Page 86 of Ravished

Dobbs arrived fifteen minutes later, dapper as always. He swept off his crushed hat and seated himself across from Gideon in his customary overly familiar manner.

"Afternoon, sir. I have the guest lists you requested." Dobbs presented a sheaf of papers. " 'Tweren't possible to get all of 'em. Some had been lost or destroyed. But I managed to get a fair number."

"Good. Let me see what we have here." Gideon spread the guest lists out on top of his desk. He scanned the long lists of names of people who had been invited to various houses that had experienced robberies during the Season.

"Won't be an easy task to sort out the names of persons who was both invited to those homes and who also would have reason to know about them-caves, sir." Dobbs gestured toward the lists. "Hundreds of names to go through. The Fancy likes to give big parties."

"I can see it will take some time." Gideon ran his finger down one list. "I have a hunch our man is a fossil collector."

"Don't have to be a fossil collector, m'lord," Dobbs said. "Could just as easily be someone who was raised in the Upper Biddleton area or who had cause to visit there."

Gideon shook his head. "A casual visitor would not have been familiar enough with the caves to know about the cavern where we found the goods. Whoever chose that cave knew the place well. And the only reason anyone ever goes into those caves is to search for fossils."

"If you say so. Well, then, I'll leave these here with you and wait to hear from you concerning our next move."

"Thank you, Dobbs. You have been most helpful." Gideon glanced up as the little man got to his feet. "How did you manage to get so many lists?"

Dobbs's gnomish face crinkled into a grin. "Told 'em I wanted the lists as part of my reward for returnin' the stolen goods. They was all quick enough to hand 'em over."

Gideon smiled. "Much cheaper than paying a cash reward, of course."

"The Quality is quick enough to pay a fortune for a good horse or a fine piece of jewelry, but they tend to be downright close-fisted when it comes to paying for services from folks like me." Dobbs clapped his squashed hat on his head. "But as I'm workin' for you this time, I expect I'll get my reward. I checked around. Yer reputation for that sort of thing is sound. Everyone says you pay yer bills and don't try to dodge the tradesmen."

Gideon raised his brows. "Always nice to hear one has a good reputation in some quarters."

"In the quarters where I live, a reputation for settling accounts fair and square is the only kind of reputation that matters."

Mr. Humboldt's Museum was overwhelming and well worth the price of admission. His collection of fossils, skeletons, stuffed animals, and odd plants filled his entire townhouse from top to bottom. Not a single room had been spared. Even his bedroom contained exhibits and crates full of dusty skeletons, marine fossils, and other assorted items.

Harriet was thrilled when she realized the size of the museum.

"Just look at this place, Beth," she said to her maid. She stood staring at the row of rooms on the ground floor that were filled with treasures. Visitors wandered freely from one to the next, examining and exclaiming over the skulls of rhinoceroses and the lifeless bodies of stuffed snakes. "It is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful."

Beth glanced warily into the first room. She shuddered at the sight of the skeleton of a large shark. "Do I have to come with you, ma'am? This sort of stuff gives me the chills, it does."

"Very well, then, you can wait in the hall. I shall tour the museum on my own."

"Thank you, ma'am." Beth turned her attention to the young man who was collecting the admission fees from the trickle of visitors. She gave him a coy smile. The young man grinned boldly back.

Harriet ignored the byplay. "What is in that room?" she asked, indicating a door near the staircase that was closed.

The lad glanced at her. "That's Mr. Humboldt's private study, ma'am. Ain't no one goes in there, except him. Only room in the house what's closed to visitors."

"I see." Harriet started toward the staircase. "Very well, then, I believe I shall begin at the top of the house and work straight down to the bottom."

She climbed to the third floor and plunged into the first room full of exhibits.

It was heaven.

There were very few other visitors in the museum, certainly not enough to get in Harriet's way. Time passed quickly as she worked her way from the top story of the large house to the bottom, which was underground.

Although she was primarily searching for fossil teeth, Harriet kept getting distracted by fascinating exhibits.

She found a well-preserved fossil sea urchin in one case that was unlike any she had seen before. There were several other extremely interesting marine fossils housed with it. A variety of fossil fragments in another case held her attention for some time.

It took forever to go through all the drawers in all the cabinets in every room, but Harriet did not want to miss a single item. Each time she opened a drawer or peered into a glass case she told herself that she might be about to discover a tooth such as the one she had found in Upper Biddleton. With any luck it might be labeled. She would learn if someone else had already identified it.

Harriet saved the lower story of the house for last. The underground portion would normally have been used for the kitchen and servants' quarters in a real home, but Humboldt had turned it into a series of storage rooms for the museum. When Harriet went down the stairs she found herself quite alone. That suited her perfectly.

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