Free LC 02 - Questionable Remains by Beverly Connor Page B

stopped. "What are you
telling them?" she asked Susan.
    "Not what I'd like. I simply told them that they have
wrong information and you'll straighten it out when you
get back from your vacation. Of course, with their small
minds, they translate that to mean you're hiding out from
reporters. I hate that kind of people."
    "I don't understand. My academic history is an open
book. Look, I'm sorry you have to go through all this.
Thanks for fielding the calls for me."
    "No problem. Listen, if they start coming out here to your
home, I may move Mandrake to my place. I don't want to
risk them letting him out or upsetting him."
    That was Susan, thought Lindsay, far more concerned
about the horse than herself. "Do whatever you think best.
I trust your judgment," Lindsay told her, and rang off.
    Next she called her department, trying to remember if the
acting head, Kenneth Kerwin, was on campus this summer.
Frank Carter, the head of the archaeology department, was on sabbatical in Europe. Kenneth had been a poor choice to
replace Frank, even temporarily, but the choice had been the
dean's and not Frank's. She dialed the number of the main
office and asked the secretary to connect her to Kenneth.

    "Lindsay," said the secretary, "you can't imagine the
ruckus you've caused around here. Dr. Kerwin is in a tizzy."
    "May I speak with him?" Lindsay bit her tongue. Edwina
would have to be working today. She wondered where
Kate, the senior secretary, was.
    Lindsay was put through to Kerwin. "Dr. Chamberlain,"
he said too loudly in her ear. "Where are you? Why aren't
you here?"
    "I gave you my detailed vacation plans, Dr. Kerwin.
What has been going on there?"
    "All these reporters. Very unseemly. They have been asking about your credentials, saying that they were tipped off
that you did not finish your degree and that you have little
experience or course work in forensic anthropology."
    "And what did you tell them?"
    "That I would look into it, of course. I told them that the
Archaeology Department wouldn't tolerate fraudulent credentials."
    "You told them what!" Lindsay said through her teeth.
She got out of the car, stretching the telephone cord as far as
it would go as she paced the parking lot.
    "What did you expect me to say?"
    "I expected you to defend me. You know my credentials.
You know they are completely in order. You know some of
the people I graduated with, for heaven's sake." Lindsay
stopped short of calling him an idiot.
    "Dr. Chamberlain. We need to keep calm."
    Lindsay stopped pacing and drummed her fingers on the
hood of the Land Rover. "I assure you, Dr. Kerwin, that
under the circumstances, I am very calm."
    "They asked about your identification of the teeth of
Lenny Fergus."

    "Denny Ferguson."
    "Yes, well, I had to say that is not the way we usually do
things."
    Lindsay was livid. "We who? You don't know your olecranon from your coccygeal vertebrae." She looked up to
see that Sally and Emily had come over to the car; both
looked wide-eyed.
    "Dr. Chamberlain, I don't think-"
    "That's your problem. You don't think, Dr. Kerwin. Think
about this. How you answer the reporters' questions will
influence whether or not I bring suit against you, the
department, and the university."
    "Dr. Chamberlain, I-"
    "If that is not clear, I'll have my lawyer write you a letter
clarifying it for you."
    "It's not necessary to carry on like this-"
    "It is necessary. Good-bye." Lindsay hung up the phone.
    "Lindsay," said Sally. "I've never, ever, seen you angry
like this before. You weren't this mad at that Patrick guy for
stealing your underwear." Emily raised her eyebrows. "You
sure told Dr. Kerwin off," Sally added. "I wanted to tell him
off when he was getting so anal about my program of
study."
    "Well, I don't think it got me anywhere, except letting off
a little steam. I just don't understand what Kelley Banks has
to gain by smearing my name. She can't take innuendos and
lies to the appeals