She could have denied it, but Larry Hendricks was a smart man. Too smart. So she simply said, “Yes. The livelihoods, the investments, and the homes of several people I care about are at stake. Believe me, if I didn’t feel this were a crisis, I would not have bothered you.” If Murphy had been there, she would have congratulated Annie for standing up to him.

“Unfortunately, like most of us, they’re overworked in that department.”

She closed her eyes again. “Please, Larry,” she said, her voice softening, a gesture that was real. “It’s important.”

He paused again. He was definitely playing an attorney’s game of waiting for a reaction from a witness, hoping she would leap into the dead air space and reveal the truth.

“I don’t work directly with the archeologists,” he said. “My staff takes care of that.”

She guessed it was a lie. If he didn’t work with them, he probably wouldn’t have known that they were overworked. And, more than likely, he would not have known the details of a federal act that was three decades old and included directives for remains of people who lived five hundred years ago. Half a damn millennium. She wanted to say, “Thanks anyway,” and hang up. But just as she opened her mouth to speak, Larry beat her to it.

“No promises, of course, but I’ll make a couple of calls.” His voice dropped to a less-intimidating octave. “If only to prove I’m not really an insufferable jerk.”

It wasn’t until after he’d said he’d be in touch in a few days and she’d thanked him and they’d hung up that Annie realized that neither of them had mentioned Mark.

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Before we head out, would you like a quick tour of the Inn?” Annie asked when she returned to pick up Donna. “Then you’ll be able to visualize someone’s work in a specific place.”

Donna smiled. “I was going to ask for that.” In a pale aqua cashmere sweater, light gray pants, and short leather boots, she almost looked as if she were going to meet her lady friends for lunch in Chestnut Hill. And though Annie had on black jeans and sneakers, she’d put on a new white sweater. They both wore makeup, though it looked like Donna had applied an extra layer.

Annie had brought her iPad and the list of artists so Donna could see the type of work each artist painted, then suggest a given style that she thought would be a match for a specific location. As they walked through the Inn, Donna nodded and emitted many “uh-huh”s, which might have been a throwback to her antiques-buying days when showing no reaction was a technique for negotiation. After they’d gone through every room and hall, they stopped to say good-bye to Kevin.