Mariah Stewart - Last Breath

“Teach me to compliment the locals,” Connor muttered to himself.

Once outside, he searched his pockets for the card Louise had given him and looked it over. Where to start, the archaeologists or the trustees?

He was thinking he’d start with the trustees when he saw Sabina Bokhari walking toward him. Daria had been right. The woman was not only uncommonly beautiful, but alluringly feminine. She was accompanied by a tall, thin, serious-looking man with dark hair and a well-trimmed beard.

“Agent Shields,” she called to him. “How is Daria? Is she back at McGowan House?”

“She might be on her way by now,” he told her, adopting her friendly tone. “She was still waiting to see the doctor when I left about an hour or so ago.”

He turned his attention to her escort.

“We haven’t met. I’m Connor Shields.”

“So sorry. Where are my manners?” Sabina smiled pleasantly. “Stefano Korban, a colleague of mine here at Howe.” She turned to the bearded man. “Connor is the FBI agent who is working with Dr. McGowan.”

“Good to meet you.” Korban’s voice was surprising deep and rich, the kind Connor generally heard coming from more robust bodies.

“And you.” Connor nodded.

“Stefano and I were just taking a walk. I can’t get into the library to go to my office, and I just can’t sit around my apartment any longer. I keep thinking about the terrible things that have been happening lately. Poor Mrs. Weathers”-Sabina shook her head-“and those other people who were killed…it’s just tragic.”

“Does the FBI have any suspects?” Korban asked. “Any idea who killed all those people?”

“The FBI isn’t handling the murders,” Connor told them. “The police departments where the killings took place are in charge of those investigations. The Bureau is really only investigating the art thefts.”

“That’s funny,” Korban frowned. “At the press conference this morning the detective from Delaware said you were in charge of the whole thing, and everything was going through you.”

“I’m afraid you misunderstood. I have agreed to serve as a liaison between the police departments and the FBI. There will be certain information that will be relevant to the murder investigations as well as to the theft of the artifacts.”

“What is the status, Agent Shields?” Korban asked. “Of the thefts, I mean.”

“Still under investigation,” Connor said shortly. “But while we’re on the subject of the investigations, I would like to ask you both a few questions. Would it be all right if I stopped at your apartments later?”

“Why not now?” Sabina asked. “We’re all here.”

“For one thing, I don’t have time to talk to you both,” Connor explained. “For another, I’d like to keep the party small.”

“I see.” Sabina smiled. “Are we suspects, then?”

“Sabina, don’t be ridiculous,” Korban admonished her.

“I just have a few questions I’d like to ask each of you.”

“I’m actually on my way to the grocery store,” Sabina told him. “As you know, I’ve been out of the country for two months. My cupboard is bare. However, if you’d care to stop over later, say around seven, I should be back from all my errands.”

“Seven is fine. I’ll see you then.”

“Good. Stefano, I’ll leave you here. My car is right behind the arts building. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“See you.” Korban watched her walk away, then turned his attention to Connor. “I’m available right now. I was just on my way to the parking lot.”

“That’s where I’m headed. Okay, we’ll talk on our way.”

The two men fell into step.

“So you picked up Dr. Bokhari at the airport last night,” Connor said.

“Yes. She flew into Philly from Cairo, got in around six. We stopped on the way home for dinner, small place out near Kennett.”

“What time did you get back to campus?”

“Must have been around seven-thirty.”

“How’d you end up at Dr. Burnette’s office?”

“We saw her lights on when we drove past the administration building. Sabina wanted to stop in and let her know she was back. Also, she wanted an update on the thefts from the museum.”

“So you stopped at the office…”

“The door was partly open, so Sabina stuck her head in to say hello. Dr. Burnette invited us in. A couple of the trustees were there, and they were talking about the artifacts that were stolen and the collectors that were murdered. Everyone was pretty shocked by the whole thing.”

“What time did you leave the office?”

“It was after eight. I don’t remember exactly. It was shortly after Dr. Burnette spoke with Dr. McGowan.”

“Where did you go after you left Dr. Burnette’s office?”

“I drove Sabina back to her apartment. I helped her get her luggage inside. She invited me in for a glass of wine. Sabina was very upset about the entire thing and wanted to talk. Not just the thefts, or the murders, but also about Dr. McGowan discovering that the thefts had taken place.”

“Why do you suppose that was?”

“Because Sabina’s the head of the archaeology department here. She was already upset that the university brought someone in over her to handle the reopening of the museum. When Dr. McGowan discovered the thefts, that made it even worse. Not to say that they are rivals, exactly, but they share the same area of expertise.”

“The archaeology of the Middle East.”

“Yes. Sabina’s quite the scholar, you know.”

“I think Daria-Dr. McGowan-might have mentioned that.”

“Sabina’s spent a lot of time studying over there,” Korban said as they walked toward the parking lot.

“You think she was familiar with this city that Dr. McGowan’s great-grandfather found?”

“Shandihar?” Korban stopped next to a green Jetta and took the key from his pocket. “Sure.”

“How do you know for certain?”

“Because she mentioned once that she was reading up on all of Alistair McGowan’s expeditions.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Because she wanted to follow in his footsteps. She wanted to rediscover the city. She was going to find Shandihar again.”

Korban unlocked the Jetta. “Was there anything else you wanted to know?”

“No,” Connor told him. “I think that should do it for now.”

Daria sat in the wicker chair, her feet propped up on the matching ottoman, a cool drink in her hand, and a pounding inside her head. For all Mia’s efforts to make her as comfortable as possible, Daria just wanted to rest her head and cry. The former was doable. The latter would have to wait until she was alone. She’d never been particularly comfortable sharing her emotions.

“What else can I get you?” Mia asked.

“Nothing, thank you.” Daria put the glass down on the table next to her. “And thanks again for bringing me home.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, how about another pillow, or…well, I guess a blanket isn’t necessary, since it’s about eighty degrees in here.”

“Opening the windows and turning on the fan helped.” Daria glanced up at the fan that was whirling over their heads. “I think the room will cool off if we give it a few more minutes.”

“This is a really great room. If this were my house, I’d live out here.” Mia sat in a rocking chair across from Daria. “I guess you spend a lot of time out here.”

“I love it. It was built as a conservatory, and it’s easy to imagine the room filled with leafy plants, and flowering things.” Daria gazed around the room, imagining just that. “But I’ve hardly been in here at all. We’ve been so busy since I discovered the thefts from the museum, then Connor arrived and we started looking up the collectors, and the next thing you know, we discovered several of them were dead-murdered.”