Scientists once thoughtStegosaurushad two brains because its head was so small….
Poor Calvin. Of all dinosaurs to adore growing up, he’d chosen the one that paleontologists said simplyhadto have a second brain, because there was no way such an animal could have managed with one the size of a walnut.
I smiled a little as I straightened my stance. I didn’t know what to do with the apparent dead end so soon into my sleuthing. I needed to talk to someone who knew Frank. Preferably someone who would also know a thing or two about whatever skull would have brought an end to the Bone Wars. But Chad wasn’t sympathetic to my plight, and up here in the hall, the security guards overseeing the crowds either told me to fuck off in various levels of politeness, or feigned deafness in order not to have to deal with annoying visitors. Paid too little to give a shit, I figured.
A young woman walked past me then, an ID badge hanging from her sweater and a few binders tucked under one arm. She had a certain kind of bubbliness to her step, with a warm smile that suggested she was the sort who simplylovedher job. An academic who hadn’t yet lost the joy for research and had it replaced with bitter cynicism.
“Hey!” I rushed after her. “Ma’am?”
She paused midstep and turned to look up at me. “Yes?”
“Sorry to bother you,” I began, doing my best to match a smile to her sunny disposition and not come across totally cranky and riddled with anxiety.
Her gaze faltered.
Not working. Okay, skip that. “Er—do you work here? I mean, in paleontology?”
“Oh! Yes, I do!” Her hand instinctively went to her badge, suggesting she was quite proud of herself. “Three weeks now. Is there something I can help you with?”
I tucked my magnifying glass into my front coat pocket. “Would that mean you know Frank Newell?”
Her eyes widened a little. “Dr. Newell?”
“Doctor, yes, sorry.”
“Have you heard from him?” she asked, her voice dropping low and eyes darting around the hall.
I had to tilt my head to the side to catch her words, they were so quiet. “Not… exactly. I’m looking for his supervisor. I guess that would be the division’s head curator?”
“Dr. Logan Thyne,” she answered.
“Dr. Thyne,” I repeated with a quick nod. “And is he around?”
She cautiously shrugged. “Maybe? I mean, he’s always here…. He could be in a meeting or hosting an educational class or—”
I put my hands up to stop her. “I understand. He must be very busy. But I’m here because….” I hesitated to throw out too much information. I didn’t know who any of the potential suspects were or what details Calvin shared with anyone prior to his disappearance, but she had made it very clear she was at least aware of him being MIA. “I’m concerned. Regarding his extended absence.”
“Are you a friend of his?” she asked but with a sympathetic tone that hinted she was more than ready to believe me.
So I lied.
“Yes.”
She pressed the binders to her chest, cast her eyes to the ground for a moment, then said, “Stay right here. Let me see what I can do.”
I watched her hurry through the hall and vanish among the crowd at the entrance of the room. I began to sweat in my winter coat, and the weight of the messenger bag flung over one shoulder was giving me a weird ache on that side. I focused on those minor annoyances to distract myself from instead counting each wasted second via my heart slugging against my rib cage, threatening to burst right out of my chest.
The fear, adrenaline, excessive warmth, and lack of breakfast were really starting to make me light-headed. I glanced around for a place I might have been able to sit for a moment, when a strong, booming voice said, “A man waiting by theStegosauruswishes to speak with me. Who? Who’s here to waste my time?You?”
A man in a dark suit, spectacles a bit too small for his face, and jowls at odds with his age—like he’d never smiled once in his life—stopped before me. My spunky young friend came to a halt behind him and took a deep breath, as if she’d been chasing him the entire way.
“Am I looking for you?” he asked me.
“Dr. Thyne?” I countered.
“Yes. I know who I am. Who are you?” he impatiently prodded.
I thrust my hand out quickly. “Sebastian Snow.”
