Dead Guilty (20 page)

Diane
looked
up
at
him
sharply.
‘‘Ten
thousand
dollars?’’
‘‘Good diamonds are expensive.’’
‘‘I didn’t realize that diamonds are that rare.’’
‘‘They’re not. But over three-quarters of the world’s
diamonds are controlled by one company, and they’re
very good at making diamonds seem rare.’’
Diane picked up the diamond and studied it in the
palm
of
her
hand.
‘‘That’s
a
lot
of
money
for
a
diamond.’’
‘‘You don’t think your guy could afford that?’’
‘‘I haven’t seen his bank account, but I would have
thought it unlikely.’’
‘‘Then it may not have been a diamond. We’ve been
working on the assumption that the stone was a dia
mond, but it takes an expert to identify one.’’
Mike reached in and pulled out several more plastic
containers and lined up five stones on the batting. He
dropped
one
of
the
lids
on
the
floor
and
it
started
rolling. Diane reached down and picked it up before
it got across the floor.
‘‘I could have sworn you did that on purpose,’’ said
Diane when she rose and placed it back on the table.
‘‘I did. I rearranged the stones. I thought I’d let you
pick out the diamond.’’
Diane looked at the row of stones. They were all
beautiful, all about the same size, and very similar.
‘‘What
if
these
get
mixed
up?
Can
you
tell
them
apart?’’
‘‘Sure. I know in what order I placed them, and I
have photos of their internal structures. Besides, I’ve
got this sweet little device that’ll identify them for me
if I get mixed-up.’’
‘‘That’s good to know.’’ Diane went down the row
of stones, picking each one up, twisting it from side
to side with her fingers, looking at the sparkle. She
pushed one back. ‘‘I don’t think it’s this one.’’
‘‘Very good. That’s a white sapphire. The value is,
I think, around a hundred thirty dollars.’’
She examined the remaining four again and moved
another back and looked at Mike, who watched her
closely with an amused glint to his eyes. ‘‘Cubic zirco
nia. Maybe fifteen dollars,’’ he said.
Diane moved another stone away from the line.
‘‘Very
good,’’
said
Mike.
‘‘That’s
a
synthetic
diamond—retails for about three thousand dollars.’’
‘‘A lucky guess. They all look so much alike. But it
had a
slightly yellow cast
to it. You’re
right. You’d
have to look at it against a white background to see
it.’’
Two were left. Diane picked them up and looked
at
them
side
by
side.
She
moved
them
under
the
light. Weighed each in her hand, though she didn’t
know why. She had not a clue what it would mean
if one were heavier than the other. It was the spar
kle, she realized, she had used to eliminate the oth
ers.
She
took
another
look at
the
stones,
twisting
them under the light. She set them down and moved
a stone back in line with the others she had elimi
nated, and looked at Mike. His eyes still cast that
amused sparkle.
‘‘Well?’’ she asked.
‘‘You just eliminated the diamond.’’
‘‘And I was almost sure.’’
‘‘Nope. You were looking at the fire, weren’t you?’’
‘‘Yes.’’
‘‘This.’’
He
picked
up
the
one
remaining
stone.
‘‘This is a moissanite—costs about three hundred dol
lars. It has a higher refractive index than a diamond
and is almost as hard.’’
‘‘I’ve never heard of a moissanite.’’
‘‘Silicon
carbide
crystals.
It’s
named
after
Henri
Moissan, a scientist from Paris. In 1893 he discovered
the crystals in a meteorite. Naturally occurring mois
sanite is rare, but a way to manufacture it was devel
oped in 1995.’’
‘‘Her diamond might have been any one of these.’’
‘‘You have to look at the diamond’s internal struc
ture. Think she’ll let you borrow it?’’
‘‘About as much chance as a snowball’s in hell, I
imagine. Although, if she thought it could help catch
Chris Edwards’ killer, maybe.’’
‘‘Today, a lot of good diamonds are engraved on the
girdle—on one of these tiny facets around the girth of
the stone—with a serial number and a logo for where
it came from. They are also fingerprinted—in a man
ner
of
speaking.
The
internal
structure
of
each
dia
mond is unique. People who deal in real diamonds are
very
concerned
about
distinguishing
their
product
from the man-made variety.’’
‘‘Tell
me,
if
these
nondiamonds
are
so
much
cheaper and you have to have a special machine to
tell them from the real thing...’’
‘‘Why do people pay so much for diamonds? They
are the stones created a billion years ago in the bowels
of the earth—the mantle, actually—and were spewed
out of the earth by a volcano in molten lava. It’s the
mystique, and very clever marketing by the diamond
companies.’’
He picked up the diamond. ‘‘Besides, diamonds are
cool stones. If the temperature and pressure had been
a little less when it was being formed, we’d be writing
with this in a pencil.’’
‘‘I do know that graphite is carbon, and that dia
monds are formed out of carbon.’’
‘‘Did
you
know
when
light
passes
through
a
dia
mond, it slows down to half its speed?’’
‘‘I would have been more impressed if it speeded
up,’’ said Diane.
‘‘You’re a science fiction fan, aren’t you? So am
I. Another thing we have in common.’’ Mike began
putting the stones back in their marked containers.
Instead of putting them back in the drawer, he set
them aside in a tray. ‘‘Since they’ve been out of their
boxes, I’ll check all of them to make sure I didn’t
mix them up.’’ He took them back to the storage
room.
‘‘I didn’t know we have such valuable gemstones,’’
said Diane, when he returned.
‘‘Kendel’s been helping to increase our number of
reference gems. I tell you, if I’m ever on a scavenger
hunt where my life depends on the outcome, I want
that woman on my team.’’
Diane nodded and smiled. ‘‘I’ve been very pleased
with
her.
Did
she
acquire
the
diamond
we
just
looked at?’’
Mike
nodded.
‘‘She
got
it
out
of
Mrs.
Van
Ross.
We
decided
to
keep
it
in
the
reference
collection
rather than exchange it with the one on display in the
rock room. The one on display
is a larger diamond
but not near the quality, but with the lighting it’s a
little more impressive because of its size.’’
‘‘It’s on a black background, isn’t it?’’
Mike grinned. ‘‘Yep.’’
‘‘Mike, I appreciate the lesson in diamonds.’’ She
stood up to go.
‘‘Have you eaten?’’
‘‘Mike...’’
‘‘Come on, Doc. You have to eat. We could eat in
the
museum
restaurant.
We’d
just
have
to
walk
downstairs.’’
Diane
thought
for
a
second.
‘‘Oh,
all
right.
I
am
hungry.’’
‘‘Great!
Besides,
I
have
something
I
need
to
ask
you.’’

