Mariah Stewart - Last Breath

“All of which means you need to get to the bank as soon as possible,” Daria told Louise.

“I’ll put a call in to the vice president of our local branch first thing in the morning and see when he can meet with me,” Louise said. “Maybe take a few of the flashier objects with me to give him an idea of what we’re talking about here, see if we can get them to establish a line of credit for us so that we can start the improvements to the building as soon as possible.”

“I’d do that first thing,” Connor said. “In the meantime, I’m going to see what I can do about tracking down the missing artifacts.”

“ We’re going to track the missing artifacts,” Daria corrected him.

“I was hoping you’d come with me to the bank, Daria,” Louise said. “I’m really not qualified to explain what we have here and why it’s so valuable. I think it would have greater impact coming from someone with your credentials.”

“Just let me know when.”

“I’ll call Jim Sanders, the bank VP we usually deal with, and see when he’s available. This sort of thing may be out of his field of operations, but we’ll start with him.”

“Don’t forget your insurance people,” Daria reminded her.

“Alice Radell.” Louise smiled. “Best agent in the state. I have a meeting with one of our department heads at eight tomorrow morning, but as soon as that’s over, I’ll start making my calls.”

“While you’re doing that, I’ll get started on the search for the missing artifacts. I’ll have my cell on, so just give me a call when you’re ready to go.” Daria stood.

“Thank you.” Louise smiled. “I have to admit, I feel a little better, having a plan. I’ve been worried sick about this since learning about the missing items, and worried, too, about protecting what we have.”

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to find some of those items,” Connor said as he rose from his chair.

“Well, Daria, you’ll be pleased to know that help is on the way.” Louise turned to her. “I spoke with Sabina Bokhari about an hour ago. She was shocked when I told her what was going on. She insisted on cutting her trip short, and will be here by Tuesday at the latest.”

“Great. She’ll be an enormous help. But I thought she was on a dig with some students.”

“She is, but she isn’t the only archaeologist on the site. She said she feels very comfortable leaving the dig in the hands of the other two. A Dr. Henning and someone else whose name I don’t recall.”

“Emmitt Henning, yes. I know him well. I wouldn’t hesitate to leave my work in his hands, either. And I’m very much looking forward to meeting Sabina.”

Turning to Connor, Louise asked, “Have you decided to bring in the FBI’s art people?”

“Not yet,” Daria replied before Connor could. “We will if we have to, but if Connor and I can handle this on our own, I think it would be better for everyone. I’m fairly confident that we can, at least for the time being.”

Daria explained to Louise how even the hint of having purchased stolen antiquities could ruin the reputations of collectors as well as museums, not to mention tarnishing the reputation of the university.

“Well, if we can guarantee the return of whatever items you might be able to find without causing undue embarrassment to the owners, I’d certainly go along with that. Of course, if you’re unable to locate any of the missing pieces, I expect we’ll have to turn this over to the FBI.”

“That’s the plan,” Daria assured her.

“How long do you suppose before you’ll know if you’ll be successful?”

“A few days, maybe. I expect to find some of the information we need on the Internet. It’s either there or it isn’t. In which case, Connor will call in his people.”

“Go to it, then,” Louise told her. “Daria, does this mean you’ve accepted our offer to reopen the museum?”

“First things first, Louise,” Daria said from the doorway. “Without a commitment from the bank, there won’t be a museum. Get your funding, and then we’ll talk.”

“But you’re going to do it, aren’t you?” Connor asked as they walked back to McGowan House.

“I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, mine included. If they can’t renovate that building, and do it quickly…if they can’t guarantee the security of the collection…” Daria shrugged. “It all depends on whether or not Louise can convince the bank to give the university a very large loan. I can’t even begin to estimate what it would cost to do everything that has to be done to the museum. They’ll need all new systems-new electric, new plumbing. Air-conditioning and a new heating system. You name it, that building needs it.”

“It looks pretty good, though, considering its age. I guess boarding it up for a while preserved it somewhat,” Connor noted. “I’ll be interested to see what the insurance company recommends.”

“That was a good suggestion, by the way,” Daria said as they approached her temporary home. “Getting the insurance company to prepare the appraisal and assess the building. And since the bank will probably want its own expert to come in, that will give the university two appraisals. Hopefully, the two experts will agree.”

She unlocked the front door.

“But, as Louise noted, at least we have a game plan.” She pushed open the door. “Come on in. I’m sorry it’s so hot and stuffy in here. There’s no air-conditioning and only one fan in the house, and I put that in my bedroom last night so I could sleep. I tried to open the windows downstairs but haven’t been able to get them to move.”

They stepped into the quiet house.

“Maybe I can budge them,” Connor offered. “Which ones would you want opened?”

“The ones in the kitchen, for starters, since I’ve been working in there at night.” She gestured toward the hall that stretched out in front of them. “It’s back here.”

“This is some house,” he said, looking around.

“Isn’t it? Benjamin Howe built it as a wedding present for his daughter, Iliana, when she married my great-grandfather,” Daria explained. “She was his only child, and I guess he wanted to guarantee that she stayed close.”

“So I guess Pop wasn’t disappointed when Iliana fell in love with one of his hires.”

“Not at all. According to her journal, he was pretty damned pleased with her choice of husband. It worked out well for her, I suppose, in the long run. Alistair was quite a bit older than she, and he died when their children were still young, but at least they had a roof over their heads. Since her mother died when Iliana was a young girl, she served as her father’s official hostess here at the university. She stayed until her death, actually, in the late 1930s. She died in this house.” Daria smiled. “Louise says that some who’ve stayed here claim she’s still around.”

“No sightings?”

She shook her head and grinned. “Of course, I’ve only spent a few nights here, but no. Nothing’s gone bump in the night, not even a knocking pipe to wake me. Of course, I sleep like the dead myself, so anything could be going on around me and I’d probably miss it.”

She placed her bag on the table. “I’m going to run upstairs for my laptop. We should probably set it up in the library, if we’re going to get on the Internet. They have wireless access there. Feel free to wander if you want.”

She found him in one of the front parlors when she came back downstairs.

“I was admiring the tiles around this fireplace,” he said when she came into the room.

“Mercer tile,” she told him. “There are different tiles surrounding each of the fireplaces in the house. Whoever chose them had great taste.”