It was amazing. Put food before a starving man and he forgets his grievances. Put historical doc.u.ments that are treasures themselves before art historians and they forget their colleague"s treatment. They had almost forgotten the possible looted crown. Agent Charlene Winston had to drag her mind out of the doc.u.ments before her and think carefully about the present day. "Um, yes, Oh the crown, it"s still being evaluated at Sotheby"s. They have been bringing in experts in everything from medieval metallurgists to using something called, uh wait a sec. I made a note on my phone..." Charlene ran through her phones applications til she found the right app. "Here it is, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) is a nondestructive tool for determining the authenticity of colored gemstones and their geographical origin." Looking up from her phone she saw a complicated expression on Cally"s face."Nondestructive is good. I should hate to have to hurt people because they destroyed a crown that was 660 years old. Sarah can you contact Gladys for me? She"s working in the DC area these days, right?" Sarah glanced at the FBI agents. She was old enough to not let a slip of the tongue expose werewolves. Instead of saying "Mom" she immediately said, "Yes, my sister is working at a museum in DC as a curator. If she"s working she can get intense and not pick up."
Finding her number in her favorites, she handed the phone to Cally. Cally called her old friend and after a couple rings it was answered. Before Gladys could answer, Cally spoke, "Gladys! DaRling." Drawing out the r sound like in old movies. "You don"t write. You don"t call. Don"t you love me any more?"
Gladys knew instantly who it was. She might have a different voice but n.o.body called her Darling like the Wotan. "Wotan, C Cally Wotan. OMG is that you?! I was just asking Sarah about you last night!" "Darling, Darling, I can"t let you run off on a tangent. I am surrounded by G-men and women. The Feds, the Feebs, the Alphabet boys, the men in black. I need your help."
"Anything. You name it!" "Good girl! You know that crown Olen liked to show off to all the girls?" "Uh-huh." "That d.a.m.n Bimbo princess thought it belonged to Olen." "No way!" "Yes way!" Cally started to circle the room as she carried on her conversation. "She actually thought Olen was without family!" "Seriously?" "Seriously! Girl, you would not believe the c.r.a.p I have had to deal with! So Catherine Rosemount, aka Princess Bimbo thought she would just purloin my crown and donate it to some museum." "No way!" "Yes way. I figure she was aiming for the Louvre." This garnered a vicious response from Gladys, "That b.i.t.c.h! What"s wrong with U.S. Museums?"
Agent Charlene was getting dizzy watching Cally walk in circles so she tried to focus on the doc.u.ments on the table. But the animated conversation kept drawing her attention. From the information they had been able to get. the crown was the former property of Olen Hamundarson, CEO of Wotan international. He had died and Catherine Rosemount was trying to get it evaluated for a possible museum donation. It seemed they needed to speak to this Ms. Rosemount about theft.
"So, Sweet-ling, my crown is at Sotheby"s auction house and they are running all kinds of tests and having big fat ugly men poke at it with their pudgy fingers. I"m worried about it." There was a distinct sniveling whine entering Cally"s voice. Any minute tears would fall. "You will go and supervise over my crown, won"t you? You won"t let anything bad happen to it?" "Of course how can I refuse?" "Darling! I knew you would! For helping me with this problem you can ask me one thing."
Complete silence followed this comment. Even Sarah stood at attention. Finally Gladys who had been struck dumb said, "Three things! I want to ask three things!" Cally smiled. This was an old game. Murmuring softly, "Darling, Sweet-ling, you"ve already agreed to help me. Now you are negotiating?" "I was stupid! I want three!" Cally suddenly sat on Marcus" lap. he had been following both sides of the conversation with ease. Cally responded, "One." Gladys caught herself. She was ready to plead, "Two. This little bit of help to the Wotan is surely worth being able to ask two things."
Cally leaned forward and brushed Marcus" lips before sliding away. His face was stern but his eyes were smiling a bit. "Fine. You can ask two things. After I get my crown back safe and sound." Gladys started to squeal happily. "And you have to abide by the BCE rule." "Aw." Slightly disappointed by the rules Gladys shook it off. "I"ll leave for NY with in an hour. Wait for my good news."
Marcus caught Cally"s hand. He asked, "BCE?" Cally leaned in close to his ear and whispered so that none but Sarah might hear, "Before Common Era." Then Cally straightened up and said so even the agents could hear, "You have to put time limits on Gladys or she"ll get carried away."
Charlene Winston was an art major. She and her colleagues had spent much time in DC museum"s. It was amazing where looted art would show up. "Gladys. Was that Gladys MacLeish? The curator at the Smithsonian?" Grabbing the last two cookies, Cally looked over at Sarah. " Yes Gladys MacLeish. Sarah is she working at the Smithsonian these days?" Sarah gave an affirmative response while the agents were shocked. "You just asked The Curator of the Smithsonian Inst.i.tute to go do your bidding?" "Well, who else could I have asked?"