Earthcrack: A Lin Hanna Mystery (31 page)

Lin graciously accepted the offer and was
soon sitting at the plain oak table in Cameron’s conference room.
 
Nothing fancy, after all David was
employed as a public defender, but the room was comfortable and airy with
bright sunlight streaming in from tall windows.
 
Lin spread out her notes and papers and
began to try to put them into some order.
 
She really was beginning to feel that information was coming at her from
all directions.
 
It was time to
review and classify all that she had learned thus far.
 
She was just beginning to read through
her notes when Cameron entered the room.

“Thanks for waiting, I had to run a quick
errand before I left the court house.” Cameron removed his jacket and placed it
on a pole in the corner of the room.

“Looks like you have a wealth of
information there,” he spoke, indicating her notes and papers.

“Too much—yet not enough!” Lin
remarked, “ I just wish I could tie some of this stuff together.”

“Well, I think we can tie one loose end,”
Cameron remarked, “Michael is sure that Raymond Tso is responsible for what
happened to his mother.
 
He spilled
the beans about his gambling debts and his working in Tso’s shop to repay.
 
Apparently, Mr. Tso still intends to
collect from the family.”

“Yes, but the debts should have already
been satisfied,” Lin remarked.
 
She
explained to David what Sophie had said about Michael and Teddy working for
more than a year without taking home any money.
 
“She told the sheriff’s office about
that and I think they are contacting the tribal police.
 
I’m sure that Mr. Tso has violated labor
laws, not to mention sending that man to threaten and assault Sophie.”

“Mr. Tso is most likely behind the
beating Sophie endured yesterday,” Cameron offered. “Learning about that really
shook Michael up.
 
He is still
afraid for his mother and his family but I think I convinced him that he couldn’t
protect them by remaining silent about what was going on.
 
Only the authorities can help in this
situation.”

“ Michael gave me a lot of information
that I’ll be glad to share with you, since you are helping the family. I spoke
with Sophie by phone earlier and she gave me permission to talk with you about
all this. I had her to sign an official release of information form while she
was at the sheriff’s department. I persuaded Michael that he couldn’t hide what
he was doing from his Mother.
 
She
needs to know for her own protection.
 
I did promise him that I would only use the information to help him or
to help his family.
 
The same goes
for Teddy.
 
I’m defending him also.”
Cameron seemed happy that he had finally gotten Michael to share with him.

“I can promise you that I will not misuse
any information which you give me.
 
I’m
trying to help Sophie and her family learn what happened to her brother last
year and I think it is all connected somehow to recent events.” Lin explained.

“Well, Michael told me that he and Teddy
went to the park last Monday to search for some old pottery that is supposedly
buried near that box canyon area—near the place where his clan collects
eagle feathers and such.
 
Supposedly
the boys had a hand drawn map.
 
He
says he threw it away when they left.”

 
“ Apparently the boys saw the dead bodies
when they got there and became frightened.
 
They ran back to their truck; that is when Michael must have dropped the
belt buckle that was in his pocket.
 
After they left, he said, they tore up the map that Raymond Tso had
given them.
 
He thinks he could
still find the place where supposedly the pots are hidden—but he admits
that he is not sure if there are any pots, there or anywhere for that
matter.
 
I wish he still had the map
so I could use that to back up his story with the sheriff but…” David seemed
troubled, “I believe what he is saying but we will need more than that to avoid
charges.”

The wheels were turning in Lin’s mind, “Why
were they looking for old pottery in the first place?” she asked.
 
Her thoughts were rambling—trying
to make connections.
 
She remembered
that Jimmy Chee had said Darren Steele, in his drunken state, was talking about
looking for pottery also; he had turned up dead in the same location the boys
were looking.

Cameron continued, “Apparently, Raymond
Tso had promised the boys forgiveness for their remaining debts if they could
locate some pottery that was supposedly hidden in that part of the park.
 
