Rossberg was examining the shelves. After Bankston had left, he had gone back to his car to retrieve equipment: a professional camera, measuring instruments, a magnifier, and a notebook to write his observations.
The place was fascinating. Rossberg envied the suspect for having such a personal collection. Despite Rossberg didn't find any highly valuable item so far, the collection was worth an interesting price.
The officer finished writing notes about a vase. He was going to work on a painting on the right of the vase when a gleam caught his attention. It originated from a small rectangular wooden box inlaid with tiny diamonds at each corner. Rossberg put his notebook and his pencil onto the shelf, and carefully seized the new object of interest.
Overall, the box looked like a souvenir bought in a fancy store. Rossberg wouldn't have paid attention without the gleam from the diamonds. The surface of the item was smooth. Symbols had been drawn on the lid. The lieutenant tried to link them to a language, an era, a civilization, a design movement, and even scientific formulas. As nothing came to mind right away, he shrugged and tried to open the box. Surprisingly, he couldn't. It looked like the box was sealed though there was no apparent opening mechanism. Rossberg made another attempt, in vain. That box was getting more and more interesting.
How could Rossberg imagine that few of the symbols drawn on it were like those found on the treasure map presented in Cheyenne Mountain?