Disclaimer: This story was written by a fan only for the enjoyment of other fans, without any monetary compensation. Gundam Wing and its characters are registered trademarks of Bandai Entertainment Inc.™ and Sotsu Agency. All rights reserved.
'The Museum' is a short story set in my Ghost Detective universe set during the last days of 'The Junkyard' while Duo and Heero are still out of town, and at the beginning of 'The Piano'. Hope you enjoy!
The Museum
Chapter 4
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely!" The museum's director seemed almost offended by Bonaparte's suggestion that he might not recognize his own mummy. "Although this is an excellent example of mummification, it is not Meriptah. And it wasn't done in the 18th dynasty either."
"How can you tell?"
"Over the centuries priests developed their own unique style of preparing and wrapping the bodies. The differences are subtle but not that difficult to recognize for someone who knows what to look for. I have devoted a lot of time studying different mummification techniques. Let me show you..."
Fully in his element the director seemed to recover from his initial shock and the color was beginning to return to his face. Treize felt almost sorry to have to bring the man back to earth.
"I'm sure we would love nothing more than to hear your interesting facts, but first aren't there a few more important things that need be taken care of? Like finding out where this mummy came from, and where the real Meriptah is?"
"Ah, right...right. I should call the Museum of History, shouldn't I? How am I going to explain this to Dr. Hardinger? It's an absolute disaster. Please excuse me!" Snyder looked completely frazzled as he walked off to make his phone call. He seemed to be one of those people who didn't deal too well with emergencies, and functioned best when nothing unexpected interrupted their daily routine.
Sheriff Bonaparte on the other hand seemed as unnerved as always as he turned toward Professor Khushrenada and his companions.
"Mind telling me again how exactly you heard this little rumor about the missing mummy?" He asked, in the same tone of voice he might have used to inquire about the weather or yesterday's baseball results. Only the alertness in his eyes betrayed his otherwise calm demeanor.
"Well..." Treize gave a somewhat lopsided smile. "I'm not sure how to explain this, but..."
"Sheriff!" Quatre interrupted his history teacher. "When we worked on the case of the missing Marymount students, you once said that you had learned to never question my instincts."
Bonaparte gave the young man a guarded look, even as he admitted. "I did, didn't I?"
"Well then, let's consider this one of those times where you just will need to trust me. Like Professor Khushrenada said, it is difficult to explain, but in the end...I'm quite sure, everything will make sense."
For a long moment the sheriff studied Quatre carefully. Finally he nodded, more or less to himself. "Well then, I'd better go and find myself a phone and let those guys from the forensic team know that they will have to come back in the morning. I do take it that neither of you is involved in some kind of crime connected with this?" He let his gaze sweep over the four younger men, and one by one each of them shook their head.
"No Sir."
With another nod, but without another word Bonaparte walked away.
Quatre let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "He scares me a little," the young man admitted.
"Yeah," Trowa agreed. "And it would scare me a lot more if he wasn't on our side."
"Amen to that." Milliardo nodded. "Sometimes I wonder how much he actually knows."
Silence fell over the hall for a long moment before Quatre finally declared: "Well, should we take the opportunity and have a look at the exhibit before someone comes to throw us out?"
###
"Wufei is going to be so jealous when he finds out about this." Milliardo stopped to read the plaque beneath a set of richly decorated spears. "He wanted to see this exhibition more than anyone."
"I'm sure he will be fine," his lover replied. "Why did he have to work today anyway? I thought he had taken the day off?"
"Something about some roof repairs on the house." Trowa shrugged. "I think Heero scheduled it a while ago and forgot to change the appointment. Or maybe he just thought they would be back home by now."
"Speaking of which...anyone knows when they will come back, anyway?" Quatre wanted to know.
"Soon I suppose." Treize replied. "I talked to Heero yesterday and asked if he wanted me to put in an official leave of absence with the school, but he said that wouldn't be necessary. I also offered to have my personal lawyer flown over to Nevada. He declined that offer as well. I guess things are finally rolling now that the FBI got involved."
