Page 119 of Homeport

“I’ve added a tech who I remembered flew in from Florence to work with Giovanni on another project during the given time period. He was only here for a few days, as I recall, but for accuracy’s sake should be included. His name wasn’t on the records we accessed because he was, technically, employed by the Florence branch and only here on temporary loan. I also added length of employment, which may factor into loyalty, and base salaries, as it could be assumed that money is a motivation.”

She’d also alphabetized the names, he noted. God love her. “Your family pays well.” He’d noted that before.

“Quality staff demands appropriate financial reward. On the next list I worked up a probability ratio. You’ll note my name remains, but the probability is low. I know I didn’t steal the originals. I’ve taken Giovanni off as he couldn’t have been involved.”

“Why?”

She blinked up at him. His blood’s on your hands. “Because he was murdered. He’s dead.”

“I’m sorry, Miranda, that only makes him dead. It’s still possible he was involved, and killed for any number of reasons.”

“But he was testing the bronzes when he was killed.”

“He’d have needed to, to be sure. Maybe he was panicking, demanding a bigger cut, or just pissed off one of his associates. His name stays on.”

“It wasn’t Giovanni.”

“That’s emotion, not logic, Dr. Jones.”

“Very well.” Jaw stiff, she added Giovanni’s name. “You may disagree, but I’ve rated my family low. In my opinion they don’t apply here. They’ve no reason to steal from themselves.” He only looked at her, and after a long moment, she pushed the sheet aside.

“We’ll table the probability list for now. Here I’ve made a time line, from the date the David came into our hands, the length of time it remained in the lab. Without my notes and records, I can only guess at the times and dates of the individual tests, but I believe this is fairly close.”

“You made graphs and everything.” He leaned closer, admiring the work. “What a woman.”

“I don’t see the need for sarcasm.”

“I’m not being sarcastic. This is great. Nice color,” he added. “You put it at two weeks. But you wouldn’t have worked on it seven days at a stretch or twenty-four hours a day.”

“Here.” She referred him to another chart and felt only a little foolish. “These are approximated times the David was locked in the lab vault. Getting to it would have required a key card, security clearance, a combination, and a second key. Or,” she added, tilting her head, “a very good burglar.”

His gaze slid over to hers, dark gold and mocking. “I was in Paris during this time.”

“Were you really?”

“I have no idea, but in your probability ratio I don’t compute because there would have been no reason for me to steal a copy and get sucked into this mess if I’d already taken the original.”

Head angled, she smiled sweetly. “Maybe you did it just to get me in bed.”

He glanced up, grinned. “Now, there’s a thought.”

“That,” she said primly, “was sarcasm. This is a time line of the work period on The Dark Lady. We have the records on this, and it’s very fresh in my mind, so this is completely accurate. In this case, the search for documentation was still ongoing, and the authentication not yet official.”

“Project terminated,” Ryan read, and glanced at her. “That was the day you got the ax.”

“If you prefer to simplify, yes.” It still stung both pride and heart. “The following day, the bronze was transferred to Rome. The switch had to be made in that small window of time, as I’d run tests on it just that afternoon.”

“Unless it was switched in Rome,” he murmured.

“How could it have been switched in Rome?”

“Did anyone from Standjo go along for the transfer?”

“I don’t know. Someone from security, perhaps my mother. There would have been papers to sign on both ends.”

“Well, it’s a possibility, but only gives them a few extra hours in any case. They had to be ready, the copy fully prepared. The plumber had it for a week—or so he said. Then the government took it over, another week for them to fiddle with the paperwork and contract Standjo. Your mother contacts you and offers you the job.”

“She didn’t offer me the job, she ordered me to come to Florence.”

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