“Whatever you say, Graves.”
***
The historical society was laid out in sections. An area was preserved with rows of walnut shelving, holding a vast array of books and old journals. Another section acted as a museum, displaying various objects inside glass cases, and then there was the gift shop.
Smelling faintly of aged paper and window cleaner, the shop was tidy and filled with odd curiosities mixed with the more popular tourist items. Handcrafted wooden sculptures sat next to shot glasses labeled with “Welcome to Thornbridge” in neon letters. I perused a rack of postcards featuring local photography while we waited for a member of the staff.
An older woman entered the gift shop from a back room. She wore her gray hair short and curly. Thin in frame and dressed in tan slacks and a turtleneck sweater, she lifted a pair of glasses hanging from a chain around her neck and slipped them over her nose.
“You must be Elle and Caden from the university. I’m Gwen.” She offered a slender hand, and I took it, smiling warmly.
“Thank you for meeting with us. I apologize that it’s under such sad circumstances.”
Gwen nodded solemnly and ushered us into a cozy side room filled with historical memorabilia. We took a seat at a small café table while Gwen poured us each a cup of coffee from the complimentary coffee station.
I wrapped my fingers around the mug, letting the porcelain warm my palms.
“So, I hear you’re writing a tribute piece on Laura for the university. How can I help?” Gwen asked as she joined us at the table.
“Yes. My partner, Caden, and I are putting together something to highlight not only the work she’s done at the school, but also within the community. We were going through some of her files that the university provided and found a card for the historical society. We thought she might be involved with your organization.”
Gwen inhaled deeply and added a packet of sugar to her coffee. Her hand trembled slightly as she tapped the paper against the rim of her cup.
“The Thornbridge Historical Society has had the pleasure of working with Professor Roberts for many years. She’s written articles for our quarterly magazine as well as collaborated with us on new acquisitions for our gallery.”
Caden rested his arm on the back of my chair and stirred his coffee. He took a sip then asked, “Are there any recent projects she may have been involved with? Specifically, anything she was currently working on right before the accident. There are so many past accomplishments to feature, but we’d love to get a sense about her recent endeavors.”
Gwen cleared her throat. Her gaze darted to the entrance to the gift shop then back to us. “Well, we requested her help with a recent acquisition. I don’t have much information because we never saw her final report, but a few months ago, our organization came into possession of a rare cache of artifacts. It’s normal for us to reach out to experts to have items appraised, identified, even restored for use in our gallery.”
“And so you asked Professor Roberts to research the artifacts?” I asked.
“Yes. It was a collection of odd statues with peculiar engravings, some crude earthenware, as well as a few books. We were trying to determine their origin.” Gwen’s gaze softened. “Laura was so excited to work on the project. She even brought one of her classes here to view the artifacts. A few of the students were fascinated with the find.”
I met Caden’s gaze then turned back to Gwen. “Do you know which class she brought in? It might be fun to interview some of them.”
“Yes, it was her advanced ancient history class.”
Her afternoon class. The one with Jake and Zoe enrolled.
Caden drained his coffee and waved away the offer for a refill. “How did you come into possession of these items?”
“The town is excavating an old mill in order to build condos. They found the items buried on the site. We looked into what was on the property prior to the mill, but the records are unfortunately incomplete. We hoped Professor Roberts could provide us with more insight so we can properly display and archive the find.”
I leaned forward in my chair. “Where are the items now?”
Gwen looked uneasily around the room again. Worry knotted her brow.
“Is everything all right?” I asked.
“It’s just very strange. You two aren’t the only ones to come here asking about her recent work with the society. There was a man here yesterday.”
Caden’s grip tightened on the armrest. His gaze met mine, and I could read the question behind his eyes. Was it the man who stole the business card from Professor Roberts’ office? I had an uneasy feeling the answer was a definite yes.
“Did you get his name? What did he look like?” he asked. When Gwen faltered at his probing questions, Caden flashed her a reassuring smile and added, “We just want to make sure it wasn’t someone else from the university and that we didn’t get our interviews crossed.”
“Happens more often than we like with this guy in charge of planning.” I chuckled and nudged Caden playfully in the side as if he’d handled some mix-up.
Caden squeezed my shoulder and winked. “What can I say? I get easily distracted when this one’s around.”
