Beverly Connor - Dust to Dust

“You need to go get in your car and go somewhere and chill,” Diane said to Doppelmeyer. “No good can come of your staying here.”

He glared at Lynn and pointed a finger. “We aren’t finished.”

Lynn pointed a finger back, punctuating her words. “Yes, we are.”

He backed away, not breaking eye contact with Lynn. Unfortunately, Lynn wouldn’t break eye contact either. She stood with her arms folded, staring. Doppelmeyer was at his car. He either had to break contact first, or stand there looking as stupid as Diane felt for standing there with the two of them.

His solution to his dilemma was to give Lynn the finger. There were some things Lynn wouldn’t do and, happily for Diane, returning the gesture was one of them. He got in his car and left.

“Okay,” said Diane. “Just what high school do you two go to?”

Lynn looked over at her sharply, then shrugged. “Oh, I suppose you’re right. He just brings out the worst in me.”

“I can see that,” said Diane. “He’s acting dangerous. I think you ought to ask security to walk you to and from your car.”

“He’s all talk. He doesn’t have the guts to do anything,” she said.

“Grabbing your arm wasn’t all talk. I’m serious. He looks like he’s not finished. It won’t hurt to get security to escort you to and from your car,” she said. “They’ll like the idea.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Lynn. “That lie he told about me those years ago still follows me. Whenever I go to a professional conference, invariably, someone brings it up. I needed something big to finally blow the ugly thing out of the water.”

Diane wasn’t sure whether the ugly thing Lynn referred to was Doppelmeyer or the lie. Lynn was still watching where he had left, as if he might return, backing up, to give her another piece of his mind.

“Besides,” Lynn said, turning back to Diane, “everything I said in the article was true and it is a terrible miscarriage of justice.”

“Just be careful,” said Diane as she went to her vehicle.

She started up her SUV and waited until Lynn drove out of the parking garage to be sure she didn’t have Doppelmeyer following her.

Diane drove back to the museum. She went to Andie’s office first. Kingsley was there waiting for her. It was getting to be a habit of his, dropping by without calling first. He probably figured it was the most reliable way of getting to see her. Perhaps it was. She couldn’t help but notice he had a copy of the newspaper with him.

“Hello, Ross,” she said, smiling. “Andie, anything urgent?”

“Nothing urgent. Kendel got away okay. I drove her to the airport this morning early. I asked her to bring me back an Australian. I love their accents. I put the mail on your desk. Jin called for an appointment.”

“Jin called for an appointment?” said Diane.“Since when does Jin call for appointments? Did he say what for?”

“No, but I know what it is. You want me to tell you?” said Andie.

“No, I want to stand here and guess. What does he want?” said Diane.

“He wants to go to a conference in the Netherlands. They’re teaching some cool stuff in DNA analysis. But that’s just a guess. I think he’s going to present it all formal-like so you’ll say yes.”

Diane called Jin on her cell. “Jin,” she said when he answered, “if you are comfortable with leaving Hector and Scott in charge, you can go to the conference.”

There was silence for a moment before Jin spoke. “How did you know?” he said.

“It’s my job,” she said. “How is the analysis coming of the evidence we collected in Gainesville? I have a feeling we are going to need it soon.”

“I’m working on it. I’ll be done today. Thanks, Boss,” he said.

“Sure.”

She turned to Ross. “You’re here about Lynn Webber,” she said.

“I thought you said Lynn Webber wasn’t a loose cannon,” said Kingsley as he sat down in the leather chair across from Diane’s desk.

Diane was glad to see him grinning broadly. She realized just how much she had dreaded trying to explain how a person whom she vouched for had screwed up his new job.

“Normally, she’s not a loose cannon,” said Diane. “I didn’t know the impact their history had on Lynn’s psyche. She’s apparently been waiting a long time for a chance to pay Doppelmeyer back. And I’m afraid she’s unrepentant, especially after the reaction she got from him.”

“Reaction?” Kingsley said.

Diane told him about the parking garage encounter with Doppelmeyer at the hospital.

“You can arrest people?” he said when she finished.

“I have the authority, but I don’t have restraints or a gun, so it would have been hand-to-hand combat. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that,” she said.

“Fortunately.” He laughed.

“Which reminds me, I need to call Garnett. Excuse me a moment,” she said.

Diane got Chief Garnett on the phone and told him about the incident at the hospital.

“Oran Doppelmeyer seemed out of control to me,” she told Garnett, “and I had the feeling Dr. Webber didn’t take it seriously enough. Can you have someone keep a lookout for her, or at least notify hospital security?”

“Sure,” Garnett said. “Lynn’s an officer of the court. What Doppelmeyer did was to commit a physical assault on her while she was on duty. And he made verbal threats against her. I’ll make some arrangements. This is about that article in the paper?”

“Yes.” Diane made a face. She hoped he wouldn’t ask too many questions. She didn’t particularly relish explaining the entire situation to him.

“The chief of police had a phone call from his Gainesville counterpart this morning,” said Garnett. “The chief naturally didn’t know what to say. He tried to reach Dr. Webber, but she’s been in meetings all morning. Who exactly does she meet with?”

“I don’t know,” said Diane. “She likes to keep on good terms with the hospital administration, since her offices are there, so…” She let the sentence hang.

“Is there anything I should know about?” he asked.

Apparently her nonanswer hadn’t been as subtle as she’d hoped. Well, damn .

“It depends on how you feel about plausible deniability,” said Diane.

She heard him sigh. “How deep are we in this thing?” he asked.

“At the request of a private investigator, and on my own time, I reworked the Stacy Dance crime scene,” said Diane. “It had been released by the Gainesville police more than a month ago and the case closed. Based on what I saw at the crime scene and in the police report, I suggested that the private firm currently involved in the case arrange for a new autopsy. At the father’s request, the court order was obtained. The victim’s father was very eager that this be resolved. He never believed it was an accident. Lynn was brought in to redo the autopsy. Jin helped with collecting the evidence and he is readying it to give to the Gainesville police when they call.”

“Was Rosewood’s crime lab involved in this?” he asked.

“You forget, I have labs and fancy equipment all over this building,” said Diane.

“All right, then. Is this thing going to bite me in the ass?” he asked.

“I think it will turn out to be a good thing,” said Diane. Eventually .

Garnett didn’t ask any more questions, such as how did the newspaper get hold of the story? He probably thought Mr. Dance called them. Diane was happy Garnett didn’t ask. She might fudge a little when telling him certain things, but she was very careful to protect the honest relationship they had.

Garnett ended the conversation and Diane hung up the phone. She frowned at it a moment before she turned back to Kingsley.