Dead Hunt

it’s not the big things; it’s the smaller ones, the subtleties, like her giving the money to Redding’s daughter and ex-wife. Was that sincere or just part of her act to make people believe in her? The same with her concern for Grace Noel and Eric Tully’s daughter. She really did
the daughter, and I believed it,
mene’s special gift,’’ said Diane.
seem concerned for but subtlety is Cly
    ‘‘Interesting case. I can see why Kingsley is fascinated by her. She must be a profiler’s dream girl. I’m going to get some ice cream,’’ he said. ‘‘Want some?’’
    ‘‘Yes, please. What kinds do you have?’’
    Diane knew he had more than one flavor. Frank always got more food than he needed, just so he’d have lots of choices. She supposed that was why he had such a large freezer on his back porch.
    Frank’s kitchen matched the rest of the house. The cabinetry was dark wood similar to the Queen Anne style of the house. His appliances were bright white and the floor was a deep green slate. It was a comfortable kitchen to cook in. Certainly more comfortable than the small kitchen in her apartment.
    ‘‘How about rum raisin?’’ he said.
‘‘Sounds fine.’’
Diane watched as he got two pints out and opened
    them and gave her a spoon.
‘‘Out of the carton?’’ she said.
‘‘Of course. Only way to eat ice cream.’’ He
    grinned, and they sat in the kitchen around the island and ate ice cream.
‘‘I won’t be able to eat all of this,’’ she said.
‘‘Save it for later. How is your artifact problem coming?’’ he asked.
‘‘It’s not. It’s at a complete standstill. The good news is that nothing directly implicates the museum or any of us. The bad news is that it doesn’t clear our reputation. Frankly I’m not sure what the FBI guy is doing. He’s spent a lot of time on the Clymene case.’’
‘‘The Clymene case? Why?’’ asked Frank, savoring a spoon of ice cream.
‘‘Actually, that’s not true. He and Ross Kingsley are friends and he visited with Ross a while. He got the idea that Clymene might be behind the artifact thing. She does know about archaeology, but . . .’’ Diane shrugged.
‘‘You don’t think so?’’ he asked.
‘‘I don’t know. It’s as good a theory as anything else we have, which is nothing,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s felt like a game from the beginning. So did the thing with the blood in my apartment. I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything going on was a series of moves in a game.’’ Diane shook her head. ‘‘This ice cream is really good.’’
‘‘You’ve never had this flavor?’’ he asked.
The phone rang. It felt like an unwelcome intrusion. Diane realized she liked being alone here with Frank. He answered the phone and gave it to her.
‘‘Anne Pascal,’’ he said.
‘‘One of my board members.’’ She took the phone.
‘‘Diane. Hi. David Goldstein gave me your number. He asked me to help find out what teacher was using that list of spelling words. Your life is so interesting,’’ she said.
Yes, my life is a Chinese curse, she thought. ‘‘We very much appreciate your help,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Were you able to find anything?’’
‘‘Yes, I did. I began by matching the words to a book. Spelling words usually come from a particular book the kids are reading that week. I made a call to a school librarian friend of mine and we figured out the book David’s list of words came from is Jack Story and the Big Red Ball . Then I called some reading teachers and asked who was using that book recently, and . . . Well, the end result is I found out those were last Monday’s spelling words in Mrs. Coker’s class at Jewel Elementary in Adamsville. I talked with her and asked for a list of her kids, but she was kind of funny about that because the list was going to the police. I’m sorry.’’
‘‘That’s all right. That’s understandable. I’m amazed that you were able to find the teacher and classroom. You’ve been a tremendous help,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I don’t think we could have done it without you.’’
‘‘Oh, it was fun. Kind of put on my Miss Marple thinking cap, you know. Thank you for asking me. And I also want to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed being on the board of the museum. I just love that place,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m surprised you aren’t wondering what in the world I got you into,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Oh, no. I have to say, I’ve really enjoyed your