Fundraising The Dead

CHAPTER 33

The next morning, I lay in bed trying to sort out what had happened the day before and what was going to happen today, and what it might mean to me and to the institution where I worked, a place I happened to care about quite a lot. Funny, wasn’t it, that a crumbling building filled with a lot of old books and papers could lead to such drama. But in a perverse way it made me feel better-the place, or at least its contents, were worth fighting for. If I hadn’t cared about it, maybe I would have brushed off Marty’s accusations of theft as the rantings of a crank, and ignored Alfred’s findings, much as Latoya had, and things would have gone on just as they always had.

And maybe Alfred would still be alive.

But I had taken Marty’s complaint seriously, and I had talked to Alfred, and I had sent the whole thing tumbling down. How would we put it back together?

Well, lying in bed wasn’t going to help. I hauled myself upright, took a shower, and stood in front of my closet. What does one wear to an arrest? I decided a sober black jacket and wool pants would be appropriate, with a silk blouse in a rich but subdued burgundy. I put on my grandmother’s pearls, then took them off again-this was not a social occasion. I put on my good leather shoes and some real gold earrings. The appropriate outfit to help the FBI arrest a criminal.

I decided to drive into the city, since I had no idea how or when this day would end. I made it without mishap, parked in the expensive garage next to the Doubletree Hotel, and walked briskly to the corner. I was early. I spied Marty approaching and nearly laughed: her outfit was a mirror image of mine, as though we had enlisted in the same army. As we stood there, I saw James approaching.

James was accompanied by another agent-a Morrison-in-training, as it were. He was younger, and smaller in all dimensions, but he was doing his darnedest to emulate his associate’s stance and demeanor, all the while hanging back a respectful two feet.

James introduced us to the second agent, Agent Tuttle. Then he turned to Marty and me. “You are here as a courtesy, and I’d prefer it if you don’t speak. I don’t expect Charles to react violently, but Agent Tuttle is here just in case.” The young agent tried to look menacing and failed. “Are you ready?”

Marty and I looked at each other briefly, then nodded. On the stone steps of the Society, I fished out my keys and opened the door. The lobby was still dark, but I didn’t bother with the lights before leading the way to the elevator.

We rode up the elevator in silence. When we reached the third floor, the men got off first and strode toward the executive offices, Marty and I trailing behind. No one was in. Would Charles appear? Why wouldn’t he? When we reached the outer office of the president’s suite, Doris ’s desk was pristine-not a stray paper in sight. Wordlessly, all four of us sat in the stiff visitors’ chairs to wait for Charles.

We didn’t have long to wait. I could hear the whine of the balky elevator, although the carpeting in the hall muffled footsteps. And then Charles appeared in the doorway. There was a moment of absolute silence. At the sight of us, he paused and surveyed the group before speaking.

I watched his face. He was not a stupid man, and he had to know the game was up. But he chose to play the gracious host.

“Gentlemen, ladies, to what do I owe this visit? Please, come in.”

In his office, James took a small step forward. “Charles Worthington, you are under arrest for the theft of historic items from the Society. You have the right to remain silent…” He ran through the familiar litany. Charles did not respond, did not move, but maintained a pose of studied dignity until James had finished. Then his eyes flickered toward me, briefly, as though contemplating his options, weighing the odds. I met his gaze, and he was the first to turn away. He turned back to James and finally spoke.

“I see. Well, I suppose I should contact my lawyer, if I may?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Of course. You can tell him to meet you at FBI headquarters on Arch Street.”

Charles went to the door. Little Agent Tuttle sprang to follow him, but Charles went only as far as the doorway, and I realized he was looking for Doris. Her absence appeared to surprise him. He came back, then extracted his wallet from a pocket and searched for a business card. “May I?”

James nodded. He left Tuttle keeping an eagle eye on Charles as he made his phone call, and drew Marty and me into the outer office. “Right now I want to get him processed, and that should take a few hours. Shall we meet for dinner?”

I nodded on behalf of us both-I wanted answers. He looked at me, and I thought I saw a hint of a smile. “How about that restaurant with the great reception? Say, seven?”

“OK. Oh, what can I tell the staff?”

“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.

“Marty, what do we do about the Society now? We don’t have a leader-well, practically speaking. Who’s next in line to take over? How will we handle day-to-day operations?”

Marty swallowed, then said slowly, “I can’t say we’ve ever had to deal with something like this-as far as I can recall, we’ve always had an orderly transition, with someone waiting in the wings. I think the first step is to call a special board meeting-at least get the Executive Committee together. And get our lawyer there. And our insurance carrier. Jimmy, can you be there?” He nodded. “How about you, Nell? Since you started this whole thing, you should be there, too, to fill in any blanks.”

“Sure.”

Marty looked at her watch-it was after ten. “Too late to call them tonight-I’ll get on it first thing in the morning, see if I can get a quorum together in the next day or so. We need to start doing some damage control here.”

“Sooner rather than later,” I agreed. “Listen, can I tell the staff tomorrow that Charles has been asked to resign? I know they’ve been picking up rumblings, and they deserve to know what’s going on. I don’t have to go into the details.”

“Good point. I say yes.” Marty stood up. “Guys, I’m beat. I’m going home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. And thanks, both of you.” She wrapped her coat around her and headed out, leaving James and me alone at the table.

I realized I felt good. The buzz from the wine had not quite dissipated and I was well-fed; Marty no doubt would apply her considerable energies to sorting out the mess at the Society. Charles would be disgraced, even if only in his own eyes, and I felt proud of having ended our stunted relationship with a shred of dignity. The Society could move forward, somehow. I wasn’t quite sure what form it would take, but I felt hopeful for the first time in days.

And most important, we had solved Alfred’s murder.

It occurred to me that James hadn’t said anything for a while. I looked at him to find him studying me again. I tilted my head at him, in question.

He gave an apologetic half smile. “Sorry-was I staring? I was just thinking that you’ve handled yourself well. You sure you don’t want a job with the FBI?”

That made me laugh. “I’ll consider it, if things don’t work out at the Society. But I know I can be useful there while all this is shaking out. And I’m glad we found Alfred’s killer. I always counted Alfred as a friend. I respected his abilities, and I never wrote him off as unimportant, although I know a lot of other people did. Funny how he and Doris-two people who most of the staff never gave a second thought to-came so close to bringing the place down.” I sighed.

The check materialized, and James slipped out his credit card.

“So, dinner’s on the FBI?” I asked as I gathered my bag from the floor and stood to put on my coat.

“No, on me.” He reached to hold my coat as I slid my arm into it.

I stopped for a moment and looked him straight in the eye. “Thank you-for everything.”

He didn’t say anything immediately. Then he nodded. “Where’s your car? I’ll walk you to it.”

We didn’t have much to say as we walked to the parking garage, but it was nice to feel safe on the streets of the city after dark.

It didn’t take long to get to the garage.

“Well, this is it,” I said. Really bright comment, Nell.

“All right, then. Take care.”

For an awkward moment, I wondered if we were supposed to shake hands or something. In the end, I just turned and walked toward the stairs of the garage. As I entered the stairwell, I caught a brief glimpse of him, standing where I’d left him, watching me.