“You’re only hunting forgeries because I asked you to. If something were to happen to you while you’re doing this job, that’s my responsibility. I can’t let that happen, Lauren. I can’t.”
She stopped chewing and placed her fork on her plate, giving him her full attention. “I’m so sorry you were worried. I didn’t realize you had so quickly resumed the role of guardian for my well-being.”
“Yeah, well, the position didn’t seem to be taken.” Then again, maybe he’d gotten this all wrong. “Is it?” He took a drink of water and tried again. “That is, am I overstepping here? Is there another man already—and I’m not talking about your father.”
Her eyes narrowed. “If you’re asking if I’m seeing anyone, the answer is no.”
“I thought you were. I heard that you were engaged a while ago.”
A rueful smile curved her lips. “A lifetime ago. I was twenty-four and had recently finished graduate school. Richard had just enlisted to fight in the war in Europe. Did you go, Joe? I thought of you and wondered. I prayed for your safe return, just in case.”
She had? That surprised him. “I stayed. The department needed a corps of us veteran officers to stay behind as a stabilizing force.” He’d been twenty-seven years old when the US joined the fight. So many young men had enlisted right away and spent months in camps, waiting to go over. Many of them never saw action before the war ended. Joe hadn’t felt like he was shirking a patriotic duty by remaining with the police. He’d been fulfilling a duty he’d sworn an oath to years prior. His service was protecting the home front by upholding law and order. He’d never regretted that choice. “What happened when Richard enlisted?”
Lauren sighed. “He wanted me to marry him before he left, but I wasn’t ready. I told him I’d wait for him, and that we could chart a path when he came back. It wasn’t enough for Richard. He went to war without saying good-bye.”
“And that was it?”
She lifted a forkful of beans. “That was it. Never heard from him again. It’s all for the best, though. My work doesn’t leave much time for relationships outside of a few.”
The scoundrel left her. Abandoned her. Just like her father had done. He hated to think of the heartache Richard had caused her, but if he wasn’t willing to wait, he wasn’t worth much.
“So the positionisopen,” he said, his tone much lighter than he actually felt. “I formally accept. As the guardian of your well-being,I’m responsible for your safety while you consult on my investigation. In all seriousness, I need you for this work, Lauren, but promise me you won’t go into other people’s homes alone anymore. If you’re going, I’m going. Clear?”
“Clear. Thank you,” she added. “For caring.”
Joe didn’t want to admit, even to himself, how much he did.
CHAPTER
9
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1925
Morning light filled the Great Hall at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Outside the soaring windows, snow dusted the trees lining Fifth Avenue and draped a mantle over the great lions flanking the entrance.
Lauren carried a clipboard through the Egyptian gallery, envisioning how she would arrange the space for the upcoming exhibition. Some of the current items would need to be returned to the labyrinthian underground storage space to make room for the themed displays she had in mind.
Anita rushed up to her, cheeks pink from cold, stuffing her mittens into her coat pockets. “Have you seen her in place yet?” she asked, nearly out of breath. “How does she look?”
Lauren smiled at her assistant. “I decided to wait for you.” Last night after the museum closed, the carpenter had moved a newly completed display case into one of the Egyptian galleries. “Ready?”
“Aren’t I just!” Anita pulled off her wool cap, and static electricity crackled in her hair.
Together, they walked into the New Accessions room. There, on a raised dais with steps all around it, was a glass case containing the anthropoid coffin holding the mummy of Hetsumina, dated from the Greco-Roman period, between AD 90 and 100. Her coffin waslavishly appliquéd with gold-leaf hieroglyphs and painted to portray the young woman wearing a black wig and Roman-style dark red tunic with black stripes edged in gold. The coffin’s lid had been removed and set aside so viewers could view the mummy.
Inscribed on the bottom of the coffin’s foot were the hieroglyphs that translated,Hetsumina, daughter of Hopikras, died untimely, aged twenty-seven. Farewell.
Lauren had suggested saving the display for the opening of her spring exhibition, but Mr. Robinson had decided they ought to waste no time in sharing this gem with the public as a preview of the upcoming show.
She had to admit it was a good strategy, and she was happy not to delay bringing such artistry to light.
“She’s the cat’s pajamas, no doubt about it!” Anita sighed.
Voices and footsteps signaled that the museum doors had opened to the public for another day of wonder and discovery.
“I was right to look for you here first, I see.” Lawrence’s voice turned Lauren toward him in time to see him notice Hetsumina’s coffin. His silence as he stepped closer was as eloquent as anything he could have said. He wasn’t often speechless.
“She’s the berries, isn’t she?” Anita beamed. “And you’re the first of the public to see her. Lucky you.”
