Page 34 of Stone
“I’ll tell the director you called,”Candietold her. “See you whenyou get here.”
Ending the call, Brielle stared out the bus window at the passing scenery. She debated on whether to call her uncle, but there wasn’t anything to update. Not until she was able to do the inventory, or have the swabs analyzed. In fact, there wasn’t anything she personally could do once she got to her office.Might as well check to see what Cass and the others are working on andlend a hand.
The bus pulled up to the stop, and Brielle exited out the rear door. She entered the museum and went through the STAFF ONLY door. A guard gave her a smile and a nod as she went by without checking her credentials. At first that little slight didn’t bother her, but something about it niggled in the back of her mind.
She went directly to the director’s office whereCandiewas waitingfor her. The big smile on the petite brunette’s face was a dead giveaway, and Brielle answered with her own smile.
“The restriction’s been removed,” the woman told her. “The police got here right after our phone call to take down the tape.”
“Great! Is Adele here?”
“She’s downstairs with the police.”
“Okay. I’ll head that way now. Thanks.”
Brielle entered the empty elevatorand started to insert her pass key into the slot when she paused. Neither this nor the service elevator allowed museum visitors to exit onto the floors where the offices and workshops were, even if they pressed the correct button. Without a pass key, the elevators wouldn’t stop at those locations, much less allow the doors to open. Which was why the general population had no knowledge of the lowerlevels. Or if they did, didn’t know what they contained.
But the intruder not only knew about the offices, but he knew exactly where to go. He knew where the shipment was located.
Hitting the button for her floor, she leaned against the inner wall. “He wasn’t just an intruder. He had been briefed on the layout of those floors. That means someone…someone who knows thismuseum inside and out gave him the info.”
The revelation hit her with enough force to knock the air out of her. Someone on the inside, a person with intimate knowledge of this place, had to have given that man a detailed map of the museum, with an equally detailed description of each room. “How else would he know where to go? Or that he’d have to use the stairs?”
Anotherpossibility came to her. If the guy knew so much about the museum, it was also feasible he could have been given a pass key to use the elevator if he needed to.
What if he wasn’t some burglar who’d known about the shipment from some outside source? What if someone from the inside, someone who worked or works here in the museum, hired him to steal the items?
She shookher head as the elevator came to a halt.Forget that. It’s utter nonsense. If someone here in the museum wanted those pieces, why would they go to the trouble of hiring someone to steal them when they could just amble in at their leisure when no one was here and take them themselves?Geesh, girl. You’ve watched too many spy movies.
Chiding herself, Brielle pasted a smile on her faceas the elevator doors parted, and she headed for her office.
