Dead Hunt

fun.
‘‘We’ve photographed and collected about everything we can,’’ said Jin. He pushed his straight black hair out of his face. ‘‘I’ll go back and develop the film, but I can tell you now, there weren’t any prints.’’
Diane wasn’t surprised. Professional museologists would have worn gloves while handling the artifacts. So would smart thieves.
‘‘We got some dust samples from the stone artifacts,’’ said Neva. ‘‘If we are lucky we may be able to find out what part of the world they’ve been in.’’
‘‘Go do your best,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Do the crime lab stuff first. This is just your free-time activity. And thank you.’’
‘‘Sure,’’ said Jin. His dark eyes sparkled. ‘‘Now that I’ve had my coffee, I’ll get back to the Dark Side.’’
‘‘Ask Kendel to come to the conservation lab,’’ said Diane. ‘‘She should be in my office or hers.’’
Neva nodded. ‘‘We’ll check the photographs against the NSAF and see if anything turns up.’’ She and Jin left, hauling David’s camera equipment with them.
‘‘You guys can take a break,’’ Korey said to his staff of conservators. They took off their gloves and walked together out of the lab, leaving their work on the table. ‘‘Take a long break,’’ Korey called after them.
‘‘We’ll order a pizza,’’ said one of the guys.
‘‘You know,’’ said Korey, ‘‘Kendel would know better than this. She would have been nuts to try...’’ He put a hand on the back of his dreadlocks. ‘‘Actually I’m not sure what was done. What’s the point of this? If Kendel was involved in an attempt at deception, she would have forged the documents. She knows our procedures. She knows the items would be checked against the documents.’’
‘‘We know that,’’ said Diane. ‘‘But I’m afraid the authorities might not stop to look at the finer points. They could just see Kendel’s name on the purchase order and think she was trying to launder stolen antiquities with real documents.’’
‘‘I hear you there. They can be awfully dense sometimes.’’
Korey was still pissed about the time he was interrogated by the police as a suspect for no other reason than that he was an African American male with dreadlocks.
‘‘How did it go with the board?’’ he asked. ‘‘Scuttlebutt says you ripped them a new one. What’s going on with the board, anyway? Is it the new guys?’’
‘‘One new member is unaccustomed to the way we do things,’’ said Diane. ‘‘But I’m afraid my ripping them a new one is an exaggeration. They all got just a little nervous after reading the items in the paper and hearing the news broadcast.’’
‘‘Well, I don’t blame them there. It was kind of bad,’’ said Korey. He shrugged and turned toward the artifacts. ‘‘Too bad we can’t keep these. They’re really nice pieces.’’
‘‘They are. But now they don’t have a pedigree. I wonder who’s doing this? Who tipped the newspaper and who—’’ Diane stopped when she heard the door open.
Kendel came in. She looked better. She had reapplied her makeup and was wearing a smile. David was good at cheering people up when he tried. One wouldn’t think he had that talent, as paranoid and pessimistic as his personality was.
‘‘Neva said you wanted to see me,’’ she said.
Diane nodded.
‘‘I’ll be in my office,’’ said Korey. He walked up to Kendel and put a hand on her shoulder. ‘‘Hang in there.’’
She placed a hand over his. ‘‘Thanks, Korey. I really appreciate all of you guys.’’
‘‘I just want to get on your good side for the next time I need to requisition something,’’ he said, then smiled at her and walked on to his office beyond.
‘‘David’s a sweetheart,’’ said Kendel. ‘‘He got me to remember more than I thought I could about my visits to Golden Antiquities.’’
‘‘David’s good at that,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I’ve been thinking about this,’’ said Kendel. ‘‘There’s simply no way I could have made a mistake. I know how to verify provenances. For heaven’s sake, I’ve seen all these on display at the Pearle...’’
As she spoke her gaze rested on the table of artifacts and her eyes grew wide.

Chapter 11
    Kendel stood for a long moment staring at the artifacts on the table, then at the sphinx in the crate. She shook her head, frowning.
    ‘‘These aren’t the artifacts I purchased.’’
    She examined each piece.