Dust to Dust

him.
    “I got the impression she can be vindictive,” said Kingsley.
    Diane nodded. “Perhaps. But as I said, she won’t lie. And she won’t get caught putting dead rotting fish under his house or frozen shrimp in his curtain rods.”
    Kingsley put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing and spraying his hot tea. “Touché,” he said, when he was able to talk.
    Frank rolled his eyes.
    “Today was a fruitful day,” Kingsley said. “I knew it was a good idea to ask for your help.”
    “I’ll process the evidence we collected, but you’ll have to interview the army of possible suspects Jin pointed out,” said Diane.
    “Perhaps the evidence will point us in a direction,” said Kingsley.
    “Hopefully, the evidence and the new autopsy will give you enough ammunition to get the lead detective to reopen the case,” said Frank. “I’ve heard of the detective you said handled the case. He’s a little lazy and pigheaded, but I don’t think he is dishonest.”
    “For the father’s sake, I’m hoping the solution will clear Ryan Dance of the murder that seems to have started this whole chain of events,” said Kingsley.
    “Maybe you need to start retracing the steps of the young woman, Stacy,” said Frank. “If she was trying to clear her brother, she probably talked to the witnesses and to the family of the victim. They might point you in the right direction.”
    “Oh,” said Diane, “I just had a terrible thought. From what you said, Ellie Carruthers’ family were certain it was Ryan Dance who killed their daughter. What if they were afraid Stacy might be successful in getting Ryan released from prison? They still think he’s guilty. It would be awful if it was someone in Ellie’s family who killed Stacy to stop her.”
    “That’s an unpleasant thought,” said Kingsley, frowning. “I hope it’s not that.”
    “There’s going to be some blowback with the new autopsy,” said Diane. “Is that going to be a problem with your employers?”
    “No. The firm handles blowback. It’s usually good publicity. It shows potential clients that when we take a case, things get done. I think my bosses will like it. The more, the better. Our biggest clientele is defense attorneys.” Kingsley took another helping of sweet and sour chicken and rice. “So, what’s the thing with Jin’s technicians?”
    Diane and Frank chuckled.
    “As you heard, they’re identical twins and a bit eccentric,” said Diane, “and big Elvis fans. They’re also very detail oriented. Their reputation for accuracy was the reason Jin hired them—and the fact that they work very efficiently together. Jin’s extremely picky where the DNA lab is concerned.”
    “Do they really dress like Elvis?” asked Kingsley.
    “Not exactly,” said Diane. “If you saw them, you wouldn’t say to yourself, ‘Those guys are dressed like Elvis.’ You might think they look like they would make good Elvis impersonators. They’re more subtle than Jin portrayed them. I think the main reason they drive him crazy is they are constantly telling him how he could improve the efficiency of the DNA lab, and Jin doesn’t like anybody trying to step into his shoes.”
    “Ah,” said Kingsley. “I see.”
    Kingsley left not long after dinner. Diane promised to get him a report on the evidence as soon as she could.
    “He seemed very pleased,” said Frank after they had cleared the table and put away the food. Diane poured Frank and herself each a glass of wine.
    “It was very sad, but it went well. We’ll see how it goes from here. How was your day?”
    He slipped his arms around her waist and danced her a few steps around the living room floor. “My day was fine. But why don’t we leave the topic of crime aside for the rest of the evening?”
    Diane spent most of the next day working at the museum. She heard from Kingsley midday that the exhumation of the body of Stacy Dance was scheduled for the following day. Diane was about to go home when Andie forwarded a phone call to her.
    “Hello, this is Archaeo-Labs,” said a voice. “We’ve been trying to get in touch with Dr. Marcella Payden without success. Your number is a backup number she has in her file.”
    “Yes, Dr. Payden works here. I’m Diane Fallon, director of the RiverTrail Museum. How can I help you?”
    “She uses our labs to identify species-specific protein antigens in bone-tempered pottery sherds.”
    “Yes,” said Diane. “I’m familiar with her work on