Page 98 of False Flag

“Then why are you here?”

“I need to finish this. For him.”

She frowned. “So you’re a mapping expert now?”

“No. But neither was Lloyd.” He nodded toward Staci. “She’s gonna show me what he was working on and help me finish his predictive models.”

Dahlia scoffed. “Right, because Staci soooo wants to help Gerard find Mu.”

“You can’t start with that as the predetermined endpoint,” Staci said. “The goal is to find sites, and then determine what they represent.”

“So you’ll just point him to sites you know aren’t the right age.”

“There’s no way to know a site’s age, or what it might represent, before you find it. That’s not how it’s done. A site is identified and dated through empirical research.”

Dahlia frowned. “I’ve appreciated having another woman here, but you aren’t exactly the ally he needs for this.” She addressed Jake again. “You say you’re doing this for Lloyd, but she wants to prove Lloyd was wrong.”

“I trust her to be true to the spirit of the project, which is finding prehistoric sites.”

She shrugged. “It’s really none of my business—I get paid no matter what—but I think you need to brace yourself for Osborne’s scrutiny. You’re both having dinner with him and Gerard at Chinook House at six thirty. That’s why we gathered early in the kitchen, by the way. Gerard sent me to tell you to be at Chinook on the dot. His Lordship doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Once again, Staci found herself dressing up for dinner—not something she expected to have to do here—but thankfully, she’d packed a few pieces of nicer clothes for interview segments for the documentary. Dark slacks, a cream-colored silk top, and a green cardigan would have to do.

Jake had raided Lloyd’s belongings for a shirt. He looked handsome in dark pants and a brown plaid shirt, which he said was the modern Burns tartan.

They set out for the walk to Chinook House. She knew she appeared calm, but her heart pounded. She was finally going to sit down with Gerard Campbell and talk about the project.

About fucking time.

The door was answered by a servant she’d seen on the grounds a few times, but who had taken the ferry to Nanaimo on the days it ran. As far as she knew, Casper’s household staff only lived on the island when he was in residence.

They were led to an ornate dining room that was tastefully decorated with antiques that had been new when Casper’s ancestors had the furniture built for this very room. In another time and place, she’d be impressed. The room was lovely.

As neither host was present, Staci chose not to sit at the table. Instead, she paced, admiring the art and antiques on display. With great reluctance, she forced herself to examine the contents of a large glass cabinet full of artifacts, bracing herself to see looted items and even possibly human remains.

And yes, there it was, beside woven baskets, stone and bone tools, including an ulna awl and an array of basalt and cryptocrystalline silicate projectile points, was a human skull and right femur.

She closed her eyes. Desecration in the dining room. Lovely.

In another situation, she would absolutely refuse to eat here, but tonight, she had no choice.

Naturally, that was when Gerard and Casper entered the room. She’d bet anything they were waiting for the cue.

“My grandparents and great-grandparents collected those,” Casper said in a voice loaded with pride.

“So they were grave robbers? That’s quite a legacy.”

“The human remains were exposed in a cut bank. They protected them by bringing them here.”

If that were true, they should have been left in situ so they could be taken by the sea.

But she didn’t say that. There were too many battles here. She needed to choose wisely. “Did they record the sites where the artifacts were found? Document where each piece came from?”

“Some, I think. The baskets, definitely. As well as the mortar and pestle.” His eyes lit up as he called out the specific artifacts as if he’d scored a point. He thought he was sly when really, he was pathetic.

“Artifacts are meaningless without provenience, you know. All the data they could provide is lost.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that.”