Jonathan studied the strip a little longer before professional instinct overcame his curiosity.
“We’re not doing anything else with this tonight.”
“You’ve just opened an object that’s been sealed for centuries.”
“Exactly why I’m stopping. But I’m copying it.”
He drew a sheet of paper towards him and reproduced each symbol carefully. Mara stayed back from the table. Looking at the writing brought the same uncomfortable familiarity without allowing her to understand it.
When Jonathan finished, Daniel made a second copy.
“You’re taking that?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t even know what it says.”
“That’s generally why people investigate things.”
Jonathan folded his copy into a file.
“The original stays here.”
“No argument.”
“That might be the first sensible thing you’ve said today.”
The strip and pendant went into conservation storage. By the time they returned to the public galleries, the museum was quietening.
Mara noticed a man across the hall, standing beside a display he did not appear to be examining. She slowed.
“What?” Daniel asked.
“Nothing.”
The man moved before she looked again. Daniel followed her attention.
“Someone you know?”
“No.”
Near the main doors, Daniel noticed an older man in a grey suit. He might have been watching them or simply looking in their direction, but when Daniel glanced back, he turned away.
“That one too?” Mara asked.
“Maybe.”
Neither man approached. Outside, their car waited, and nobody followed them as Daniel opened its door. Nevertheless, Mara felt that someone already knew what they had discovered.
Twenty minutes later, two men entered the conservation offices carrying identification that discouraged questions. Jonathan was still there when one placed a photograph of the pendant on his desk.
“We understand this object was opened today.”
“Who told you that?”
“What was inside?”
“A fragment of writing.”
“What language?”
“We don’t know.”
“Who saw it?”
Jonathan looked from one man to the other.
“That’s museum business.”
The older man gave a faint smile.
“No. It isn’t.”
He looked towards the conservation room.
“What exactly did they find?”
For the first time in years, the Watchers’ interest in Daniel Ashcroft had moved beyond observation. Whatever had been concealed inside the pendant had changed the terms of their work.