Scattered Graves

one individual. The lateral angle measurement of the audi tory canal made it probable the individual was male. The pattern on the pubic symphysis suggested he was in his early twenties. The piece of metal could mean that he had some type of body piercing. That was it: not much, mainly suggestions. She packaged and la beled samples to take to Jin and locked them along with the bones in her vault and changed the key code.
    Diane locked up her lab and left via the museum side exit. As she passed the break room, she saw Jen nifer Jeffcote-Smith sitting at one of the tables drink ing her coffee. From the steam rising out of the cup, it looked hot. She didn’t look happy. Diane hesitated a moment, then went in.
    ‘‘Come to gloat?’’ asked Jennifer when she saw Diane. ‘‘No,’’ said Diane pulling up a chair.
‘‘Then what are you looking at?’’ said Jennifer. ‘‘I think I’m looking at a scapegoat,’’ said Diane. Jennifer looked up sharply. ‘‘What’s that supposed
    to mean?’’
‘‘You know, Lloyd Bryce has a temper, and he loses
it easily,’’ said Diane.
‘‘You will have to be more clear,’’ she said. ‘‘Or
just leave—that would be good too.’’ She continued
to sip her coffee, breaking eye contact with Diane. ‘‘He didn’t lose his temper with the sheriff, and
Canfield was laying into him pretty hard.’’
‘‘So?’’ said Jennifer.
‘‘You need to ask yourself why,’’ said Diane. ‘‘This is your story. You ask yourself why,’’ she said. ‘‘Because he wasn’t angry,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Look. Will you get to the point or leave? In case
you haven’t noticed, today hasn’t been a good day for
me.’’ Jennifer set her coffee down. She twisted her
wedding rings.
It hasn’t been a good day for you? Diane thought
to herself. Look at my face, lady.
‘‘How long were you out of your lab?’’ asked Diane. ‘‘What do you mean?’’ Jennifer asked.
‘‘How long were you gone getting coffee? It was
about noon when you came up. That’s a busy time
for the restaurant,’’ said Diane. ‘‘It could have taken
a while.’’
‘‘I didn’t keep track of the time,’’ she said. ‘‘Doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t take long for some
body to get the bones,’’ said Diane.
Jennifer folded her arms and gave Diane her full
attention. ‘‘Why do you say I’m a scapegoat?’’ she
asked.
‘‘They hire you to come to Rosewood from Califor
nia with the promise of a lab and equipment. Then
they discover they don’t have a lab and equipment, so
either they will have to stock one for you or let you
go. You said you moved your family here and your
husband quit his job. That sounds like grounds for a
suit to me if they let you go. However, they could
sandbag you, then fire you and maybe save a lot of
money. After today they can let you go and say it was
because you were incompetent.’’
‘‘I’m not incompetent.’’ Jennifer raised her chin and
glared at Diane.
‘‘I’m not saying you are. I’m just talking about a
scenario—one you need to keep in mind,’’ said Diane. Jennifer was quiet for a long moment. ‘‘Why are
you telling me this? You may have been the one who
stole the bones.’’
‘‘I didn’t, and blaming me isn’t going to help you.
I’m just giving you a heads-up,’’ said Diane. Jennifer’s blue eyes glistened as if she were about
to tear up. ‘‘It wasn’t supposed to work out this way,’’
she said.
‘‘No, I don’t imagine it was,’’ said Diane. ‘‘What
color was the hair?’’
Jennifer looked at her, puzzled. ‘‘What are you talk
ing about?’’
‘‘The sheriff said they found hair. What color was
it?’’
‘‘Dark—very black. I was thinking it might be Asian
or Indian. Why?’’
‘‘Because, if most of the bones are gone, we need
all the information we can get. What about the fin
gernails?’’ said Diane. ‘‘What did they look like?’’ ‘‘I really didn’t look at them. I just looked at the
bones. And before you ask, there wasn’t much to look
at. They were all in pieces. There wasn’t much to be
done,’’ she said.
‘‘What about the skull bones? Did you notice any
thing on the occipital that might look like a bullet
hole?’’
‘‘I hadn’t gotten around to identifying the parts yet.
I had just begun separating them into categories. I put
them in separate tubs so they wouldn’t get lost. I
didn’t want to put them on the table. My lab