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home didn’t add up. If they truly had evidence against John
wouldn’t they stake out the places he’d most likely turn up? Wouldn’t they keep
a low profile until they could make the bust? Surely they wouldn’t approach his
closest contacts for fear of tipping off their investigation. After all, what’s
to stop Peet or Martha from warning John that they were looking for him?
    Or
is that exactly what they wanted them to do? Peet couldn’t help but wonder if
the FBI knew something they weren’t sharing.
    “This
situation is most unfortunate,” Frederico said. “My plans, too, are
interrupted. I am to spend Christmas in Acapulco.
I was on my way there when my assistant called to tell me the Effigy of
Quetzalcoatl had been stolen.” The curator reached around Peet to close his
office door and then lifted a cordial hand to a plush leather chair in the
corner. “Please, sit down.”
    Peet
obliged as Frederico lounged on a small leather sofa nearby, leaving an airy
expanse settling between them. He rocked onto one hip, crossed his legs and
draped an arm across the back of the sofa. The warm glint of his smile had not
yet faded.
    “How
is it possible the Effigy was stolen?” Peet asked. “I thought the museum had
all the latest security systems.”
    Frederico
nodded glumly. Peet could read lines of embarrassment etching the otherwise
flawless features of the curator’s face. “We have all the state of the art
technology at our disposal,” he said heavily. “The museum is impenetrable without
the codes to bypass those systems.”
    “John
has access to your security codes?”
    “Not
all of them. When we agreed to let him stay as director of the Toltec exhibit,
I assigned him key codes to the employee entrance, an access card to the
archives and the security code for the Aztec Room.”
    “Why
would you give him the security code?”
    “John
was conducting his own independent research on the Effigy, exploring
alternative explanations for its deposit in Utah.”
    That
sounded suspicious. For months immediately following the excavation of the
Effigy, John had had ample opportunity to study it. In fact, he was the first
to publish his own conclusions on the subject—satisfied that the Effigy had
been traded out of Mexico
to the Anasazi culture of the Southwest. And even if he had abandoned his own
trade theory to explore other explanations, it wasn’t like John to overstep his
research privileges.
    “Did
he mention taking his research back to the field?” Peet asked.
    As
much as it had comforted Martha, Peet doubted his own justification for John’s
removal of the Effigy. John wouldn’t have taken it into the field. That made as
much sense as taking the golden mask of King Tut back to the tomb. It just
wouldn’t be done, and Frederico confirmed his doubts.
    “ No, senor ,” the curator said with a
chuckle. “He claims to be too old for the field. However, he requested free
access to the artifact and I had no reason to deny him so long as he removed
the Effigy from its exhibit after hours. Furthermore, it was agreed upon that
the Effigy should never leave the premises.”
    “How
often did he inspect the Effigy?”
    “Never. Not once did he require a physical
inspection, but I gave him access should he desire it.”
    “Then why now?”
    “This
I cannot say.”
    Peet
shook his head. “I just can’t believe John would take the Effigy without
clearing it with you first.”
    “I
could not believe this either, but it cannot be disputed that John’s key codes
were entered into the security system during the time of the theft.”
    Peet
leaned forward, propping his elbows upon his knees and shaking his head in
disbelief. “This just doesn’t sound like John. The very idea of stealing an
artifact goes against every moral fiber of his being. Is it possible someone
else could have used his security pass to get to the Effigy?”
    Frederico
didn’t bother to shrug. His eyes never even shifted in thought. By his