Daniel and Sabrina spent most of that afternoon going through the pictures of artifacts and antiquities that Catherine had collected and then so generously had given away.
Because the day was so nice, they decided to set up Daniel's laptop on a small table in the sunroom, which was just off the living room. Its three outside walls were made of glass and it looked out on a small Oriental garden, complete with a koi pond.
It was a little distracting, but they still managed to view every picture Daniel had saved to his computer. Nothing looked unusual or out of place.
Next, they inserted Sabrina's flash drive. If anything, her collection was more mainstream than Daniel's had been. Nothing looked suspicious. Nothing looked worth killing for. They were both at a loss for ideas.
Jack continued to get calls off and on during the day. Some were SGC business related and some were from the personnel he had asked to help with the investigation. So far, nothing helpful had turned up.
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About 5:00 Jack and Sam left to go buy groceries. Jack had offered to grill steaks on the condition that the four of them take the night off and relax. It didn't take much to convince everyone. They were all exhausted.
While they were gone, Daniel and Sabrina went for a walk through the grounds behind the Langford mansion. The sun was just starting to set and they wanted to take advantage of its last rays.
"Jack says he and Sam are going back to Colorado Springs tomorrow," commented Sabrina. "I'm going to miss them…and their help."
"Yeah, I'm surprised they were able to stay this long." Daniel walked beneath a tree covered with early spring blossoms; plucked one off and placed it behind Sabrina's ear. "A military base doesn't just run itself."
"He tells me he's being transferred to Washington." She pulled the flower from behind her ear and breathed in its faint fragrance.
"Any day now; as soon as he can get his house on the market. Sam's leaving, too. She's taking a job in research and development at… in New Mexico. There's another member of my team who's already left. His name's 'Murray'." He leaned in close so he could smell the blossom, too.
"You're going to miss them." This wasn't a question. It was just an observation. And she was right on the money. They walked along a gravel path that led to the koi pond. There was a small bridge over the pond, and they stopped in the middle, leaning over its rails to look at the fish.
"They're family. We look out for each other. We don't always get along, but what family does?" Daniel turned around so that he was leaning against the railing. "Sam's my big sister, my confidante. At the base they call us the 'science twins'." Sabrina smiled at that.
"'Murray' is my brother and my protector," he added, "although our relationship got off to a rocky start." He suddenly looked reflective.
"Jack is…" Daniel looked at the sunset and chuckled. "It's complicated…" He looked at her in the dimming light and smiled. "He's the big brother I never had." He chewed his lip thoughtfully. "If I'm being perfectly honest here, he's the father I lost when I was eight…And he's the best friend I've ever had...or ever will have…He's saved my life more times than I can count."
"Oh, come on! That's being a little dramatic, don't you think?" She poked him playfully in the stomach. "How much trouble can an archeologist get into?"
Daniel realized he had crossed a line and began damage control. He grinned. "Yeah, you're right. I do have a tendency to exaggerate. Let's go inside and see what we can do to help with dinner."
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Dinner, as it turned out, was excellent. Unfortunately, Catherine's old-fashioned charcoal grill was rusted through and unusable; but Jack proved he was an expert at broiling steaks, too.
They chose to eat their dinner in the sunroom, Daniel having moved his laptop out of the way. As they ate, they stayed away from the subject of Catherine's death, focusing instead on small talk and news from the base.
Jack talked about his replacement, a man named Hank Landry. Turns out, he and Jack had been roommates at the Academy, and Jack had hand-picked him to take his place at Cheyenne Mountain.
"You won't have any trouble training him, Daniel. You'll have him eating out of your hand in no time." They had moved the party into the living room and Jack was in the process of refilling everyone's wine glasses as he spoke.
Daniel smiled. He remembered all too well a similar conversation between Jack and himself a few years back; something along the line of 'breaking in a new colonel'.
"Training?" Sabrina looked puzzled. "I thought you were a civilian."
"Well, let's just say Danny has a way of bringing people around to his way of thinking."
"And aren't I usually right?" Daniel was looking a little smug, the two glasses of wine starting to mellow him just a bit.
"Usually you are," Jack admitted reluctantly. "Granted; but you always think you're right!" This brought a snort of laughter from Sam and a look of annoyance from Daniel.
Sabrina smiled at this good-natured ribbing between friends and wished, not for the first time, that she had such friends. As she thought about the direction her life had taken, Jack walked over to the wet bar to put the wine bottle down.
