Earthcrack: A Lin Hanna Mystery (15 page)

“Are you saying that if we do this job we
won’t have to work here any more?” Teddy was incredulous.

“Only if you want to.
 
Who knows, after this my business may
grow and you may actually want to be part of it—a regular employee, free
of debt and earning money.”

Teddy broke into an eager grin but
Michael still seemed wary.
 
He didn’t
think he would ever want to work for Tso, if he could find a way out of it; however,
he said nothing afraid to appear negative and ruin his chances of getting out
of debt.

Tso pushed the crudely drawn map across
the desk. “ I have reason to believe that there is some very valuable, antique
pottery hidden somewhere in this area—perhaps in the spot actually
marked, perhaps not but nearby I feel certain.
 
Find it, bring it to me intact and
without getting caught, and your debts will be canceled.
 
You will be free to go on your own way,
if you wish, so long as you say nothing to anyone about what you found.
 
If you wish to continue working with me,
you will actually be paid for any future finds you may make—you’ll be a
partner in my business,” he grinned but then, suddenly, turned serious,
 
“I should not have to remind you of the
consequences should you talk to anyone or betray my trust in you in anyway.”

The boys nodded seriously.
 
Teddy looked at Michael and then spoke, “
We can handle this, I know.
 
We are
the guys for this job.”

Michael felt less sure but he nodded in
agreement and, finally, he spoke. “I recognize this map.
 
This is Lomaki ruin and the box canyon
near it.
 
This is parkland; we’ll
have to find a way to sneak in to look for the stuff.
 
I know the area. It’s near the site
where my uncle used to collect eaglets and eagle feathers for our clan
ceremonies.
 
I have been there with
him,” he boasted.
 
That was actually
not true.
 
He had been in the park,
but his uncle had never actually let him go all the way to the site; however,
Teddy and Tso, being Navajo, wouldn’t know about that.

Michael wanted to be free of his debt so
badly.
 
He did not really trust Tso
but he felt he had to take this chance, “ We can do this,” he agreed as he
folded the map and prepared to leave the office.

“You need to get to work soon; I want the
job finished by next week,” Tso spoke with a stern look. “You do not have to
come into the shop while you are working on this but call me every day to
report your progress.”

“Yes, sir,” Teddy smiled.

The boys left the shop together.
 
Teddy turned to Michael and asked, “You
really know where this stuff might be?”

“Well, yes, in general,” Michael shared. “I
think I can figure it out.
 
I have
been there. We are going to need a truck and maybe some tools to dig with.
 
I notice Mr. Tso didn’t offer his
vehicle or any equipment.
 
No money
up front for any expenses either.” He was discouraged because he didn’t know
how he might overcome these obstacles.

“Well, we’ll just have to see what we can
come up with,” Teddy seemed more confident than Michael felt. “There has to be
a way.”

The boys parted company and headed for
their respective homes on foot, agreeing to meet at the Tuba City McDonald’s
the next morning to see what they had come up with.
 
Teddy’s house was close by but Michael
had a bit further to walk.
 
He lived
on the other side of the highway that bisected the town and formed a boundary
between Tuba City and the Hopi community of Moenkopi.

****

Tso sat back at his desk and thought
about the prospects if this deal went through.
 
He could actually make some real money
without having to mess with all the locals and their never-ending debts.
  
He could find another niche; one
that promised greater rewards in the future.
 
There was one shadow hanging in his
thoughts; what was going on with Darren?
  
Raymond had more or less assumed
that Darren was either dead or had left the area altogether when he disappeared
last year.
 
He had failed in this
pottery deal and was afraid to show himself.
 
Tso had assumed he had moved far away or
had, perhaps, met with some unfortunate accident.
 
Now he apparently had resurfaced and he
would, no doubt, expect a share of Raymond’s money if this deal came
through.
 
Tso was tired of Darren’s
lack of dependability.
 
He drank too
much and couldn’t be counted on when it came to business.
 
Raymond wanted to make sure Darren did
not resurface to spoil this new deal with Chou.
 
He needed to find out where he was and
what he was doing.

Picking up the phone, Raymond dialed the
number of his most “dependable” loan customer.
 
This fellow managed to pay his debts,
but he enjoyed the casinos in New Mexico too much so he was always coming back
for more.

When the man answered the phone, Raymond
asked, “ Do you know my cousin, Darren Steele?”

“Sure, the guy who disappeared last year,”
the man replied.

“So, I thought,” Raymond responded, “but
apparently he has been seen around recently.
 
I need to know where he is staying and
what he is doing.”

“Not a problem, I can look around, make a
few inquiries.
 
I’ll call you in a
couple of days.”

“Thanks, I’ll make it worth your while.”
Raymond smiled as he hung up the phone.
 
Soon he would be a dealer in art and artifacts.
 
He was coming up in the world and no one
was going to stand in his way.

The hot shower and glass of wine had
worked their wonders for relaxation and Lin awoke the next day feeling
refreshed from a good night’s sleep.
 
She was looking forward to hearing from Sue later and making plans to
visit the Honeyestewa family soon.
 
