Page 61 of Broken Halos
“Hold up,” Henry said, raising his hand and cutting Ollie off. “There was a theft from the museum last night.”
I looked back at the screen, and sure enough, there was a breaking news banner at the bottom of the screen followed by the words: Artifact Heist at the Cincinnati Art Museum. “Oh my God!”
“Can you turn the volume up?” Ollie asked the waitress when she returned with our drinks. “We were there last night.”
“Sure thing,” she said then hurried off.
The male anchor led off the broadcast with, “Sometime in the middle of the night, someone disabled the elaborate alarm system and jumbled the security cameras long enough to steal a twelfth-century fangyi ritual wine vessel belonging to Wu Ding, a king of the Shang dynasty.” A picture of a tall bronze box-like structure with a lid shaped like a roof appeared on the screen. The wine vessel was green in places from oxidation, but it didn’t detract from the intricate symbols all over it. “The museum says, due to its rarity, the vessel is valued at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
The camera shifted to the female co-anchor, who said, “Police are looking for information about the man you see in these photos.” A picture of the guy who was interested in Ryder, the same one who nearly knocked us over on the steps, appeared on the screen. The next photo showed him casually accepting a champagne flute from a waiter, and the final picture showed him speaking to us on the staircase. The images changed once more to show agents from the FBI entering the museum. “If anyone recognizes him please call the hotline number at the bottom of the screen.”
I felt the attention from the table shift from the big screen television and onto Ollie and me.
“Uh-oh,” Ollie said. “I bet the police will want to speak to us.”
My cell phone rang as soon as the words left his mouth. The caller ID said it was an unknown caller, but I had a pretty good idea who it might be.
“Hello,” I said more calmly than I felt.
“Hello, may I speak with Archie White, please?”
“This is he.”
“Mr. White, this is Agent Hugh Kiphart with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I wondered if you could come down to the federal building this afternoon to speak with me. I went to your home, and one of the residents said you are out of town.”
“By out of town, he meant thirty minutes away. I stayed with my boyfriend and attended his church service. I can be downtown in about an hour if that works for you.”
“It’s fine, Mr. White. Is your boyfriend Oliver Knight?”
“Yes.”
“Would he be available to speak with us too?”
“Of course, Agent Kiphart. Neither of us has anything to hide.”
“Thank you, Mr. White. I’ll see you in an hour.” He hung up without saying goodbye, but it wasn’t a social call.
“You’re wanted for questioning?” Mamma asked, wringing her hands.
“Mamma, we didn’t do anything wrong. The picture was very misleading. We don’t know the man. He only asked us if we’d seen Ryder.”
“Interesting,” Millie said with a gleam in her eyes. “You think Ryder is on the take?”
“I really don’t know Ryder anymore, but the man I knew eight years ago loved art above all else, including money.” And me. “He didn’t just love art; he revered it.”
“I don’t believe Ryder was involved,” Ollie said.
“You don’t know the man,” Millie pointed out.
“Just the feeling I get,” Ollie said with a shrug. “Should we head there now?”
“I bought us an extra thirty minutes so we could grab a bite to eat first. I don’t see why we should go to the station hungry.”
“How can you think of your stomach at a time like this?” Mamma asked.
“Easily. I didn’t do anything wrong, so I don’t have anything to worry about. My conscience is clear, but my belly is empty.” Okay, so empty was an exaggeration after the breakfast Ollie had made, but nearly four hours had passed since then.
Ollie had a harder time eating, but I knew his nervousness had nothing to do with guilt. We hugged and said goodbye to Mamma, Esther, and Henry then climbed in the back of Millie’s Cadillac, so she could drive us back home. I clasped Ollie’s hand between both of mine, attempting to chase away the chill permeating his body.