LC 04 - Skeleton Crew (35 page)

"Not necessarily. Sometimes murderers just don't want you
asking questions," Ramirez said. "Who here has computer skills?"
Trey handed him a list of everyone he knew who possessed the
skills needed to have created the message and put it on Lindsay's
computer. Ramirez looked at the list. "You said you have extra
security coming?"

"They're here now, looking around the place," Lewis said. "I
asked John to show them around. I think they're making a plan."

"Good. Now, you said other things happened?"

Trey gave Ramirez a description of how he and John had spent
the past evening.

"What do you think they were after?" Ramirez asked.

"I don't know," Trey replied.

"Do you have any idea who they were?"

"No. We thought it might be the biology people, causing trouble, but with this latest thing, I-"

"I don't believe it. It isn't enough that you take over the place,
but you are now accusing my people of criminal activity. I won't
have it, Lewis. I'm taking it to the Board of Regents."

They all turned their heads to the door. A man in his late thirties, with frizzy brown receding hair, a mustache, and wearing a
khaki shirt and chinos, stood in the doorway. Lindsay had seen
him and his photograph many times. Evan Easterall-one of
UGA's so-called celebrity faculty. This ought to be interesting, she
thought. Mike Altman stood behind Easterall.

"Don't bother knocking," Lewis said. "Come in and meet Agent
Ramirez."

Lindsay had heard people's description of Lewis when he was
angry. They said you had to know him. It's all in his eyes. She
thought she saw what they were talking about.

"Things are going to change around here," Easterall said. "My
staff need room to do their research, and I'm going to see that they
get it."

"You can have it all back when we're finished," Lewis responded.

"If everyone here lives that long. People are being found murdered; members of your staff are running hysterically around the
island. This whole project is out of control."

Lindsay wasn't thinking of the nasty surprise she got on her
computer last evening, nor was she thinking about Lewis, the murders, or the site. She was thinking about how two years ago she
had submitted a request for time on the supercomputer for analysis of her research data-an analysis that was of critical importance
to her, her students, and the future of the archaeology lab. She
remembered Easterall picking up the request she handed to the
people who were supposed to be in charge, taking a glance at it,
and throwing it back in front of them, saying that he couldn't interrupt his work for inconsequential trivia. He had never looked at
her, even though he knew she was standing there. He had dismissed her and her work as easily as if he were brushing away a
fly.

"You're jumping to conclusions-" Lewis began, but Easterall
cut him off.

"This whole project and the way it is being run is a disgrace
and a danger to the lives of my people as well as yours. I'm going
to-"

It must have been the heat of anger stimulating the synapses in
her brain, Lindsay thought later. Small facts and bits of conversation were shifting into place. She stood and faced Easterall. "You'll
do nothing. It's one of your staff who is behaving disgracefully."

Easterall's look of annoyance at her made Lindsay more angry.
Not just a fly, a pesky fly, but he did look at her. "And you are
Miss ... ?"

"Dr. Chamberlain. I'm a tenured faculty member at UGA. Your
man Altman has been feeding confidential information to
Evangeline Jones regarding the archaeology site."

Mike opened his mouth to protest, but Lindsay pressed on.

"Eva Jones is a pothunter, a looter of antiquities. That would be
like me going to the people who cut down and abuse the rainforests and helping them do a better job of it, simply because I got
mad at you."

"You're lying." The words came from Mike Altman in a hoarse
whisper.

"I visited Jones on her ship. They don't think they are doing
anything wrong, so they didn't mind letting things slip."

Easterall turned to Mike. "Is what she is saying true?"

"I, it was nothing. It wasn't secret, they talked about it, I just-"

"Just what?" asked Easterall.

"Copied diary pages stolen from Carolyn's desk and gave them
to Eva Jones through Hardy Denton," Lindsay replied before Mike
could answer. "That's why Denton was here that night. He was
probably here other nights before that, receiving information
stolen by Mike from the archaeology project."