Michael told me that Tso met with some
Chinese guy from New Mexico a few weeks ago.
 
It was after that visit that the hunt
for the pottery started.
 
Tso also
hinted that the boys might find it profitable to continue to work for him after
this pottery was located—said there might be other jobs.”

Lin’s thoughts were clicking now.
 
She thought of the information Sue was
gathering about the trade in stolen pottery.
 
Perhaps John Sessions was not the only
one involved in this trade.
 
Maybe
Raymond Tso was also connected somehow.
 
Were these pots valuable enough to kill for?
 
Lin realized that Cameron was still
talking but she wasn’t really listening.

“I’m sorry David.
 
I’m afraid I wasn’t paying attention.”
 
Lin told David about her feeling that
Cullen Honeyestewa had somehow been linked to John Sessions who was the former
employer of Darren Steele. “Apparently though, Darren left about a year
ago.
 
Maybe he had made connections
with the stolen art world; maybe Raymond Tso was involved also.
 
I know that Sue Gray suspects John
Sessions is involved in stolen art—and a young assistant at the gallery
has said that this is true—but that may be another case entirely, since
Steele was no longer in his employ.”

Cameron looked thoughtful.
 
“It would be hard to say about Sessions,
although I feel sure that dealing in stolen art and artifacts is a lot more
widespread than we might think.
 
You
may be right about Steele going out on his own, so to speak.
 
You may not know that he was known also
to Raymond Tso—his cousin, in fact.”

“And maybe a cheating cousin?” Lin
queried.

“What I was saying earlier is that
Michael and Teddy have procured some stolen artifacts and small art pieces for
Tso before this more recent effort.
 
Michael said it was small stuff—until the search for this pottery
began.
 
He thinks this Chinese guy
was somehow connected too—but he doesn’t know his name.”

“It seems to me that Raymond Tso might be
a better suspect in this killing than Michael and Teddy are!
  
Does deputy Taylor have all of
this information?”
 
Lin asked.

“He will soon,” Cameron offered.
 
“I have arranged for Michael to tell all
of this to the deputy tomorrow morning.
 
I will be present for the meeting.
 
Hopefully, Tso will have been picked up by the tribal police for the
assault on Sophie.
 
If we can link
all of this information for the authorities, perhaps Michael and Teddy can be
released.”

“I certainly hope so,” Lin smiled.
 
She couldn’t forget her primary goal
however, “Does Michael have any idea why his uncle also died in that same part
of the park?”

“Not really,” David was thoughtful. “He
said that Cullen had promised him some major help paying off his debts to Tso
shortly before he disappeared but he didn’t know what he had in mind. “

Lin thought back to the fact that Cullen
had John Sessions’ business card in his possession and, she could not forget,
he had some connection to Neal Smith who did archeological work in the
park.
 
She told David about the business
card and reminded him that there was some reason to believe Sessions was in the
stolen art trade.
 
She couldn’t
bring herself to mention Neal Smith, however.

“It does seem suspicious,” David agreed. “Maybe
Cullen was hoping to help Michael by selling some art or artifacts but I’m
afraid we really can’t pursue that angle legally without more real
evidence.
 
Hunches and suspicions
will not do it.”
 
His face
brightened a bit, “but we do have some more solid information regarding Raymond
Tso.
 
That is the angle I need to
pursue for the benefit of Michael and Teddy.”

“ Sue Gray and I will continue to work to
learn more about what Cullen was doing in the park last year when he died,” Lin
offered. “If we find any definite connections to this current case—any
evidence which could help you we will be in touch.”

“Thanks,” David said—rising to show
her out, “and I will do the same for you.
 
I’ll call you tomorrow when I learn what will be done about Michael and
Teddy.”

Lin thanked the young man, gathered her notes,
and prepared to leave.
 
Things were
looking up a bit for Michael and Teddy.
 
It would be good to have some positive news to share with Sophie.

