Chapter 10
"There you are," Joe said the next morning, hurrying to catch up to his brother as they walked across campus towards the museum.
"Hey, did you find out anything about Duncan?" Frank adjusted his backpack and looked expectantly at his brother.
Joe shook his head. "Another model citizen, apparently. I did the interview bit with two of his colleagues at the university in Edinburgh and someone who worked with him in the museum there. They all said he was a great guy."
"It figures," Frank sighed. "Another brick wall. I think I'm going to spend some time going over those security tapes again. They're the only concrete thing we have right now showing who went where in that museum on the days the crimes occurred."
"Hey, Joe!" a female voice called out from behind them. The brothers both turned to find an attractive blonde smiling as she hurried towards them.
"Heather?" Joe seemed surprise. "I didn't know you were going to school here."
"Yeah, I just started this semester." She stopped in front of them and reached out to give Joe a hug. "The modeling thing didn't quite work out the way I wanted, so here I am." She patted his back. "Wow, it's great to see you."
"You too," Joe said. "You remember my brother Frank."
Heather smiled in his direction. "Of course. Hi, Frank."
"Heather," he nodded.
"So, what are you up to?" she asked, turning her full attention back to Joe.
"Studying, working, the usual."
"Still doing the detective thing?"
"Yeah, I plan on going into business full-time with my dad and Frank when school is over."
She nodded. "Hey, how about if we go get something to eat? I didn't have time for breakfast this morning and I'm starved."
"Well, any other time I'd love to, but I'm actually working on a case right now and if I don't get going, I'll be late for an appointment."
Her face fell. "Darn. Maybe another time?"
"You can count on it," Joe said with a smile.
"Great. I live in Harrison Hall. Look me up, okay?"
"Sure," Joe agreed as Heather flung her arms around his neck again.
She turned to leave with a "Bye boys," and a wave.
"I see she still has a thing for you," Frank said with a chuckle as they watched her cross the green and run towards the student union.
"I tried to let her down easy," Joe said with a mock sigh.
Frank rolled his eyes.
"No, seriously, I did. After prom, I told her it was over."
"Well, she apparently didn't get the message."
"She'll forget about me in an hour. Her attention span isn't the greatest."
Frank laughed as they reached the museum entrance. "I'm not going to say anything."
"I was in high school. I didn't date her for her brains." Joe pushed through the heavy doors into the lobby.
Frank stopped, opened his mouth, then paused. "No. I'm not going to say it. It's killing me, but I'm not going to say it."
"Oh, there you are!" Duncan's Scottish brogue stopped Joe from responding to his brother. "I sent Emily downstairs to start cataloging the exhibit artifacts. I thought you might want to see how that's done before we have our meeting."
"Sounds great," Joe said, all thoughts of Heather immediately leaving his mind.
OOOOOoooooOOOOO
Emily was standing in front of a long table in the preservation room of the museum, painstakingly marking each artifact as Evan unpacked it into a logbook.
After carefully examining the piece for damage or evidence of infestation from insects, she placed it on the black fabric underneath the museum's special camera that allowed the object to be photographed without damaging it.
"Ready?" Emily called out to Evan who was working the camera.
"Yep." Evan repositioned the camera. "Well, wait a minute." He made several adjustments to the lens then snapped several photos. "Rory Mor's horn, huh?"
"Yep," Emily said with a smile. "It's going to freak Duncan out. He didn't think it should have been moved from Dunvegan castle."
Evan shook his head. "Superstitious old goat. He drives me nuts, you know that?"
She smiled as she removed the ox horn and carefully replaced it in its box surrounded by foam. "Then I think the feeling is mutual. His blood pressure rises a good twenty points when you're in the building, Evan."
He grinned at her. "So, his face turning bright red whenever I'm around isn't because of a sunburn?"
"Nope." She lifted another box onto the table and carefully removed a jewel-handled dirk, placing it on the cushioned mat so she could examine it. "That would be the flush of anger you're seeing and it's all your doing."
"Then my mission here is complete," he chuckled. He let out a low whistle. "Man, those are some serious rocks on that thing."
"That's why the guards are standing outside the door."
Evan leaned down to examine the knife. "Well, I guess if you're going to stab someone, you might as well do it in style."
"The Highland chiefs were men after your own heart, Evan."
He brushed some invisible lint off his very expensive suit. "You know what I like to say, honey...it's never wrong to look good. And, that's where Duncan needs to listen to me. He is extremely attractive. He really should dress better."
Before Emily could reply, the door to the lab opened and Duncan stepped in with Frank and Joe behind him.
"Speak of the devil," Evan murmured. "Watch how fast he turns red."
He moved towards the group, his hand outstretched. "Well, good morning Dr. MacLean. Nice of you to finally show up. We're just about finished."
Duncan seethed as he greeted Evan, the color rising fast on his cheeks. Emily giggled from across the room.