First and foremost, she felt that this family deserved to know that
their loved one was remembered and that not everyone was totally accepting of
the idea that his death had been an accident.
 
She also hoped that they might have some
information to share about this person that would help her to find some answers
to the mystery that was his disappearance and death—whatever the cause.

Lin reported to the visitor center on
time and was soon busy.
 
There was
another school group this morning.
 
Toby was handling the talk at the ruins but the visitor center was full
of both students and tourists for most of the morning—viewing exhibits,
asking questions, buying souvenirs—Lin barely had time for a brief
mid-morning break.

At midday Lin returned to her apartment
for lunch.
 
She made herself a
sandwich and took it outside to eat.
 
It was a beautiful spring day and she enjoyed being out of doors when it
was this nice.
  
She sat back
in her chair and allowed her thoughts to roam freely.
 
She found herself coming back to Neal
Smith. She had to admit that she did like him a lot.
 
He was a very attractive and intelligent
man—someone whose company she had come to enjoy.
 
She realized that she looked forward to
seeing him in the park with his students and she looked forward to the possibility
of having dinner with him soon, as he had mentioned.
 
She mentally cautioned herself not to
become too interested until she knew more about him.
 
Better stick to business—for now
anyway.

Having finished her lunch, Lin took her
plate back to her kitchen, tidied up a bit, and headed back to the visitor
center.
 
When she arrived she
learned that Sue Gray had called and left a message for her.
 
She still had a few minutes before she
was due to talk to another group so she went back to the staff office to return
the call.
 
Fortunately she reached
Sue right away.

“We’re on for Sunday,” Sue reported
eagerly, “I was able to switch weekend days with one of the staff members who
wanted to be off on Saturday anyway, so things worked out for us both.”

“Great,” Lin responded, “Why don’t you
come up here first thing Sunday morning.
 
We can leave early and stop for breakfast at the Cameron Trading post
before going on up to Moenkopi. I haven’t been there yet and everyone says it’s
a must.”

“ It is a great place,” Sue was
enthusiastic, “of course, their specialty is Navajo tacos, which are hardly
breakfast fare, but I’m sure that breakfast will be good also.
 
They have a wonderful shop with lots of
beautiful crafts—plenty of tourist stuff, but some really nice things also.”

 
“It will be a fun day,” Lin replied, “We
can mix pleasure with business so to speak. I’ll bring a copy of the police
report to share with the family.
 
Hopefully, they will be at home.
 
I have no way of reaching them—just a street—no house number
though.”

“ We’ll find them,” Sue seemed confident,
“ See you Sunday.”

Lin felt a new sense of purpose now that
she was finally taking some concrete steps to learn more about the death of
this man.
 
It had only been about
ten days since the remains were discovered and yet, the case had already been
closed and no one in authority seemed interested in finding out anything
more.
 
Well, hopefully, she could
find some answers.
 
She was
certainly determined to try.

***

Friday and Saturday passed uneventfully
and rather quickly.
 
It was a
beautiful spring weekend, sunny and warm but comfortable.
 
The park had many visitors both from out
of town and from the local surrounding communities.
 
Lin was kept busy assisting in several
areas so the time passed quickly.
 
She didn’t have much time to read about archeology nor did she have much
time to think about what she was going to do or say on Sunday if she found the
Honeyestewa family at home.
 
She did
manage to make a copy of the police report late Saturday afternoon just before
closing.
 
She had brought it over in
the folder of articles and found a moment, when the other folks on duty were
busy with visitors, to slip back to the office and make a copy.
 
Now she was ready for the next step.

***

Sunday was yet another beautiful day.
 
Sue arrived on time and soon they were
off to the reservation.
 
They had
told others they were going north for a day of exploring and playing tourist.
 
Shortly after eight-thirty they pulled
into the parking lot at the Cameron Trading Post.
 
This historic business had been here for
a long time and was still quite active as a popular stop for visitors to the
area.

Soon they were seated in the beautiful
dining room.
 
Broad windows offered
a view of the Little Colorado River gorge behind the building; a huge stone
fireplace dominated the room that was beautifully paneled with a punched tin
ceiling.
 
Exquisite Navajo rugs,
worth thousands of dollars, decorated the walls.
 
Sue had visited the place before and was
able to explain some of the traditional designs to Lin.
 

They delighted in breakfast burritos made
with Navajo fry bread.
 
As they
settled back to enjoy a second cup of coffee, Lin brought up the purpose of
their trip.

“I really am not sure what to say to this
family,” she wondered, “ I’m not sure about proper etiquette in such a
situation.
 
I know that they might
be distrustful and not want to talk to us.”

Sue was thoughtful. “ I did a volunteer
stint in this area a couple of years ago—with one of the schools.
 
I found that Hopi families are a bit more
open and easy going than most of the Navajo.
 
While they are often wary of strangers, it’s
in their nature to be hospitable.
 
They have lived together in close villages for hundreds of years while
the Navajo were more nomadic and more likely to live apart from other
people.
 
I think if we approach
courteously they will welcome us.”

