LC 04 - Skeleton Crew (18 page)

"John's diving right now," said Lindsay. She knew this to be
true, because she had told Bobbie to call and ask John to be
unavailable for about ten minutes after she arrived.

Ramirez looked up the high walls damp with sea water.
Lindsay saw the tension around his mouth and the widening of
the eyes-subtle signs of anxiety everyone showed when they first
arrived down in the well of the dam. She put her hand on the wet
wall as she spoke over the sound of the pump and the crashing of
the ocean waves.

"Agent Ramirez, the university is not bound to give a contract
to the lowest bidder. It must be the lowest bid that best fulfills specific requirements. People work in here-from UGA and from other
universities. They have to be safe. The university has to know that
the ocean will not come rushing in and drown everyone."

Warming to the situation, Lewis continued the explanation.
"Denton's bid was so low that he couldn't meet the safety requirements. In order to make any money, he would have had to use
inferior materials and take shortcuts. Structurally, his design was
more suited for bridge construction in a river environment than
here in the ocean. John West, who had the middle bid of the three,
not only met OSHA requirements, but added safety features of his
own that he felt necessary for this ocean environment. West
Construction's bid was reasonable and John's design was safe."

Lindsay saw John descending the stairway into the dam. He
walked over and held out his hand to Agent Ramirez. His jeans
were damp where he had pulled them over his diving trunks and
his wet hair was slicked back and tied at the nape of his neck.

"John West," he said, introducing himself. "How do you like
my dam?"

"I'm, uh, overwhelmed. I can't quite grasp that we are on the
ocean floor."

"We are. I was just checking the seams. We have to keep constant watch."

As if Lindsay had been in collusion with the ocean, just then a
wave splashed over the dam, sending a spray of water down on
them like a light rain. Ramirez looked up at the top of the dam,
startled.

"It's a little windy out there today," John said.

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" He brushed the water from
his face and the sleeves of his coat.

John pointed to the field desk. "Over here."

While John and Ramirez went to have their conversation,
Lindsay, Trey, and Lewis walked over to the excavation. She
looked at her watch. Past time to change shifts. Lewis must have
talked them into working longer hours, which probably was not
difficult. Most archaeologists she knew would work until they
dropped.

"You're a good psychologist, Lindsay," said Lewis. "Bringing
him here was smart."

"It's one thing to tell him while he is safe on land that the proposal must meet safety requirements. It's quite another for him to
experience the truth of it firsthand. I didn't want him to dwell on
the contract, trying to unearth some dishonesty on the part of the
department, the university, or West Construction."

"I think he got the point," said Trey. "The spray of water was a
nice touch."

The crew had heard about Denton's death and looked up
expectantly for news as they approached. Trey shook his head. Jeff
followed Lindsay with his eyes.

"We found a couple more skeletons," said Juliana.

"You're kidding. They're going to start stacking up on me,"
Lindsay said.

"Looks like we might get the whole crew," said Lewis, grinning.

So far, Gina and Juliana's skeleton was an arm and a hand. "It
looks to be in as good a condition as the others," commented Lindsay.

"Might be better," said Gina. "These are deeper in the mud.
Look at what Jeff found."

At Jeff's excavation unit, several crew were working on different parts of a skeleton that lay in a fetal position. Jeff held a brush
in his hand, gently whisking dirt from what looked like iron.
Lindsay and the others squatted to get a closer look. It was iron in
contact with bones. Lindsay saw a talus and a jumble of tarsals.

"He's in irons," exclaimed Trey.

"That's what it seems," agreed Jeff. "Maybe he's the perp." He
looked up and grinned at Lindsay. She was surprised at his sense
of humor.

"Poor guy," said Trey.

"This ship has quite a few stories to tell," said Lewis. "I'll have
to nudge Harper about the translation."

Trey and Lindsay made eye contact. Lewis, it seems, was
"nudging" everyone.

"By the way, Lindsay. I got your drawing. I like it. The Atlanta
Journal and Constitution is anxious to do a story."

"I just hope Denton's death doesn't overshadow the drama of
the wreck."

