captured the perpetrators to avoid any additional attempts. By the way, don’t forget this is all very top secret. You and Theresa will have to keep this amongst the two of you alone—right?”
“Don’t you worry. The secrets are all safe with me. Maybe you should make me a temporary assistant deputy or something—I saw them do it once on Andy of Mayberry .” She appeared serious.
He reached back to the very recesses of his boyhood memories to dredge the Andy of Mayberry TV series from the cobwebs and wondered exactly what Miss Rogers thought of the Boston Police Department. The similarities—aside from the badge—were resoundingly absent.
“Bloody good idea.” Naturally he was kidding.
“Really? This is so exciting!” Naturally she took him seriously.
He chuckled and made a mental note to get her some kind of badge or other from the chief. Maybe he should have her sign a paper swearing her to secrecy. It was ridiculous that a sensitive police matter had been shared with a decorator. But this was Grace and at least she’d proved to be helpful. “In that case, Deputy, are we on for our interview with Dr. Doris this afternoon?”
“At 4:00 p.m. sharp,” she reported, suddenly all business and packing her things away.
He looked at his watch.
With Grace behind the wheel, they arrived at Dr. Doris’s office building at the campus in Cambridge a short time later. He and Grace waited for Dan to catch up with them from wherever he managed to park his police car. Then they trooped to the professor’s office all together in a Nancy-Drew-meets-the-Hardy-Boys manner. He shrugged off the disquieting notion.
The space was ridiculously cramped for a professor, David thought.
Grace had preceded him and Dan into the office. The ladies exchanged hearty hugs and some real kisses hitting their mark on the each other’s cheeks. A brief introduction followed.
Dr. Doris looked unsure but shook hands with him and Dan anyway before returning to the chair behind her desk. Grace took the only guest chair in the small, stuffed, yet tidy office.
David leaned against one of the shelves lining the room along with numerous filing cabinets and glass cases covering every wall except for the small opening where the lone window let in some filtered light. The desk was in the middle of the room. The glass cases were filled with what David supposed were artifacts.
“How can I help you?” Dr. Doris, sitting comfortably behind her desk, asked Grace.
Dan stood with his arms folded.
David decided to listen while he let Grace conduct the questioning—at least to start. He realized he looked forward to it and barely suppressed his smile. He managed to maintain his demeanor of stern authority as expected by Dr. Doris.
David produced the artifact in its plastic evidence bag and laid it carefully on the desk for the doctor to see. Dr. Doris remained calm, but he could tell it was a struggle. She picked up the eyepiece from its ever-ready perch in her desk tray and removed the artifact from the plastic with practiced caution. She said nothing and her hands were steady.
Grace glanced over at him while the doctor took her time. He winked at her. He could see her molten brown eyes dilating and the excitement clear in her features before she turned back. Grace’s reaction to a simple wink created an excited reaction of his own in an inappropriate place.
“This artifact is part of a series of copper engravings. Somehow a legend arose that some people believe—with no real evidence—that these engravings are the map to a lost Incan treasure at the supposed site of the temple of Con Ticci Viracocha, the most powerful of the Incan gods,” Dr. Doris said.
“Seriously? I never thought those legends were real,” Grace said.
David was about to intervene and ask for specifics, not because he wasn’t patient and not that he didn’t have faith in Grace’s ability to eventually get to the bottom of matters, but because Dan’s look of
“Don’t you worry. The secrets are all safe with me. Maybe you should make me a temporary assistant deputy or something—I saw them do it once on Andy of Mayberry .” She appeared serious.
He reached back to the very recesses of his boyhood memories to dredge the Andy of Mayberry TV series from the cobwebs and wondered exactly what Miss Rogers thought of the Boston Police Department. The similarities—aside from the badge—were resoundingly absent.
“Bloody good idea.” Naturally he was kidding.
“Really? This is so exciting!” Naturally she took him seriously.
He chuckled and made a mental note to get her some kind of badge or other from the chief. Maybe he should have her sign a paper swearing her to secrecy. It was ridiculous that a sensitive police matter had been shared with a decorator. But this was Grace and at least she’d proved to be helpful. “In that case, Deputy, are we on for our interview with Dr. Doris this afternoon?”
“At 4:00 p.m. sharp,” she reported, suddenly all business and packing her things away.
He looked at his watch.
With Grace behind the wheel, they arrived at Dr. Doris’s office building at the campus in Cambridge a short time later. He and Grace waited for Dan to catch up with them from wherever he managed to park his police car. Then they trooped to the professor’s office all together in a Nancy-Drew-meets-the-Hardy-Boys manner. He shrugged off the disquieting notion.
The space was ridiculously cramped for a professor, David thought.
Grace had preceded him and Dan into the office. The ladies exchanged hearty hugs and some real kisses hitting their mark on the each other’s cheeks. A brief introduction followed.
Dr. Doris looked unsure but shook hands with him and Dan anyway before returning to the chair behind her desk. Grace took the only guest chair in the small, stuffed, yet tidy office.
David leaned against one of the shelves lining the room along with numerous filing cabinets and glass cases covering every wall except for the small opening where the lone window let in some filtered light. The desk was in the middle of the room. The glass cases were filled with what David supposed were artifacts.
“How can I help you?” Dr. Doris, sitting comfortably behind her desk, asked Grace.
Dan stood with his arms folded.
David decided to listen while he let Grace conduct the questioning—at least to start. He realized he looked forward to it and barely suppressed his smile. He managed to maintain his demeanor of stern authority as expected by Dr. Doris.
David produced the artifact in its plastic evidence bag and laid it carefully on the desk for the doctor to see. Dr. Doris remained calm, but he could tell it was a struggle. She picked up the eyepiece from its ever-ready perch in her desk tray and removed the artifact from the plastic with practiced caution. She said nothing and her hands were steady.
Grace glanced over at him while the doctor took her time. He winked at her. He could see her molten brown eyes dilating and the excitement clear in her features before she turned back. Grace’s reaction to a simple wink created an excited reaction of his own in an inappropriate place.
“This artifact is part of a series of copper engravings. Somehow a legend arose that some people believe—with no real evidence—that these engravings are the map to a lost Incan treasure at the supposed site of the temple of Con Ticci Viracocha, the most powerful of the Incan gods,” Dr. Doris said.
“Seriously? I never thought those legends were real,” Grace said.
David was about to intervene and ask for specifics, not because he wasn’t patient and not that he didn’t have faith in Grace’s ability to eventually get to the bottom of matters, but because Dan’s look of
Similar Books
