Part 26 (2/2)
”Two people are dead. You don't want to be the third.”
”Jack. Come on.”
”I'm not kidding. First Kevin, then that scientist from the Millennium Seed Bank.”
”I called Perry before I fell asleep, since he's always up at the crack of dawn. He said he couldn't get anything out of the detective inspector looking into Alastair's accident. They won't talk about an ongoing investigation.”
He shrugged. ”All the more reason for you to lay low. Stay here tonight and then tomorrow is Friday. You were going to go out to your folks' place for the weekend to see your grandfather, anyway.”
He didn't have to push hard to persuade me. ”Are you sure you don't mind?”
”I'm sure. Please stay.”
”Thanks. But it's my turn to do dinner.”
He brightened. ”I'm up for that. What are you making?”
”Probably reservations.”
He laughed. ”I've got cla.s.s so I'm going to take off. Meet you back here for a run at the end of the day?”
He was training for the Marine Corps Marathon, and he could leave me in the dust if he wanted. ”You're on.”
He kissed me goodbye, and I went back to my room to brush my teeth and get my camera bag. Before I left Gloria House, I called Harry on his mobile. He had texted me last night that Chappy was spending the night in the hospital.
”No news yet,” he said now. ”Your mother slept in a chair by his bed.”
”Do they have any idea what's wrong?” I asked.
”His doctor in Connecticut had changed a few of his medications. So they're looking into his meds and they want to run some more tests.”
”I'll be home tomorrow. I can spell Mom at the hospital if she needs me. Call me if there's news.”
He promised he would, and my phone beeped that I had an incoming call. An 804 area code. Richmond . . . or Charlottesville.
It was Ryan Velis. ”I'm in town for a conference at the Smithsonian,” he said. ”Any chance you're free for drinks or dinner tonight? I'd like to hear about your trip to London.”
”I already have dinner plans, but I could meet you for a drink.”
”What time and where?”
”Five at Busboys and Poets on Fifth and K?”
”See you then.”
It wasn't until I was in the parking lot behind Gloria House getting the Vespa that it hit me that I'd told Ryan when I saw him at Monticello that I'd be in London for a week. Instead I came back two days early.
Was it a lucky guess that I might be home so he'd called just now? Or had someone told him I was back in Was.h.i.+ngton?
And if so, who was it?
I chained the scooter to my favorite streetlamp on 2nd Street and walked to the Adams Building. Logan Day looked up from the book she was reading at the reception desk as I walked into the Science and Business Reading Room.
”Sophie, what brings you here?”
”A favor. Is Thea in?”
She shook her head. ”She's at a conference at the Smithsonian.”
Maybe it was the same conference Ryan was attending. ”I was wondering if I could look at the list you put together of books and research items Kevin Boyle borrowed from the library.”
She gave me a wary look. ”Why?”
In the past few days I had come to the almost certain conclusion that Kevin's killer knew him, that it wasn't a hyped-up fanatic who hated his environmental politics or even a drug dealer he'd displaced from a park. Whoever it was had to be someone who wouldn't have aroused suspicion if he-or she-had been seen with Kevin that last day.
In spite of what Jack said, I didn't think that left anyone at the monastery off the hook. But I felt sure it was someone who knew Kevin was working on a book about colonial American gardens and had somehow learned about the copy of Adam in Eden, the Pembroke letter, and its connection to the White House seeds. Kevin had told me that day at the Tidal Basin that he had been making inquiries, which I now realized must have been related to his search for the seeds. But he didn't believe anyone he'd spoken to had put two and two together and figured out the reason behind his questions. I thought Kevin was wrong: Someone did figure it out. Kevin had told me he'd asked Thea for some information, and Thea was certainly familiar with his research materials. So she was on the hook, too.
And right now I needed to persuade Logan to let me look at a doc.u.ment Thea asked her to prepare that was technically none of my business.
”I'm trying to take care of something Kevin didn't get to finish before he died,” I said, giving her a bland smile. ”It had to do with his research.”
”I see.” She folded her hands. ”Look, I got told off after you left the other day because it was my suggestion that you take a look in Brother Kevin's study room. I'm sorry, but I haven't got the authority to let you see that list.” She leaned closer and said in a low voice, ”I'd like to help you, but Thea would kill me if she found out.”
”I don't want to get you in any more trouble,” I said. ”But what if I ask you-just generally-if something rings a bell? Would you tell me?”
She stole a furtive glance around the room. There were only three people in the reading room and all seemed to be absorbed in their work. ”You mean, like yes or no?” I nodded. ”Okay, but that's all I can say.”
”Thank you. First, have you ever heard of someone named Francis Pembroke? A colonial doctor who lived in Leesburg?”
”No.”
”How about Senator Francis P. Quincy?”
”Nope.”
Two strikes. ”Last question. What about the McMillan Commission or the McMillan Plan?”
Her eyes widened. ”Yes.”
”Can you help me out with that?” I asked. ”I saw Kevin's papers at the monastery yesterday. The McMillan Commission has nothing to do with colonial gardening in America, the book he was supposedly writing. It was a 1902 Senate commission that produced a report that led to the resurrection of Pierre L'Enfant's plan for Was.h.i.+ngton and, ultimately, the creation of the National Mall. According to Kevin's notes, it was the last thing he was looking into before he died.”
Logan stared at her hands while I waited. Finally she looked up. ”The doc.u.ments Kevin never collected are still on the bookcase in the corridor by the study rooms. At least they were last night. I'm not sure why they didn't get picked up with everything else that got returned, but that's being taken care of today. It's possible the courier might not have come by yet.” She gave me a knowing look. ”I'd better get back to work. Have a nice day.”
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