Golden Relic. Lindy Cameron

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СКАЧАТЬ large ruby stud in his ear who had introduced himself to Sam and Rigby as ‘Call Me Anton’, now ushered Constable Rivers into the Assistant Director’s office.

      ‘Excuse me, sir,’ Rivers addressed Rigby. ‘I’ve got a shortlist of people known to have had contact with, or who were seen talking to the deceased at some time yesterday. There may be others but you said you wanted something to go on as soon as possible.’

      ‘Good work, Constable.’ Rigby took the sheet of paper.

      ‘Anton,’ Prescott recalled his assistant. ‘Did you manage to get in touch with Maggie?’

      ‘Maggie has been in Paris for the last two weeks for a conference on new technologies and, I believe, she was involved in that Inca trinket fiasco. She is now on her way home; to Sydney, I mean.’

      ‘A simple yes or no would have done, Anton.’

      ‘Then yes and no, Mr Prescott,’ Anton stated calmly. ‘I left a message at Sydney University for her to call you the moment she returns.’

      Sam watched Anton and Prescott as the latter tugged his earlobe then laced his fingers across his chest. Anton turned and left the room, so Sam figured that one of those gestures had meant ‘that will be all’, or ‘thank you Anton, and I’m sorry for snapping at you’.

      ‘Who can we talk to now?’ Rigby asked.

      ‘These four – Robert Ellington, Haddon Gould, Sarah Collins and Trevor Brownie – are all in this building,’ Rivers said. ‘Andrew Barstoc and Adrienne Douglas have allegedly gone sightseeing, and this guy, Enrico Vasquez, is over at the Exhibition Buildings in Carlton – so I sent a car to bring him back here. Vasquez was actually seen arguing with the deceased.’

      Rigby looked up at Rivers. ‘You sent a car?’

      ‘Um, I thought it’d be easier to have everyone in the one place,’ Rivers replied hesitantly.

      ‘That’s fine, good thinking. You can go back...’ Rigby stopped and took another long look at the constable. ‘On second thoughts, don’t go anywhere. Half my crew are on leave so I’ve just seconded you to my team for this investigation; get you out of that uniform for the duration. What do you say?’

      ‘That’d be cool sir,’ Rivers grinned.

      ‘Cool?’ Rigby repeated, looking like he suddenly felt his age; or perhaps his youth repeating on him. ‘Does that mean okay or groovy?’

      ‘Both, sir.’

      ‘Cool it is then,’ Rigby agreed, then returned his attention to Prescott, to whom he passed the list of names. ‘Can you fill us in on these people?’

      ‘Let me see,’ Prescott peered at the paper, ‘Trevor Brownie... Brownie. Oh yes, he’s one of our bean counters.’

      ‘An accountant?’ Sam asked, wondering how many of his staff Prescott actually knew.

      ‘Financial administrator. Assistant,’ Prescott replied. ‘Sarah Collins is one of our public relations people and Haddon Gould is an Environment curator. Robert Ellington is senior curator in our Australian Society Program and shares, sorry shared, an office with Lloyd.’

      ‘Which department did Mr Marsden work in?’ Sam asked.

      ‘Well, Lloyd was sort of his own man, really. His speciality was pre-Columbian Andean antiquities, but he was our only full-time authority on Central and South America so he was in charge of overseeing the resettlement of the whole collection. That’s what he was doing in the old building. He was also, as I mentioned earlier, on the ICOM ’98 committee and he had been assigned, as the Museum’s representative, to assist Dr Marcus Bridger with his international travelling exhibition that is due to open in six days time.

      ‘Which brings me to the other people on your list. Enrico Vasquez, Adrienne Douglas and Andrew Barstoc are all visiting Melbourne with that exhibition. I can’t recall their titles, I’m afraid, as I only met them briefly over dinner last week.’

      ‘Who is Dr Marcus Bridger?’ Sam asked.

      ‘He’s not on your list,’ Prescott began and then realised he had mentioned the name. ‘This touring exhibition, The Rites of Life and Death, is his project. It explores the fertility symbols and funerary rites of cultures and societies from around the world and across time, from ancient civilisations to the present day. It’s a splendid collection.’

      ‘But who is Dr Bridger?’ Rigby asked.

      ‘He is a renowned English archaeologist, primarily attached to the British Museum but who, through a variety of personal research projects and lecturing posts, also has affiliations with several other museums and universities in Britain, the Middle East and the United States. He arrived back in Melbourne this morning with the second shipment of artefacts for his exhibition.’

      ‘Arrived from where?’ Rigby asked.

      ‘Paris. The Rites of Life and Death ended its run there at the end of August.’

      ‘What do you mean ‘back’ in Melbourne?’ Sam queried.

      ‘He arrived with his colleagues and the first shipment last week; then returned to Paris so he could travel with the remainder of the exhibits.’

      ‘Why two shipments? And why did Dr Bridger accompany both?’ Sam asked.

      ‘What does this have to do with Lloyd?’ Prescott looked worried.

      ‘Just background information,’ Rigby replied casually. ‘We never know what may be useful in an investigation of this kind. And you did bring it up.’

      Prescott nodded. ‘Firstly, this travelling exhibition grew out of a smaller one that Marcus put together from the existing collection at the British Museum. When he thought about taking it on tour he decided to broaden the scope and make it truly international. So, as well as the original collection, there are many artefacts on loan from museums and cultural institutions all over the world; brought together for the first time. Marcus is responsible for all of them, hence he insists on riding shotgun for both shipments.’

      ‘He thinks someone is going to try and steal funeral relics?’ Rigby asked, his tone implying there was no accounting for taste.

      ‘No, Detective Rigby, though stranger things have happened. And in fact there was a hijacking of some valuable pre-Columbian artefacts in Paris just yesterday. In answer to your other question, having two or more shipments for exhibitions of this kind is standard operating procedure. The reason is not so much theft prevention as accident prevention; or, rather, reducing the odds against complete loss should, for instance, a plane carrying priceless and irreplaceable objects go down in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, never to be seen again.’

      ‘Well,’ Rigby stood before Prescott could launch into another aside, ‘that will probably do for now. We’ll be back if we need anything else.’

      ‘And to keep me apprised of your investigation?’ Prescott asked hopefully, glancing meaningfully at Sam as they both stood up.

      ‘Of course, Mr Prescott,’ she replied.

      ‘Oh there was one other thing,’ Rigby СКАЧАТЬ