It was almost four when Lin left David
Cameron’s office.
  
As she
headed back to her car she mulled her options for the rest of the
afternoon.
 
Sue had indicated she
would be at the newspaper office or, perhaps, the public library all afternoon
and Sophie was most likely sleeping still.
 
Her thoughts drifted to Neal Smith—her emotions were in a bit of
turmoil where the handsome professor was concerned.
 
She hadn’t seen nor heard from him since
their last evening together when he became so upset when she wouldn’t drop the
subject of Cullen’s death.
 
She
still was convinced in her mind that he did know Cullen and that he could shed
light on what he was doing in the park.
 
If only she could get him to talk to her about this.
 
While she didn’t trust his denial of
having known Cullen, neither did she believe that he could be involved in
anything violent.
 
Somehow she just didn’t
see this in him.
 
Perhaps she was
losing her instincts where people were concerned, but she didn’t think so.
 
She still trusted her own judgment.
 
Smith was lying to her about Cullen but
he was, at heart, a good and gentle man.
 
She felt herself tearing up a bit as she
thought about Neal.
 
She had to
admit that she did care for him—even if that was a lost cause at this
point.

More significantly for the present, Neal
still seemed her best bet for finding out what Cullen was doing in the park
when he died.
 
In spite of all the
information that had come out about Raymond Tso and his connections to Michael,
Teddy, and yes, Darren Steele, there was still nothing conclusive to connect
all that was going on now back to Cullen.
 

At this point Lin had reached her
car.
 
She placed her files on the
back seat and made a decision.
 
She
was going to try to find Neal and try, one more time, to get him to talk to her
about his connection with Cullen.
 
It might be useless, and it would certainly end any chance of their
friendship moving forward, but she had to do it.
 
This was really her only link left to
explore.
 
More information might
come from this current case—if any of the parties involved shared what
they might have known—but she couldn’t be certain of this.
 
She had already exhausted her efforts
with John Sessions and that had produced plenty of suspicions about the stolen
art trade but no viable information about Cullen.
 
Picking up her phone, she dialed Sue
Gray’s cell number.
 
She reached her
quickly.

“Hello,” Sue whispered, “I’m in the
library.
 
Let me go outside where I
can talk.”

In a few moments she returned to the
line. “ I’m up to my ears in news articles about stolen art in the
southwest.
 
This is really a big
story,” the reporter was talking now. “I can’t wait to share with you tonight
but I’m going to be working another hour or maybe more.
 
I exhausted the files at the Arizona
Daily Sun so now I am researching other regional papers.
 
I may not be home before seven or so.”

“That’s ok,” Lin said, “ I’m not ready to
go home yet either. I did want to tell you however, that Sessions’ young
assistant spoke to me today and he says that stolen art does pass through the
gallery.
 
I doubt he would come
forward though, and his word might not be sufficient for the authorities, but
it does say you are on track with your search.
 
Keep it up! Maybe you could call Sophie
later so she won’t worry about us.”
 
Lin then proceeded to tell Sue what she intended.
 
She was going to try to reach Neal Smith
and, if she could talk to him, was going to press him for whatever he
knew.
  
“ I have a lot more
information to share with you but that can wait until we talk tonight.”

“Please be careful,” Sue said, “and I do
not mean that I think Smith would do you physical harm—I’m not so sure
about your heart though.”

“I know,” Lin confessed, “I am fond of
him and I’m aware that pressing him on this subject will probably end our
friendship for good, but I have to know what happened to Cullen and I think
Neal is really my only link left to explore at this point—at least it
seems so to me.
 
Unless more
information is revealed when this murder case is resolved fully, we may be left
still not knowing what Cullen was doing in the park.
 
I owe it to Sophie and her family to try—and
to myself,” Lin added, “ I really have nothing to lose.
 
Neal hasn’t called me since our last
discussion ended so badly—maybe…” she did not finish her thought. “I’ll
call you before I start back to your apartment later.
 
