Dead Guilty (28 page)

A
large table in the center of the room held Ray
mond
Waller’s pride
and
joy—his
collection of
arti
facts from the Negro Leagues. There was the bat that
David
mentioned,
and
the
ball.
In
fact,
there
were
several balls and bats. There were uniforms and pen
nants, stacks of photographs, cards, signs and newspa
per clippings.

‘‘I
went ahead and deacidified the paper, checked
out the material. I figured you wouldn’t mind me tak
ing care of his stuff.’’

Korey
picked up a handkerchief that had something
wrapped in it. ‘‘I was checking out the uniforms for
moths and things and I found this stuffed in the pocket
of
the
Birmingham
Black
Barons
uniform
with
the
number ten on it. That’s significant.’’

‘‘Korey.’’
‘‘I’m getting to it.’’
He unwrapped the handkerchief. In the center were

three
crystals about the size of marbles, each shaped
like two pyramids stuck together at their base. They
looked like they were made of clear ice.

‘‘When
I found these, I called Mike.’’
‘‘What are they?’’
She looked at Mike, who had that amused glint in

his
eyes again.
‘‘You tell me,’’ he said.
‘‘Are you saying these are diamonds?’’
Mike
nodded
his
head.
‘‘Good-quality,
uncut
dia

monds.
I’ve
already
mapped
and
photographed
the
internal
structure—thought
it’d
be
nice
to
have
on
file.’’

‘‘Cut
price, we’re talking in a range over two hun
dred thousand dollars.’’
‘‘For three rocks?’’ said Diane.
‘‘Three very sweet rocks.’’
Diane shook her head. ‘‘You were right, Korey. We
have to call the attorney back and let him know.’’
She took the stones and let them rest in the palm
of her hand.
‘‘Damn.
This
is
what
the
thief
was
looking
for.
Where
in
the
world
did
Raymond
get
them?’’
she
whispered almost to herself.
‘‘There
is
a
way
to
trace
a
diamond
back
to
the
mine of origin,’’ said Mike.
Diane looked up at him sharply. ‘‘How?’’
‘‘Every
diamond
has
a
chemical
signature
that
is
specific to its origin. It would require drilling a micro
scopic hole in it with a laser beam. The only problem
is that not all the world’s mines have been cataloged.
And there’s also the problem of diamonds mined from
alluvial plains that have been washed maybe hundreds
of miles from their origin.’’
‘‘I’ll present that option to Mr. Waller’s executor.’’
‘‘It’s a very new methodology. It was developed to
help legitimate diamond dealers. There’s a big blackmarket trade in blood diamonds. Those are the dia
monds used to finance the various African civil wars,
and most dealers want to make sure their diamonds
aren’t part of that trade.’’
Blood
diamonds,
thought Diane.
She
wondered
if
that
would
turn
out
to
be
an
appropriate
name
for
these
stones
if
indeed
they
were
what
caused
Ray
mond’s death.
‘‘I’m
going
to
have
to
tell
Garnett
too.’’
Diane
started to put the diamonds back in the handkerchief.
‘‘Here.’’ Mike handed her a jeweler’s box with de
pressions in which to fit each diamond. ‘‘Stones like
these don’t need to be knocking around against each
other.’’
‘‘You put them against black,’’ she said, smiling.
‘‘Well, since we already know the color, you might
as well present them at their best.’’ Mike put the box
in a jeweler’s bag and handed it to Diane.
‘‘I
feel
like
I
need
a
guard
to
go
back
down
to
my office.’’
‘‘I’d be happy to oblige,’’ said Mike, holding out an
arm for Diane to pass.
Diane walked with Korey and Mike out of the vault
as Alicia, one of Korey’s assistants, was entering.
‘‘Dr. Fallon? Andie told me about last night. That
must have been terrifying. Jeez, two nights in a row.
You must be feeling besieged.’’
‘‘I’m fine. Thanks, Alicia.’’
‘‘You were attacked again?’’ asked Mike and Korey
at the same time.
Diane
gave
them
the
briefest
description
of
the
events. The two of them gawked at her.
‘‘A few cuts on the soles of my feet from having to
flee the house without my shoes, but other than that,
I’m fine.’’
‘‘But they caught the guy?’’
‘‘Yes,’’ said Diane. ‘‘They have him.’’
‘‘You be careful, Dr. F.,’’ said Korey when Diane
and Mike left the conservation lab.
‘‘Could you use that technique to compare the cut
stone I was telling you about with these to see if they
were from the same place?’’ Diane asked Mike.
‘‘Yes, but that stone’s already been cut. The owner
might
not
want
even
a
microscopic
hole
in
it.
You
could ask her.’’
‘‘No, I can’t. She was murdered.’’
Mike stopped in his tracks. ‘‘Her diamond?’’
‘‘Gone.’’
‘‘Damn,
Boss.
Do
you
think
you
should
stay
in
your apartment?’’
‘‘I’m not. I’m staying with Frank.’’
‘‘He’s got a gun, right?’’
Diane frowned. ‘‘It looks like they have the guy.’’
‘‘He’s the one doing all the killings?’’
‘‘That’s what the crime lab is trying to determine.’’
‘‘If there’s anything you need...’’
‘‘Thanks,
Mike.
I’d
like
to
relax
in
a
nice,
cool
dark cave.’’
‘‘Now you’re talking. How about next weekend?’’
‘‘Sounds good. I’ll tell Neva.’’
Mike
escorted
Diane
to
her
office.
She
sat
down
behind her desk, found the business card for Russell
Keating,
Raymond
Waller’s
attorney,
and
gave
him
a call.
‘‘Mr.
Keating,
we’ve
found
items
in
the
baseball
memorabilia that probably don’t belong with the base
ball bequests. It may be the reason he was murdered,
so
I need
to
tell
Chief Garnett
about
it too.
Could
you come to the museum this afternoon?’’
‘‘This is going to cause me problems with the twins,
isn’t it?’’
‘‘I think so.’’
‘‘Lord have mercy.’’ He paused and shuffled some
of
his
papers
on
his
desk.
‘‘I
can
be
there
at
three
thirty.’’

