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I put the Councilman’s name up there, but drew a pencil line through it since I didn't really think he fit as a suspect. Licorice Billy’s name was up there, along with Ricky Thomas.
I added cards for Ronald Larch and Linda Henson. They were up there only because they'd been associated with John in the past. I was tempted to draw a pencil line across Billy’s name, but decided I wasn’t ready to do that yet.
I was so engrossed with my index card suspects that I almost missed my cell phone ringing. I picked it up to greet Daniel.
"Hey, Laila," he said, "do you want to go down to the museum before dinner? There's a display of Egyptian art there, and it's only got a two-week run."
This would be the perfect chance for me to cater to Daniel. He was big into Egypt’s past and had actually traveled throughout the region one summ
er after college. I liked art, too, and even though I didn’t know much about Egyptian art, I was game to learn.
"Sure, I'd love to," I said. "What time do you want to go?"
"I'll pick you up in an hour."
I was ready when he arrived at my door. He gave Thor a pat on the back of his neck while leaning over the dog to kiss me.
"You look wonderful, Laila. How was your day off?"
I turned to pick up my purse and said, "It was great. Thor and I spent most of the day together." I kept my fingers crossed that Daniel didn’t ask any more questions about my day. "I am really looking forward to this exhibit," I said.
His eyes lit up. "I am, too. I hear that it's traveling all around to various museums in the eastern part of the United States, and then it's going to Europe."
"Wow! Sounds like it's pretty popular."
"Oh, it is. Now, the museum will be open until eight, but I thought that if we went there first we wouldn't have to rush dinner."
"Perfect. Let's go."
# # #
Daniel's voice was animated as he told me about the fantastic Egyptian displays, which he said dated to somewhere around 800 B.C. He described the artifacts in great detail and I was amazed at his knowledge.
"How do you know so much about these things?" I asked, with a big smile on my face. "You're better than Google when it comes to this."
He just beamed back at me. We took in one more room before hunger took over. By the time we left, I was totally relaxed and looking forward to dinner with him at Delano’s.
"Delano’s is fine dining but at a decent price, too," said Daniel. "Not that I’m cheap, but if we were in the city at their main restaurant, we'd probably have to turn around and go find a hamburger joint instead."
We both laughed. "I know you're not cheap. I like that you know how to pick top spots without forking over too much money simply because of a name." He had the palate to know good food when he tasted it, and that was something we both shared.
We lingered over dinner. I promised myself I would not bring up John’s case and I stuck to that.
Later on, after Daniel brought me home, he came inside for a little while.
"I really enjoyed our night out, Laila. Getting to spend time at the museum with you and then relax over dinner was fantastic!"
"I enjoyed it too. I was blown away by how much you know about ancient Egypt. It makes it much more fun to go to a museum when you're with someone who knows the subject matter well. And dinner, of course, was great, too."
"I'm going back on call in about six hours," he said as he stood up and stretched. "I guess I’d better get some shut-eye."
We reluctantly parted company, and I locked the door behind him when he left. I found that I was happier than I'd been in some time – certainly since John’s death took over my life. I let Thor out one more time and then we headed for bed.
I awoke at a quarter to midnight when my phone rang. I looked at the caller I.D., but there was no name. When I answered, no one was on the line. The same thing happened again at around one o’clock and again at three a.m. with the same results.
At four, it rang again. I didn’t answer it that time. Whoever was harassing me would not get the satisfaction of me answering.
# # #
