Dead Past

stepped into the store and asked the manager. She was putting Dora the Explorer dolls on the shelf.
    “Stolen?” She ran a hand through her platinum hair and shook her head. “No. Not here. We occasionally get someone trying to shoplift, but the detector always catches them.”
    “Let Security know if anything turns up missing.”
    “Of course.”
    On her way out of the shop she met Kendel.
    “What’s up?” Kendel asked.
    “Some personnel business. I need a witness. I think she’s going to be a problem and I’m just being cautious.”
    Kendel’s fine brown hair was in a smooth French twist today. Different from the usual turned under, shoulder length do. Her brown eyes and soft voice fooled a lot of people when they met her. She could negotiate for museum items with the best, and was hard-nosed about it. She had acquired several nice pieces for RiverTrail. Diane was glad to have her as assistant director.
    “Troublesome. That would be Whitney Lester,” said Kendel.
    Diane and Kendel continued on to Aquatics just across the west-wing foyer. The museum hadn’t opened yet, so there was no one among the exhibits. They passed the shells, and Diane lingered a moment at a few of them before she went into the lab.
    Juliet was there working on the educational kits. All the kits were popular with teachers. Juliet and her counterparts from different departments put together examples of shells, or rocks, or fossils, whatever the subject was, into a box, along with lesson plans, activities, and educational material. They couldn’t keep enough in stock, even though the kits were not for keeping but for checking out and returning to the museum. Several schools in the area designed their science classes around the kits.
    “Hello, Juliet, how are you this morning?” asked Diane.
    Juliet looked up, startled. “Oh, fine. I’m fine. Really.” She smiled at Kendel, tugged at her long sleeves, and went back to work.
    “Is Mrs. Lester in?”
    Juliet nodded without looking up. “Yes. She’s been in about an hour talking on the phone.” Juliet bit her lip. “You should gird your loins.”
    “Thanks for the tip.” Diane knocked on the door.
    “Juliet, I’m busy. I told you when I arrived that I don’t want to be disturbed. I meant it.”
    Diane exchanged glances with Kendel and knocked on the door louder.

Chapter 19

    “Damn it, Juliet. . . .” The door swung open and Diane and Kendel came nose-to-nose with a red-faced Whitney Lester. “Dr. Fallon. Dr. Williams. I didn’t realize. . . . Actually, I’m glad it’s you. I need to talk to you.”
    “Then we have mutual needs,” said Diane.
    She entered and closed the door behind her. Diane and Kendel sat in the two chairs in front of the desk.
    Diane took an index card from her pocket and handed it to Mrs. Lester. “Andie wrote down several dates and times for the management class.”
    “That is what I wanted to speak with you about.” Whitney Lester laced her fingers in front of her. “I’ve talked with the state Human Resources Department to find out what my rights are.”
    She paused, Diane supposed to let the weight of her words sink in.
    “They tell me you can’t force me to take classes that I don’t want or need.”
    “No, I can’t. However, I can release you from your job,” said Diane.
    “They say you can’t.” Whitney folded her arms across her chest.
    “If you want to make this a case of your lawyer versus the museum’s lawyers, that’s your prerogative and I won’t even try to talk you out of it. I don’t know, of course, how you presented your claim to Human Resources, but if I find that you aren’t able to do your job according to the standards laid out in your contract and in the museum’s handbook, I have an obligation to inform you of your shortcomings and provide a way to remedy your deficits. You of course can refuse. I can then let you go.”
    “This course”—she flipped the card so that it slid across her desk, stopping near the edge—“has nothing to do with my knowledge of marine life and my ability to keep track of the collection.”
    “On the contrary. First, part of your job is to manage staff, not just inanimate objects. As for the inanimate objects that you manage, had you gone to Security with the information of the theft, you would have discovered that almost all of the departments have had recent thefts similar to yours. It was your management style that stopped you from doing that and therefore