Between
the sets of huge double doors at the en
trance to each wing of the museum, Diane had added
a new door that led down a long hallway to the restau
rant that remained open after the museum closed. She
and Mike took one of the elevators across from the
rock room down to the first floor. It let them out at
the midpoint of the hallway.

Photographs
of pieces from the museum hung along
the
long
walls—the
inside
spiral
from
a
chambered
nautilus, starfish, sea horses, seashells, rocks, minerals
and
gemstones,
dinosaurs,
wolves,
butterflies,
birds
and flowers. A preview of what the museum offered.
Diane had framed several copies for her apartment.
There was nothing as peaceful and soothing to her as
a seashell.

Several
couples were walking down the hallway to
the restaurant when Diane and Mike emerged from
the elevator.

‘‘Oh,
the museum is still open. Let’s go look at the
jewels.’’
A dark-haired
woman in
a
black spaghettistrap silk dress decorated with stylized white butter
flies punched the
UP
button several times. ‘‘It’s out of
order.’’
The
man
she
was
with
and
another
couple
stopped and waited.

‘‘The
museum isn’t open,’’ said Diane. ‘‘This bank
of elevators is locked down for the night.’’
The woman looked Diane up and down. ‘‘How did
you ride it?’’
‘‘I have a key.’’
‘‘How do you get a key?’’
‘‘By
being
the
director,
Evelyn.
This
is
Diane
Fallon,’’
said
the
man.
From
the
wedding
rings
on
their
fingers, Diane guessed they were husband
and wife.
He shook Diane’s hand and introduced himself, his
wife
and
friends.
‘‘You
spoke
at
my
club
for
lunch
last month.’’
‘‘Good to see you again,’’ Diane began, but was cut
off by the wife.
‘‘So, you run the museum. What about this crime
lab attached to it? That is just so strange. Should you
be doing that?’’
‘‘Evelyn.’’
Her
husband
sighed
and
smiled.
The
other couple examined the granite floor around their
feet.
‘‘Well,
I want
to know,’’
she said,
still looking
at
Diane for an answer.
‘‘Rosewood had a need, and I was happy to be able
to help,’’ said Diane.
‘‘I’m sure, but to think of autopsies being performed
at the museum while people are looking at the exhib
its. That’s not going on now, is it?’’
‘‘We don’t do autopsies. They are performed at the
hospital.
We
examine
trace
evidence—fibers,
finger
prints, that kind of thing.’’
‘‘I know I
heard someone say that
you examined
bodies here.’’
‘‘Perhaps they meant skeletons. I’m curator of the
primate skeletal collection and I’m also a forensic an
thropologist. I do look at bones here.’’
‘‘Bones. I see. Well, we are so glad to have a restau
rant of this caliber here, but I have to say—’’
‘‘Evelyn.’’
Evelyn
ignored
her
husband,
which,
Diane
imag
ined, was something he was accustomed to.
‘‘I can’t say I like those computers there.’’
‘‘We have a number of students who come here and
use them during the day.’’
‘‘In
the
restaurant?
Why
don’t
you
give
them
a
room to do that in?’’
‘‘I’ll ask the staff to look into it,’’ said Diane.
The woman smiled brightly. ‘‘You see, Burt, it never
hurts to ask.’’ They turned and walked down the hall
to the restaurant.
‘‘You did that well,’’ said Mike. ‘‘I thought we were
going to be stuck here in the hallway the rest of the
night.’’
‘‘She
just
wanted
me
to
tell
her
she
was
right,’’
said Diane.
‘‘See, that’s what I like about you. You know how
to deal with things.’’
