One Grave Too Many

members suggested the same thing. I came here to get away from forensic work.”
    “Didn’t work, did it? Maybe the universe is telling you something.”
    “Yeah, that I’m an idiot.”
    Diane would like to have used the skull to determine race. Without it she’d have to use other methods—most of which involve measurement, and all of which are less than precise.
    She started with the long bones. She placed the left humerus on the osteometric board—a wooden device consisting of a platform on which the bone is laid, a “headboard” against which one end of the long bone is positioned, and a sliding “footboard” to mark the length. She recorded the measurement on her computer.
    “Most of what I’m doing now is measuring,” she said. “It’s like watching grass grow.”
    “I was about to get that idea,” Korey said. “I’ll go out to the lab and work a while. Let me know if I can bring you anything.”
    Diane continued, losing track of time in the minutiae of the detailed measurements on different parts of the bones. She recorded each of them in her computer program, recollecting Kevin asking her at the party why he would have to learn math. If he could see her now, it would seem that was all she did, but math often gives the best information. Measuring is tedious, but she taught herself to like it for its precision. The math would give her the best guess on the race of the individual, and she needed the race for a good estimation of the height.
    The ring of her cell phone made her jump. Perhaps she needed to change it to a melody.
    “Dr. Fallon, this is the front desk. There is a Dr. Duncan here to see you.”
    Dr. Duncan, she thought. Who’s that? Then she remembered. Frank’s brother, Linc. “Would you ask him to come to the second-floor staff lounge? You’ll have to give him directions.”
    Diane left the storage room and locked the door behind her. Korey was still working on the documents.
    “I have a guest coming up,” she said. “Frank’s brother. I’m going to be gone for a while. If you leave, go ahead and lock up. I have a key.”
    She went into the small bathroom near Korey’s office, washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked terrible. She ran wet fingers through her hair. It didn’t do much good. “Well, he’s not here for a date,” she told her reflection.
    As she left the conservation lab and crossed the lobby to the staff lounge, Linc had just come up the elevator and was walking through the doors to the east wing. He held two large pizza boxes and a bag, presumably of drinks.
    “I hope you like pizza,” he said.
    “I do, but how many people were you planning on feeding?”
    He smiled. “You never know.”
    He reminded her of Frank. Bringing too much food was apparently a family trait. Her eyes started to tear up. She turned her head away and led him into the lounge to a table in the corner.
    Linc set the boxes down and pulled out the drinks. He gave her a large bottle of water. “You look dehydrated.”
    “I’m fine. It’s just a bruised kidney.”
    “No such thing as just a bruised kidney. You sound like some of the athletes I’ve treated. I’ll tell you what I tell them. You’re not invincible.”
    “How’s Frank?” Linc was silent for a long moment. “What? What’s happened?” A sickening panic rose in the pit of her stomach.
    “He’s developed an infection.”
    “Oh, God. How serious?”
    “Serious enough. They’re keeping him in ICU.”
    Diane stood. “I need to go see him.”
    Linc took her hand. “He’s sleeping. Eat something. You aren’t a vegetarian, are you? I ordered pepperoni on the pizzas.”
    “No. I’m not a vegetarian.” Diane got some paper plates from a cabinet in the staff lounge and they settled in to eating the pizza. She was having a hard time keeping tears from forming.
    “Frank is always bringing more food than we can possibly eat too. Must be genetic.”
    “Comes from having three growing boys in the family, I guess. We always needed lots of food on hand.”
    Diane selected a slice of pizza and took a bite. It was still warm and tasted good. She never realized she was hungry until she ate something.
    “Tell me what this is about,” said Linc after several bites.
    Diane told him the entire story, from Frank first showing her the bone to her possession of the rest of the skeleton, sans skull, in the storage room.
    “So you think that what happened to you and to Frank is related to the