"I'll try to see that it doesn't. That reminds me, I need to find a
sculptor to do the faces."

Lindsay was amazed that the discovery of a body virtually on
their doorstep hadn't slowed Lewis down. Actually, she was glad
of it.

"Somebody said the police want to talk to all of us?" Jeff asked.

"Just routine," Lewis told him.

"We don't know anything."

"Just tell them that," Trey said.

"I was told this would happen," Jeff said glumly.

"By whom?" asked Lindsay.

"Do you know Gerri Chapman?"

"Yes," said Lindsay, "I know her. Is that where the Angel of
Death thing came from?"

"We were at a meeting three months ago. She told us about
your proclivity for finding dead bodies."

"I don't think we can blame Lindsay for somebody getting
drunk and drowning himself," responded Lewis.

"Is that what happened?"

"We think."

Lindsay was anxious to change the subject. She stood. Trey and
Lewis stood with her.

"I meant to tell you," she said. "When I was doing the drawing
last night, Mike Altman, one of the biology people, came to the lab.
Said he saw the light on, and it was the only time he could get supplies. But I don't know how he could have seen the light. He's staying at the ranger station and you can't see the light from the lab
from over there. Anyway, he left with some graph paper. It looked
suspicious. I thought you might want to ask the guard to be sure
to watch the lab closely."

"That is odd," said Trey. "What do you think he was up to?"

"I couldn't tell. But some of the biology people are very hostile."

"That's my fault," said Lewis. "I suppose I sort of bulldozed
them. Do you think he was up to something?"

Lindsay shrugged. "I don't believe he made his way from the
ranger's station through the woods in the dark to get graph
paper."

John brought Ramirez over to the excavation and Lindsay
showed him the bones that Gina and Juliana had uncovered.

"So he was a Spaniard heading for Havana?" Ramirez asked.

Lewis nodded. "Most likely."

"Poor fellow, never made it. Wonder what he was doing way
up here?"

"That's one of our research questions," said Trey.

Ramirez scanned the site, looking at the excavation as a whole
and moved his head back and forth. "This was a ship." He said it
as if he couldn't believe it. "It was big. You have found other
remains?"

"Two more. The first one was a Spaniard," said Lindsay.
"Perhaps an officer or an official. He was in good health, and his
bones don't show evidence of hard work."

"No, we officials don't work very hard," said Ramirez.

"Manual labor," said Lindsay with a smile.

"Ah. And the poor fellow drowned. Possibly like our fellow in
the alligator pond?"

"Well, uh, actually," answered Lewis. "He appears to have been
murdered."

Ramirez looked up at him, then at Lindsay.

"Blunt instrument to the head," she said. "Three blows."

"But don't worry," Jeff called over to them. "We got the guy in
irons."

Jeff seemed in a very good mood. Lindsay was glad of it, for
him as well as for the rest of the crew.

"You know who did it?" Ramirez asked.

They led the FBI agent to Jeff's find.

"No," answered Trey. "There were many reasons sailors got put
in irons, but it's certainly suggestive."

After the tour, Lindsay, John, Trey, and Lewis walked Agent
Ramirez to the top of the dam, explaining that John would give
him a lift back to the island and they would wait and go later with
the barge.

"Thank you, this has been most educational. My wife's been
reading about the project. She'll be thrilled when I tell her I've been
here." He turned to Lindsay. "You probably thought your skeleton
fellow was drowned, until you got a good look at him and discovered he was murdered. Wouldn't it be interesting if we had a parallel?"

No, thought Lindsay, that wouldn't be interesting at all. It
would be darned awkward.

The first half of debriefing that evening was taken up by the
body found in the alligator pond and what it meant for the site.
Lewis told everyone not to concern themselves with it.

"The authorities will sort it out, and it has nothing to do with
us," he said.

Lindsay doubted that it was true. Accident or foul play, Hardy
Denton had been at the research station for some reason.

To break up the talk of Denton, Lewis showed the picture
Lindsay had drawn of the HSkR1. That spurred discussion of the
day's skeletal remains, especially the one that appeared to be in leg
irons.

