Scattered Graves

‘‘I did no such thing. Mr. Shipman has several egresses to choose from if he wants to leave. If Mr. Bryce calls again, I’m not here.’’
‘‘Sure thing, Dr. Fallon.’’
Diane left Mike in the lobby on his way to pick up Neva to take her to a late dinner. Diane went to her office and called Frank to tell him she would be home soon and that she would tell him all about her latest adventure.
Home , she thought as she hung up. She still hadn’t made up her mind whether to settle in with Frank or to get her own place. She wished she could do both. She sat in her chair listening to the water fountain on her desk. The bubbling, flowing sound was soothing.
Diane didn’t feel like she had just won a major bat tle. She thought she would feel more jubilant now that the museum had a way to reclaim all that space in the west wing and rid itself of a growing problem. She sat there feeling a little sad, not unlike the way she had felt when the chief of police and the mayor had re placed her. It had hurt more than she let on, more than she had told anyone, even Frank. In truth, she loved the crime lab and she had enjoyed it being in the museum. She knew Vanessa had too.
Vanessa Van Ross was the real power behind the museum. She was old Rosewood going back several generations. She had money and she had power—but not enough power to change the new mayor’s mind. Vanessa wasn’t aware that Diane knew she had gone down to the mayor’s office after he fired her to talk him out of it. It must have been an odd feeling for Vanessa—being turned down. It didn’t happen often.
Diane got up, put on her jacket, and turned out the lights. She walked through Andie’s office and opened the door to leave. Neva and Mike were standing there ready to knock. Neva was dressed in jeans and a short, lambskin-lined suede jacket and gloves. It must be get ting colder outside , thought Diane.
‘‘Well, hi,’’ Diane said. ‘‘Did you forget some thing?’’
Mike shook his head. ‘‘Neva wanted to talk to you,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s David,’’ said Neva. ‘‘Did you know he re signed today?’’

Chapter 13
    ‘‘Resigned?’’ said Diane. ‘‘When?’’
Neva shrugged. ‘‘I just know he left a letter on
Bryce’s desk. I’m really worried about him. He hasn’t
been himself lately,’’ she said. Her dark brown eyes
looked moist. She ran her fingers through her honey
brown hair, but her bangs fell back in her eyes. ‘‘Come in,’’ said Diane.
Neva frowned at the sight of Diane’s face, but she
didn’t say anything. Probably knew that Diane was
tired of people noticing.
Diane turned on the light in Andie’s office. Mike
and Neva sat on the sofa; Diane sat on a chair in the
small sitting area in the corner of the office. The
cottage-style stuffed furniture with its floral design and
matching rag rug of pink, blue, and green were pretty
and tranquil. It made Diane feel like she should be
entertaining Peter Rabbit’s mother. She guessed that
was what Andie had in mind.
‘‘He hasn’t been the same since you left the crime
lab. You know David hated politics to start with.
Now . . .’’ Neva shrugged again. ‘‘I know he never
talked much about himself, but he talked to us about
other stuff. Now the only time I have a conversation
with him is when all of us have dinner. At work, it’s
strictly business. He keeps to himself.’’
‘‘Do you know where he is?’’ asked Diane. Neva shook her head. ‘‘I tried calling his cell but
didn’t get an answer. I went by his house while Mike was teaching his class tonight. He either wasn’t home
or didn’t answer the door.’’
‘‘What about his rooms in the basement here?’’
asked Diane.
‘‘I went down there before I left. Unless he locked
himself in and is not answering the door, he’s not
there.’’ She hesitated a moment, looked over at Mike,
then back at Diane. ‘‘I know this is a hard time...’’
She let the sentence trail off.
‘‘Sometimes David likes to be by himself, especially
now,’’ said Diane. ‘‘And you know he won’t suffer
fools—gladly or otherwise.’’
‘‘I know that,’’ said Neva. ‘‘Mike’s been telling me
what Bryce’s been doing. Bryce has this thing about
control. That’s what makes him so hard to work with.
I can’t tell you how many crime scenes we’ve arrived
at way late because he takes forever to assign one of
us to go. By the time we get there, the scene has
already been