Chapter 2

Joe and Frank exchanged worried glances, and Joe quickly pushed aside the sheet and stepped into the exhibit room, followed by his brother and Emily. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dim lighting provided by the temporarily strung up fluorescent fixture across the room. A blonde young woman dashed toward them, a panicked expression on her face.

"I think he's..." She paused, gasping, her hand covering her throat. "Oh please, help. Please." Her voice dropped. "I think he's dead."

"Who's dead?" Frank asked, stepping forward.

"I, I don't know," she stammered. "I couldn't see his face." She gestured across the room to where scaffolding, tools and construction equipment lay scattered. "He's over there." Her hands shook as she covered her mouth and whispered, "It's horrible."

Joe dashed off in that direction with Frank on his heels. Emily stepped over to the girl and put her arm around her shoulder.

"Frank? What's she talking about?" Joe asked, stopping in the center of the area being worked on. He cast his gaze around in a circle. "Do you see anyone?"

"No," Frank said. He stepped towards the scaffolding and over to an area that was being transformed into a replica of a medieval castle. He stopped short. "Joe, over here."

Joe rushed to his brother's side and uttered an expletive. A man was draped over a wheelbarrow; his head completely submerged in its contents. Both brothers hurried over and knelt beside him.

"I'm not feeling a pulse," Frank said, as he gripped the man's wrist. "In fact, he's cold."

"This is plaster." Joe looked up. "It's hardened already."

Emily approached them, and Frank positioned himself between her and the body. "I couldn't get Kim to explain what happened," she said worriedly. "She just ran out saying she had to call the police." She tried to peer around Frank, but he continued to obscure her view of the wheelbarrow. "Please," she began. "If something's wrong here, I need to know." She stepped quickly to her right and gasped. Covering her mouth with both hands, she whispered, "Is he...?"

"He's dead," Frank said grimly.

Her eyes widened. "Dead?"

"Yeah," Joe stood up and walked toward Emily. He took her by the arm and steered her away from the body. "Tell us more about this room. What's going on in here?"

"Um…" Emily paused, clearly shaken by what she'd seen. "W-we're getting it ready for the exhibit. Making the room look like an old Scottish keep."

"So, anyone can walk in here? There's no security?" Joe asked.

"Well, there are signs warning patrons not to enter; that it's a construction zone, so to speak. The security guards are here to protect the artwork. They don't usually come back here. There's nothing to guard." She stared up into Joe's eyes. "It's never been a problem."

He nodded. "Until now."

"Do you have any idea who this might be?" Frank asked.

Emily shook her head. "N-no." She turned to Joe, still trying to comprehend what had happened. "Somebody murdered him? Here? In the museum?"

Joe's face was grim. "That's what it looks like."

The curtain parted again and Kim returned, this time with another man in tow. Joe estimated him to be in his early thirties; and if he'd been reading a dictionary entry of "tall, dark and handsome", this guy's picture would have been right next to it. Kim pointed in their direction and the man jogged over to them.

"What on earth is going on here?" He spoke with a Scottish brogue. "Who are you two?" He stared at Frank and Joe.

"They're patrons, Duncan." Emily stepped forward. "We heard Kim scream and came back here to see what was going on."

Frank and Joe moved aside and allowed him to observe the wheelbarrow and the body.

"Good God!" His face drained of all its color. He dashed toward the wheelbarrow, but Frank held him back.

"Not until the police get here."

Duncan shook him off. "This is my museum. Don't tell me what I can or can't do."

"This is a crime scene," Joe replied, stepping closer to Duncan. "If you touch the body, you may destroy evidence."

Emily spoke in a measured tone. "They're detectives, Duncan. Please listen to them; they know what they're doing."

He looked down at her, his expression softening, and sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "Okay, you're right. I don't want any evidence destroyed." He extended his hand to Frank and Joe. "Duncan MacLean. I'm the assistant director here."

Frank held out his hand. "Frank Hardy. This is my brother, Joe."

Duncan nodded as he shook Frank's hand, then Joe's.

"Do you have any idea who the victim is?" Joe wanted to know.

"I'm afraid I didn't get a good enough look." Duncan turned to Emily as the curtain to the exhibit parted and some patrons peeked in. "Maybe you and Kim could wait in the lobby. I don't want anyone else coming in here. Have Kim stand by the curtain, and you wait for the police. Escort them back here when they arrive, okay?" He paused. "Oh and why don't you try and find one of our apparently worthless security guards, too."

Emily nodded and Duncan smiled and patted her back reassuringly. Joe narrowed his eyes.

As Emily and Kim left the exhibit, Duncan turned to Frank and Joe. "I'm not going to disturb anything, but I need to see the body."

Frank nodded and escorted him to the wheel barrow. Duncan took a deep breath as he looked at the masculine form buried up to his shoulders in hardened plaster. His eyes opened wide. "I know who it is," he said. "Professor Ayres."

"What?" Joe turned toward the body. "That's my Humanities professor."

Duncan nodded. "He came to my office this morning to talk about the exhibit. He was wearing that shirt." He looked shocked. "Why would someone want to kill him? He was just a nice old man."

"Was he upset about something when he came to see you?"

"Not that I could tell," Duncan paused. "He was letting me know he'd spoken to our contact in Scotland about the artifacts we would be receiving. He seemed fine. He was excited about it, actually."

"Did he tell you what he was doing or where he was headed after he left your office?" Frank asked.

"No. I know he said he had a class to teach, and then he wanted to check out the exhibit space at some point today." Duncan thought for a moment. "He wanted to do it before his office hours. He said he needed to be back by then in case any students stopped by."

"Okay, that's a start," Frank said, pulling a small notepad out of his pocket. "What time did he meet with you?"

Duncan pursed his lips trying to recall. "Around nine-thirty this morning."

"Do you know when he has his office hours?" Frank asked, as he scribbled down the information.

"I'm sorry, I don't."

"Well, that's easy enough to find out," Frank smiled as he closed the notepad. "Thanks for your help."

Duncan peered at Ayres body intently. "I wonder if this has anything to do with the curse?"

"Curse?" Joe asked. "Did you say curse?"

Duncan nodded solemnly. "Aye. I warned him against trying to take some of those artifacts out of Scotland...that there would be consequences, but he just scoffed at me."

Frank and Joe exchanged glances. Before they could ask him to clarify what he meant, Chief Collig and two other officers, accompanied by Emily and a museum security guard, entered through the curtain. Collig stopped short when he saw Frank and Joe. "You know, I really shouldn't be surprised, but yet, I always am."

"Hey, Chief," Joe called out.

Collig gave him a hard stare. "Where's the body?"

"Right here," Frank led Collig over to the Professor while shooting Joe a warning look over his head.

Years of experience on the police force enabled the chief to disguise any reaction to the sight in front of him, but Frank could see his brow furrow and his eyes widen a bit. Collig let out a heavy sigh, and gestured for the two police officers accompanying him to begin their work on the crime scene. He turned to Frank and Joe. "You two want to tell me what the hell is going on here?"