Lindsay turned to Mike. "Which one of you tried to break into
Harper's room to get the whole diary? You? It used to be your
apartment before we came. You didn't realize that Lewis had
changed all the locks. It must have been frustrating. Now,
Easterall, you wait in the break room, and Lewis will get to you
when he's finished. We have important business."

Easterall stood for a moment, clearly not wanting to back
down. Ramirez broke the silence.

"Mr. Altman. Please do not leave the building. I want to speak
with you."

That got both of them moving.

Lindsay closed the door behind them and sat down. Trey and
Lewis looked at Lindsay, speechless. Slowly a smile spread across
Lewis's face.

"He denied you computer time, didn't he?"

"It was the way he did it."

"Well, tell me how he did it, so if I have to deny you anything I
won't do it that way."

"When did you arrive at all those conclusions?" Ramirez asked.

"Just now. They just materialized in my head. I knew Mike had
heard us when Harper fell into the quicksand. He used the term
hysterical to describe us, and I guessed that he had witnessed the
whole thing. When I confronted him later, he confirmed my suspicion. Jones's lawyer used the word hysterical to describe me, then
Easterall used it again. Mike showed up at the lab the same
evening that Denton was here, and I later heard the copy machine
running behind a locked door. I just made a leap."

"So, it was a bluff?"

"I had a lot of information."

"It was a bluff. A good bluff." Ramirez rose. "I need to talk to
Altman, in case he decides to get lost on the island. I'll finish my
discussion with all of you later."

"So, does this solve everything?" Lewis asked. "It seems to me
that all the facts point to Mike Altman."

"I don't know. Maybe," Lindsay replied. "I don't know why Mike would kill Denton, unless perhaps he also killed Keith Teal,
and Denton witnessed it and was blackmailing him."

"I like the way you make these paths from words to small
events to a larger picture," said Trey.

Lindsay shrugged. "I may be wrong."

"You weren't wrong about his copying the diary translations,"
Lewis said.

"I can't see Mike opening that chest and stealing artifacts,"
Lindsay said.

"But you were afraid he might destroy artifacts in the lab," Trey
reminded her.

"Yes, but none of the artifacts in the warehouse were destroyed.
A select few were taken."

"Jones, you think?" asked Lewis.

"I can't see her leaving some of that stuff, not the gold coins, the
silver, or the Chinese box or-or none of it," Lindsay said. "That
has me puzzled."

"I feel like most of the puzzle is solved," Lewis responded. He
started to rise when someone knocked on the door. It was the two
new security guards. The two of them were dressed in suits and
looked as if they worked for the Secret Service. Lindsay hoped
they had brought a change of clothes. They came in followed by
John.

Lewis made introductions. Trey pulled more chairs from the
weather room so that everyone fit around the table while Lewis
filled Tom Bowers and Robert Eberhardt in on the latest information.

"Did Mike put the message on Lindsay's computer?" John
asked.

"We don't know that," Lewis replied.

"That would be the message you told us about?" Bowers asked
John. John nodded. "So, at least some of the break-ins have been
solved."

"It seems so," said Trey.

Bowers, the apparent spokesman of the two, laced his hands in
front of him and addressed Lewis. "I know you mentioned letting
the current security guard go, but I think if we put a desk in the
lobby area facing the front door and let him man it, his proclivity
for reading on the job won't matter. He'll see whoever might try to
come in. I'll stay in the Magdalena House here, and Robert in the warehouse. We'll make rounds outside around the buildings and
docks at random times. I think that will prevent anyone from trying anything else."

Lindsay liked the plan, particularly the part about keeping Dale
Delosier. Not that she especially wanted him to keep his job, but
she admired people who could use available resources effectively.
She felt safe.

"I'm going to get to work," she told Lewis. "Do you want a
drawing of the latest skeleton?"

"The one you think is Valerian?" Lewis asked. "Definitely."

Lindsay went through the weather room where both of the
meteorologists were at work. "How's the weather?" she asked.

