Last Breath

Polly Kingston was older than Daria had first thought. Maybe early fifties, but she’d kept herself together very well.

Sweet Thing greeted Daria enthusiastically, and she leaned over to give the dog a pat on the head.

“Co

“How so?” Daria took the chair between Polly and Co

“Well, our art-theft cases don’t generally have this element of murder ru

“The people in Co

“Yes, though I’ll have another agent working on the institutions,” Polly told her. “As luck would have it, we are really shorthanded right now. There was a big theft at a gallery in California over the weekend, and some Picassos were stolen in Michigan on Friday, and there’s an ongoing investigation of some Internet sales that’s just heating up. So we’re stretched pretty thin right now. I was just thanking Co

“Actually, Daria was the one who knew to use the Internet to locate the collectors. We found the collectors, but unfortunately, someone else found them before we did.”

“Shouldn’t someone be warning the others?” Daria asked.

“That’s already being done,” Polly assured her. “John Mancini has contacted agents in each of the locations to make contact with the individuals ASAP.”

“And then you’ll go in and see about getting the university’s property back?”

“We’ll do our best,” Polly assured Daria, “but Howe could very well end up in litigation if any of the institutions don’t want to cough up important pieces. Especially since Howe is pla

“Actually, Agent Kingston, right now I’m more concerned about the people who possess the artifacts. Having them returned is secondary at this point.”

“The plan is to arrange for them to be protected,” Co

“So whose job is it to figure out who is stealing the artifacts, and who is killing the collectors?” Daria looked from Co

“The homicide investigations are being handled by the police departments where the murders took place,” he told her.

Daria frowned. “I’m sure they’re all very competent, but let’s face it, the Blumes and Elena Sevrenson were murdered months ago. Co

“None that I know of.”

“Who is coordinating the investigations? If there are two departments involved, who’s on first here?” Daria stared at Co

“I’ll be coordinating the theft portion of the case,” Polly told her, “and I’ll have agents working with me in each city.”

“But shouldn’t someone be looking over the entire thing? The thefts and the murders? Shouldn’t the left hand know what the right hand is doing here?”

Co

“Is that the sort of thing you usually do?” Daria asked him.

“Not in this context, but I serve as middleman, so to speak, quite often.” He smiled faintly. “In this case, I’ll be working here, at Howe, since this is the hub.”

Daria turned to Polly. “Will you also be handling the theft here? The original theft from the museum?”

“Yes, once we’ve located and secured the missing artifacts, but that aspect of the case will be much more complicated, and might never be solved. No one knows when that theft occurred. The perpetrator may well be deceased. Right now, given the fact that someone else is hunting down the collectors, and has a head start, we need to make them our priority.”

“I agree completely,” Daria said, “and I do appreciate how hard it’s going to be to-”

Polly’s phone rang. She excused herself and answered, then listened intently. Finally, she said, “I should be there by three o’clock. Secure the scene and keep out everyone except the ME until I get there.”

She closed her phone with a snap.

“I’m afraid we’re a day late in Co

“My God, not another one!” Daria gasped.

“Two, actually.” Polly Kingston’s relaxed demeanor had disappeared in a heartbeat. “The preliminary report indicates Cloris Porter was home alone when the killer or killers entered her home.” She looked at Co

“Co

He opened the folder and skimmed the list until he found what he was looking for.

“One two-handled ceremonial goblet, gold, encrusted with emeralds.”

“Well, at least I’ll know what to look for when I get there.” Polly made notes in a small notebook she took from her bag.

“What about the woman in Massachusetts?” Daria asked.

“We have someone trying to contact her right now. I hope we get to her in time.” Polly was all business. “I have a plane to catch in an hour. Tell me everything you know about this Shandihar culture, everything you know about the missing artifacts, and who you think might have a reason to be killing these people and why. I also need a description of the artifacts you think the Porters might have had.”

“I can do better than a description.” Daria went to the counter where she’d placed the box she brought back from Louise’s office and opened the lid. She took out the envelope. “These are photographs that were taken at the site. Many of the artifacts were photographed as they were discovered. With luck, we’ll have pictures of the missing items. If not, we still have the drawings Alistair made.”

Her heart was pounding as she opened the envelope and carefully removed the many photos, none of which she had seen yet. The first photo was of a man standing between two stone pillars. He wore field clothes, a large straw hat, and an enormous smile. Daria lifted the photo and stared at it intently, as if taking in every detail, before placing it on the table.

“If my guess is correct, this is Alistair McGowan at the portals of Shandihar. Let’s see what wonders he found, shall we?”

Daria passed the photograph to Co

“And here we have a bronze statue of a woman. Maybe one of the priestesses.” Daria said. “I think we saw this statue the other day.”

She handed the picture to Co