"That's good to hear...Wow, look at this jewelry..." Quatre was leaning over a velvet rope barrier to get a better look at the items in question. "How heavy do you think all those stones are? Seriously... could you imagine having to wear something like that?"
"Maybe for Halloween." Milliardo replied dryly.
"Careful Quatre, don't set off the alarm system by accident," his bodyguard warned.
"I know, I know. I just wish we could get a little closer," the young man sighed. "The craftsmanship looks ama...Alexander! No, don't," he suddenly shouted in alarm, just as all the lights in the room flickered for a brief moment before returning back to normal.
"What happened?" Treize Khushrenada demanded. "What did he just do?"
Quatre cringed. "I think...he sort of shorted out the alarm system for this display...Sorry."
"Alexander!" the history teacher admonished. "What are you thinking? You can't just go around..."
"Hello?! Is somebody in this room?" A voice suddenly inquired from somewhere in the direction of the door.
The quartet exchanged some startled looks before Milliardo answered.
"Yes, we are here in the back."
"Oh! I'm sorry." The voice, accompanied by footsteps, came closer, until a young man rounded one of the walls that divided the room into several sections. Treize recognized him as the intern who earlier had led them to the director's office. His name was Peters or Peterson if he remembered correctly.
"I almost locked the doors on you. I didn't realize someone was still in here. If I hadn't heard you talk..." the young man grinned sheepishly. "Dr Snyder told me to close everything up. Apparently, the police will be back in the morning."
"Ah yes," the professor nodded. "Then we should leave. By the way...we just noticed there seems to be some kind of problem with the alarm system on one of your displays." He gestured over his shoulder at the display in question.
"Again?!"
"Again?" Quatre echoed curiously.
"Yes," the intern nodded as he started to lead the small group out of the exhibition hall. "Darn thing broke down several times this past week. We had to call the company in for repairs and they can't find the problem that's causing it. Maybe some problem with the wiring they say. No idea why they call it state of the art."
"Maybe one of those things that breaks down as soon as the warranty is up," the blonde joked and the other youth smirked.
"Yeah maybe." He turned off the lights and locked the door with the same kind of security card the director had used earlier.
"Say, you wouldn't know by any chance where the sheriff is now, would you?" Treize asked the young man.
"Last time I saw him he was using the phone in the curator's lab. First floor, South wing. Do you want me to show you the way?"
"I'm sure we will be able to find it on our own."
"Well then, I'd better let Dr. Snyder know about that security system failure." With a nod the intern excused himself and walked away.
As soon as the young man was out of earshot Milliardo turned toward Quatre. "Am I mistaken or did I just see a whole array of light bulbs turn on in your head the moment he mentioned the previous problems with the alarm system?"
"No mistaking there, I saw it too," Trowa insisted.
"Remember what I told you earlier, about the spirit in the basement?"
"Yes?!"
"Think about it. If Alexander here can short out electrical devices at will...and by accident, I bet so can he. But the problems only started about a week ago.. Which means...?"
"Casper the unfriendly ghost hasn't residing here long enough to even pay rent." Milliardo concluded.
"Bingo!"
Treize raised one curious eyebrow. "So, what are you saying? We should try to find out what items have been added to the museum's collection within the past week or so?"
"Precisely. At least it's a starting point, isn't it?"
"Makes sense," Milliardo agreed. "But how does it help us find our missing mummy?"
"Excuse me, but how and when exactly did it become OUR missing mummy?" The professor looked at Trowa for some kind of support, but the young man just shrugged in resignation.
"I stopped asking those kind of question a long time ago."
"Well, we have got to do something right?"
"Yes," Treize replied. "We have got to let the police do their job."
He could tell by the looks on Milliardo and Quatre's faces that the two didn't agree with him. And somehow he had a feeling that he couldn't count on his great-grandfather 's support either. Finally the older man sighed.