Russell
Keating and Chief Douglas Garnett sat in
front of Diane’s desk staring at the stones she had in
front of her.

Keating.
‘‘Our geologist says they would be worth more than
two hundred thousand dollars after they were cut.’’
‘‘That’s what his murderer was after,’’ said Garnett.
‘‘It has to be. We’ll have to hold these as evidence.’’
‘‘Hold on now, evidence of what? Of your idea that
this is what the murderer was after? You thought the
murderer was after the collection and you didn’t hold
it
as
evidence.
You
told
me
you
brought
it
to
the
museum for safekeeping.’’
‘‘We
don’t
know
who
the
diamonds
belong
to,’’
said Garnett.
‘‘The hell we don’t. They belong to Raymond Wal
ler’s estate. They were in his possession.’’
‘‘Where did he get diamonds that valuable on his
salary as a morgue assistant?’’
‘‘It doesn’t matter,’’ said Keating. ‘‘He could have
found them in his backyard. He owned his house and
property, including the mineral rights. These aren’t cut
diamonds. They are the way God made them.’’
‘‘This is Georgia. We don’t have diamonds just lying
around,’’ said Garnett.
Diane cleared her throat, and they both looked at her.
‘‘According to Mike, in the 1800s when prospectors
panned for gold in Georgia, occasionally they’d find
small diamonds. It sparked a few diamond rushes, but
no one has been able to find the source.’’
‘‘So
he
could
have
found
these
in
his
backyard,’’
said Keating.
‘‘None
has
ever
been
found
this
large.
I
believe
Mike told me the largest ever found was about two
carats.
I
think
it
would
be
unlikely
he’d
find
three
significantly larger ones in his backyard.’’
‘‘But not impossible,’’ said lawyer Keating.
‘‘Mr. Keating. Why don’t you let us keep them in
our safe for the time being? You have a good argu
ment, and all things being equal, it will certainly hold
up in court. However, Mr. Waller was murdered, and
Chief Garnett wants to find out who did it. And these
stones may very well belong to someone else—for in
stance, Mr. Waller may have been holding them for
a friend.’’
‘‘How would anyone else claim them?’’ asked Keat
ing. ‘‘All three look alike. How would this hypotheti
cal friend describe them to a court of law?’’
‘‘By
the
internal
structure.
It’s
like
a
fingerprint.
Every diamond is unique.’’
‘‘All right, then. I certainly don’t want to keep them
in my office.’’
‘‘That’s
fine
by
me,’’
said
Garnett.
‘‘And
I
don’t
want
to
take
anything
that
rightfully
belongs
to
his
heirs.’’
He
shook
his
head.
‘‘This
is
getting
far
too
complicated.’’
‘‘What are you complaining about?’’ said Keating.
‘‘You don’t have to deal with the twins.’’

Chief
Garnett stayed after Russell Keating went back
to
his
office.
It
was
not
the
first
time
he’d
been
in
Diane’s museum office, but he hadn’t paid any atten
tion to the decor that first time, as Diane recalled. It
had
been
strictly
business.
He
stared
at
the
photo
graph of her dangling at the end of a rope from the
vertical entrance to a cave.

