Last Breath Part 7

"No."

"There must be another door to the outside, though," Connor said. "There couldn't be just this one and the one we found at the end of the hall. That one showed no sign of having been forced, and even when you opened it, the outside is obscured by all those overgrown shrubs."

"I've asked Louise to have those removed. They could provide protection for anyone who's looking for a way to get inside. And I'm afraid that as soon as the story gets out, there will be more interest in the building and what's inside it than there has been in a very long time."

"There's another door on the office level," Stan said without looking up from his book.

"Let's check it out." Daria headed for the steps leading to the half level below. "All the offices are down here. I think there are four of them. I haven't gone into them all, just this first one. If there's a door to the outside, I missed it."

She switched on the lights at the bottom of the steps.

"We left the flashlight here on the desk yesterday. And it's still here." She tucked it under her arm and stepped back into the hall. "Let's check out the door. I'm guessing it's at the very end of this corridor."

"Lead the way."

They pa.s.sed three more gla.s.s-paneled doors leading to the other offices. Daria s.h.i.+ned the light straight ahead, and at the very end of the hall was another door.

"Could I have the light?" Connor asked and Daria handed it over. He ran the beam around the door frame.

"Like the others," he said. "No sign of a break-in, at least from this side. Try the key, let's see if they used the same lock as upstairs."

Daria took the key from her pocket and tried the lock, but it wasn't a fit.

"Any idea where this opens?"

"I'd say at the back of the left wing of the building, a.s.suming I haven't gotten disoriented somehow. We can take a look at the door from the outside when we leave, unless you want to do it now."

"We'll do it on our way out."

"Shall we take a look in the bas.e.m.e.nt?"

"Lead on."

"Down this way." Daria beckoned Connor back to the stairwell, then down to the next level. She used the flashlight to find the lights for the hallway.

"It really is dark down here," he noted. "Dungeon dark."

"Louise's secretary thought it was quite creepy." Daria smiled.

"Don't you?"

"I've been in so many tombs and crypts over the years, it takes a lot to raise my hackles these days. Dark rooms don't quite do it anymore." She unlocked the door to the storage room and turned on the overhead light.

Connor followed her inside, then stood with his hands on his hips, taking it all in.

"Where shall we start?" he asked.

"Let's start with crate number one. It's there on your right." Daria walked past him and pointed to the number on the side of the crate. "This is the number Alistair painted on before the crates left the dig. He itemized the contents, sealed it, then marked it. The X up here is mine. It indicates that I have gone through the crate and examined every piece, and marked it off on my list. The list you have in your hand is the one I ran off my computer. It has both mine and Alistair's checks."

He placed the list on the top of the crate and studied it.

"So, this item here-necklace of solid gold with gold beech leaves and lapis beads-he packed into the crate and later unpacked, but it was missing when you checked the contents?"

"Right." She nodded and began to lift the lid.

"Here, let me give you a hand." Connor picked up the wooden top of the crate with ease and set it aside. "Let's see what's in here."

"Okay, first item here is a goblet, it's the third item on your list, see?" She unwrapped it carefully and held it up.

"Golden goblet with griffins set with carnelian?"

"Right. See, it's checked off on both lists."

"Got it," he said. "By the way, what is it with griffins?"

She smiled as she rewrapped the goblet. "They're wonderful mythological beasts. I actually went on an expedition to the Gobi Desert not too long ago in search of proof they really existed."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope."

"And you look so normal."

Daria laughed and set the wrapped goblet on top of a nearby crate, then reached for the next item, which was enclosed it its own wooden box.

"It was a spoof, of course, and wasn't something I'd ordinarily have spent time on, but the professor in charge of the expedition was a legend in the field, and I thought, if he could take a month off, I could, too."

"What did you do? I mean, you didn't actually find anything?"

"We found exactly what we expected to find. Sometimes animals die in proximity to each other, say, for example, an eagle and a lion. When archaeologists from the past century, century and a half, found them, they often put the bones together incorrectly."

"Incorrectly, as in, the eagle wings on a lion's body?"

"Exactly. There was a time when people really did believe that griffins had been found. Dr. Allen-Elwood Allen, from Cambridge-put together the expedition and invited several other archaeologists to go along. I was one of them."

"What was the point?"

"He was making a doc.u.mentary for the BBC. It was quite clever, actually. We took bones from different animals found in the Gobi and made up the most fanciful beasts and put them on display. It was great fun." She carefully removed the next artifact. "Here we have something really unusual. It's a jar made from an ostrich egg."

"Ostriches in the Near East?" Connor frowned.

"They were not uncommon several thousand years ago. What is uncommon is that this is in such lovely condition. Old Alistair certainly did treat everything with kid gloves. I'm really impressed with the care he took to ensure that every item made it to the States intact."

Connor studied the jar for a moment, then referred to the list. "Here it is. Ostrich egg jar. With two check marks. What's next there?"

Daria took pains to wrap the precious jar securely before setting it aside.

"Let's see what else we have in here...oh, I love this one." She grinned and unwrapped what appeared to be carved stone. "This is an amulet, worn to protect against demons."