"We may get the answers in the journal," said Trey.

"What exactly was this journal guy doing on the ship?" asked
Steven Nemo. "I mean, he seems to be some kind of spy. Do we
know his name?"

"No," said Trey. "So far we don't know who he is on the manifest. Nor have we found any mention in the Spanish archives
about whatever mission he was on. Unfortunately, his name does not appear on the journal. One thing we do know. He mentions
several people by name in the journal and they do appear on the
ship's manifest, so we can now say with assurance that we were
correct in assuming that the journal matches the archival information. As to how the journal came to be boxed up and bricked in a
closet in a house in St. Augustine, we haven't a clue. We assume
that the writer of the journal, after surviving the shipwreck, made
his way down the coast and eventually took up with the Spaniards
who founded St. Augustine."

"What about the second skeleton? The one you found, Dr.
Lewis?" asked Sarah.

"What about it, Lindsay?" asked Lewis. "Trey tells me you took
it to Savannah. What was that about?"

Lindsay stood, leaning with her back against one of the support
columns. "This guy's Asian," she said.

"Indian?" several people asked.

"No. From the eastern coast of China, apparently-" She hesitated. "He may be Valerian's servant. The journal mentions that
Valerian had an Asian servant when the ship picked them up in the
Canary Islands. And he was found with the chess set, which indicates that the location of the remains may have been Valerian's
cabin. Maybe as we read on, there'll be something in the journal to
verify the identity."

"Really-the skeleton I found?" Lewis looked like a pleased
kid. "That's the first possible match we've been able to make
between the journal and skeletal remains."

"It's a good possibility," Lindsay said. "I was excited."

"What did you do with him in Savannah?" asked Steven.

"His bones show some rather severe pathology. I took them to
an orthopedist to see what he thought."

"And?" asked Trey.

"Well, it was funny really. It looks identical to other conditions
I've seen in photographs and X-rays, but never firsthand. Dr.
Rosen, who at first didn't understand that these weren't modern
bones, thought the same thing."

"Which was? Are we going to have to pull this out of you,
Chamberlain?" Trey asked.

"Dysbaric osteonecrosis." All the divers in the room looked at
her wide-eyed.

"Well, that can't be," said Nate.

"Why?" asked Gina. Lindsay explained what dysbaric
osteonecrosis is.

"Oh. How odd."

"There are many diseases that can cause bone necrosis," said
Lindsay. "I'll have to make some thin-sections of the bone for
microscopic examination."

"But it is strange that it looks like it's from scuba diving," said
Juliana.

"Well, that can't be," repeated one of the other divers.

"No, it would appear to be impossible," agreed Lindsay, and
continued her description. "At the time of his death, his condition
was such that he must have been confined to bed during the storm.
Was there any indication of that during the excavation?"

Lewis shook his head. "There was a lot of wood, some fabric,
though not much, and some rope. He was a bit of a jumble. I
believe the sea chest that was found earlier was basically on top of
him."

Lindsay couldn't help but wonder if he was excavated too
quickly and some good data were lost. However, she didn't say
anything.

Two other crew had found the capstan. They pointed it out on
Steve's cross section. It was exactly where it should have been.
They were quite proud of their find. Slowly, the ship and its story
were being exposed and mapped. Lindsay thought it would be
instructive to have a model of the ship and add on things as they
found them. Like we all don't have enough to do, she thought. The
debriefing ended on an upbeat note-the body found in the alligator pond temporarily forgotten.

"You know," whispered Bobbie as she and Lindsay were leaving the lab, "the journal would make a good movie. You think
Lewis is talking to Hollywood?"

"It would not surprise me at all if Steven Spielberg showed up
at the site next week." Lindsay grinned at her. She fervently hoped
Denton's death would turn out to be an accident. This was such a
wonderful site, with all the finds and that journal. She didn't want
it spoiled by murder.

They caught up with Harper, who stood waiting with her arms
folded.

"You're doing an amazing job of translating the journal,"
Bobbie told her. "We all love it."