Chapter 38
A few minutes after Charlie had begun to snore, Don's phone rang. "Eppes," he said, ignoring Alan's dirty look. "Emma! Where are you?... Already?..."
"Don!" Alan whispered harshly. "You'll wake Charlie up."
"Sorry," Don whispered. He stood and took his phone into the hallway. I could hear his voice getting quieter as he headed toward the lounge.
Charlie stirred briefly and fell back asleep. We started to go through the folders, and Amita opened the program.
"Can you do that quietly?" Alan asked.
"Yes, Mr. Eppes," Amita said, smiling. "But if you'd rather, we can go down to the lounge."
Alan looked at his sleeping son and nodded. "I think that would be better. I'm sorry..."
"Don't be," I said. "Charlie needs the rest."
We picked up our belongings and joined Don in the lounge. He had sat down at one of the tables, and was scribbling in his notebook as he talked to Emma. We set up the computer on the opposite end of the table, and settled in to look through the files. When Don finished his call, he walked to our end of the table. "That was Emma," he said, grinning broadly. "she's been talking to Anna Singleton. Anna admitted to spreading the information she got from Farnsworth. It looks like Farnsworth's only crime was having a big mouth, and spreading confidential information."
"Who did Anna give the information to?" Ben asked.
"Emma gave me a few names, but she's still working on that. Anna is understandably reluctant to implicate any of her friends, and Emma is going slowly so she won't panic and demand a lawyer."
"Did she say anything about Damiano?" I asked.
"Anna didn't volunteer his name, but Emma mentioned him in a group of names, and she thinks Anna recognized the name, based on her reaction. She also recognized Cheevers' name."
"Cheevers?" I said. "Why would a Boston art historian know an LA fence?"
"Interesting question, and another think Emma is going to pursue."
"What did she say about the Manet?" Ben asked.
"Not much. She did say that Farnsworth told her you had the painting in your office. She was shocked that you and Charlie were injured when the painting was stolen, and Emma believes she honestly doesn't know who Damiano stole the painting for."
Ben leaned back and rubbed his eyes. "You said that Anna was shocked that Charlie and I were injured. Do you think she was shocked that the painting was stolen after she passed on the information?"
Don shook his head, "Emma didn't say. She was just taking a break from the questioning, and decided to call me. She's going to send me a transcript when she's finished. But she did give me a few names, I thought we could plug them into Charlie and Amita's program, and see what shakes out."
Amita grinned at Don, "So it's not 'Charlie's program' any more, I see."
"Well," Don laughed, "you have been working on it more than he has, since he's been lounging around eating Jello and sleeping. I figure you at least deserve equal billing. A few more days, and it'll be 'Amita and Charlie's program.'"
Ben glanced at his watch. "I thought Emma wasn't leaving until this morning. How'd she get to Boston and interview Anna already?"
"Apparently, she couldn't wait. She switched to the redeye and left last night." Don sat and opened his notebook. "Let me know when you're ready to hear the names she dropped."
"Go," Amita said, hands poised over the keyboard.
"Okay, Anna gave Emma these names. They are people she 'remembers' discussing the case with. They all work at the MFA with Anna and Farnsworth. Amanda Hewitt, Francis Armenson, and Myron Lynley. I'll call Megan in a few minutes and get her started on checking their backgrounds. The names she reacted to were Cheevers and Damiano. Also, and this one surprised me, Fred McLaren. Now, it's possible that the names are similar to people she knows. This may not be a connection."
While Amita worked on the program, Don called Megan. "Hey, Megan, how's it going? Has Damiano had anything more to say?... Is his lawyer there yet?... Well, we can't wait all day! ... Yeah, I know... We have to wait... " I tuned Don out as he recounted his conversation with Emma, and started looking through the folder I had taken from the pile. It was Ruth Ann Seeloff's. I put it on the table so Ben could see it too, and turned to the cover page. Ruth Ann was born in 1936, received her doctorate in art history in 1966, and taught at Harvard for a few years. Then she took at job at the MFA, where she retired in 2001. She had been questioned in the aftermath of the Gardner theft because of 'mob connections.'
I turned to Ben. "What mob connections?"
"Hmm? Oh, the reason Ruth Ann was questioned? Maybe it's explained later in the file. It is interesting that they don't say 'alleged' or 'reputed' mob connections," he started skimming the pages, shaking his head. "Nothing here. Remind me to ask Don about it."
"Are the transcripts of her interviews in here?" I asked.
Ben flipped a few pages. "Here," he said. We read the first page. It gave the date and time of the interview, listed the people who were present, and had a few introductory questions. Then we flipped to the second page. Ben ran his fingers along a torn edge of paper by the clips. "It's missing." The third page started in the middle of an answer. Something about Ruth Ann denying any knowledge of the whereabouts of somebody. Unfortunately, any reference to the person in question was on the missing page.
"I wonder if the agent who interviewed her is still around," I said, pulling a small notebook out of my purse. "If I don't write these questions down, I'll forget."
"I'm sure Emma would know if Don doesn't."
"If Don doesn't know what?" Don asked, closing his phone.
"Whether the agent who interviewed Ruth Ann is still around. There's a page missing from the transcript of her interview," I showed Don the torn page.
"Actually, there are two pages missing from the transcript, and another page missing later in the file," Don said. "And nothing in the file explains her 'mob connections.'"
"That was my other question," I said. "You're good at this investigating stuff. You'd think you do it for a living or something."
Don laughed. "Sometimes I wonder."