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But Mandias was not a man to listen to threats, idle or otherwise. This was Yorkshire, after all. He stared at me and said softly:
“Do your worst, pen-pusher.”
I took a step forward and he bridled slightly; he wasn’t going to give way. A nearby officer moved in behind him to give assistance if needed.
I was about to lose my temper when Bowden spoke up.
“Sir,” he began, “if we could move slowly toward a goal we might be able to burrow our way out of the predicament we find ourselves shuffling into.”
Mandias’s attitude abruptly changed and he smiled solemnly.
“If that is the case, I am sure we could manage a quick look for you—as long as you promise not to touch anything.”
“On my word,” replied Bowden pointedly, patting his stomach. The two of them shook hands and winked and we were soon escorted into the museum.
“How the hell did you do that?” I hissed.
“Look at his ring.”
I looked. He had a large ring on his middle finger with a curious and distinctive pattern on it.
“What of it?”
“The Most Worshipful Brotherhood of the Wombat.”
I smiled.
“So what have we got?” I asked. “A double murder and a missing script? They just took the manuscript, right? Nothing else?”
“Right,” replied Mandias.
“And the guard was shot with his own gun?”
Mandias stopped and looked sternly at me.
“How did you know that?”
“A lucky guess,” I replied evenly. “What about the videotapes?”
“We’re studying them at the moment.”
“There’s no one on them, is there?”
Mandias looked at me curiously.
“Do you know who did this?”
I followed him into the room that once held the manuscript. The untouched glass case was sitting forlornly in the middle of the floor. I ran my fingertips across a mottled and uneven patch on the glass.
“Thanks, Mandias, you’re a star,” I said, walking back out. Bowden and Mandias looked at one another and hastened after me.
“That’s it?” said Mandias. “That’s your investigation?”
“I’ve seen all I need to see.”
“Can you give me anything?” asked Mandias, trotting to keep up. He looked at Bowden. “Brother, you can tell me.”
“We should tell the DI what we know, Thursday. We owe him for allowing us in.”
