Dead Past

Stanton. She’s been calling the museum, my board members, and anyone else she thinks can give me a hard time.”
    “I’ll look into it.”
    “If you’re looking for her to give me an alibi, I wouldn’t count on it.”
    “What happened after you found your car vandalized?”
    “I called to have it photographed, processed, towed, and painted. I also called Andie to give me a ride to work. She did. I went to my museum office, Patrice called again, I did paperwork—Andie was in the next room. I talked to my security chief and told her to look out for trouble from Patrice in the museum; I called the hospital to check on an employee who was injured in the explosion; I went up to her department and updated her coworkers. On the way to the crime lab, I ran into a board member who had been called by Patrice. She was wondering if I am a murderer. I told her no, then went to the crime lab and said ‘hi’ to everyone and came to the lab to work on bones. David came in and wanted to know about the hundred-year-old bones he’d found. I told him. I’ll tell you if you think the information will be helpful. David was just about to fill me in on what he’s found out from the Joana Cipriano evidence; then you came in. I think that’s it.”
    “Marcus was killed at eight thirty a.m. Do you know exactly where you were then?”
    “I think I was taking the call from Patrice Stanton. I talked to Andie and my security chief and the hospital right after that.”
    “OK. I’ll tell the commissioner. If you would write down all the people you talked to, it would help,” said Garnett.
    “You can pull my LUDS,” said Diane, “if you need extra verification. I mean, most of my alibis are from people I employ, except Patrice. You’ll have to trick her. Don’t tell her I need an alibi.”
    “Diane, I didn’t come here to make you mad.”
    “I’m sure you didn’t, but I’m getting a little tired of being a suspect. This is twice in a row, for heaven’s sake. And there is zero supporting evidence for even one accusation or suspicion. The facts of my schedule and corroborating witnesses put the lie to it.”
    “You’re not really a suspect. I just need to tell the commissioner where you were.”
    “Tell him that if I were a murderer, I’d be after him and the councilman.”
    “I won’t tell them that,” said Garnett. He stood up. “I don’t need to know a combination to get out of here, do I?”
    “No.”
    “I am sorry. If it weren’t for politics, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. It’s just gotten strange lately.” He paused. “The commissioner wants the GBI to handle McNair’s scene. He says it’s just so everyone will know it’s all on the up and up.”
    “Sure,” said Diane.
    When Garnett left, Diane and David stared at each other with a what-the-hell-is-going-on surprised look on their faces.
    “We have got to get to the bottom of this,” said Diane.
    “I’ll get with the gang and we’ll come up with a plan,” said David. “You know Jin is motivated; that’s a big plus for us. Were you really serious about a DNA lab? You think Garnett will go for it?”
    “I’m not sure, but I may ask accounting to crunch some numbers for me. It may pay the museum to have a DNA lab that’s dedicated to forensics and not research. We can bypass the local government.”
    “Jin’ll like that even better. He already tells everyone he works for the museum.” David started to rise off the sofa.
    “Tell me about Cipriano first,” said Diane. “We still have other cases.”
    David dropped to a seated position again. “I didn’t get much from the scene,” he said. “I’ve been running the fingerprints through AFIS. Most, as you expect, are hers. There are a few of her ex-husband in the kitchen and bathroom. One of her neighbors said he usually did the cooking. His prints were on the books that he said were his—the biographies and history books. I’ve got three unknown prints, but I have to collect some more exemplars. She had a repairman in to fix the dishwasher a couple of months ago. She’s had friends in and I have to get their prints. Her mother visited a couple of weeks ago and I have to get her prints. That’s going to be difficult for the poor woman. I’m glad I’m not going to be the one doing it. She lives in Maryland. The authorities there are going to do it for me.”
    “We have nothing?” said Diane.
    “Not nothing. I have foreign carpet fibers from the area rug in her