Scattered Graves

cell rang. It was Jin calling from the DNA lab in the basement of the museum.
‘‘Boss, you got to help me. I’ve had to lock down my lab,’’ said Jin.

Chapter 3
    ‘‘Locked down?’’ said Diane. ‘‘What do you mean?’’ ‘‘I mean that Lloyd Bryce sent this guy, Curtis Crab
grass, from the crime lab to apply for a job—’’ ‘‘His name is Crabgrass?’’ said Diane.
‘‘Maybe it’s Crabtree,’’ Jin conceded. ‘‘Curtis Crab
tree. Anyway, I told him the DNA lab is not hiring
right now. But the guy won’t take no for an answer.
He tried to bully me into giving him a job. I finally
got him out the door, but he tried to come back. I
had to lock him out.’’
‘‘Is he violent?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘Not exactly violent, yet, but he did some shoving.
Now he’s hanging out at the door talking on his
phone.’’
‘‘You say Bryce sent him?’’
‘‘Yeah, like it was an order to me from Bryce that
I should give Crabtree a job in the DNA lab.’’ ‘‘I’ll be right down.’’
Diane shoved her phone in her pocket, picked up
the box of bones, and headed for the DNA lab. ‘‘What on earth does Bryce think he’s up to?’’ she
muttered.
Visitors were gathered in front of the bank of eleva
tors, waiting to go up to the second-floor exhibits. She
worked her way past them and balanced the box of
bones on her knee as she unlocked the private eleva
tor, the one that went all the way from the subbase ment to the attic. It was quiet inside the elevator, and she tried to clear her thoughts as she rode down to the recently renovated basement that housed the
brand-new DNA lab.
The elevator door opened and Diane saw Curtis
Crabtree in front of the glass doors to the DNA lab.
She had glimpsed him in the parking lot but had not
known his name. She remembered David telling her
that Bryce had hired two new people—a young woman
whom David and Neva called Lollipop because she
always had one in her mouth, and a man who David
was sure was some kind of thug. This must be him,
she thought.
Curtis Crabtree had dark curly hair and a fair com
plexion that made his day-old beard look dark on his
thin face. He was wearing corduroy bell-bottoms, a
white shirt open at the neck, and a gold chain hanging
among wisps of black chest hairs.
Jin saw her through the glass door and came out,
locking the door behind him. His jet-black hair was
cut short. He had on jeans and a white lab coat and
wore a decidedly irritated expression on his face. Deven Jin was formerly one of Diane’s crime scene
crew. He was now head of the new DNA lab run
under the auspices of the museum. DNA labs all over
the country were backed up with work, and Jin was
getting just about more samples to
could handle himself. The lab was
analyze than he proving to be a lucrative addition to the museum. He had not adver tised yet, but he was planning to hire another techni cian. But Jin was picky. He had to be. Diane could imagine that Curtis Crabtree in no way met Jin’s
criteria.
‘‘This is Curtis Crab... tree,’’ said Jin, waving a
hand in the direction of Mr. Bell-bottoms and Gold
Chain.
Crabtree stood with his arms folded, frowning at
Jin.
‘‘Look,’’ Crabtree said, ‘‘Lloyd Bryce appointed me as the link between the Rosewood Crime Lab and the DNA lab. He wants me to run all the samples that
come from our unit. What’s the problem?’’ Diane set her box down on a nearby coffee table.
‘‘Lloyd Bryce has no authority to appoint anyone to
the DNA lab,’’ said Diane. ‘‘All DNA personnel deci
sions are made by Jin and reviewed by me. We have
strict protocols for access to our laboratory services.
Those protocols do not allow for an agency submitting
DNA samples to use our equipment to analyze it
themselves.’’
Crabtree had a staccato laugh that she imagined
would become annoying very quickly.
‘‘Funny,’’ he said. ‘‘This is different. We aren’t just
any agency. If you want the business of the Rosewood
crime scene unit, this is how it’s going to be done.
This is our policy.’’ He stood with his chin jutting out,
his body rigid as his eyes shifted from Diane to Jin. Jin rolled his eyes.
‘‘Then we will have to forgo doing your DNA test
ing,’’ said Diane. ‘‘The Georgia Bureau of Investiga
tion has an excellent DNA lab. You can take your
proposal to them—or to any of the other labs across
the country.’’
Crabtree hesitated a moment, as if he had expected
her to give in and now