‘‘This
is what you do for fun?’’
‘‘Yes. It’s very relaxing.’’
‘‘If you say so. It doesn’t look relaxing to me.’’ He

turned
his attention to the Escher prints on the other
wall—an impossible waterfall, a castle with its equally
impossible ascending and descending staircase, and a
tessellation of angels and devils. ‘‘I wonder what our
profiler would think of all this,’’ he said.

‘‘How’s
he working out?’’
‘‘Actually, I don’t find him very useful. He has to
change
his
profile
substantially
every
time
we
get
a
new
bit
of
information.
He
was
the
commissioner’s
idea,’’ he added.
‘‘He’ll have to change the profile again, after this.
You realize we have two victims now with diamonds
that they shouldn’t have been able to afford.’’
‘‘So you don’t buy the backyard deal?’’ said Garnett
with a tired smile.
‘‘Of course not.’’
‘‘Where
did
they
get
them?’’
He
sat
down
again
across from Diane and crossed his legs.
‘‘The choices are: he bought them, he stole them,
he found them, they were given to him,’’ said Diane.
‘‘It seems unlikely that he bought them. He may have
stolen
them,
but
he
didn’t
have
theft
in
his
background.’’
‘‘A lot of money adds up to a lot of temptation.’’
‘‘Yes, it does. Perhaps Raymond Waller, Chris Ed
wards
and
Steven
Mayberry
worked
together,’’
said
Diane. ‘‘They got hold of the diamonds, had a fallingout and killed each other. Perhaps Steven Mayberry
is the last man standing.’’
‘‘For the first time, we’re getting somewhere.’’ Garnett unfolded
his legs and
leaned forward,
his fore
arms on his knees.
mind
was
racing
another
thing
Chris
through
possibilities.
and
Raymond
had
in
Diane’s
‘‘There’s
common
afford—a
victims.’’
‘‘Coincidence,’’
argument.
‘‘Maybe.
Let’s
were found hanging. That is a very uncommon way to
murder
someone.
They
were
all
dressed
alike
in
clothes that didn’t fit. In fact, all the clothes were the
same size—extra-large coveralls.’’
‘‘Were they?’’
‘‘It was in the report.’’
‘‘That’s right.’’
besides
having
diamonds
they
couldn’t
direct
connection
to
the
Cobber’s
Wood

look
at
them
for
a
moment.
They
‘‘That
could
have
been
to
conceal
their
identities
too,’’ said Diane. ‘‘He wanted to get rid of their clothes,
but he didn’t want them naked.’’ She shrugged.

Garnett
pulled
up
his
chair
and
leaned
on
Diane’s
desk. ‘‘And the tips of their fingers were cut off. That
was
either
to
thwart
identification,
or
to
collect
a
trophy.’’

‘‘I
can see why the profiler thinks it’s a serial killer,’’
said Diane. ‘‘That’s what it looks like. The guy who
was
calling
me
certainly
sounded
would
peg
him
as
a
candidate
for
like
a
nutcase.
I
a
serial
killer—I

