add to that the fact that the thief of the cross ran into me at Boote's house and pushed me down. I'm tall, taller than Jeff. This guy was about the same height as me. And I had a sense he was heavier than Jeff."

  "I'll never call you the Angel of Death again," Jeff said.

  Ramirez raised his eyebrows.

  "Murder on sites I work at is becoming more common than I would like, especially considering that murders hardly ever occur at archaeological sites."

  "I see." Ramirez smiled. "I'm willing to take these two bits of evidence into account. Do you have any theory as to how the artifacts got into his room?"

  "Someone put them there," Bobbie said.

  "Who?" asked Ramirez.

  "The person who took them," Bobbie answered.

  "A hurricane is coming. We are all under some stress," Lindsay said.

  "Last I heard, it was threatening the coast of Florida," said Ramirez.

  "Oh, that's great news," Bobbie said. "I mean, not for the people in Florida, but-"

  "Agent Ramirez," Lindsay said, "I believe that Jeff was an easy target for whoever set him up. He has been under a lot of strain from working in the dam. That's how he got into trouble here. Besides, he's a classicist. They all act strange."

  "Now wait a minute," Jeff protested.

  "Do you have any idea who did this?" asked Ramirez.

  "Not now, but-"

  "But what?"

  "Have you ever felt like you know something, but the knowledge keeps eluding your conscious mind? And people mention certain words that tickle your brain but you still can't put your finger on what it knows?"