Dead Hunt

No telling how many bodies she’s racked up.’’
‘‘She probably started before ten years ago,’’ said Diane. She told him about Colonel Kade and his mission to find missing children. ‘‘He searched for Clymene on Internet porn sites—making adjustments for a younger age.’’ She described what Alex Kade found.
‘‘You’re having quite a bit of luck,’’ he said. ‘‘Of course, you have a lot of resources we don’t have here. I’ll remember this next time we have a missing person.’’
‘‘My staff is very talented and creative,’’ said Diane. ‘‘I’m very proud of them.’’
‘‘That stuff Jin did with the blood analysis was pretty good. The mayor and the commissioner were very impressed,’’ said Garnett. ‘‘They like having a DNA lab.’’
Diane wondered if they realized the DNA lab, like her osteology lab, was part of the museum and not owned by the city. They should know it, since they didn’t pay for it. But they sometimes forgot trivial details like that and took a proprietary attitude toward anything in the west wing.
‘‘His analysis was impressive,’’ said Diane. So was his presentation, she thought. ‘‘I’m glad the marshals got a look at what we can do.’’
‘‘My bosses liked that idea too. They have aspirations of being Atlanta, but I guess you know that.’’ He laughed. ‘‘You using some of that face recognition software?’’ he asked. ‘‘They particularly wanted to know about that. Seems the commissioner saw it on television the other night.’’
Diane rolled her eyes. Television had a lot to answer for. ‘‘We’re searching the national and international databases. So far we’ve come up empty on those. What I’m hoping is that another estate attorney will contact us.’’
Diane updated Garnett on the findings in apartment 1-D and finally about the hairs from her attacker matching the blood on the money wrappers.
‘‘What money?’’ he asked.
‘‘I didn’t tell you about the money?’’ said Diane. ‘‘Right, I told Agent Jacobs. You know, between you, two marshals, and two FBI agents, I’m having trouble keeping track of who knows what and who has jurisdiction over what, not to mention who is investigating what.’’
‘‘You are getting a lot of law enforcement attention lately. The mayor was a little upset over the item in the paper about the museum and those . . . looted antiquities, I think is what it said.’’
‘‘Did you tell him he doesn’t have a dog in that fight?’’ said Diane.
‘‘The problem with the mayor is he thinks all dogs are his,’’ said Garnett. He chuckled. ‘‘Jacobs, now, he’s investigating that thing about the artifacts, right?’’ said Garnett.
‘‘Yes,’’ said Diane.
‘‘And he thinks Clymene has something to do with it?’’
Diane could hear the confusion in his voice. Nothing they had discovered pointed to that.
‘‘Just an angle he’s looking at,’’ said Diane. ‘‘Clymene does know something about archaeology and might have the contacts to mess with the museum. There’s no evidence of that whatsoever. So far everything’s a dead end in that investigation.’’
‘‘So, what about the money?’’ he asked.
Diane told him about receiving a padded envelope filled with packets of one-hundred-dollar bills.
‘‘So the guy’s attacking you and sending you money. He sounds conflicted.’’
Diane smiled. ‘‘He does, doesn’t he? I have no idea what the attacks or the money are about, but we’re following some leads,’’ she said. ‘‘I think I have you up-to-date on what’s going on here. We still have several searches going on. I’ll let you know if something comes of them.’’
Diane and Chief of Detectives Douglas Garnett had a good working relationship, and that still sometimes surprised her. In the beginning, before the crime lab, she hadn’t gotten along with anyone in the police department or the mayor’s office. It had to do mostly with her not being willing to sell the museum property to a real estate broker.
The broker told anyone who would listen that unless she sold the property, the city was in line to lose new jobs, extra taxes, and other promised benefits. Diane pointed out that the museum provided jobs and two private businesses—the restaurant and the gift shop. If she had to move, she would move out of the county and all those people would lose, including the city. She was amazed that they wouldn’t listen to her,