The cleaning lady had spent all morning and a good part of the afternoon putting the living room back together. With Jack and Sam's help, the ruined furniture had been taken to the garage; and replacements, though not matching, had been brought in from other rooms on the ground floor.
Books and knick-knacks had been restored to their shelves, and those pictures which hadn't been broken had been placed back in their proper places. It was one of these pictures that Jack picked up from its spot on the mantle.
"This is a great picture." He held up a small framed photograph of Catherine and Ernest. "I'll always remember her this way…" he said. "To Catherine." He held up his wine glass to toast his old friend.
"To Catherine," they replied in unison.
"Can I see that?" asked Daniel. Jack held the picture out and Daniel took it reverently in his hand. "This must've been taken not long after Ernest came back…" He looked up and caught Jack's warning look. "Back…into Catherine's life."
The cover story Catherine had agreed to after he had been found alive half-way across the galaxy had been simple: Ernest had been living and working in Tibet for the past fifty years.
He looked at the picture and immediately was filled with a feeling of warmth. The couple looking back at him was so obviously in love. Catherine's eyes were shining with laughter, as if she had just heard the most wonderful joke. Ernest's arm was around her thin shoulders, pulling her close to his side, their cheeks touching.
"Sabrina, could you have a copy of this made for me?" he asked.
"Oh, how about making three copies, while you're at it," added Jack.
Daniel looked closer at the picture, trying to capture the details of that happy moment, frozen in time. It was taken outside, probably on the grounds where he and Sabrina had walked before dinner. He could see the reflection of the sun on her necklace…her necklace.
"Oh, my God."
"What is it, Daniel?" Sabrina looked concerned when Daniel suddenly turned pale.
"Her necklace, the Eye of Ra, I forgot all about it."
"That's the pendant I gave you at her funeral, isn't it?" Sabrina's voice was sad, but with a touch of something else; Daniel wasn't sure what. Weariness, maybe. It had been a long day.
"I'll be right back."
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Daniel fairly flew out of the living room into the central hall and up the stairs to his room. The necklace in question was in a jeweler's pouch in the side pocket of his duffle bag. He pulled the pouch out and poured the necklace into his hand.
He felt the familiar weight of the Eye of Ra and closed his hand around it, the metal warming as it came in contact with his skin.
The Eye of Ra was a circular golden pendant, with the symbol for the sun god etched on either side. It had belonged to Catherine since her childhood, but she had loaned it to Daniel for good luck—the first time he traveled through the stargate to Abydos.
There had been a stipulation to the loan. He was to give it back to her upon his safe return to Earth.
It had indeed brought him good luck. The Abydonians, upon seeing it around his neck, had thought him to be a god also. He eventually was able to correct the misunderstanding, but not before meeting (and marrying) Sha're .
In truth, the Eye of Ra was the catalyst which had caused the downfall of Ra and had allowed the rest of his team to return safely to Earth.
He remembered placing the necklace in Jack's hands and telling him to give it back to Catherine. Daniel would be staying with his beautiful wife and the good people of Abydos for the rest of his life, or so he believed.
'Ripples', he thought. If he hadn't stayed on Abydos, Earth wouldn't have learned about the stargate's ability to travel to multiple worlds. They wouldn't have sent team after team to other planets, looking for allies and ways to defend themselves. Earth could very well have been a smoldering rock floating in space by now, or at least a Goauld controlled planet.
He sat on the bed, clutching the necklace in his hand. It felt warm now, almost alive, almost as if it were trying to tell him….something.
"Did you find it?" asked Sabrina. She was standing in the doorway, watching him warily. When she saw that he had, she came into the room and sat beside him on the bed. "Can I hold it?"
"Uh, sure." Daniel was pulled out of his reverie and handed the pendant to Sabrina. She took it in her hand and turned it over slowly, first one way and then the other. "What are you looking for?" he asked.
"I don't know. I guess I'm wondering if you think this is what everyone's been after. It doesn't look valuable to me."
"Oh, it's not. It's actually costume jewelry. Catherine told me her father bought it for her from a vendor on the streets of Cairo. I think they're still sold there today."
He studied the necklace as it lay in her hand, its chain dripping down between her fingers. "And yes, I think this is what everyone's been looking for." He held out his hand. "And no, I can't explain why I think that."
