LITMIR.BIZ

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afternoon.”

      He nodded and pulled a small leather-bound kit out of his pocket. “Go and read a book or make a telephone call for a few minutes while I do a little investigating.”

      “What are you going to do?”

      “Dust your desk for fingerprints and look for clues, of course. Has anyone been at this desk except you since the artifact was taken?”

      She shook her head.

      “Good. That narrows it down a bit.”

      She started to ask him more questions, but he was knee-deep in thought and investigation. She shrugged and left him there.

      Minutes later, he straightened, irritated by the lack of fingerprints. The desk had a rough surface, which made it hard to find a full print. But a tiny piece of what looked like hair lay on a white sheet of paper, and that he took with him, securing it with a pair of tweezers and sticking it in a tiny plastic bag that he then sealed. It wasn’t much, but if it was human hair, the lab over at the FBI could tell them plenty about it. It was amazing how much data one strand of hair could provide. It was strangely coarse. He dismissed it instantly when Tabby came in the door, his eyes watchful as they skimmed over her. She made him feel as if he’d only just come back from a long journey. It was a very pleasant sensation. When he was with her, his restlessness seemed to go momentarily into eclipse.

      “Anything?” Tabby asked hopefully.

      Her question diverted him. “Not much,” he said. “I couldn’t get a full print….”

      He stopped as a tall, unsmiling man appeared in the doorway behind Tabby.

      “This is Dr. Daniel Myers,” she introduced the new comer, who was wearing a dark blue suit with a white shirt and conventional tie. On a Saturday, he was dressed like a preacher, which gave Nick a pretty accurate picture of his meticulous personality.

      “Nick Reed,” Nick said, introducing himself. He didn’t offer his hand. Nor did Daniel, he noticed with some amusement.

      “You must be discreet,” he cautioned Nick. “I’m sure you understand what a theft like this could do to the image of Thorn College.”

      “Certainly,” he agreed. “As aware as I am of what it could do to Tabby’s future.”

      “Tabby?”

      “Her family and mine have been close all our lives,” Nick told the man.

      “It sounds like something one would call a cat, don’t you think, darling?” he asked Tabby, and slid a long arm over her thin shoulders.

      Nick just stopped himself from leaping forward. Incredible, he thought, how his mind reacted to the sight. Tabby was like a sister to him. Perhaps he only felt protective. That had to be it.

      He pocketed the sealed plastic envelope. “I’ll run this over to the lab. I have a friend there.”

      “Will he be at work on Saturday?”

      “Since I phoned him at home last night and asked him to meet me there, I do hope so,” he replied.

      “That was kind of him,” she said.

      “I’ll drop you off on my way to FBI headquarters,” he offered.

      Daniel seemed to grow two feet. “That’s hardly necessary,” he said stiffly, and his arm drew Tabby closer. “Tabitha must have told you that we’re to shop for an engagement ring today.”

      “Yes, I hear you’re planning to be married,” Nick said.

      “A very sensible move, too,” Daniel said carelessly. “I live alone and so does Tabitha. She had that huge house and lot, where we can live, and her car is paid for.” He hugged her close. “She likes keeping house and cooking, so I’ll have plenty of time to work on my book.”

      Nick was going to explode. He knew he was. “Book?”

      “Our book,” Tabby inserted with a glare at Daniel. “It’s a new perspective on what I found at the Custer battlefield after the fire.”

      “And includes information I dug out about its history,” Daniel added quickly. “Tabitha could hardly do it without my help on the grammar and punctuation.”

      Nick’s eyebrows jerked up. “You think Tabby needs help with those? Are we talking about the girl who was school spelling champion in seventh grade and won a scholarship to Thorn College?”

      Daniel shifted on his feet. “I have a master’s degree in English.” His watery blue eyes made mincemeat of Nick. “What was your field of study, Mr. Reed?” he asked with pleasant sarcasm, as if he considered that a detective probably had less than a high school education. In fact, an FBI agent was preferred to have a bachelor’s degree in accounting or a law degree. Nick had a law degree. It wasn’t something he’d ever boasted about. He wasn’t going to now, either, if that careless, mocking smile he gave Daniel was any indication.

      “Oh, I know a little about the law,” Nick said. “I am, after all, a trained detective.”

      “Like a police officer.” Daniel nodded, looking superior. “They’re only required to have a high school education or its equivalent, I believe?”

      Nick stiffened. But before he could explode, and he looked close to it, Tabby stepped in.

      “We really have to go, Daniel,” she said. “Thanks again, Nick. I’ll talk to you later.”

      He murmured something and Tabby moved Daniel out into the hall with unusual dexterity.

      “I don’t like that man,” Daniel said angrily as they walked down the hall.

      “I know,” she said, soothing him.

      A loud screech sounded as they passed the temporary biology lab. “I don’t like that monkey, either.”

      “Yes, Daniel. Let’s go.”

      A door opened at the end of the hall and a small man with a moustache came out, pausing as he saw Daniel and Tabby. He looked uncomfortable for an instant. “Uh, the missing artifact,” he said to Tabby. “Found it yet?”

      “No. But I’ve engaged a private detective to look for it,” she began.

      Dr. Flannery stood very still for a moment. “Detective?”

      “Just to look for the pottery,” she said.

      “Of course. Of course.” He turned and moved off down the hall, stopped suddenly, turned and went back the other way with a mumbled goodbye.

      “Flannery is a flake,” Daniel muttered as they left the building. “He spends too much time with those monkeys. He’s beginning to act like them.”

      “Primates,” she corrected. “They’re very nice when you get to know them. Even Pal. He’s intelligent, you know, that’s why he gets into so much trouble.”

      “Maybe Flannery took that piece of pottery,” he said speculatively. “Did you know that his house was repossessed just recently? He’s in financial trouble. Some collectors would pay anything for a find like that.”

      “Yes, I know. But it couldn’t have been Dr. Flannery,” she said stubbornly. “My goodness, he’s a biologist, not a thief!”

      “Desperate men do desperate things,” he said. He slid his hand into hers. “You are going to marry me, aren’t you? We’re very compatible, and this will certainly be a successful book. Probably the first of many.” His eyes had a faraway look. “I’ve always dreamed of being in print.”

      “Daniel, you aren’t marrying me so that we can write a book together, are you?” she teased.

      He cleared his throat. “Of course not. Don’t be silly.”

      She wasn’t being silly. Daniel kissed her only when he had

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