She placed the skull on the table. “But I’m an archaeologist, Mr. Pendergast. You’d do better to use the expertise of someone else. We have a physical anthropologist on staff, Dr. Weidenreich.”
Pendergast picked the skull up, sealing it in a Ziploc bag. It disappeared into the folds of his suit without a trace, like a magician’s trick. “It is precisely your archaeological expertise I need. And now,” he continued briskly, replacing the telephone and unlocking the door in swift economical movements, “I need you to accompany me downtown.”
“Downtown? You mean, like headquarters?”
Pendergast shook his head.
Nora hesitated. “I can’t just leave the Museum. I’ve got work to do.”
“We won’t be long, Dr. Kelly. Time is of the essence.”
“What’s this all about?”
But he was already out of her office, striding on swift silent feet down the long corridor. She followed, unable to think of what else to do, as the agent led the tortuous back way down a series of staircases, through Birds of the World, Africa, and Pleistocene Mammals, arriving at last in the echoing Great Rotunda.
“You know the Museum pretty well,” she said as she struggled to keep up.
“Yes.”
Then they were out the bronze doors and descending the vast sweep of marble stairs to Museum Drive. Agent Pendergast stopped at the base and turned in the bright fall light. His eyes were now white, with only a hint of color. As he moved, she suddenly had the impression of great physical power beneath the narrow suit. “Are you familiar with the New York Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act?” he asked.
“Of course.” It was the law that stopped digging or construction in the city if anything of archaeological value was uncovered, until it could be excavated and documented.
“A rather interesting site was uncovered in lower Manhattan. You’ll be the supervising archaeologist.”
“Me? I don’t have the experience or authority—”
“Fear not, Dr. Kelly. I’m afraid we’ll find your tenure all too brief.”
She shook her head. “But why me?”
“You’ve had some experience in this, ah, particular kind of site.”
“And just what kind of site is that?”
“A charnel.”
She stared.
“And now,” he said, gesturing toward a ’59 Silver Wraith idling at the curb, “we must be on our way. After you, please.”
FOUR
NORA STEPPED OUT OF THE ROLLS-ROYCE, FEELING UNCOMFORTABLY conspicuous. Pendergast closed the door behind her, looking serenely indifferent to the incongruity of the elegant vehicle parked amid the dust and noise of a large construction site.
They crossed the street, pausing at a high chain-link fence. Beyond, the rich afternoon light illuminated the skeletal foundations of a row of old buildings. Several large Dumpsters full of bricks lined the perimeter. Two police cars were parked along the curb and Nora could see uniformed cops standing before a hole in a brick retaining wall. Nearby stood a knot of businessmen in suits. The construction site was framed by forlorn tenements that winked back at them through empty windows.
“The Moegen-Fairhaven Group are building a sixty-five-story residential tower on this site,” said Pendergast. “Yesterday, about four o’clock, they broke through that brick wall, there. A worker found the skull I showed you in a barrow inside. Along with many, many more bones.”
Nora glanced in the indicated direction. “What was on the site before?”
“A block of tenements built in the late 1890s. The tunnel, however, appears to predate them.”
Nora could see that the excavator had exposed a clear profile. The old retaining wall lay beneath the nineteenth-century footings, and the hole near its base was clearly part of an earlier structure. Some ancient timbers, burned and rotten, had been piled to one side.
As they walked along the fence, Pendergast leaned toward her. “I’m afraid our visit may be problematic, and we have very little time. The site has changed alarmingly in just the last few hours. Moegen-Fairhaven is one of the most energetic developers in the city. And they have a remarkable amount of, ah, pull. Notice there are no members of the press on hand? The police were called very quietly to the scene.” He steered her toward a chained gate in the fence, manned by a cop from whose belt dangled cuffs, radio, nightstick, gun, and ammunition. The combined weight of the accoutrements pulled the belt down, allowing a blue-shirted belly to hang comfortably out.
Pendergast stopped at the gate.
“Move on,” said the cop. “Nothing to see here, pal.”
“On the contrary.” Pendergast smiled and displayed his identification. The cop leaned over, scowling. He looked back up into the agent’s face, then back down, several times.
“FBI?” He hiked up his belt with a metallic jangle.
“Those are the three letters, yes.” And Pendergast placed the wallet back in his suit.
“And who’s your companion?”
“An archaeologist. She’s been assigned to investigate the site.”