“Can you give me a subject heading? It sounds like entomology.”

“Good guess.”

“Hmm—it looks like ‘Biological and Environmental Sciences’ is the closest subject heading they’ve got. I’ll do a Boolean search on ‘hairy-maggot-blowfly’—isn’t that what you said?”

“Good memory too.”

“It comes with the territory.”

“The guy at the other end of the desk must come from a different territory.”

“Here we are: ‘Systematics, Morphology, and Ecology of Chrysomya rufifacies, the Hairy Maggot Blowfly.’ I just sent the abstract to the printer. Would you like me to order the complete dissertation for you?”

“That won’t be necessary. I wrote it.”

She looked up. “You don’t have a copy of your own dissertation?”

“Of course I do—I keep it on my nightstand. I just wanted to see if you could find it.”

She paused. “What is this, some kind of test?”

“You could say that. I’m looking for a grad student to do some research for me—someone who knows their way around a library.”

“How did you know I’m a grad student?”

“You have that hungry look.”

She looked down at the computer screen. “Author: Dr. Nicholas Polchak.”

“Call me Nick.”

“I’m Carlyn Shaw. What kind of research are you looking for, Nick?”

“Historical research. For starters, I’m looking for colonial-era grave registries for the area around Endor.”

“Endor? Where they’re building the big mall?”

“That’s the place.”

“I’ve read about that. Does this have something to do with that graveyard they’ve uncovered there?”

“As a matter of fact it does. It seems we’ve got a meadow full of caskets and no idea who they belong to.”

“‘We’?”

“The FBI.”

“You’re with the FBI?”

“No, I’m a professor of entomology at NC State. I’m assisting the FBI.”

“Did you try the local library in Endor? That’s where I’d look first. Small towns take a lot of pride in their history—you’d be surprised what you can find there.”

“I tried. No luck.”

“Well, then you’ve come to the right place. UVA has fourteen libraries with five million volumes between them—some really good special collections too.”

“That’s why I’m here—and that’s why I need you. I don’t have time to do all the digging; I need someone like you to do it for me.”

Carlyn considered his offer. “How much?”

“A couple of days, maybe a week or—”

“Money, Nick—I’m a grad student, remember?”

“What’s the going rate for research around here?”

“Whatever the market will bear.”

“I’ll pay you thirty bucks an hour, and I’ll trust you to keep your own time card.” He extended his hand to her. “Deal?”

She looked at it for a moment before she took it. “Deal. Now—tell me exactly what you’re looking for.”