Read Findings for Free Online

they wanted him dead, and how they knew where he was, and why they took anything with them. For there was no question that the two boxes that had held her field notes were missing, and Emma had no doubt that she’d seen two men carrying boxes.
    Or perhaps they’d known exactly what they wanted and where to find it. Perhaps they had rushed downstairs, intending to steal one specific thing, but Douglass was unlucky enough to be in the way. Then, after putting him out of commission, they had packed the thing or things they came to steal into the two missing boxes and left. This would make her notebooks innocent bystanders, accidentally kidnapped during a crime. Supporting that theory was the fact that the newspaper article published on the day of the robbery had mentioned that Douglass had a basement lab manned by a professional archaeologist. If they had wanted a particular artifact, then they knew that there was a good chance it was stored in the lab.
    Nibbling at Faye’s mind was the final and, to her mind, least likely possibility. Perhaps her notebooks hadn’t been an unfortunate casualty. Perhaps the thieves hadn’t just thrown the objects of their invasion into the boxes storing her notebooks, stealing them accidentally. Perhaps her notes had been their goal all along. But why?
    The article had mentioned no artifacts more valuable than the silver flask, which was nearly worthless, so there was no value in stealing the notes documenting all her valueless finds. It hadn’t, thank goodness, mentioned her by name, but every page of those notebooks bore her initials. Micco County was no burgeoning metropolis. It wouldn’t be too hard to find an archaeologist with the initials F.L.
    Faye hadn’t discussed these suspicions with anyone. Neither Joe nor Ross could be trusted to react rationally to the idea that Douglass’ killers might be looking for Faye. She hadn’t even mentioned them to the sheriff, but she sensed that he shared her concern. Otherwise, his not-too-subtle efforts to ensure she was constantly monitored by Joe or someone equally large were nonsensical. And a little insulting.
    Faye was no dummy, and she didn’t mind taking reasonable precautions. Part of those reasonable precautions had been to use her photocopies of those field notebooks as bedtime stories for the past two nights. Reading those notes had only fed her desire to get back out to Joyeuse Island and look for some more emeralds, but the work she was doing in the lab where Douglass was killed was far more important for the time being.
    She had scrutinized every notebook page for some detail that might make her a target. She’d found nothing so far, but she was keeping her eyes open.

Chapter Five
    Every pew in the Blessed Assurance African Methodist Episcopal Church was full, and the ushers had filled the vestibule with folding chairs. Being the survivor of a housefire, Faye found herself scanning the room, looking for a clear path to a window or a door. The open casket made her uncomfortable, but it was what Emma had wanted. She had to admit that, as she watched the mourners file by Douglass’ body, many of them seemed to get comfort from one last look at the dead man’s face.
    She surveyed the casket’s polished wood with satisfaction. As she had suspected, there was no modern equivalent of the plain pine box, but neither she nor Emma could bear the thought of putting Douglass into the enameled tin cans that passed for caskets these days. The funeral director’s eyes had lit up when Emma asked about wooden coffins.
    “Oh, yes, ma’am, we have those, and they are well-worth the extra cost. They feature lovely lines and a hand-rubbed sheen. We can provide any finish you desire—cherry, mahogany, maple, oak…pine…”
    With the single word “pine,” the solicitous man made his sale. Emma never even asked the price. Douglass had certainly left her enough money to give him exactly what he’d wanted. It was her last chance to do