Chapter Ten

Standing on her balcony the next Saturday morning, Elizabeth peered out at the small fogged-up glasshouse nestled inside Nainai’s vegetable garden. The garden’s solar panels heated water that circulated beneath the glasshouse floor.

The house bore matching hot-water solar panels arrayed across the entire north face of the roof, heating the inside. The beautiful floorboards downstairs that Loki and Paris loved to slide on in fact weren’t floorboards at all. They were polished concrete that had been stained and scored to look like dark Tasmanian oak. The concrete emitted a gentle heat in winter, courtesy of the sun-warmed water circulating through pipes in the concrete slab. Taid joked that it was his version of the Roman hypocaust underfloor heating.

Although this system meant other heating wasn’t really necessary, Elizabeth was glad her grandparents had insisted on having gas fireplaces, as well as the wood-fired masonry heater in the lounge room. The flickering flames and radiant heat were so comforting…

Was she really contemplating heating systems? She must be feeling better.

Despite the cold and dark, Elizabeth had barely slept past six o’clock. It was going to be another great weekend. Today, she would take a second set of dental non-metric data, then work with Alice to organise the x-rays and other tests. Working with Alice would be good practice for becoming a tutor.

Smiling as she observed the mist in the valley below her suburb, Elizabeth completed her pre-laboratory mental checklist: fed, showered, dressed – check. Lunch, laptop and plaster casts packed – check. Off to conquer the world – check.

Just five hours later, Elizabeth finished taking a second set of dental non-metric data from her population of Olmec women and children. She poured herself another cup of delicious apple tea, and waited for Alice to arrive.

Alice opened the lab door right on time. The poor girl still seemed nervous in Elizabeth’s presence.

Together, they reviewed the process for x-raying the skeletal material for Harris lines, examining the remains under the microscope and taking samples for DNA analyses.

‘How are your funds looking?’ Elizabeth asked. ‘Can you afford to do any radiocarbon dating?’

‘Yes! I checked after you asked. It turns out if I do two weeks’ work for the lab they’ll date all the remains in exchange for the funds I have left.’

‘Are you sure you want to do that?’

‘Of course. It’s a great opportunity. I want to learn more about dating anyway.’

‘That’s excellent news,’ Elizabeth smiled at a now beaming Alice. ‘Do you need anything?’

‘There’s a heap of paperwork to do, and I need lots of signatures, but it should be fine. I’ll make sure I CC your email address on all the forms so you get a copy of the results.’

‘Thanks, that’d be great.’

Alice seemed to finally relax in her presence. ‘No worries,’ she replied.

Hours later Elizabeth and Alice finished tagging the last item for dating. Waving the shy undergrad from the room, Elizabeth settled down for a very late lunch.

A key rasped in the lab door. Alice must have forgotten something.

‘Hello, how are we today?’ It was Carl, dressed in an immacu­late suit, tie and overcoat. He looked quite out of place in the shabby lab.

‘Uh, fine thanks.’ Elizabeth hadn’t been expecting him.

‘I wanted to see how you’re coming along, and how young Alice is doing. Any news?’

‘Well, I sent you my initial report.’

‘Yes, thanks, good job.’

‘Alice and I just finished sorting out the material for x-rays and DNA testing. She said she has a few things for you to sign, then she can get started. It turns out she can also arrange radiocarbon dating for all the skeletons. I think she’ll need your signature for those as well.’

‘Brilliant. You girls are doing a super job.’

‘Also, I’ve been working on a dental non-metric analysis. I thought we might publish it as a separate paper? Perhaps with me as primary author?’

Carl’s smile slipped slightly. ‘Ah…yes, of course. That sounds good.’

Carl’s words didn’t match the expression on his face. Elizabeth wasn’t sure which one to believe.

‘So,’ she said, ‘can you tell me when the first paper will be published? How much of my report do you think will be included?’

‘I have some exciting news on that front. I’ve submitted a synopsis to three top archaeological journals, and it looks like they’re all going to accept it. We’ll have our pick of the bunch.’

Elizabeth would be in print very soon. Yay!

‘I’m certain the results from Alice’s tests will support what I’ve posited in the paper,’ Carl said.

‘Sorry? What do you mean?’

‘Well, as all our adults are female, buried under a royal male obituary, and with male grave goods, they must be some kind of ritual sacrifice to male gods or rulers. It’s brilliant! Once we publish, we’ll attract so much attention.’

Carl’s glee was repulsive to Elizabeth. Was there any basis for this new theory, or was it just more persuado-science?

‘Has Juan translated more of the inscription?’ Elizabeth asked. ‘Does it mention a sacrifice?’

‘Well, no, but what other explanation could there be?’

A dozen possibilities sprang to Elizabeth’s mind. ‘I have to say, I haven’t seen any evidence of violent deaths so far… How do you think they were killed?’

‘Poison, of course!’

‘Really? You found traces of something in the soil? I couldn’t find any records of soil analysis in the site files. Could I see what you found?’

Carl seemed to puff up. ‘Look, this isn’t really your concern. You’ve done what I asked you to do. If I say they were poisoned, then they were poisoned.’

‘You mean you haven’t tested the soil?’

‘That’s neither here nor there. And why are you asking about Juan’s translation of the writing? He’s our expert.’

Stay calm, Elizabeth counselled herself. Remember what Taid said: if Carl gets agitated, handle him carefully and he might listen. Start by agreeing with him and being helpful.

‘Of course, Carl, yes. Juan is our writing expert. There are other philologists who might be able to help him, though. I’m sure once you’ve published details of the inscription on the cave wall, other experts will offer to help.’

‘What do you mean, others? No-one else is supposed to know any details of the writing yet, not until I publish it.’

It wasn’t working, Carl wasn’t calming down. ‘But surely there have been rumours?’ Elizabeth suggested placatingly. ‘I mean, it’s such an amazing site, with so many people working on it, surely lots of people are interested?’

‘What have you done?’ Carl’s eyes were wide with incredulity. ‘You’ve leaked, haven’t you? You’ve taken pictures of the writing and sent them to someone, haven’t you? Haven’t you!’

Carl was red in the face now. She wasn’t going to win, no matter what she said.

‘No, I haven’t. Because I have integrity.’

‘Integrity?’ Flecks of phlegm were gathering in the corners of Carl’s mouth. ‘My interpretation of Juluwik is correct. Do you have any idea how many people are relying on me to make sure this site becomes world famous and well funded? How dare you risk their careers by implying I’m wrong.’

‘I’m not implying anything,’ Elizabeth said steadily, packing up her belongings. ‘I’m saying you have no evidence that these women were part of some ritual sacrifice to men. You can’t explain why they were buried with male grave goods or under writing dedicated to men. I’m saying you should take the time to figure it out properly instead of rushing to publish nonsense!’

‘You are banned,’ Carl’s voice shook with rage. ‘You are banned from working on this material. Email all your data and findings to Alice today, then delete your files. If you breach confidentiality in any way, I will sue you. Give me back your keys.’

Carl held out his hand, took the keys from her, spun on his heels and left. Clearly he assumed she would obey his orders.

She would, but not just yet. The ballplayer, and the others buried at Juluwik, had given Elizabeth a new lease on life. She needed to say goodbye properly.

Elizabeth walked to the cupboard and removed the box containing the ballplayer’s head. With great care she rolled out her blue felt mat and placed the ancient jaw and cranium on it.

Trying not to splash her with tears, Elizabeth sat with the ballplayer until it grew dark outside.