"I had other matters to attend to, Evan. Like an entire museum to run."
"Oh really?" Evan straightened the cuffs on his impeccably pressed shirt. "Funny, I thought that was the director's job." He snapped his fingers as he looked towards the ceiling. "A Mr. Perriton, isn't it? He's the museum director, right?"
Duncan pushed past him. "I really don't have time for your nonsense this morning." Gesturing behind him he added, "You remember Frank and Joe Hardy from yesterday. They're here to observe the cataloging process."
Evan reached out to shake their hands. "Nice to see you again. Sorry you have to work with such a...well, never mind." He turned to head back to the table and Frank and Joe exchanged grins as they followed him across the room.
Emily came around to the front of the worktable and Joe's mouth went dry. So far, he'd only seen her in business clothes. Today she was wearing jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. The only word that went through Joe's head was "amazing". He couldn't stop staring. The way her jeans hugged the bottom half of her body and the way her t-shirt clung to the top half made him a little dizzy. He watched as she moved towards a larger box on the floor and bent over to lift something out of it.
"You're drooling," Frank whispered, a look of amusement covering his face.
"Hey, does someone want to help me with this claymore?" Emily looked over her shoulder towards the men. "It's not very heavy, but it's a bit unwieldy and I don't want to take anyone's head off with it."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Duncan apologized. "Wait, Em." He donned a pair of latex gloves and moved to her side. Together they lifted it onto the second table in the room.
"Would you two like to take a look at this?" Duncan gestured to Frank and Joe.
"It's the weaponry stuff you told me you liked." Emily gave Joe a dimpled smile as he reached her side. "You know the art you 'actually wanted to see.'"
He grinned back at her. "It's really cool. How old is it?"
"About six hundred years," Duncan replied. "Scottish warriors used these in clan battles from about thirteen hundred to seventeen hundred."
"Wow, I'd hate to get hit with one of these," Frank commented.
"It would split your skull right open," Duncan said. "And it took serious skill and training to handle one properly. It weighs around five and a half pounds."
"Can I pick it up?" Joe asked.
Emily held out the box of gloves. "Put these on first."
Joe snapped the gloves on his hands, then lifted the claymore off the table.
"Two hands," Duncan called out. "It's a two handed weapon."
Joe's eyes lit up as he tested the weight in his hands. He stepped backwards and made a swipe with it.
Emily giggled. "You're a born warrior."
He smiled at her. "This is amazing." He made another swipe through the air.
"Of course, you know Joe," Frank began, "to be a true Highland warrior, you'd need to wear a kilt."
"Those guys fought in skirts?" Joe chuckled as he laid the claymore back down on the table. "No wonder their swords were so big."
"Hey, don't you be mocking our plaid," Duncan warned with a smile on his face. "We Scots are fiercely proud of our clan colors."
Joe leaned in to get a closer look at the carving on the handle. "Not mocking it at all. I'm just saying I wouldn't be comfortable fighting in a skirt."
Emily gave him a teasing grin. "And you'd only be wearing a skirt. You know Highland warriors didn't wear anything under their kilts."
"And how would you be knowing that, lassie?" Duncan asked, drawing out his brogue. "Been peeking under the plaid of some handsome, young lad? You know it's rude to ask what's under a man's plaid, don't you?" He leaned against the table and crossed his arms. "But if a Highlander is particularly proud of his...er...assets, he may just show them to you anyway."
Emily rolled her eyes. "Then I guess I haven't met any Highlanders who've been impressive enough, because my knowledge is all hearsay."
"Okay, I've heard enough," Evan said, holding up his hands. "I have a gallery opening tonight in the city and I need to get back. Can we please just finish here? Before he starts telling us all about the Loch Ness monster and other crap like that?"
Emily laughed as she started writing down information about the claymore in the log. "Sounds good to me. I have a test to study for before my afternoon class." She turned to Joe. "Hey, since you have gloves on, would you mind grabbing the attaché case behind the crate the claymore was in and bringing it here?"
"Sure." Joe stepped over the wooden box that contained the sword. "Wait, is the sword crate supposed to be empty?"
"Well, we're only supposed to have one artifact per crate or it could get damaged." Emily looked up. "Why?"
"Then someone in Edinburgh doesn't know the rules." Joe lifted up a small, ornately carved, box he spotted tucked under the shredded packing material.
Duncan looked puzzled as he moved forward. "What on earth have you got there? Those are Celtic designs on the outside."
"One way to find out." Joe put the box on the table near Emily and lifted up the small rusty latch on it as Frank, Duncan and Evan gathered around. He pulled out a large round crystal. "Does anyone know what this is?"
Duncan's eyes grew huge and he paled and stepped backwards.
"What?" Joe asked, holding up the crystal, about the size of a small apple. "Is this worth a lot of money or something?"
"It's, it's a witch box," Duncan hissed.