“You do?”
“One of them, yes.”
“And you’ve never thought to mention this and thereby allow me to abuse said friendship to get a regular table at that piece of gastronomic heaven?”
He laughed again. “I take it you’re not ringing to simply say hello?”
“Well, no, but hello.”
“What is it you want this time?”
He sounded resigned, and I couldn’t help smiling. “Did you ever get in touch with your friend Frank to ask him about the people in that newspaper article Treasa gave me?”
Said article had been about an archeological site in Portugal and the unusual number of accidents that had occurred during the dig, which had eventually led to the site being closed and subsequent rumors that the area was cursed. It had been accompanied by a somewhat grainy picture of the dig teamstanding in the middle of what looked to be an Iron Age hill fort, but no names had been listed. When I’d shown it to Lugh, he’d known two of them, though only one remained alive.
“No, because thanks to everything that happened over the last few days, I totally forgot all about it.” The rustling of papers echoed down the line, suggesting he was now searching for it. “Why?”
“Could you push it to the top of your priority list? I think we need to know why Treasa thought it important we get that.”
“Will do.” He paused. “Thing is, I seem to have misplaced it.”
I frowned. “Really? Where are you?”
“At the office. I’m sure I put it in the in-tray.”
“Would anyone have taken it?” Would Eljin? If so, why? He wasn’t in that picture; hell, he was only a couple of years older than me and would have been in his mid-twenties at the time that article was written, and likely to have still been in university.
“I can’t see why anyone would,” Lugh was saying. “Besides, I’m the only one with a key into the office. Even the cleaners don’t come in here.”
“Well, that explains the rubbish everywhere,” I said with a laugh.
“I’ll have you know there is no rubbish in my office.” It was said with mock haughtiness. “They are all vital pieces of information.”
“Yeah. Right, brother.”
He chuckled. “I do put the bins outside the door for the cleaners every night, so there is in truth no actual rubbish in here. That does make it even odder it’s disappeared, however.”
“Luckily, I did take a photo of it, so I’ll shoot it across to you.”
“Ah, excellent.” He paused. “How did things go yesterday? I meant to call but?—”
“You forgot, not only because all the prep for the auction took precedence, but because you knew I was safe, well, and with Mathi,” I finished dryly.
“Well, yes,” he admitted, amusement evident. “But don’t tell Darby all that. She wouldn’t understand.”
Darby understood him far better than he realized. I quickly updated him on everything that had happened yesterday, then added, “I don’t suppose you’ve heard of either relic?”
“No, sorry. I’ll search the archives for the pectoral, but I’m loath to do a search for the blade, given we’ve probably at least one Ninkilim working for the museum, keeping tabs on me.”
“Probably, though if they did take the article for whatever reason, it’s all the more reason for us to find out why.”
“I agree. I’ll ring Frank this afternoon. He won’t be up at this hour, as he habitually sleeps in. We used to have a devil of a time getting him to a dig before noon.”
I snorted. “It’s a wonder he was ever employed.”
“He’s considered one of the preeminent professors in the antiquities field, even now that he’s semi-retired. That gives his behavior a pass for many, especially given he is otherwise a studious archeologist. You want to come around for dinner tomorrow night? I should have something from him by then.”
“Love to—just remember to warn Darby.”
