By the end of the following week, Penelope received another summons to Montgomery’s office.
“Please sit down, Dr.Blackwell.”
Penelope sat.
“The audit concluded yesterday, and I wanted to tell you in person.”
Penelope’s stomach tightened. “All right.”
“They verified theMadonna’sprovenance as legitimate after rerunning the documentation checks. Whatever anomalies flagged in the metadata didn’t hold up. The anonymous claim appears unfounded. Still, we’ll note the incident for our compliance report.”
Penelope let out a slow breath, tension ebbing—only for Montgomery to continue:
“That said, Young and Sterne noted that while your investigation was well-intentioned, your approach fell outside standard protocol. They recommend a formal reprimand, to ensure you’ll forgo sleuthing in the future.”
Heat crawled up Penelope’s neck.
“You’re one of our most capable curators, which is exactly why we expect better.”
“Of course. It won’t happen again.”
“See to it.”
Penelope rose, stifling the wave of shame washing over her.
As she stepped toward the door, Montgomery spoke again.
“And, Dr.Blackwell, the next time you want to chase ghosts, please give me a heads-up.”
Penelope nodded, offering what felt like an odd mixture of a smile and a grimace before leaving the office.
That could have been so much worse.
She strode back to her office and immediately texted Lucia.
The audit is over. All good.
She closed her eyes and let the tension drain with a long exhale. It was almost funny how people sometimes didn’t register the heavy weight they carried until it was lifted off them.
Yay! I knew you’d be fine.
She smiled at Lucia’s reply.
You’re too optimistic.
It just makes no sense to lose your mind when nothing has happened yet.
I wasn’t losing my mind.
Of course you weren’t.
Lucia added a winking emoji.
The nerve.
I was merely prepared.
Naturally.
