But maybe, just maybe, he had overlooked something that could set him on a new path.

He crossed the lab and punched a code into a security panel. The heavy metal door of the small walk-in vault swung open. A number of artifacts were arrayed on the shelves, various items that he had collected in the course of his research. None had proven helpful. Everything had led to a dead end—everything except the logbook.

If there were more secrets to be found, they were in Griffin Chastain’s notes.

He went to the glass case where Chastain’s logbook was stored. He opened the case and reached inside to pick up the leather-bound book.

It took him a few seconds to realize it was the wrong logbook. Another leather-bound logbook—a vintage document from the same era—had been left in its place.

It took him a moment to process what had happened. Someone had stolen the logbook.

One of the Puppets, perhaps, who planned to sell it on the underground market. But even as the possibility came to mind he dismissed it. They had no reason to steal it. They believed they were going to be the beneficiaries of the secrets in the logbook. More crucially, they understood he was the only one who could comprehend the complicated paranormal physics.

It was equally unlikely that Garraway had taken it. He was good with money but he couldn’t possibly grasp the scientific concepts and formulas in the logbook. Besides, he was committed to the Riverview project for the same reason as the Puppets—he lusted after the promise of paranormal powers.

Loring forced himself to think about the timeline. It had been over two months since he had last had occasion to take the logbook out of the glass case. Only one disturbing event had occurred at Riverview during that time.

A patient had escaped.

CHAPTER 6

Here’s what we know.” Victor pushed himself up out of the big leather desk chair and crossed the paneled office to the windows that looked down several stories to the fantasyland of the Strip. “As I told you on the phone, late yesterday afternoon Chandler visited a shop in Seattle called Swan Antiques. Over the years the Foundation has done a fair amount of business with Gwendolyn Swan, the owner. She’s got a feel for artifacts with a paranormal vibe.”

That was high praise coming from Victor Arganbright, North thought. He and Victor were not related by blood, but the Chastains and the Arganbrights had been close for three generations. The Arganbrights had always refused to believe that Griffin Chastain had betrayed his country and sold the secrets of the Bluestone Project. Like North and his father, they were convinced Griffin had been murdered because of his research work, but no one knew exactly what that research had involved. Left unspoken was the grim speculation that Griffin might have been working on paranormal weaponry. The one thing they knew for certain was that when Griffin had been recruited into the Bluestone Project he had been assigned a research partner—Crocker Rancourt.