"We have a tropical storm in the Carribean. It doesn't look like
it will come this way, but you guys may get some heavy winds out
at the dam." William smiled at her. "That should make for a little
excitement."

"We told John," Terry said, frowning at William. "He's going to
install extra pumps in case the waves get high. But everything
looks fine."

"I'm glad you guys are here," Lindsay told them.

"We won't let a storm sneak up on you," Terry said.

Lindsay waved at them as she went past the door where the
emergency evacuation plan was posted. She realized she hadn't
read it and didn't really know what to do if a bad storm hit. She
made a mental note to look over the emergency procedures.

She was thinking about that when she ran into Tessa Altman on
the stairway leading down to the lab. Tessa's blonde hair stood out
in perfect corkscrew curls around her face. She was very pretty
and usually wore makeup, which wasn't common for people
doing fieldwork. The crow's feet around her eyes and slight lines
in her forehead suggested she was older than her husband Mike.

"I was looking for you," she said, her face suddenly angry. "Do
you know what you've done? Do you?"

"Apparently not," Lindsay replied.

"It's important for Mike to work with Easterall. You've put that
in jeopardy."

"Not I," Lindsay protested. "His behavior may have something
to do with it."

"You bitch-"

"What did you call me?" Lindsay stepped toward Tessa and backed her against the wall. "Did you happen to write those sentiments in a message on my computer?"

"What are you talking about? Back away from me."

"Answer my question. If things are getting out of hand around
here, you and your husband share the blame. Did you send me an
obscene message?"

"No! Why are you blaming me?"

"Because the author used that word."

"It's not like I'm the only one who uses it. You probably
deserved it."

"You think so? You think I deserve to be cut in half and left on
a morgue table?"

Tessa's eyes widened. Lindsay backed away from her.

"I didn't send you any message. I was referring to your callousness toward Mike. This island is our research project. You may
not appreciate it, but we do important things here."

"I do appreciate it. Most archaeologists are conservationists.
Like I told Easterall, what Mike did with Jones is the same thing as
my offering to help polluters because I don't like you. Do you see
how reprehensible that would be? Jones doesn't care about history.
She wants to loot valuable artifacts, and Mike has been helping
her."

"Eva Jones came to him. He didn't think it was a big deal,
because Carolyn let Gretchen read part of the diary one day."

"What about trying to break into the apartment? It frightened
Harper, and she's done nothing to you. She was assigned by Lewis
to stay there."

"That was our home. We still had a key. Okay, I'm sorry. We
weren't going to steal anything, just borrow a page or two to copy.
That's all Jones said she needed-just a page or two."

"So she wanted a Rosetta Stone," Lindsay said, almost to herself. "What does she have that needs translating?"

"I have no idea."

"Why didn't Mike come to help us when we were lost?"

"He heard you telling the person who fell into the pit that she
would be all right. You seemed to know quicksand, and you
weren't that far away from home. Just four miles. He was busy
with his work, recording some observations. And he didn't know
you had found a body. He only heard screaming. Good God, nothing like this happened here before all of you got here."

"Are the pits marked on a map?"

"Yes, of course. There's one hanging in the lobby behind the elephant ears."

"Did you know Keith Teal?"

"Don't try to pin this on me or Mike. He came home that night
after seeing you were in the lab and didn't meet Denton. We had
nothing to do with the murders."

"I'm not saying you did. I was just asking a question."

"Well, I don't want to answer any of your questions. I want you
to leave us alone. It's bad enough that you've made problems with
Easterall. Now you've got the FBI talking to him."

"It was Mike and Easterall who came barging into Lewis's
office threatening to run us off. Easterall brought the FBI attention
to himself. If you think of anything suspicious you know or saw
and feel like telling me, let me know."

Carolyn was still fuming over the artifacts when Lindsay made
it down to the lab. "How badly were they damaged?" Lindsay
asked.

"I don't know. They were still damp. I think I got to them in
time. Did you see Tessa? She was down here looking for you."

"I saw her."

"She looked mad," Carolyn said.