Connor leaned closer for a better look.

"I can't really tell what that is." He turned on the flashlight and examined the piece. "What are those things?"

"Demons."

"I thought you said this was supposed to ward off demons."

"It is. These are particularly fierce ones."

"My demons are more evil than your demons?"

"Something like that." She grinned. "They are ugly things, aren't they?"

"This never gives you nightmares?"

"Never. I don't do nightmares." She pointed to the list. "This is fourth or fifth on the list."

"Got it."

"Seen enough to get a feel for the situation?"

"I think so." Connor nodded.

Daria returned the items to the crate and Connor helped her to replace the lid.

"What's your next move here?" he asked.

"I almost don't know what to do first," she said. "I need to compile an official list of what I believe is missing, complete with Alistair's sketches, and the photographs that were taken at the site, if I can find them. Then I'll compile a similar list of the items that are still here so that an appraisal can be made of the collection. The university is hoping to use that as collateral for a loan to pay for the repairs to the museum and the preparations for the exhibits."

"Off the top of your head, what are we looking at here?"

"In terms of value?" She shook her head. "I can't put a number on it."

"Ballpark."

"There are some things that are truly priceless, things that are so unique and valuable that they cannot be reproduced. What is that goblet worth? It's hard to come up with a price. The gold is high quality, the carvings are beautifully done, add in the age of the item, the fact that there may only be that one in the entire world..." She shrugged. "How do you place a monetary value on that?"

"So you're saying the collection, in its entirety, could be priceless."

"In its entirety, absolutely. Priceless. This is all that's left of a civilization that existed thousands of years ago. Its people, its art, its history, its religion...this is all that is left of Shandihar," she told him. "There are individual pieces that could be considered priceless in their own right. This was a major find a hundred years ago, made even more valuable, I believe, because it's been hidden for all this time."

"Why are you not as nervous as I am about having only Stan up there guarding the door? At the very least, I'd have a couple of armed guards and the most sensitive alarm system money can buy."

"And if anyone knew what was here, I'd agree with you. But right now, no one knows. And as long as we keep it quiet and out of the public eye..."

"Daria, someone knew." He corrected her. "At some point over the past hundred years, someone knew and helped themselves. And that someone did not come from outside the university. Whoever stole from your great-grandfather's collection was someone on the inside, someone who had access to the building."

"You're probably right."

"There's no sign of a break-in anywhere around the building, and as you just pointed out, who else would have known what was here?"

"Louise said the building was boarded up until recently, so the thefts probably would have taken place before the building was sealed," she said thoughtfully. "Not much chance of catching the thief, then, is there?"

"Probably not, if that's the case. But I'm sure NSAF-that's the unit within the FBI that handles stolen art-will know the best way to track down the artifacts."

"I need to think about this."

"What's to think about? We have experts who handle exactly this type of case."

"Here's the thing. Generally speaking, there are only two places where the artifacts could be. In private collections, or in museums or galleries."

"So? The art guys will know where to look."

"But they're the FBI."

"And that's a bad thing because..?"

"It's bad because it will give the appearance that the collector, or the museum that acquired the piece, has done so illegally, and that is not necessarily the case," Daria told him. "It may be that the owners have no idea that the items were stolen. They may have purchased from a dealer who believed he was buying from a legitimate source."

"Or from someone who knew it was stolen and didn't particularly care."

"But if the artifacts are now in the hands of legitimate collectors, they could face tremendous embarra.s.sment. There'd be a huge scandal. Keep in mind that if they purchased the items in good faith, they are victims, too." Daria shook her head. "I'd rather see if I can trace the items myself before we sic the FBI on them."

"How would you go about doing that?"

"I'd start on the Internet. I'd search the museum websites-many of them contain photographs of their collections and include the provenance. I'd also search for collectors. They often catalog their pieces and offer them on loan to galleries and museums." She smiled weakly. "Same way, I suspect, that your 'art guys' would begin."

"Let's a.s.sume you're successful in tracking down even a few of the pieces. Then what?"

"Then I contact the owner and explain the situation and give them an opportunity to return the items to Howe."

"Why would they be willing to do that on your say-so?"

"I have my grandfather's journals to back me up. They are very specific as to where and when certain pieces were found. He also indicated that many of the pieces were photographed in situ before they were touched. I'll get those from Louise. And we do have his inventories. I think we have enough to establish that the artifacts were discovered by Alistair McGowan on behalf of Howe University. It's a start, anyway. Keep in mind that most museums and private collectors try very hard to avoid scandals of this nature. It's very damaging to their reputations, not to mention the integrity of their other acquisitions. This sort of thing casts a very long and very dark shadow on everyone connected, from the dealer to the buyer to the curator. It's definitely to be avoided at all costs."

"And if you fail to convince them, and they refuse to hand over the artifacts?"

"Then we call in your art guys, and we let them fight it out."

SIX.

"S o, what you're saying is we need a game plan." Louise's fingers tapped impatiently on the arm of the sofa. On their way back across campus from the museum, Daria and Connor stopped at the president's house to discuss their findings with her.