about?’’
‘‘Yes,
he
did.
Let’s
look
at
way,’’ said Diane. ‘‘He said he is not a murderer. He
seems obsessed with justice—and injustice. If he com
mitted
the
Cobber’s
Wood
murders,
perhaps
he
hanged them for their real or imagined crimes, what
ever they might have been. He dressed them up like
prisoners.
Perhaps
he
really
believes
himself
to
be
their
executioner
for
just cause,
not
their
murderer.
Their fingers were cut off to avoid them being identi
fied if they were found.’’
‘‘What if they’d been found before their faces rot
ted? They could have been identified that way.’’
Diane
frowned
for
a
moment.
‘‘Maybe
there
is
a
reason the fingerprints are a greater threat to identifi
cation than their faces or their teeth.’’
‘‘How’s that?’’ asked Garnett.
‘‘They grew up in the northeast, not here. Maybe
that’s where they lived, and he thought being far away
from home would delay identification.’’
the
killings
another
‘‘They
grew
up
in
the
northeast?
How
do
you
know that?’’
‘‘We got back the chemical analysis on the bones.
Different regions of the world have different chemi
cals in their soil and different kinds of air pollutions.
These chemical combinations show up in bones. I sent
the report to your office.’’
‘‘I haven’t seen it. You’re thinking that he thought
they
might
not
be
recognized
down
here,
far
away
from home?’’
‘‘Yes.
But
he
might
have
realized
we’d
put
their
fingerprints through a database and get a hit, so he
cut their fingers off.’’
‘‘Speaking of fingerprints,’’ said Garnett.
‘‘David hasn’t gotten a hit off any of the fingerprints
we’ve found and he’s been through all the databases
we have access to.’’
Diane
realized
that
she
hadn’t
yet
told
Garnett
about the tasks she’d assigned to Jin and Neva. She
explained her idea about the plastic surgery discussion
boards
and
Neva’s
idea
about
the
tattoo
discussion
boards.
‘‘It’s a long shot,’’ she said.
‘‘But that was a good idea. What did we do before
the Internet?’’
Diane
ignored
his
comment
and
continued.
‘‘The
DNA results on the shed hair may take a while, or it
might not work. I haven’t heard from Jin.’’
Garnett stood up. ‘‘I feel like we made some prog
ress. It was good to talk it out.’’ He sounded surprised
as he said it, as if he hadn’t really expected he could
talk to Diane and get anywhere.
Diane’s door swung open and Star peeked in.
‘‘Star,’’ said Frank. ‘‘Ever heard of knocking first?’’
He
came
in
behind
Star
and
put
his
hands
on
her
shoulders.
‘‘It’s all right. We’re finished,’’ said Diane.
Frank and Garnett shook hands. Star stood staring.
She suddenly held out her hand to shake Garnett’s.
‘‘Hello, I know who you are. I’m the girl who didn’t
kill her family.’’
‘‘Star!’’ said Frank and Diane together.
Garnett
had
a
pained
look
on
his
face,
muttered
something about being sorry for her loss, said good
bye to Diane and hurried out.
‘‘Well,’’ said Star when he was gone. ‘‘When you
use bad judgment, there are consequences. Isn’t that
what you are always telling me, Uncle Frank? So, can
I see the mummy and the Victorian pickle jar?’’
Frank and Diane looked at each other and sighed.
‘‘The mummy’s upstairs.’’
She
took
them
up
to
the
conservation
lab
and
showed them the amulets and the mummy. Star was
fascinated with both, but disappointed that the object
in the pickle jar had been used to get blood and tissue
samples.
Frank
was
more
interested
in
the
baseball
collection
that
Korey
showed
him.
Afterward,
they
had dinner in the museum restaurant and Diane fol
lowed them home in her rental SUV.
Diane
curled
up
on
the
couch
with
Frank
and
a
glass of wine, hoping that there wouldn’t be any mur
ders tonight.
‘‘This has been a nice evening,’’ she said.
‘‘We
had
a
good
time.
Loved
that
baseball
col
lection.’’
‘‘I needed to slow down. Too much has been hap
pening.’’
‘‘I’ve
planned
for
your relaxation,’’
he
said.
‘‘The
doors and windows are locked and barred. Star is stay
ing
in
tonight,
so
all
is
well.
Oh,
and
I
caught
two
of my identity thieves today. Two seventeen-year-olds
from
upper-middle-class
families.
They
would
have
just gotten a slap on the wrist, but one of the people
whose identity they stole has a brother who is a state
senator, so their butts are in trouble.’’
‘‘Do you believe in coincidences?’’
‘‘They happen, but as a rule, no.’’
‘‘As a rule, I don’t either. And that’s what is nag
ging at me. There doesn’t appear to be any logic to
the connections that Edwards, Mayberry and Waller
had with the hanging victims. We can’t figure out if it
means anything. But the odds seem so much against
pure coincidence.’’
‘‘Don’t think about it. Just let it relax in your brain
and the answer will come to you.’’
‘‘You’re right. I’ll just enjoy you and my wine.’’
Star came into the living room and sat cross-legged
in a chair opposite them.
‘‘I get to pick out the clothes, don’t I? I mean, I
know you’re paying for them and all.’’
‘‘You get to pick them out. Does this mean you are
going to give college a try?’’
‘‘Jennifer’s going to Bartram. Stephanie’s going to
the University of Georgia. If they can do it, I suppose
I can give it a try. It’s just a year, isn’t it? I can do
anything
for
a
year—even
prison
time.’’
She
settled
back in the chair. ‘‘I have a question.’’
‘‘What’s that?’’ asked Diane.
‘‘Is it a whole year, like, I mean, most schools let
out in the summer. Does a year mean I have to go to
summer school too?’’
‘‘Star,’’ began Frank. ‘‘It sounds like you’re trying
to figure out how to do as little as possible.’’
‘‘No, I’m just trying to get
the rules straight so I
know what I have to do.’’
‘‘One academic year. You don’t have to go to sum
mer
school.
But
you
do
have
to
have
a
two
point
seven GPA.’’
‘‘What
if
I
work
real
hard
and
only
have
a
two
point six?’’
‘‘That would be tragic,’’ said Diane.
‘‘Okay.’’ She unfolded herself and bounded out of
the room.
‘‘You know,’’ said Frank, ‘‘family life can be nice.’’
Diane
nodded,
but
the
talk
of
family
life
always
made her feel the sharp pain of Ariel’s absence.