At the first landing, they heard a door into the stairway open, followed by what sounded like the grunts and thuds of a man struggling with a heavy object. The sounds grew louder.

Seth went to the landing door and turned the knob. The door was locked. Below them, in the stairwell, the noises grew closer. Seth reached into his rear pocket and pulled a credit card from his wallet. Then, tucking the revolver in his belt, he knelt before the doorknob and inserted the card between the door and its jamb. Moments later, he was rewarded with a satisfying click. The door came open when he pulled on it.

Beyond the door was a stretch of attic, its flooring covered with a scattering of cardboard boxes and wooden crates.

Seth motioned Zoe and Morgen to get inside. They complied as the noises from below grew louder. As Seth closed the door, they could hear clearly the breathless efforts of the man making the noises.

Seth pressed his eye to the narrow crack between the door and jamb, and moments later watched as a thin man staggered up the stairs with two massive hard-sided valises. The man paused on the landing long enough to wipe the perspiration from his face, and then continued on up the final flight. A few seconds later the stairwell was flooded with brilliant white light

When the stairwell had once again fallen into the yellow dimness made by the low-wattage lightbulbs, Seth opened the door and led the two others downward.

Stratton was replacing the shroud and the last of its documentation in the jeweled gold box when Braun walked in.

“The helicopter’s early,” Braun said as he walked to Stratton’s side and inspected his work. “I want you to—”

Suddenly the door to the council meeting room flew open and slammed back against the wall with a bang.

Braun stopped so quickly he almost stumbled. Stratton dropped the lid to the box as he whirled to confront the noise. The lid clattered dully on the wood of the table.

“Ridgeway.” Stratton spoke with the stunned incredulity of a man confronted by a ghost

Pressing his advantage of surprise, Seth stepped quickly forward and motioned Zoe into the room.

“Cover him,” Seth pointed at Braun. Zoe stepped forward and leveled the old revolver at him. She pulled back the hammer.

At the sound of the revolver’s mechanism, something flickered in Braun’s eyes. But his steely self-control kept his face hard and straight.

“What is the meaning of this outrage,” Braun blustered. “How dare you invade my privacy like this.”

“Shut up!” Zoe said with authority. Braun tried to back away. “Stay still.”

Braun mustered a dignified pose, but behind his composed exterior his mind whirred. He had talked his way out of worse situations in his life. He looked at the angry but attractive woman approaching him.

Stratton had backed away from Seth, trying to put the table between him and the old revolver that might or might not be capable of tearing a terrible hole through him.