to follow them now,
I guess. They have at least half an hour on us, and we’re on foot.” He was
silent for a minute, as we all watched in sympathy.
Kyle gave a deep sigh. “All right. Priorities. Let’s get these
other two jackets finished. I want them out of here today, and the sooner we get the
plaster on, the sooner they can dry.”
It didn’t take all of us to jacket two sets of fossils. Kyle and
Steffi drew away to one side and talked in low voices. Grayson started helping Russell
with one jacket, while Tom and Abby took the other.
I paced restlessly. It seemed like we had identified the thieves, but I
still wasn’t satisfied.
Bess joined me. “So, after all we went through,
this is how we find out about the thieves.”
I frowned and shook my head. “I’m not convinced it’s
that simple. Someone from camp is involved.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“The snake. When it showed up in our tent, we hadn’t even seen
those two guys yet. Why would they try to discourage us?”
“They might have just wanted to cause trouble at camp,” Bess
said. “Maybe they chose a random tent and it just happened to be ours.”
“Why would they want to disrupt the camp?” I said. “They
wanted Kyle’s group to do all the work in excavating the fossils. Otherwise they
could have just come out last week, when no one was here. No, someone from camp is
involved. Someone who knows I’m a detective.”
“I told Abby that first morning,” Bess admitted. “But I
don’t remember who else was around.”
“Just about everybody,” I said. “And of course we told
Kyle later that morning. Either Abby or Kyle might have told someone else.” I put
my hands on my hips and looked around. “We need to find out more about these
people, and we’re running out of time. They don’t need us here. Let’s
go see how George is doing with the Internet.”
Bess smiled. “What’s a
hundred-million-year-old fossil, compared to modern snooping?”
• • •
We offered to start carrying gear back to camp. Most of the tools could
go, along with the empty buckets. Kyle didn’t want to expose anything new, since
we wouldn’t have time to get it out of the ground. I grabbed one of the
walkie-talkies, too, just in case. They wouldn’t need both at the dig.
We entered camp and put away the tools. George waved and came toward us.
We filled her in on what had happened with Steffi. “I hope you found something
interesting,” I finished.
“Grayson is a lawyer,” she said. “A federal prosecutor
out of Denver, so it makes sense that he knows about cases of fossil theft. Nothing
suspicious there. I chatted with Felix a bit, and he said he used to own a deli. That
checked out. He’s in his tent now with a book and a battery-operated fan. I found
several guys named Russell Stevens, but unless he’s a basketball player, a rock
and roll drummer, or a Belgian scientist, nothing on this one. I was just going to work
on Abby when I saw you come back.”
“That’s a good start,” I said. “But we need to
find out about Russell somehow. On the phone last night he said something about buying
and selling. He could have been calling his helpers.”
George peered through the windows of the dark SUV.
“This is Russell’s. Hey, his phone is on the console.” George cackled
and opened the door.
“What are you doing?” Bess asked, as George pushed
buttons.
“Checking what number he called last. It’s a 212 area code.
That’s New York City. Let’s go up on the hill.” She pushed buttons as
we walked. “The magic of redial,” she muttered.
“He’ll be able to tell someone was messing with his
phone!” Bess exclaimed.
“Only if he checks the calling record,” George said,
“which he won’t. And even if he does, he won’t know who it was.”
She pushed Send as we topped the hill, then held the phone to her ear and spoke.
I guess. They have at least half an hour on us, and we’re on foot.” He was
silent for a minute, as we all watched in sympathy.
Kyle gave a deep sigh. “All right. Priorities. Let’s get these
other two jackets finished. I want them out of here today, and the sooner we get the
plaster on, the sooner they can dry.”
It didn’t take all of us to jacket two sets of fossils. Kyle and
Steffi drew away to one side and talked in low voices. Grayson started helping Russell
with one jacket, while Tom and Abby took the other.
I paced restlessly. It seemed like we had identified the thieves, but I
still wasn’t satisfied.
Bess joined me. “So, after all we went through,
this is how we find out about the thieves.”
I frowned and shook my head. “I’m not convinced it’s
that simple. Someone from camp is involved.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“The snake. When it showed up in our tent, we hadn’t even seen
those two guys yet. Why would they try to discourage us?”
“They might have just wanted to cause trouble at camp,” Bess
said. “Maybe they chose a random tent and it just happened to be ours.”
“Why would they want to disrupt the camp?” I said. “They
wanted Kyle’s group to do all the work in excavating the fossils. Otherwise they
could have just come out last week, when no one was here. No, someone from camp is
involved. Someone who knows I’m a detective.”
“I told Abby that first morning,” Bess admitted. “But I
don’t remember who else was around.”
“Just about everybody,” I said. “And of course we told
Kyle later that morning. Either Abby or Kyle might have told someone else.” I put
my hands on my hips and looked around. “We need to find out more about these
people, and we’re running out of time. They don’t need us here. Let’s
go see how George is doing with the Internet.”
Bess smiled. “What’s a
hundred-million-year-old fossil, compared to modern snooping?”
• • •
We offered to start carrying gear back to camp. Most of the tools could
go, along with the empty buckets. Kyle didn’t want to expose anything new, since
we wouldn’t have time to get it out of the ground. I grabbed one of the
walkie-talkies, too, just in case. They wouldn’t need both at the dig.
We entered camp and put away the tools. George waved and came toward us.
We filled her in on what had happened with Steffi. “I hope you found something
interesting,” I finished.
“Grayson is a lawyer,” she said. “A federal prosecutor
out of Denver, so it makes sense that he knows about cases of fossil theft. Nothing
suspicious there. I chatted with Felix a bit, and he said he used to own a deli. That
checked out. He’s in his tent now with a book and a battery-operated fan. I found
several guys named Russell Stevens, but unless he’s a basketball player, a rock
and roll drummer, or a Belgian scientist, nothing on this one. I was just going to work
on Abby when I saw you come back.”
“That’s a good start,” I said. “But we need to
find out about Russell somehow. On the phone last night he said something about buying
and selling. He could have been calling his helpers.”
George peered through the windows of the dark SUV.
“This is Russell’s. Hey, his phone is on the console.” George cackled
and opened the door.
“What are you doing?” Bess asked, as George pushed
buttons.
“Checking what number he called last. It’s a 212 area code.
That’s New York City. Let’s go up on the hill.” She pushed buttons as
we walked. “The magic of redial,” she muttered.
“He’ll be able to tell someone was messing with his
phone!” Bess exclaimed.
“Only if he checks the calling record,” George said,
“which he won’t. And even if he does, he won’t know who it was.”
She pushed Send as we topped the hill, then held the phone to her ear and spoke.
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