Last Breath

“There is no record of that,” Louise insisted.

“Then I’d have to say they were stolen.”

“Stolen!”

“I can’t think of any other explanation. As you pointed out, the crates were sealed and Alistair’s inventories show that every item was checked off by him-found, examined, then rewrapped and repacked in its shipping crate. But see here…”

Daria pointed to an entry and read aloud. “Two large solid-gold griffins clutching arrows, lapis lazuli eyes and rubies at the mouth.” She looked up at Louise and said, “There should be two. There are none. Not in this crate, not in any of the others.”

“Maybe we missed them somehow.”

“I’ve looked through every crate twice. When I asked you to give me a hand, it was to help verify my findings. I thought perhaps I was tired; maybe I’d overlooked a crate or two. Which is why I started marking the crates with an X on the corner after you and I went through the contents and checked off every item.”

“Maybe we should go through it all again. Maybe something was misplaced, returned to the wrong crate and you only think we missed it.”

“We’ve spent an entire day going through every single piece that’s here,” Daria said wearily. “I’m convinced.”

“Then convince me,” Louise told her. “We’ll take one more day.”

The two women worked until nine that night, then locked the room when they went for di

By three the following afternoon, Louise had to accept what Daria had been telling her for the past twenty-four hours. None of the missing items had been found.

“I’ll call the police.” Louise patted her pockets for her cell phone.

“No, not for something like this.” Daria shook her head and starting searching her purse for her wallet. “You’re going to need the FBI, not the local police. I met someone who works for them. I have his card in here somewhere, and if it’s all right with you, I’d like to call him…”

4

C o

He wandered through the store and was pleased to discover an entire aisle dedicated to organic food where he stocked up on cereals and other goods. At the meat counter, he picked up a few steaks, some chicken, ground beef, pork chops. What a luxury to have such choices, he was thinking as he went through the checkout line. Not to mention a refrigerator with a freezer.

He’d stopped on the way home at the local fish market and treated himself to some blue claws, then stopped again at a local produce stand for tomatoes, corn, zucchini, and hot peppers. When he got home, he put everything away, made himself some salsa, and put it in the refrigerator to chill. Then he stripped down, grabbed a towel from the laundry room, and headed out to the pool.

Unaccustomed to being in one place for any length of time, he’d grown restless. He ran every morning-eight to ten miles, regardless of the heat and humidity-and swam for at least thirty minutes after his run, and again later in the afternoon. Bored, he’d called his boss the previous morning and asked when he’d be getting a new assignment.

“I don’t have anything that’s quite right for you,” John Mancini had told him. “But it wouldn’t hurt for you to have a little down time.”

“I’ve had over a week of down time. I’m ready to go back to work. I’m bored.”

“So find a hobby. Take up knitting.”

Co

He swam his last lap, then drifted on his back to the side of the pool where he hoisted himself up. As he rose from the water, he realized he was not alone. He hesitated for less than a second, then held out a hand and asked, “Would you toss me that towel?”

“And me without my camera phone.”

“Very fu

Co

“I was in the neighborhood and just thought I’d stop by.”

“Buddy, there’s no one in my neighborhood.” Co

“True enough. Tough place to find.” John sat upright, one leg on either side of the lounge. “How did you find it?”

“Realtor. I told him I wanted something secluded and quiet. I think he had me pegged for a serial killer, but he found it for me anyway.”

“Well, secluded you got. I’ll have to stop back with Ge

“You and your wife are welcome any time.” Co

“You got a phone call last night at the office. Woman asked for you, wouldn’t speak with anyone but you. She finally left a message for you on my voice mail.”

“And?”

“And I called her back this morning.” John paused. “You know a woman named Daria McGowan?”

Co

“Because she has a problem, one that doesn’t fall into your normal field of expertise. But she insisted that she only wanted to talk to you.”

“Something happen to her?” Co

“She’s fine, it’s nothing like that. But she’s in a place called Howeville, Pe

“Shit. She’s in the States?”

“Where is she usually?”

“ Iran, Turkey, Syria…but go on. Why is she in Pe

“She was contacted by the president of Howe University, who asked her to take over a project at their museum. Short version-they want her to set up some displays, exhibits, whatever, in time for the hundredth a

“Cool. Good for her.” Co

“The problem is that when she opened the vault where her great-granddaddy’s stash has been kept for the past hundred years and started cataloging the artifacts, she discovered that some of the more important pieces were missing.”

“Stolen?”

“She thinks so.”

“So she called the FBI, that’s good. We have a whole department dedicated to-”

“I told her all that. But she didn’t call the Bureau, Co