The Hidden

It was Lieutenant Gray.

“Lieutenant Gray, hello,” Meg said. “How can we help you?”

Gray seemed his usual hard-core, jaded self. “I understand it’s now all about how I can help you,” he said curtly. “I understand the FBI has taken the lead on this case.”

Scarlet saw Meg quickly lower her head, as if to hide whatever she might have been feeling at the lieutenant’s displeasure.

Apparently Adam Harrison and the Krewe of Hunters really did get what they wanted.

“Well, then, thank you so much for making yourself available to us,” Meg said, her gratitude apparently genuine. “We don’t really see ourselves as taking the lead, though, We see all law enforcement as working together. Come on in—Scarlet and I have been reading through some old documents.”

“Well, I’ve just been going through a few new documents—Mrs. McCullough’s recent inventory of the museum’s collection of weapons. And it seems that our list of pieces taken from the museum and her inventory don’t match up.” He looked past Meg to stare suspiciously at Scarlet. “One gun on your list isn’t in our evidence locker.”

“What’s missing?” Scarlet asked.

“An 1849 Colt pocket percussion revolver,” Gray told them. “And, according to the lab reports, it just might be the weapon that killed Larry and Candace Parker.”

*

Diego saw what was clearly an unmarked police vehicle in the Conway Ranch lot as they drove up.

“What the hell?” he muttered, feeling his tension grow.

He suspected the car belonged to Lieutenant Gray, and he knew Gray resented their presence. Worse, the man was still convinced that Scarlet was somehow complicit in what was going on.

“How much do you want to bet that’s Lieutenant Gray’s car?” he asked his fellow agents.

“Not a dime, but he could just be here to give us information,” Brett said.

“Oh, yeah, ’cuz he’s such a team player,” Matt muttered.

“Well, let’s go see, shall we?” Diego asked.

They went in without knocking, and to Diego it looked almost as if Scarlet had been waiting for them. And yet, when he strode in, looking at her questioningly, she almost smiled.

“Upstairs,” she told him. “Lieutenant Gray—first name Ernie, by the way—is having a cup of coffee with us.”

He looked at her in surprise.

She shrugged. “He seems to have made a complete turnaround. Meg’s with him now. I just came down to turn on the outside light, in case it was dark by the time you got back.”

“All right,” he said skeptically. “I guess coffee sounds good. And we need to talk to the man anyway.”

“He’s also investigating the remains found up on the mountain,” Brett said. “I wonder what changed his mind about us?”

“I think I can explain that,” Scarlet said. “It turns out he’s another of the many descendants of Nathan Kendall. Come on up,” she told the three men. “We’ve got sandwiches for dinner, too. And Lieutenant Gray is on a roll, telling stories.”

“Wait, wait,” Diego said. “Gray came here to tell you that he’s a descendant of Nathan Kendall?”

“No,” she said, serious now. “He came to tell us that we’re missing an 1849 Colt pocket percussion revolver. When they compared my inventory to the weapons the forensic team took, they discovered that one is missing.”

Diego looked over at Brett and Matt.

So the couple had been killed with a weapon from the museum?

“What is it?” Scarlet asked.

“Time to get a locksmith in—now,” Diego said. He headed upstairs, uneasily aware that the statue of Nathan Kendall seemed to be watching him as he went. As the others followed, he wondered if any of them sensed something eerie about the mannequin, too.