“Okay, that’s my question. If nobody takes his work seriously, why are you holding a symposium in his honor?”

“Well, first of all, because he’s a genuinely nice guy, a real, old-fashioned gentleman – kind, helpful, not full of himself like some TV celebrities – and you can’t help liking him as a person – you’ll see – but mainly because of his very real contributions to archaeology. See, it’s the Horizon Foundation that’s putting it on, and putting the five of us up-”

“And spouses, let’s not forget about spouses.”

“And spouses, and they’re doing it largely to show their thanks for all he’s done for the field, and especially for the foundation itself. Ivan’s getting to the end of the road now – he’s over ninety. And this is a perfect opportunity. It’s the fifth anniversary of the finding of Gibraltar Boy and Gibraltar Woman, and in a very real way he’s responsible for that. And the odds are he won’t be around for the tenth anniversary.”

“That’s one of the things I’m confused about. I thought it was, what’s his name, Adrian something, that found them.”

“Yes, sure, Adrian Vanderwater was actually running the dig, but-” He glanced over at Julie. “Didn’t I already explain this once?”

“I think possibly you did,” Julie said casually.

“Or twice?”

“Could be. Would you mind going through it again?”

“Will you promise to pay attention this time?”

“I was paying attention. I just fell asleep, that’s all. You can hardly blame that on me.”

She laughed; that sudden, two-note chirp of giggle that made her nose crinkle, something he found unbearably coy in other women, but in Julie, he thought it was absolutely adorable. (He knew no men whose noses crinkled; now why was that? Was there a sex-linked gene involved? Perhaps a master’s thesis for one of his students?)