Page 36 of Ancient Obsession

“They’re friends,” Robin said. “Dave is Oliver’s fiancé, and Cody is Dave’s brother. And apparently, he’s demisexual too.”

“Actually, I think you may have taken that out of context,” Cody said, but quickly added, “Not important.”

“Beryl, we just want to understand what’s going on.” Oliver moved a little closer to the desk, but careful not to crowd her.

“Yeah? So do I.” Beryl sat back in the chair, back rigid but hands now clasped in her lap. There was a furrow in her short purple hair, most likely from the headphones on the desk nearby. “I really don’t know what happened. Dr. Brennan sent us all a text early this morning demanding a team meeting. She wanted us to meet in the control room right away. I live farthest off campus, so I was the last to arrive. I had no idea what was going on. I was worried that something had happened with the video or audio Ricky and I made of the opening. When I got to the control room, campus security was already there, inspecting the empty coffin. Dr. Brennan was off the charts furious, demanding to know which of us had stolen the body.”

“Everyone was there?”

Beryl nodded, but then shook her head. Tears filled her eyes. “Everyone but Lucien. I thought he might have had a class or hadn’t seen Dr. Brennan’s text, you know?”

“And campus police found no indication of who might have taken the body?” Oliver asked.

“Not from what I heard.”

“Was the door to the room forced?”

“Um, I don’t know. Nobody mentioned anything like that. I just heard the security guys say they were going to call the Glenmont police because it was out of their scope.”

“Dr. Brennan locked the door when you all left last night, right?”

“Ricky did. We all left at the same time.”

“Do you remember what time that was?”

“Midnight, I think? I was really tired.”

“Was anyone acting suspicious?” Robin asked.

“No. Nothing unusual. Dr. Brennan was still pretty cool to Vera for dropping the lid.”

Oliver thought a moment. “There seemed to be some tension between Dylan and Lucien. Is that the norm?”

“There’s no love lost between those two. Dylan is Dr. Brennan’s favorite. She selected him to accompany her on the dig even though Lucien and Samira both applied.” She hesitated, looking between them all. “If you’re wondering if Dylan murdered Lucien, I don’t think he’d do that.”

“Do you think he would have stolen the mummy?”

“But why? He was with Dr. Brennan when it was discovered. He was as excited about it as she was.”

“Maybe he was trying to get more exposure for their discovery? Could he and Dr. Brennan have planned all of this?”

Beryl let out a sharp laugh. “I don’t think Dr. Brennan was involved with any of this. You didn’t see her, but she was truly enraged. Like, boss level angry.”

“Oh, we saw her,” Robin said with a sigh. “She practically chased me down across the quad this morning and had a police officer haul me off to the station for questioning.”

“What?” Beryl sat up straight in the chair. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.” Robin gestured toward Oliver. “She found Oliver in the student union later on and had him taken in also.”

“That was you?” Beryl’s eyes were even wider. “I heard about someone being hauled off by the cops, but the people I heard it from didn’t know your name.”

“Well, you can let them know it was me. I wasn’t booked or arrested, just questioned. Dr. Brennan was furious, though, you’re right. Anything else you can think of?”

Beryl thought a moment before shaking her head, her eyes heavy and shadowed. “No. I’m just really wiped out and sad. I didn’t know Lucien well, but I liked him.”

“Do you know where he lived?”

“Sure. We all shared our addresses and numbers so we could meet up for study sessions or research.” She picked up her phone, and a short time later Robin’s phone dinged. “I sent you his contact information.”