Free Dressed to Die: A Lindsay Chamberlain Novel by Beverly Connor Page B

kid, too."
    "How long do you think he'll stay?"
    "I hope it's a while. I don't know when he has to get
back to his job."
    Sally put the box on the shelf next to her lab space.
"What does he do?" she shouted across the room.
    Lindsay didn't answer until Sally returned. "He's a
smokejumper."
    "A smokejumper? What's that?" Sally threaded her
arms through her backpack and strapped her bicycle helmet
on her head.
    "He helps put out large forest fires, in remote locations.
The firefighters parachute in with their equipment. It saves a
lot of time."
    "Wow. It sounds dangerous."
    "It is.,,
    "Who does he work for? I mean, fires happen all over."
    "The U.S. Forest Service."
    "Interesting guy."
    "I'll tell him you said so. You can go on home, Sally.
Thanks a lot for your help."
    "Sure. See you tomorrow. By the way, some guy came
by to see you. He didn't leave a name. Said he'd be back."
    "Do you know who it was?"
    Sally shook her head. Her bike was parked just inside
the door against the wall. Lindsay held the door open for
her as she walked it outside and closed the door behind her. The lab was quiet. Everyone had gone home. Lindsay went
back to her office and sat down at her desk. She stared at
the photograph of her grandfather standing in front of the
platform mound at Macon. Large tears filled her eyes and
spilled down her cheeks.

     

Chapter 5
    LINDSAY DID NOT hear the lab door open. Sinjin's
sudden appearance made her jump.
    "I didn't mean to startle you," Sinjin said. His cleanshaven face from that morning now had the beginnings of a
shadow on his jaw. He had removed his tie and his white
shirt was open at the neck, sleeves rolled up. He looked
tired. Sinjin drew up a chair and sat down across from her.
He could see she had been crying. "You all right? Did you
hear from Derrick or something?"
    Lindsay shook her head. "The crates . .
    "Was everything broken? I tried to be careful."
    "No, everything was in great shape." Lindsay sniffed,
took a Kleenex from her drawer, wiped her eyes, and blew
her nose.
    "What about them? You aren't getting sentimental about
Papaw are you?" He said it as if he couldn't imagine it. "I
know you and he..."
    Lindsay shook her head. "The artifacts are in excellent,
mint condition. Nothing broken or damaged. They're from at
least three cultures: Fort Ancient, Mississippian, and Adena."
    "Fort Ancient? Isn't that Kentucky?"
    Lindsay nodded.
    "I still don't understand what the problem is."
    "The artifacts are from different sites and different
times. There are no sacks of pot sherds, or broken arrow heads, nothing that is not well-preserved and whole."

    "What does that mean?"
    Lindsay shrugged. "It looks like looters' stash. In one
crate alone I counted about $25,000 worth of artifacts on
today's market. I don't know what price they would have
fetched in the thirties."
    Sinjin whistled. "You mean I was hauling something
that valuable-that's what, five crates? That's potentially
$125,000 worth of stuff. Where is it now?"
    "I locked it in the storage room."
    "Why didn't you lock the door to the basement? Anyone
could have walked in."
    "I forgot."
    "Jesus, Lindsay."
    "You don't understand," she said, tears threatening to
spill over again. "What were they doing hidden away in
Papaw's shed? What was he doing with them? And what
were they doing in crates labeled Ocmulgee Old Fields?"
    "Are you afraid he was involved in black-marketing
artifacts?"
    Lindsay shook her head vigorously. "He couldn't have
been."
    "But you think he might have been."
    Lindsay bowed her head and looked at her hands resting
on her grandfather's desk, absently tracing her fingers on
the scratches made by countless artifacts that had been
examined on its surface. "I don't know," she said.
    "What are you going to do?"
    "They will have to go back to where they belong. I just
don't know where that is. I just don't want people to think,
I mean ..." Lindsay couldn't finish.
    "I see you're upset. Let