“I would hold off on making any official announcements, although I’d guess they’ll notice that both Charles and Doris are missing. But I’m sure you can stall for a bit. Tell them Charles has been called away and Doris is out sick or something.”
Marty nodded. “A day or two won’t hurt. Of course, I’ll have to inform the board, but that can wait until tomorrow, too. Maybe we can hash out a story at dinner. And, Jimmy? Try not to make us look too stupid, will you?”
“I’ll do my best, Martha. See you later.” Then he headed for the elevator, and Marty and I were left standing there in the hallway.
“So, now what?” I really was at a loss.
“Get back to work, I guess. Good luck, Nell.”
I have no idea how I got through the day. I sat at my desk and looked busy, took care of trivial follow-up letters, and updated the database, all on autopilot. A few people drifted by, but nobody asked anything about Charles’s dark office or the more noteworthy absence of his fierce door warden Doris. It was as though everyone sensed something was wrong, but no one really wanted to know what it was, and I wasn’t ready to tell them anything-not until I knew what Charles would say. At the end of the day I sat listening to the familiar sounds of the place shutting down for the evening-people heading for the elevator in twos and threes, doors closing, lights going out, and then quiet. And then I listened to the old building, and heard… nothing. The building was rock solid. It had been standing here for over a hundred years, and it wasn’t going anywhere. That thought cheered me.
I made it to the restaurant with five minutes to spare. Marty was not there, at our table, but James was. He had a glass of clear liquid in front of him, which I feared was club soda, which meant this was still business.
I dropped into the seat opposite him. “Hello. No sign of Marty?”
“No. But she’s not known for her punctuality.”
“But she makes up for that in tenacity,” I replied.
That drew a laugh from him. “That she does.” Then the smile left his face. “I think Marty took Alfred’s death hard, whether she admits it or not. I have to admit, I always thought Alfred was a weaselly little wimp, but Marty used to hit me when I said anything like that. She’s very protective of underdogs, which explains half of her charitable activities.”
“Sounds to me like you all had an idyllic childhood,” I said wryly, trying to attract the attention of a waiter, any waiter, so I could get something to drink.
James raised one masterful hand, and a waiter materialized instantly. “White wine?”
He’d remembered. “Chardonnay, if they have it.” The waiter nodded, then scurried away toward the bar.
The wine arrived in seconds. I took a healthy mouthful, then sat back, closed my eyes, and let it glide down my throat. Better. In fact, it tasted too good if I was planning to drive home tonight. Regretfully I opened my eyes and helped myself to a piece of bread. I looked up to see James studying me.
“What?” I said, more sharply than I might have intended.
“You still look tired.”
Actually, I had no idea what I looked like at this point. I dimly remembered making a brief stab at applying makeup before I rushed to get to the city this morning. “I got plenty of sleep. But it’s not every day that someone tries to kill me.” James, on the other hand, looked as he always looked. “You look like you eat criminals for breakfast.”
The smile was back. I wondered where he’d been hiding it all this time. I knew why he was hiding it, because the smile transformed his face from stern to boyish. For an instant I could see the happy kid running around with Marty and the gang, instead of the strong arm of the law. The smile disappeared, and with it the boy, leaving the monolithic Agent Morrison again. I sighed, involuntarily.
“Just doing my job, ma’am.”
He looked up, past me, and I turned to see Marty making her way toward our table. She settled into the chair next to mine, dropping into it with a sigh and peeling off her coat. She’d shed the serious-woman armor of earlier and was back to her slightly offbeat casual wear, leaving me feeling overdressed. She looked tired, too.
James raised a hand again, and the waiter popped up to take Marty’s drink order. Apparently the FBI agent radiated an innate authority that trumped the big tip we’d given the week before, because the staff here certainly hadn’t responded to us like this. Of course, we had been acting like two crazy ladies, which might have had something to do with it. “We should order,” James said when Marty’s drink arrived. We placed three orders for pasta and made meaningless small talk until the food arrived. When the waiter had retreated again, James cleared his throat. OK, here it comes, I thought.
He said carefully, “Charles Worthington was arraigned in federal court today on charges of conspiracy, theft, and receipt of cultural objects under Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 668, theft of objects of cultural heritage. The charges are subject to fine and imprisonment of up to ten years. Charles Worthington has refused to comment on the charges and has retained counsel.”
“The Penn document?” Marty asked. When James nodded, Marty sighed. “What does that mean for the Society? What’re the chances of recovering the stuff that’s gone?”
James looked at her, not without sympathy, then said, “Marty, I just don’t know. We may never know the full extent of the thefts from the Society. We’re talking with Charles’s lawyer, and we may be able to cut a deal to recover at least some portion of the stolen items. Would the board accept something like that?”
“You mean, we get something back? I guess. The board will probably be happy to make all this go away as quickly as possible.”
The food was helping: I could feel my mind revving up. Marty still looked depressed.
“And Doris?” I asked.
“At the moment she’s undergoing psychiatric evaluation, to determine if she is in any shape to be charged. If she knows anything about the disposition of the items, we’ll find out what we can.”
That didn’t inspire great hope in me. “I wonder if she kept any records?”
James concentrated on his food for a long moment. “If there is a plea bargain, Charles would return what he could to the Society, or identify where it went, and make financial restitution for some portion of the rest. It would probably be only a fraction of what he got away with, but it would stay out of the press. Marty, is that good enough?”
“Hell, I don’t know. You can’t put a price on our good name, but there’s no point in dragging it through the mud publicly. I just hope Major Jonathan’s correspondence isn’t gone forever. Can you give me a few minutes alone with Charles to see if I can beat that information out of him?” When James glared at her, she held up both hands. “Joke. But I’m going to do my damnedest to track those down, whatever happens.”
“James,” I interrupted, “what about the other institutions where Charles had worked? Don’t we have an obligation to notify them about any of this?”
“I’m not a lawyer, so I really can’t say for sure. Of course if they get wind of this, they’re free to file suit on their own. But from what you’ve told me, it sounds as though they’re all in the same boat. If they admit they lost stuff, they’d look foolish, and they’d suffer for it.”
“Damn. This doesn’t seem right, somehow. We’ve got the bad guy in our sights, but we can’t go after him because we’d all be too embarrassed.” I sighed. “I know, I understand it, but that doesn’t mean I like it. At least Charles will never work for a museum again-right, Marty? The board is not about to give him a glowing recommendation after all this.”
“No way!” Marty said firmly.
I stifled a laugh. I looked down: my bowl was empty, my stomach was full. I felt about a hundred percent better than I had when I arrived.