The hunter sat up soaked and muddy. He gathered a few artifacts that fell from the pack, then walked down the cliff not realizing on the back of his collar was the clenched, diamond-ringed fist of the pirate captain.

It was morning in New York. In the offices of a large museum the treasure seeker waited. Someone with a pile of paperwork hurried by and handed him an envelope. He opened it and looked unpleased but not surprised. As he began to leave another person walked up to say his presence was requested in the office of Ms. Travers, the museum founder's daughter. The man looked agitated. He had not seen Ann for years, since he and her father had an argument about the museum.

The treasure hunter entered Ann Travers' office. She was not there yet and he recognized some of her father's belongings inside a glass case. There were books, telescopes, artifacts from around the world, and the doctor's cigars. On the wall were Ann's certificates and pictures. He studied the images of the beautiful woman at different times in her life; graduations, expeditions, ceremonies, and in all he noticed an empty space next to her.