“Well, we can use the excuse of bringing
them a copy of the police report,” Lin added, “ That gives us an opening.
 
We can always say we were not certain
whether or not they had received one—which is true.”

“That is true and we can let them take
the lead in talking about their family member.
 
We don’t want to pepper them with
questions.
 
If they are willing to
talk at all, we should be able to get some answers.”

Before leaving the trading post, Lin and
Sue took some time to examine some of the merchandise in the gallery portions
of the large store.
 
It was almost
like visiting a museum of native art.
 
Both ladies enjoyed seeing the beautiful weavings, pottery and
jewelry.
 
Lin was tempted, but she
didn’t purchase anything.
 
There
would be other opportunities and she didn’t want to break her budget so early
in her stay.

Soon they were back on the road.
 
They had driven Sue’s car because she
had a GPS.
 
Lin programmed in the
name of the street in Moenkopi, the only address she had.
 
There was no house number but they felt
sure that if they got to the street they could locate the family.

When they arrived in Tuba City, Sue
explained to Lin about the existence of the two communities that, although
contiguous, had different time zones.
 
The Hopi reservation was relatively small and entirely surrounded by the
larger Navajo reservation.
 
Moenkopi
was a Hopi community while Tuba was Navajo. Although the state of Arizona did
not observe daylight saving time, the Navajo did so.
 
Since the Hopi followed the pattern of
the state, the time in Hopi communities was an hour earlier during the spring
and summer than that in neighboring Navajo areas.
 
This could be confusing.
 
The two groups often did not see eye to
eye politically either and there had been land disputes that continued over the
years.
 
In spite of all these
differences, there were marriages and friendships between the two groups.
 
Amazing, Lin thought, hard to believe
that life could be so complex in rural areas that would appear to have a simple
lifestyle.

It was mid-morning when Lin and Sue
pulled up to a convenience store on the corner of the street where the
Honeyestewa family lived.
 
They went
inside and purchased some snacks, mostly to be polite.
 
When they had paid for their purchases
Lin asked the clerk about the family.

“Oh, yes, I know them well—nice
folks,” he responded, “Probably not home right now though.
 
I think they usually go to church—that
little Presbyterian Church over on the next street.
 
Services start at ten, I think, so they
will not be over for about 45 minutes or an hour.
 
It’s the third house up the street on
the right side,” he indicated the direction with a wave of his hand.

“We’ll wait then,” Sue said. “Anyplace
around here to get a good cup of coffee?”

“Our coffee is pretty good,” the clerk
smiled, “but, if you want to sit and wait for a while, I would recommend you go
over to the McDonald’s in Tuba.”

“Thanks, we’ll try that,” Lin
responded.
 
Taking the snacks they
had purchased, they left and returned to their car.

They drove down the street to locate the
Honeyestewa home.
 
It did appear
that there was no one there. A metal carport in the front yard was empty;
although, there was a pick up truck parked in the back beside a shed.
 
Possibly Cullen’s truck that had been
returned to the family, Lin noted.
 
They would have to come back later.

Sue turned around at the end of the
street and they drove back across the highway into Tuba City.
 
The McDonalds was easy to spot so they
went in and ordered coffees.
 
There
were only a few customers—two older Navajo men were having coffee in a
rear booth and a family of tourists was enjoying a late breakfast at a table in
front.
 
Sue and Lin located a booth
where they could chat without being easily overheard.
 
While they sipped their coffee they
reviewed the police report they had brought to give the family.
 
Sue had not actually read it
before.
 

“I agree with you.
 
This report doesn’t answer many
questions.
 
In fact, it seems to me
to raise more than it answers.” Sue had finished reading and placed the report
back in its folder.

“ I hate to say this,” Lin replied, “ but
I think Deputy Taylor went into this investigation with a preconceived notion
of what had happened and he found what he was looking for.”

“So it seems.
 
Perhaps this was indeed an accident that
happened just the way the report concludes, but there is certainly no
substantial evidence that proves that—or anything else for that matter,”
Sue responded, “ If this were about one of my family members I would be pushing
hard for further investigation but….”

“I guess these folks might feel put off
by authorities, especially from communities outside the reservation.
  
Lots of folks are afraid to
question the police it seems,” Lin offered.

Sue nodded, “That could well be the case
but it doesn’t mean that someone shouldn’t ask questions.
 
In my career I have seen a lot of cases
reopened because a nosy reporter like me kept pushing for information and
asking questions.”

Lin smiled.
 
She was glad to have Sue along.
 
She was certain that she could think of
things to ask that Lin might overlook.
 
Besides, it was good to have a new friend who believed that questions
should be asked and who shared Lin’s concerns about this particular case.

The ladies finished their coffee and left
the restaurant.
 
It had been almost
an hour since they left the convenience store and church should be ending by
now.
  
They drove back to
Moenkopi.

As they approached the Honeyestewa home,
they saw an older model sedan pulling into the carport.
 
They parked on the street in front of
the home and observed the family getting out of their car—an older
couple, probably Cullen’s parents, a younger woman and a rather tall, skinny
teenaged boy.