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“Do we have a man on the inside?”
“The inside, sir?”
“The police. We need someone on location at the NYPD when the bodies are found. The artifact mustn’t wind up shelved in the municipal evidence closet, never to be claimed or seen again.”
“I’ll ensure it happens.”
“Do so. Did you remove the sniper’s weapon?”
“I did.”
“No clue whatsoever to our mystery killer?”
“No, sir, but I’m looking into it.”
“I want a lead within eight hours. That will be all.”
Harris bowed and turned sharply to leave the office.
Ben tucked the photo inside his suit coat. He drew out his phone and tapped Serge’s number.
“No.” He set the phone on the desk. “Not yet.”
He didn’t want the man involved until the right moment.
Ben gazed at the phone. Could Serge be the mystery man who took out the sniper? What reason would he have to do so? If he guessed Ben was tracking the skull, he would have gone directly after it. To imagine Serge killing a sniper was difficult. It just didn’t fit. He had no knowledge of weapons, as far as Ben knew. He was a big man, but one of those wouldn’t-hurt-a-fly sorts.
The meeting room door opened again.
“On my way,” Ben called.
He pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk and took out a syringe. Tugging his shirt out from his trousers, he grabbed a wodge of middle-age bulge. The autoinjector pierced the flesh. His skin warmed and tingled.
What a way to start the day.
5
A
Her cell phone rang and Bart McGilly’s name flashed on the screen.
He started right in. “A
“Sorry, Bart. I wasn’t kidding. I’ve still the lingering scum in my bathtub to prove it. I don’t know what’s in that water—and please, if you know, don’t tell me—but it certainly wasn’t a day at the beach. And it had nothing to do with Chasing History’s Monsters.”
“Seriously? A
“Young. Probably late twenties would be my guess. Male. Dark hair and slender.”
“How’d he end up in the canal?”
“Sniper shot to the brain.”
His silence could be interpreted as surprise, but A
“It’s not like I seek out these sorts of situations, Bart.”
“Oh, really? Because with your record a guy would be inclined to believe that is exactly what you do. What, do you listen to the police sca
“Is that possible?” she wondered curiously as she stepped onto the university grounds and followed the sidewalk south.
“A
“I got an e-mail from a guy with an artifact he wanted me to look at.”
“So anytime a stranger pings wanting to show you something, you just make a date? Wait. Don’t answer that one. I don’t want to know. I’ll send a team out to check the canal. Do you know who the victim is? Who was shooting at—hell, the bothof you? Are you okay?”
“It’s just an abrasion, but I almost got a pierced ear out of the deal.” She spoke quickly to alleviate his gasping protest. “After the first bullet, I thought it wisest to get the hell out of there. Down was the only way I could come up with at the time. As for the dead man, his Internet ID was Sneak. At least in the archaeology forum where he found me it is. I don’t know who he is. Didn’t have any ID in his backpack.”
“In his—you removed evidence from the body?”
Bart groaned. A
“Had to, Bart. I’m not going to let a valuable artifact get flushed through the canal like a hunk of sewage. Speaking of which—no, I don’t even want to know. A skull was in his backpack, along with a bunch of funky tools. I’m thinking he was a thief because there was a stethoscope and some kind of hand drill. Oh, and lock-pick tools.”
“I need to take a look at the tools, A
“Sorry.”
“How did you meet this guy?”
“Online.”
“Right. At the Dangerous Dating Depot?”
“Oh, Bart, you made a fu
“No, I’m trying to fit myself into the strange world you seem to navigate with startling ease. You said there was a skull?”
“It’s why I agreed to meet the guy in the first place.” A
“So you have the skull. What are you doing with it now? Or do I want to know?”
“I’m an archaeologist, Bart. Skulls are our thing. Don’t you know we bone botherers like to tote around various bits and bones to keep us company?”
Another groan. She was having far too much fun teasing him when she knew the situation was serious. A dead thief could account for that.
“I’m taking it to a professor at Columbia right now. Going to have him date it and see if I can begin to place it on a historical time line. If I can do that I might be able to track it to a point of origin. And then we’ll have an M.O. on the thief. Maybe.”
“What makes you think your alleged thief isn’t just a wacko? A killer? What if it’s a random skull? A
“You surprise me, Bart. I didn’t think you jumped to conclusions so easily. And why would someone kill for a random skull?”
“Why would someone kill and notgo after said random skull?”
A
“It’s pretty hard to go after something sitting at the bottom of the canal. Besides, it’s an infant skull.”
“A baby? Christ, A
“It does from my end of the stick. It’s an artifact, Bart, not a victim. At least, not from this century.”
“I hate working on crimes against children. It’s so sad. Fine. I’m heading out to the canal. You keep an eye over your shoulder. And please, promise me, you won’t meet any more strangers without having them vetted by me first?”
“I can’t promise…”
“Woman, you are going to give me a heart attack.”
“Hey, that reminds me, we haven’t had a decent meal out lately.”
“Because you’re always trekking across the world, posing for TV cameras and sticking your nose in danger.”
“You love me for it, admit it.”
Bart’s sigh made her smile. She’d successfully redirected him from her dangerous dabbling with the criminal mien.
“Give me a call after you’ve talked to the professor, will you? I’ve got some time tomorrow night. We can meet and you can bring along the evidence you’ve contaminated. How about Tito’s?”
“Sounds like a plan. Me and my contaminants can make it.”
Tito’s was one of their favorite places to meet over a plate of Cuban pulled pork with sweet plantains.
Bart was one of few friends A