Dead Hunt

hat at the moment, she could visualize it in his hand as he stood in front of her. He looked unhappy as he offered her a chair.
Diane didn’t sit in the chair Goodman offered. Instead, she stood behind it and gripped its back with her hands as she spoke.
‘‘I know it’s hard to keep people out of a place that, for most of the day and some of the evening, is open to the public. I also know that there are hundreds of places to hide if someone is determined—and this attacker last night was nothing if not determined,’’ she said.
‘‘That’s true, ma’am,’’ said Goodman.
‘‘However, I thought there were procedures in place so that no one leaves the front desks unattended in either wing,’’ she said.
‘‘There are, and all I can say is Adam made an error in judgment. He knew he was going to be gone just a minute and didn’t want to bother another guard. I think he has learned his lesson. There is no such thing as just a minute. A lot can happen in a minute,’’ said Goodman.
‘‘Yes, it can. Reinforce in the personnel that they need to follow the procedures Napier has laid out.’’ Diane paused a moment. ‘‘I know this museum doesn’t seem like any kind of security risk, and the temptation to let some rules slide is great. This isn’t NORAD, but we still need to take security seriously. We have a lot of valuable things in here and a lot of people that need to be protected.’’
Diane was sure many in security thought that she herself was the only security problem. It certainly seemed that way to her. When she finished with Goodman, she went to her office. Andie was already at her desk, as usual.
‘‘Are you all right today?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘Am I ever. What a rush. I can see why you have so much fun,’’ she said.
Fun. Is that what I have? thought Diane. ‘‘Andie, thank you for the rescue. As for chasing the guy, don’t do anything like that again. He is very dangerous— whoever he is.’’
‘‘I know that, but I was just so full of adrenaline,’’ she said.
‘‘I understand, and I really appreciate your coming in when you did. I just don’t want you to get hurt.’’
‘‘Yeah, I know. That’s why I didn’t tell my mother,’’ said Andie.
Diane smiled. ‘‘So, anything going on this morning?’’
‘‘We are still getting phone calls and e-mail about the artifacts. Several contributors have called to say they are canceling their contributions. You know, that’s hardly fair,’’ said Andie.
‘‘No, it isn’t. But that’s their choice. Anything else?’’
‘‘Yeah, something really weird,’’ said Andie.
‘‘Must be, for you to call it weird. Weird is the norm for this place,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Well, you know I open your mail,’’ said Andie.
‘‘Yes, that’s part of your job description. I take it you found something strange,’’ she said.
‘‘Well, yes. I opened this envelope.’’ Andie took a fat package out of her drawer and laid it on her desk.
‘‘What is it?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘It’s money. A lot of it.’’

Chapter 30
    ‘‘Money?’’ said Diane. ‘‘How much?’’
‘‘I haven’t really counted it, but there’s a bunch.’’
Andie pulled a packet of bills from the large envelope.
‘‘There’s a lot of these bundles and they’re all hundreddollar bills.’’
Diane picked up the stack of bills and fanned
through it. A lot of pictures of Ben Franklin. ‘‘Is it a contribution to the museum? Is there a letter
with it?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘Not exactly a letter.’’
Andie lifted a piece of paper from the envelope
lightly, holding it by its edge between the tips of her
thumb and index finger, and laid it on the desktop.
Diane stared at the sheet of plain white paper with
one word printed on it in large block letters. BITCH. ‘‘Well, I’m confused,’’ said Diane. ‘‘You’re right.
This is weird, even for us. Is there a return address?’’ ‘‘No,’’ said Andie. ‘‘What do I do with it? I mean,
I can’t deposit it, can I?’’
‘‘No, I wouldn’t think—’’
Diane was interrupted by the door opening. Andie
shoved the packet of money back into the envelope. ‘‘Agent Jacobs,’’ said Diane, ‘‘you’re up early.’’ He looked at his watch. ‘‘Is it early? I thought I
slept in.’’ He looked from Diane to Andie. We must both look guilty , Diane thought. ‘‘So, can I look at your accounting books?’’ he asked. Diane frowned, then picked up the