‘‘I figured you would come here right away,’’ he said.
Though he didn’t have a hat at the moment, she could visualize it in his hand as he stood in front of her. He looked unhappy as he offered her a chair.
Diane didn’t sit in the chair Goodman offered. Instead, she stood behind it and gripped its back with her hands as she spoke.
‘‘I know it’s hard to keep people out of a place that, for most of the day and some of the evening, is open to the public. I also know that there are hundreds of places to hide if someone is determined—and this attacker last night was nothing if not determined,’’ she said.
‘‘That’s true, ma’am,’’ said Goodman.
‘‘However, I thought there were procedures in place so that no one leaves the front desks unattended in either wing,’’ she said.
‘‘There are, and all I can say is Adam made an error in judgment. He knew he was going to be gone just a minute and didn’t want to bother another guard. I think he has learned his lesson. There is no such thing as just a minute. A lot can happen in a minute,’’ said Goodman.
‘‘Yes, it can. Reinforce in the personnel that they need to follow the procedures Napier has laid out.’’ Diane paused a moment. ‘‘I know this museum doesn’t seem like any kind of security risk, and the temptation to let some rules slide is great. This isn’t NORAD, but we still need to take security seriously. We have a lot of valuable things in here and a lot of people that need to be protected.’’
Diane was sure many in security thought that she herself was the only security problem. It certainly seemed that way to her. When she finished with Goodman, she went to her office. Andie was already at her desk, as usual.
‘‘Are you all right today?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘Am I ever. What a rush. I can see why you have so much fun,’’ she said.
Fun. Is that what I have? thought Diane. ‘‘Andie, thank you for the rescue. As for chasing the guy, don’t do anything like that again. He is very dangerous— whoever he is.’’
‘‘I know that, but I was just so full of adrenaline,’’ she said.
‘‘I understand, and I really appreciate your coming in when you did. I just don’t want you to get hurt.’’
‘‘Yeah, I know. That’s why I didn’t tell my mother,’’ said Andie.
Diane smiled. ‘‘So, anything going on this morning?’’
‘‘We are still getting phone calls and e-mail about the artifacts. Several contributors have called to say they are canceling their contributions. You know, that’s hardly fair,’’ said Andie.
‘‘No, it isn’t. But that’s their choice. Anything else?’’
‘‘Yeah, something really weird,’’ said Andie.
‘‘Must be, for you to call it weird. Weird is the norm for this place,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Well, you know I open your mail,’’ said Andie.
‘‘Yes, that’s part of your job description. I take it you found something strange,’’ she said.
‘‘Well, yes. I opened this envelope.’’ Andie took a fat package out of her drawer and laid it on her desk.
‘‘What is it?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘It’s money. A lot of it.’’
Chapter 30
‘‘Money?’’ said Diane. ‘‘How much?’’
‘‘I haven’t really counted it, but there’s a bunch.’’
Andie pulled a packet of bills from the large envelope.
‘‘There’s a lot of these bundles and they’re all hundreddollar bills.’’
Diane picked up the stack of bills and fanned
through it. A lot of pictures of Ben Franklin. ‘‘Is it a contribution to the museum? Is there a letter
with it?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘Not exactly a letter.’’
Andie lifted a piece of paper from the envelope
lightly, holding it by its edge between the tips of her
thumb and index finger, and laid it on the desktop.
Diane stared at the sheet of plain white paper with
one word printed on it in large block letters. BITCH. ‘‘Well, I’m confused,’’ said Diane. ‘‘You’re right.
This is weird, even for us. Is there a return address?’’ ‘‘No,’’ said Andie. ‘‘What do I do with it? I mean,
I can’t deposit it, can I?’’
‘‘No, I wouldn’t think—’’
Diane was interrupted by the door opening. Andie
shoved the packet of money back into the envelope. ‘‘Agent Jacobs,’’ said Diane, ‘‘you’re up early.’’ He looked at his watch. ‘‘Is it early? I thought I
slept in.’’ He looked from Diane to Andie. We must both look guilty, Diane thought. ‘‘So, can I look at your accounting books?’’ he asked. Diane frowned, then picked up the package and the
note. ‘‘We need to talk first.’’
Diane’s office door was behind and to the right of
Andie’s desk. Diane led Agent Jacobs through her
own office and into her conference room, where he
had interviewed Jonas and Kendel. Her conference
room looked like a comfortable living room. It was
decorated in shades of green. The main focus was a
large round oak table with padded oak chairs. Just
beyond the table were two plush gold-green sofas at
right angles to each other. Both were very comfortable. She had slept on them overnight many times.
The walls were the same hue as the sofas. They gave
the room a golden glow. There was a full bathroom
and closet where she kept changes of clothes. It did
not look like an interrogation room.
She closed the door behind them. ‘‘Can I get you
something to drink?’’ she asked.
‘‘No, I just had breakfast. Maybe later. Great bedand-breakfast, by the way.’’ He studied her for a moment. ‘‘This looks serious,’’ he said and smiled as if it
really were not.
He and Ross Kingsley must be from the school of
FBI philosophy that says friendly is okay, she thought
as she looked at his sparkling white teeth. She wondered how much of it was his act to make people trust
him. She sighed. It didn’t really matter. She poured
the money out on the table.
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘‘What’s this?’’
he asked.
‘‘I really don’t know. It arrived in this morning’s
mail. This came with it.’’ She gave him the note. ‘‘That’s it? ‘Bitch’? Do you know what it means?’’