“And if I’d been unavailable, or said no?”

“You still haven’t said yes,” Louise reminded her.

“I’m going to ask that you permit me to take an inventory first. If in fact the collection has been overstated, or if the artifacts aren’t in condition to be displayed, it may not be worth it for the university to invest so much-to mortgage itself, in effect-if the return won’t compensate.”

“You’ve read the journals?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know what Alistair described having found.”

“Yes. But what I don’t know is how much of it made its way back to Howe, and what condition it’s in. Let me take a look, and we’ll go from there.”

“All right.” Louise opened her top desk drawer. “Here’s the key to the building; this one is for the room you were in yesterday.”

“Thank you.” Daria reached out a hand for the keys. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to start.”

“Absolutely. Go. Good luck.” Louise stood and crossed her arms over her chest. “We’ll send you some lunch around noon. I expect you’ll forget.”

Daria had forgotten. It was Vita who’d brought her the covered dish with a chicken salad sandwich, an apple, some grapes, and two brownies-“Because one is never enough. I made these, and they’re amazing, if I do say so myself”-and a thermos of iced tea.

“How can you stand it in here? It must be a hundred degrees. And the dust!” Vita coughed for emphasis. “The air is just thick with it.”

“Is it?” Daria looked up from the desk where she’d been poring over the inventory Alistair had written. “I suppose I might have kicked up a bit, opening the crates.”

“So, is it as wonderful as you thought it would be?” Vita’s eyes gleamed in the overhead light.

“What? Yes. I suppose.” Daria stood and stretched. “I’ve only gotten through a few crates, but judging from what I’ve seen so far, it was a spectacular find.”

“How can you be so calm?” Vita frowned and peeked inside an open crate.

“If I let my emotions take over right now, I won’t be able to do my job.” Daria smiled and uncovered the platter. “Thanks a million for bringing this, by the way.”

“Dr. B. was afraid you’d get caught up in your work and forget to eat.”

“Dr. B. was right about that.”

“So is there anything you can show me?” Vita touched the paper wrappings in the crate hopefully.

“Sure.” Daria took a bite of sandwich, then got up and walked to the crate. She took out the object Vita had been poking. “This was a ceremonial goblet. See the figures here? The woman with the wings and the eagle talons for feet? This is Ereshkigal. She was the goddess around whom the culture in Shandihar was built. There were no minor goddesses, or-heaven forbid-gods. This was strictly a matriarchal society. Women ruled. And the most powerful women in Shandihar were the high priestesses of Ereshkigal.”

“What’s that in her hand?” Vita took a closer look.

“That’s a human head,” Daria told her. “With its tongue cut out. See how the mouth is empty?”

“Oh, Good Lord! That’s just gross.” Vita backed away from it. “Why did they put that on the cup?”

“Ereshkigal ruled the afterworld. Her followers believed that when you died, you came before the gates that separated heaven from hell. In each hand, you brought an offering to the goddess. And you would stand at the gate and tell of all the good deeds you had performed while you were alive.” Daria set the goblet on the desk and picked up her sandwich and took another bite. “The punishment for any transgression was to cut off the hands of the offender. Because if he showed up at the gate without an offering, he would not be admitted. Likewise, if he failed to tell of his good deeds, he would not get past the gate. So people who broke the law, or displeased the goddess or her priestesses, were punished by having their hands cut off, or their tongue cut out. Or both, if they’d been really bad.”

“No thirty to sixty days plus probation?”

Daria shook her head. “Not in Ereshkigal’s world.”

“Guess the rate of recidivism was pretty low.”

“Good point.”

“Okay, then. Guess I’ll head on back to the office.” Vita paused in the doorway. “Doesn’t this place give you the creeps?”

“No, why?” Daria frowned.

“No reason, I guess,” Vita muttered as she left the room. She stuck her head back in and said, “Dr. B. said to let us know if you need anything.”

“Will do. Thanks.”

Daria rewrapped the goblet and placed it back in the crate, upon which she’d drawn a large number one. On the inventory sheets, she’d located each object she’d found in the crate, and marked it with a number one to designate where it could be found. She moved through crates two, three, and four, and by the end of the evening, her heart was beating so fast she was afraid it would beat out of her chest. Not because of what she’d found, but because of what she hadn’t found.

She worked through most of the night, and into the morning. Louise had stopped by with a box holding some dinner, but Daria had not uncovered it. By ten the following morning, Daria was exhausted and shaking with dread. Telling herself she needed to open every crate before panicking, and admitting that fatigue might be getting the best of her, she relocked the room, then the front door, and asked Louise to assign someone from campus security to guard the building through the night. She returned to McGowan house and slept for six hours. She got up, showered, changed her clothes, and returned to the basement, this time asking Louise to join her.

“I realize you’re busy, but if you could spare me a few hours,” Daria had asked.

“Of course. What would you like me to do?”

“I need a hand with the inventory,” Daria told her without voicing her suspicions. “But you might want to change your clothes. And bring some bottled water. You might get thirsty.”

Louise did just that, and for the next ten hours, crossed off the artifacts as Daria unwrapped them. At the end of the day, Daria sat at the desk and covered her face with her hands.

“Daria?” Thinking the archaeologist was overcome at having handled so many priceless objects in one day-as she certainly was-Louise patted Daria on the back and said, “I know this is overwhelming, but imagine what Alistair must have felt when he first found these objects. It’s like a fantasy, gold and jewels and treasure like you dream about when you’re a child and read of such things. Remember the story about Ali Baba and the forty thieves, and their cave of treasure? I feel as if I’ve walked into it. So I don’t blame you for being blown away. God knows I certainly am.”

“Louise, is there anywhere else on campus we might find other pieces from the collection?”

“No, why?” Louise frowned. “No. Nothing was ever taken out of this room.”

“I’m afraid that’s not true.”

“What do you mean?” Louise put down the golden mask she’d been admiring and turned to Daria.

“Some of the objects that should be here, according to Alistair’s notes, are missing.” Daria ran an anxious hand over her face. “I went through everything last night, but there are items that are not accounted for. They’re on the inventory, but not in the crates. That’s why I asked you to help me go through it all again today. I needed to make sure.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that between the time Alistair inventoried his find and today, someone’s made off with some very important artifacts.” Daria’s face was white.

“Are you certain?” Louise looked stunned. “Daria, you counted the crates. There should be fifty-seven. There were fifty-seven, correct?”

Daria nodded her head.

“And you yourself removed the seals from those crates,” Louise continued. “The inventories prepared by Alistair show check marks next to every item. And every item was checked. So why would you think something was missing?”

“Several items checked off on Alistair’s list are not checked off on mine. So unless some of the objects were removed and placed elsewhere in the university, or sold…”