Dead Hunt

rubbed the back of her neck with his hand.
‘‘No, I didn’t. But calling me a dirty dealer... it had to be about the artifacts. Someone thinks I’m dealing in stolen antiquities. That’s the only thing that makes sense.’’
From Frank’s blank stare and raised eyebrows, Diane realized he didn’t know about the disputed artifacts or the newspaper articles. He usually didn’t read the local newspapers until the weekend. Frank worked in Atlanta and the story hadn’t yet made it there, at least not on the front page. That would be today most likely—something else to look forward to.
‘‘We have a scandal of sorts at the museum,’’ she said. Diane told him about the wretched newspaper articles and the hastily called board meeting.
‘‘Are you sure Kendel isn’t involved?’’ asked Frank. ‘‘Just to play the devil’s advocate, could she be using RiverTrail to launder looted antiquities or at least to get a good deal on some Egyptian artifacts for the museum?’’
Diane shook her head. ‘‘The only Egyptian artifacts we’re looking for right now are twelfth dynasty. The same as our mummy. The artifacts delivered to us are from several other dynasties.’’
‘‘Could she have intended to replace the photo
    artifacts graphs in the documents and launder the
    that way?’’
‘‘The photographs wouldn’t match the
tions,’’ said Diane. ‘‘She couldn’t hope to launder the
artifacts at our museum.’’
‘‘Why?’’ said Frank. When he decided to play the
devil’s advocate he was like a dog with a bone. ‘‘I
would think a museum would be the perfect place to
launder looted artifacts.’’
‘‘Not ours,’’ said Diane. ‘‘We’re a small museum
and we’ve had one director—me.’’
descrip‘‘So?’’ said Frank.
‘‘Large museums show only a fraction of their holdings at any one time. The Bickford shows only about a third of theirs. The rest is in storage. Periodically they create new exhibits from their inventory, rearrange items into perhaps a comparative study—like stone tools from around the world or medicinal plants
from various cultures.’’
‘‘The Bickford? Where have I heard about them?’’
said Frank.
‘‘That’s where we purchased our casts of the Jurassic dinosaurs,’’ said Diane. ‘‘They sent staff from their
museum to help us put them together.’’
‘‘Ah, yes. I remember now,’’ he said. ‘‘Go on. You
were telling me why artifacts can’t be laundered in
your museum.’’
‘‘In large museums like the Bickford it might be
easier to integrate looted artifacts into the stored
ones—especially with turnovers in directorship. In
fact, their current director is leaving. Here at RiverTrail what you see is basically what we have. I know
all of our holdings, and everything comes through me.
For Kendel to be laundering artifacts, she’d have to
enlist the staff who work at the loading dock, the
provenance researchers . . . or me. It doesn’t make
sense that she is involved in this.’’
‘‘Could the loading dock staff or the researchers be
in it with her?’’
‘‘Obviously not. They are the ones who discovered
the discrepancies.’’
‘‘But someone thinks you are involved?’’ said
Frank.
‘‘It looks that way. And whatever is going on is
worth killing me for,’’ said Diane.
Frank set down his cup, leaned over, and kissed Diane. Diane liked the taste of his lips and the smell of his aftershave. ‘‘He didn’t kill you,’’ he whispered close to her lips, ‘‘and he won’t.’’ He kissed her again
before he sat back and reclaimed his coffee. ‘‘Whoever tipped off the press knew what was in
the crates before they were opened,’’ said Frank. ‘‘So
the items were switched at... what’s the name of the
seller?’’
‘‘Golden Antiquities,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Either they were switched at Golden Antiquities before they left, or the crates were intercepted somewhere
between Golden Antiquities and your museum.’’ ‘‘I’m sure it was no coincidence that Golden Antiquities burned,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I agree,’’ said Frank. ‘‘They are implicated in some
way.’’ He appeared to mull over Diane’s answers for
a moment; then he changed the subject. ‘‘RiverTrail
doesn’t seem like a small museum,’’ he said. ‘‘One thing, the building is large. Another is we try
to make the best use of what we have. Like with our
Egyptian exhibit. All we really have is the