"Fine. Maybe we can do a little discrete investigating on our own, but anything we find out we will share with the sheriff. And..." He looked to his right where he could feel Alexander's ghostly presence. "You will keep your distance from any electrical equipment. If you break anything else, I swear you will be grounded for the next hundred years."
###
By the time the quartet reached the museum's lobby Sheriff Bonaparte was talking to one of the night watchmen who had just arrived. The security company had decided to put two guards on duty during the night, at least for the time being.
As he noticed the group the sheriff waved them over before finishing his conversation.
"I was wondering whether or not you were still here," he greeted them as the guard walked away.
"We were just about to leave." Treize told him. "Unless of course, you still need us for anything?"
"No, I don't think so. Not much more that can be done tonight anyway. The forensic team will be back in the morning. We will see what they can find."
"Sheriff," Quarter wanted to know. "Do you think the theft of the mummy is connected to last night's break-in?"
"I'm not sure." Bonaparte admitted with a sigh. "Who would want to steal a mummy to begin with?"
"I'm sure there are plenty of so called collectors out there willing to pay a king's ransom to get their hands on any kind of ancient artifact," Treize pointed out.
"For the right amount of money one can buy anything." Trowa added.
The sheriff gave another sigh. "As much as I hate to admit it, I'm afraid I have to agree with you on that one, Mister Barton."
"There is, of course, one more thing to consider," Milliardo reminded everyone. "The person who stole Meriptah did not just take him. He replaced the body. So, where did he get that other mummy from? And who is it?"
"Well, I hope we will be able to answer that question once the medical examiner is done with the body." Bonaparte told him.
"Medical Examiner? You can't be serious." The museum's director had approached the group while they were talking.
"Ah, Dr. Snyder," the sheriff greeted him. "Did you make your phone call?"
"Yes and no I suppose. Dr. Hardinger is on vacation; I was only able to reach his secretary. I left a message with her for him to call me once he gets back. I guess that gives me a little deprieve. And perhaps with a little luck..." he gave the sheriff a hopeful look. "The police will be able to find Meriptah before Dr Hardinger returns."
"Thank you for that vote of confidence, Dr. Snyder. We will of course do our best, but I wouldn't get my hopes up too high. Break-ins like these are rarely solved in a matter of days."
"Yes, I suppose. But say Sheriff, you are not seriously considering having the ME examine the mummy? I mean Medical Examiners are trained to work with fresh or relatively fresh bodies, not a corpse that might be a few thousand years old."
"What choice do we have?"
It might not be the mummy of Meriptah, but it could still be a priceless artifact, perhaps even a national treasure to the Egyptian people. We can't just unwrap it and chop it up."
"Dr. Snyder is right," Quatre nodded. "It's important that the mummy remains intact."
"I agree," Treize Khushrenada added. "What we need is an anthropologist or better even a forensic anthropologist to examine the remains, not the local M.E."
"An antrop...what?"
"Anthropology, the study of humanity and human beings," Dr. Snyder explained.
"Alright, where do we find one of those? You have one working here at the museum?"
Snyder gave a semi-amused huff. "You have obviously no idea how limited our budget is."
"I will take that as a No."
"As it turns out," Treize once again spoke up. "I have a acquaintance who works in the field. He is employed at the Smithsonian and has in the past helped out the military as well as the police with the identification of human remains. His name is Nueves..."
"Professor Carlos Nueves?" the director asked.
"You know him?"
"I know of him. I read several of his studies on early European civilization. Quite fascinating. But from what I understand Professor Nueves is on hiatus, doing charity work in Africa."
"Yes, I know," Treize confirmed. "He is aiding a humanitarian group in the identification of genocide victims in Rwanda, a cause he has been supporting for many years. In fact he and I met while he was doing similar work in Bosnia. My company was providing protection for him and his team."
"But how can he help us when he is not in the country...not even on the same continent?"
