Page 33 of Stone
Chapter 17
Findings
At Brielle’s urging,Garenthpromised to remain at her apartment until it got dark before resuming his search for the vial. As she rode the Metro to the museum, her thoughts were on the man creature, replaying over and over what he’d told her.
He had been a man once, but some sort of curse, or drink, or something had changed him into thebeing he was now. On the surface, the whole idea, the entire scenario was ludicrous. Similar to the plot of some fantastical movie or book, until one got a good hard look atGarenth. There was no way anyone could deny what he was, even if they chose to disbelieve his story.
I mean, how could his explanation for his existence be anything but the truth?
Brielle steadied herself.She had to get those swabs tested ASAP. Hopefully the guys at the lab might be able to come up with some sort of answer as to what had been contained inside that vial. She was lucky she’d had the foresight to gather that evidence before the intruder took off with it.The seal. Thekalishari, or whatever it was he’d called it.
The seal to what? What was its purpose?
Was it evenfeasible the man hadn’t absconded with what he’d come for?
The more she thought about it, the more she realized the guy really had no clue as to what he’d been seeking. All he probably had was a vague idea of the size of the item, considering what he’d taken with him that she’d been able to get a glimpse of. But was hisinteleven correct? Was it possible he’d gotten the wrong information,and the seal could have been much bigger than what would fit in that little black bag tied to his belt?
She phoned the museum, hoping to catch Cassidy. Luckily, her assistant answered on the first ring.
“Acquisitions.”
“Cass, this is Brie.”
“How are you doing? How are you feeling?”
“Fine. I’m doing okay. Listen, I need you andPacky, isPackyworking today?”
“Yeah. Me,Packy, andOscar.”
“I need you three to stop whatever you’re doing and run an inventory check on everything Dr.Kellingsent in that shipment.”
“Now?”
“Now. Are you able to get to the crates?”
“No. The police have them taped off as evidence.”
Brielle muttered a curse word. “Okay. Let me get back with you. How about Dr.Kelling’soffice? Is it still off limits?”
“Yeah. Are you on your way here?”
“Yes. I should be there in about fifteen. Hopefully by the time I arrive I’ll have some good news. Talk to you then. ‘Bye.” She ended the call and placed a second one, this time to the museum’s curator. It was picked up by one of the assistants.
“Curator’s office. Candace Truman speaking.”
“Candie, this is Brielle Van de Camp.”
“Oh, hey, Brie! How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. I’m headingfor work now. Listen, is Director Moring available?”
“She’s in a meeting at the moment, but she told me earlier she wanted to talk to you about what happened last night.”
“I’ll come straight over when I arrive,” Brielle promised. “I need you to do something for me first. I need to get the police to grant me access to my uncle’s office and that shipment that was broken into. I need to run acomplete inventory check of everything to see what was taken.”
“I think that’s what the director is wanting you to do. I know she’s been talking to the police about the robbery, and they’re both needing to know exactly what is missing.”
“But until we get that police tape removed from the back rooms, our hands are tied.”
