Page 73 of Troy Story
She could barely contain her rage. “Give it back. Now.”
“You’re not in any position to be giving orders. Not after that stunt you pulled at the site. I knew you weren’t sick. Turns out my instincts were right. You’re a sneaky little thief, breaking into my room like this.”
Her furor grew, filling her with a rush of adrenaline. “Are you kidding me? You’re the one who robbed an archaeological site. Planning to smuggle this out of the country? Because that worked outso wellfor you last time.”
He scowled. “Wagner told you about my illustrious past, did he? I’m not surprised.”
“So, you admit you did it?” She’d expected him to claim Dr. Wagner had been lying.
“An antiquities dealer in Istanbul talked me into it. Turned out to be the worst mistake of my life.” For once, his voice wasn’t boastful or authoritative but heavy with sorrow. “Wagner caught me. Then the Turks exiled me from Troy for ten years. Even though the university kept it quiet, they couldn’t quell all the rumors. My academic reputation took an enormous hit.”
Did he expect her to feel sorry for him? Not a chance. Her mother had been approached by dealers before. People who promised her a small fortune if she’d smuggle artifacts out of Egypt. But her professionalism and her moral compass were too important to her.
Still, Dusty was curious why he would have succumbed to the lure. “Why’d you do it? You’re a tenured professor at a prestigious university. It’s not like you needed the money.”
He barked out a coarse laugh. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But I’d just gone through a nasty divorce. My ex ran up enormous credit card bills, then had the gall to fleece me dry in the divorce settlement. I’d also made some terrible investments, thanks to a chum who had no business calling himself a broker.”
Now he sounded more like the Dr. Hughes she knew—blaming everyone but himself.
She looked at the tablet again, trying to piece together his endgame. If he wasn’t going to smuggle it out of Turkey, then why had he risked stealing it from the Germans? And how had he done it? “How’d you get it from Leo’s trench?”
To her surprise, he pulled up the desk chair and sat across from her, like he was engaging in a friendly chat. He spoke with a touch of pride. “It’s simple, really. I paid Mehmet and his brothers a hefty sum. Did you know their father has been out of work for months? It wasn’t hard to bribe them into helping me. If anything, they were grateful for my benevolence.”
The hell? “Did it ever occur to you that they could end up in jail?”
“That’s not my problem. Anyway, when Leo mentioned the fragment yesterday, I suspected it might lead to something. Last night, after Troy closed to visitors, the boys started digging. They found two more fragments before they uncovered this tablet. Mehmet called me early this morning with the news. We couldn’t do the handoff at the site because he’d heard the Germans were planning on getting there early. So he met me in Güzelyali. Tonight, after dinner, I’ll go back there and set it in my trench. As long as no one else is around, it shouldn’t be difficult to stage it properly. Then I can dig it up tomorrow morning, first thing.”
Dusty couldn’t speak, too stunned at the audacity of his scheme to form a coherent sentence.
He gave her another of those condescending smirks. “You have to admit it’s a brilliant plan.”
“It’s not brilliant—it’s criminal. You stole a valuable artifact so you could plant it in your own trench. Is this so you can have bragging rights at that symposium in Amsterdam?”
“It’s more than that. For years, I was one of the foremost experts on the site of Troy. Now I’m all but forgotten, other than the ugly gossip that destroyed my reputation. A find like this could restore my good name.”
Talk about a monstrous ego. “Don’t you think Dr. Wagner will know you stole it? Leo’s the one who found that fragment.”
He snorted. “It’s averysmall fragment. Even if the Germans suspect foul play, they won’t be able to prove anything.”
Dusty got to her feet, too aggravated to sit still. “You can’t take an artifact out of context. It’ll mess up the provenance. That’s one of the most basic rules of archaeology.”
“Does it really matter? Even if our excavations are from two different parts of the site, they’re from the same era. In the end, no one’s going to care. They’re just going to be astonished thatIuncovered a tablet bearing the earliest example of writing ever discovered at Troy.”
“But…” Did he not see how wrong this was?
He raised his eyebrows at her. “Let’s be honest—you’re only here as an illustrator. Do you actually care that much about Troy?”
“Stuart does. He’s one of the most ethical guys I know. It doesn’t matter what your justification is, he won’t buy it.” She could only imagine his horrified reaction.
Dr. Hughes shrugged. “Then I suggest you keep your mouth shut. This is my one shot at glory, and I’m not about to lose it.”
She swallowed, her mouth dry as dust, as she imagined keeping a secret like this from Stuart.
No.It was wrong on so many levels.
If Dr. Hughes wouldn’t be swayed by ethics, she had to convince him of the risks involved. “You’re making a huge mistake. If you’re caught, you could be banned from Troy. Not just for a few years but for life. Imagine what your colleagues would think of you then.”
“I won’t get caught.” He stood to face her. “All you have to do is forget we had this conversation.”
