Dead Secret

the hilt of the dagger and maneuvered it into a position so that she could saw at the tape that bound her. It was a dull knife, not the one used to stab her and Mike. They wanted her to get loose, but to delay her escape, to give them a head start.
    She sawed halfway though the tape. The other half yielded more easily. Her hands came free. She wiggled them around until she could maneuver out of the tape around her shoulders, and removed the blindfold from her eyes.
    She estimated that it had taken her about fifteen minutes to get free. She picked up the knife and tape, then looked around the room for anything else that might have been left behind by her kidnappers. The chair was all she saw at the moment. She grabbed it too and went for the elevator. They had left the elevator key on the floor. She put it in the lock and rode to the third floor, carrying all the items with her.
    She made it to the crime lab. Chief Garnett, Sheriff Burns and Sheriff Canfield were sitting around the table. David was giving them coffee.
    “What you got there, Boss?” said Jin, rushing over to help her. “What is all this stuff?”
    “Don’t touch it until you get some gloves on,” she said. She turned to her guests. “I have an emergency. I’ll be with you in just a minute.”
    “David, Jin, Neva, you’re with me.” She led them to one of the evidence rooms, carrying the items with her, and closed the door. Garnett and the two sheriffs stared after her.
    “What’s up, Boss?”
    “I just escaped from being kidnaped, knocked out with chloroform and tied up in the basement.”
    Neva, Jin and David stood with their mouths open.
    “Just now? That’s where you were all morning?” said David.
    “Yes. David, I want you to go to the basement and process Room . . . Room J, I think it’s called. There’s a temporary paper sign with the letter above the door. Process the far right elevator, the key, the tape, the chair. Look around and see if they’ve been using the basement as a home base.”
    She turned to Jin. “I need you to process me.”
    “You?” said Jin. “What did they do?” He looked alarmed.
    “For one thing, my nails. I tried to scratch them, but I don’t think I got anything. I managed to get them to yell at me close to my ear and I’m hoping a good spray of spittle got transferred. One guy was on the left side, the other on the right. The left-side guy had noisy breathing. I’m thinking he might have had a deviated septum. Anyway, Jin, I want you to take the samples to Atlanta and do whatever you have to to get them processed ASAP.”
    Jin went to get his kit to collect the samples. Diane turned to David. “When he gets the DNA results, run them through CODIS and any other DNA database you can get access to. Even if we are not supposed to have access.”
    “This is serious.”
    “They threatened to burn down the museum unless I get rid of the Caver Doe and Plymouth Doe evidence.”
    Neva sucked in her breath.
    David’s mouth was agape. “My God. You have to tell Garnett.”
    “I will, but I’m not sure who to trust. They didn’t say it, but they seemed to know that we’re putting things together.” Diane shook her head. “I think—or they may simply have bungled the break-in and are now trying intimidation.”
    Jin returned, and Diane gave him her jacket. “If you need to cut my hair, go ahead.”
    “I’ll try not to make you look too bad,” he said. “How did you get them to yell in your ear?”
    “I told them I couldn’t hear because of the chloroform.”
    “You convinced them the chloroform made you deaf? Way to go, Boss.” Jin took samples of her hair around her ears, then swabbed her skin and other parts of her hair. “If they left their DNA, I got it,” said Jin. “You want me to leave now for the lab in Atlanta?”
    “Yes.”
    “You know, Boss, if we had our own lab . . .”
    “You get me some usable DNA and I’ll give it serious thought.”
    “You got it,” said Jin.
    “Send the information directly to David’s computer when you get the results.”
    “Sure thing. You okay now, Boss?”
    “No, I’m not. I am very angry. They also admitted—bragged about—being the ones responsible for what happened to my mother.”
    “Good God,” said David. “I see what happened now. They wanted to steal the bones before you had a chance to look at them, so they went after your mother to get you out of town. Something—or someone—important must be connected to