"Sheriff," the professor smiled gently. "We are living in the age of modern technology and satellite phones, you know. The world has become a lot smaller than it used to be. Doctor Snyder, do you have a CAT scan machine at the museum?"
"Not one big enough to scan a mummy if that's what you are asking," the director told him. "But the hospital in Northwood owns a portable unit which we have borrowed in the past."
"Do you think they will loan it to you again?"
"I suppose so."
"Great. Then you can take care of that. We will need the most detailed scan you can get, and a tissue sample for DNA testing would be great too. I will call Professor Nueves' daughter in the morning. She will know how to reach him."
"And what would you like me to do, Professor?" Sheriff Bonaparte inquired, the slight hint of sarcasm in his voice hard to miss.
Treize gave a somewhat sheepish smile. "Sorry, Sheriff. I still tend to forget every once in a while that I'm not wearing the stripes anymore."
"Nevertheless, I think your plan seems solid. Just remember to keep me in the loop."
"Of course."
"Do you really think identifying the mummy will help to identify the thief?" Milliardo wanted to know.
"Most likely thieves, Mister Peacecraft," the sheriff corrected. "Plural. It seems unlikely that one person alone would be able to pull off a heist like this. I mean walking away with a Canopic jar is one thing, but a mummy... It would take at least two people to move it, not to mention a truck or van for transportation, keycards for the exhibition halls, not to forget the access code for Snow White's glass coffin."
"Sheriff, are you suggesting an inside job?"
"I'm not suggesting anything, Doctor Snyder. But seriously, what are the chances of a total stranger getting their hands on those keycards?"
"How many people have cards anyway, if I may ask?" Milliardo gave the director a questioning look.
"Just myself, and the main curator..."
"And your intern. I saw him use it when he locked the door after us."
"Oh, that was my personal card. I just gave it to him when I sent him to close everything up. He doesn't have his own."
"What about the security guards?"
Treize Khushrenada frowned slightly. He was almost sure Sheriff Bonaparte's expression grew a few degrees darker at that question.
"Of course not," Snyder insisted. "There would be no reason for them to have access to anything. However, just in case of an emergency there is a dead switch build into the system that allows the guard on duty to turn it off completely. But that would require a full system reset afterward, so it can't be done unnoticed."
"Unless someone has enough tech-savvy to do their own reset," Trowa pointed out. "By the way, I noticed a number of surveillance cameras here in the lobby as well as in the exhibition halls. I assume those were running last night?!"
"Yes and no." Bonaparte replied. "For some reason they broke down just at the wrong moment."
"All of them?" Milliardo exclaimed surprised.
The sheriff nodded. "One after the other. One moment they were working and then they fizzled into darkness..." He crooked his head slightly, his face a mask of contemplation. "Now that I think about it, it was almost like with that camera we set up in Professor Diciasetto's office at Marymount. Anyway, the tapes are very much useless. I assume the intruder knew about the surveillance cameras and somehow managed to short one of them out in a way that caused a chain reaction in the entire system."
"Sheriff would it be possible to get a copy of the surveillance recording?" Trowa wanted to know.
"Why? Like I said it is not much more than about thirty minutes of boring video and then static. The guard had just put in a new tape."
"Perhaps. but with the right equipment one might be able to restore a few frames here and there."
"Very well. I will have a copy made for you."
"Oh yeah and you might have also someone go over the recordings made days before the break-in. If you get lucky some person of interest might pop up."
"You mean someone 'staking out' the place? Yes, I thought of that, too. Already requested to have those tapes sent to me by the security company."
"Sheriff, may I ask you how much longer we will be staying?" Dr Snyder wanted to know. "My wife is waiting with dinner and I should really call her if I won't make it home."
"No need Doctor. We are pretty much done here. Nothing more can be done until tomorrow. I think we should all go home and get some rest. Good night!"
"Good night to you too. I will let the guards now that we will be leaving then."
TBC
Author's Note: Once again thanks for the reviews.