The Shadow of Venus by Judith Van Gieson Read Free Book Online Page B

together.”
    â€œIt was magnificent,” Claire agreed.
    â€œAltogether it went on for several weeks. I photographed every stage.” Lawton pointed to the photographs on the walls. “When I processed the photos, I gave each of the planets a color, so the viewer could identify them as they did their slow-motion dance. Mars, as you might expect, is red. I left Venus as a golden light.”
    â€œThe photographs are exquisite,” Claire said, looking at the planets dancing on the wall and the approach-avoidance dynamic as Venus and Mars moved together then parted. “The colors remind me of the photographs taken by the Hubble Telescope.”
    â€œThank you.” Lawton brushed his hair away from his collar and beamed with a shy pride. Claire was touched; she saw pride often enough in academia but rarely saw anything shy about it.
    â€œIt was an absolute stroke of genius for the scientists to color the Hubble photographs,” Lawton said. “It turned the pictures into artwork and made them accessible to everyone.”
    â€œMaia told me that Venus is visible in the daytime to those who know where to look,” Claire said.
    â€œThat’s a belief some Indians share,” Lawton said.
    â€œConsidering that conversation and the fact that she was found with an illustration from Ancient Sites, it could be that her interest—or her drug connection’s interest—was in archeoastronomy. She was homeless. I doubt she was enrolled as a student, although without knowing her name that would be hard to prove one way or the other. She may have sat in on some of your classes.”
    â€œWhat did she look like?”
    â€œShe wasn’t someone you would especially notice. She was pale. She had good bones. Her hair was light brown. She dressed in a very neat and subdued way. The police have a photo they are showing to people who might be able to identify her. Would you be willing to take a look?”
    â€œWhen was the photo taken?”
    â€œAfter she died.”
    Lawton grimaced. “I’ve seen many students fall asleep in my classes,” he said. “They may look like they’re dead, but I’m not really keen on looking at photos of people who really are dead. If Maia sat in on a large class I wouldn’t have noticed her, and she would never have been admitted to a small class.”
    â€œMaybe she talked to you at some point.”
    â€œIt’s possible. I talk to so many students. I can’t remember everyone. Can you come up with a photograph of her alive?”
    â€œIt could be difficult,” Claire said, “if not impossible.”
    â€œThe impossible—now that takes a little longer.” He smiled.
    Claire, who felt he’d dodged the ball she’d tossed out, wondered if it was photographs of the dead he wanted to avoid or meeting with the police. She moved on to the next subject.
    â€œWould you be able to put together a list of the library’s most valuable illustrated books in the field of archeoastronomy for me? I could narrow my search for missing illustrations by starting with those books.” Claire was capable of compiling such a list herself but knew Lawton Davis could do it better and faster.
    â€œNow, that’s an area in which I can help,” he said. “Consider it done. In its own way Spiral Rocks is quite an interesting site. Very few people have seen it, but that should change soon. Have you ever been there?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œIt’s the rare archeoastronomical site that’s on private land. It was owned by a rancher in Colorado until the celestial artist Edward Girard talked him into selling it. Girard has a passion for his work that can make him a very convincing salesman. The sky is his canvas. What makes Spiral Rocks unique from an archeoastronomer’s point of view is that it frames the Maximum Moon.”
    â€œWhat’s that?” Claire asked.
    â€œThe Hopi