"Well, it's a nice necklace, and I know it has great sentimental value, but I really think you're barking up the wrong tree here." Sabrina smiled as she put the necklace back in his hand and closed his fingers around it. She kissed him softly on the cheek. "I'm going back downstairs," she said.
"I'll be down in a minute." Daniel studied the necklace for a few more moments and thought about the reason he had it with him.
It was not the kind of thing he carried around with him normally, but his duffle bag was the one he had brought with him on the plane to Boston.
The sentimental side of him had wanted this small part of Catherine to be at the building dedication. He had carried it with him in his pocket that day at Boston College. He realized with a wry smile that his sentimentality had probably saved the necklace from being stolen while he was out of town.
But why was someone after it in the first place? He needed another point of view. He needed people who could think with a clear mind, unencumbered with emotion. He needed Jack and Sam.
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"Are you out of you mind?" Okay, that wasn't exactly the point of view he was looking for. Jack was sprawled on the living room sofa; Sam curled up next to him. Daniel had the feeling he had interrupted something. Maybe that was why Jack had dismissed his idea so abruptly. And where was Sabrina?
"So I've been told, on more than one occasion, thank you!" Daniel got up from the chair across from them and started pacing the area in front of the fireplace. Finally he stopped and leaned against the mantle, his hands in his pockets, his right foot crossed over his left. "I guess I was expecting a more open mind, that's all I'm saying here."
"Yeah. Well, all I'm saying is that you're taking a mighty big leap in logic here." He pushed slightly away from Sam, sitting up straighter on the sofa. Sam looked at Jack and smiled. Yes, he had definitely interrupted something. Awkward, much?
"I mean, you spend all day looking at pictures of antiques,"
"Antiquities."
"Whatever. And you find absolutely nothing suspicious or out of the ordinary. So what's left? Catherine's necklace. So that has to be it. Am I right so far?"
"Well, when you put it that way…" Daniel looked emploringly at his friends. "What do you think, Sam?"
"I think I'm staying out of it!" she laughed. When she saw that Daniel wasn't laughing and that he was waiting for her answer, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay, this is the way I see it." She pulled her legs up so that she was sitting Indian-style on the sofa. Then she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees.
"Someone breaks into this house and steals a security tape for the night Catherine died. Later that night, someone breaks into your house, looking for object X, possibly Catherine's necklace." She paused to gather her thoughts. "What if…"
"What if something on that tape pointed to me?" interrupted Daniel. "Or more specifically, the necklace that now belongs to me?"
"What if there was a sense of urgency involved here?" added Sam. The three friends sat mulling that over for a few seconds.
"Now see, that's where your theory falls apart," pronounced Jack. "On that thought, I'm going to bed. You coming?"
"Yeah, in a minute," answered Daniel.
His two friends stared at him. "I was talking to Sam…" Jack looked amused. Daniel looked embarrassed. Sam uncurled her long legs and stood up cautiously.
"Well, I think we're onto something, Daniel." She kissed him on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
As Sam headed upstairs, Jack started to follow, but then came back to the fireplace to join his friend.
"Look, I didn't mean to rain on your parade. You might be right, for all I know. Let's figure this out tomorrow, okay?"
"Right, Jack." Daniel picked up the necklace from its spot on the mantle and dropped it back in its protective pouch.
"Oh, Daniel? I forgot to tell you something. Crenshaw called right before dinner, and he's finished his background check on Sabrina."
"He did a background check on Sabrina? Why?"
"It's just good procedure, Daniel. Nothing personal."
"And?"
"Did you know she was in a car accident about eleven months ago?"
"Yeah, we were talking about it at the lawyer's office this morning. Why?"
"Oh, no reason. I just wondered if you knew. That's all." Daniel looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to fall, so Jack dropped it. "Did you know someone died in that accident?"
"That's… always sad when there's a fatality involved..." Daniel blinked slowly. "What are you trying to tell me, Jack?"
"It was her cousin, Gretchen. Sabrina was the one driving the car."
"Gretchen, as in Gretchen McIntyre? Barbara's daughter?" That explained a lot. It also explained why Gretchen wasn't at the dedication ceremony. Daniel sighed.
"Thanks for telling me. Now I understand why she doesn't want to talk about it." He started turning off lights as they made their way across the large room.
Jack looked at his friend and started to say something else. Then he changed his mind. "Good night, Daniel."
"Good night, Jack."