They were seated in a booth on the opposite side
of the restaurant from Evelyn and Burt’s party. Diane
liked the low lights and quiet of the room. She was
more tired than she realized.
‘‘This
is
good.
I
was
afraid
we
were
going
to
be
seated near that woman,’’ said Mike.
Diane
eyed
him
over
her
menu.
‘‘That
wouldn’t
have happened.’’
‘‘Why? Oh, they always seat you away from every
one else, don’t they?’’
‘‘When they can. They know I like calm with my
meals.’’ She looked at the flow of restaurant customers
coming
in. ‘‘It
looks like
the restaurant
is filling
up
quickly tonight.’’
The waitress came, and Diane ordered steak. Mike,
it turned out, was vegetarian. He ordered a portobello
mushroom, spinach and cheese dish.
‘‘Really,’’
he
said.
‘‘You
handled
that
well.
I
wouldn’t have been so patient.’’
‘‘A visitor to the museum is like a guest in my home.’’
‘‘Nice
sentiment,
but
it’s
good
you
know
how
to
handle people.’’
‘‘Actually, I don’t, but I picked up a few things from
my last boss, who was a diplomat. What was it you
wanted to talk to me about?’’
‘‘The caving club.’’ Diane was surprised. She’d ex
pected something personal.
‘‘What about it?’’ She was a member of the Rose
wood Speleological Society, but she often wasn’t able
to attend the meetings.
‘‘We lost our meeting place at the student center—
we weren’t a big enough group. Somebody needed the
space
and
the
administration
chased
us
out
of
our
room. Of course, one of our more prominent members
could have spoken up for us, but she doesn’t attend
meetings that often.’’
‘‘We have a prominent member in the club?’’
‘‘Yeah, we do. Big director of the museum in town.
Anyway, in the absence of this director, we all came
up with the idea of meeting in her museum.’’
Diane nodded. ‘‘At least I would be able to attend
the meetings if we met here.’’
‘‘That’s a yes, then?’’
‘‘We can meet in the main auditorium or one of the
geology rooms. It would mean that you will have to
meet the group at the door to let them in. I can alert
the security staff to watch out for latecomers.’’
‘‘Great. I think the earth science room would be
a good place to meet. We already have that small
auditorium
where
we
show
the
Volatile
Earth
series.’’
Diane hadn’t realized she was as hungry as she was
until her meal arrived. She was going to have to re
member
to
eat
more.
She
took
several
bites
of
her
fillet and baked potato before she said anything else.
‘‘I
really
am
sorry
I
haven’t
been
able
to
attend
more meetings.’’
‘‘I can understand, with two full-time jobs. By the
way, we do have a new member. One of your staff
from your other job. Neva Hurley.’’
‘‘I’m glad she joined. I encouraged her to.’’
‘‘She seemed to feel a little out of place, but I think
it’s
because
she’s
the
least
experienced
member.
I
have the plan for the cave we’re visiting. It’s a great
cave,
really.
There’s
an
easy
way
and
a
wild
way
through it. I thought we’d start with the easy way and
later take a trip back and explore the wild part of the
cave. That section has to be explored on rope, so it’s
not for beginners.’’
Diane ate and listened to Mike talk about the cave
they were going to visit. She heard the low tone of
her
phone
ring.
She
fished
it
out
of
her
purse
and
answered without looking at the display.
‘‘I thought maybe we could finish our talk. I hope
I’m
not
interrupting
your
dinner,’’
the
voice
on
the
phone said.