We can talk then.”
 
Lin ended the connection.

Lin noted that it was past
four-thirty.
 
Perhaps Neal would
have already left campus.
 
She
located his name in her contact list and tapped the button to place the call
before she could change her mind.

“ Neal Smith,” his deep, baritone voice
sent a small shiver up Lin’s spine. “How can I help you?”

“ Hello Neal, this is Lin.
 
I’m in town for a few days taking care
of some business and I thought perhaps we could get together,” Lin took a deep
breath, “ I’m sorry about how our last evening together ended.
 
I’ve missed you,” Lin realized as she
spoke just how true this was.

There was a long silence on the other end
of the call.
 
Finally, Neal spoke
and Lin thought she detected a catch in his voice, “ Me too,” he said, “by all
means we should get together.
 
What
are you doing now?”

“Nothing really, I just finished some
business but I’m free now,” Lin responded.

“Then come to the university,” Neal
sounded happy, “You can leave your car here and we can go somewhere for a drink—maybe
dinner—if you have time.”

“Sounds terrific,” Lin eagerly
responded.
 
She listened carefully
as Neal described how to locate his office on campus and where to park.
 
Soon she was navigating the crowded
streets toward the university campus.

She parked her car in a visitor’s spot
Neal had told her about and entered the old sandstone building that housed the
archeology department.
 
It was a
lovely old building—one of the original parts of the Northern Arizona
campus.
 
She was nervous as entered
the elevator.
 
She really did care
for Neal—she was beginning to realize this more and more—but she
was afraid that she was about to end any chances their friendship might have
had, permanently.
 
At the same time,
she could not bring herself to pursue any relationship with someone she couldn’t
trust.
 
Taking a deep breath as she
exited the elevator on the second floor, she determined to press on and take
her chances.

Neal greeted her in the reception area
and introduced her to the department secretary and to two student assistants
who were working there.

“I’m glad to meet you,” Lin smiled as
Neal took her elbow.

“Let’s go into my office to talk for a
few moments,” He smiled at her, “then we can decide where to go for drinks and
dinner.”
 
He led her down a short
corridor to the last office on the right.

As she followed Neal into his small but
well-appointed office, he turned and trapped her against the closed door—placing
his arms on either side of the door so that she could not pass by.
 
His sparkling blue eyes seemed to burn
as he beamed a warm smile.

“I have missed you Lin Hanna,” he
whispered, “I’m sorry our last evening ended as it did.”
 
Before Lin could respond, Neal placed
his warm hands on her shoulders and brought his lips down to hers.
 
This time he did not hesitate—he
kissed her hard and deeply and she found herself responding—answering
with warmth of her own as she slipped her arms about his waist and allowed
herself to enjoy his embrace.
 
It
had been so long since she had experienced the warm feeling that now raced
through her body.
 
Lin had dated
other men since she lost Ben but she had never felt like she did at this
moment.
 
She felt elation and fear—knowing
that there were still questions to be asked and answered and realizing that
these might mean the end—not the beginning of this relationship.

Neal gently pulled himself back—breaking
their embrace—but he continued to lavish her with looks of
affection.
 

“Do sit down,” he indicated a small sofa
at the side of his office and sat down beside her as she seated herself.

“Lin, I’m sorry that I left things as I
did at our last meeting,” Neal was serious, he took her hand in his and gently
stroked it. “ I wasn’t being fair to you.”

Lin nodded, “and I was probably not fair
to you either.”
 
She looked into his
eyes trying to determine if she could sense more trust there—more readiness
to build an open and honest relationship.
 
She still couldn’t be sure, but she knew she had to try.

“I guess we need to talk more—about
us.”
 
She desperately wanted to add “and
about what happened to Cullen,” but she was still afraid.
 
She hoped that maybe he would bring it
up himself—if she gave him the chance.

“We do,” Neal responded, “but not
here.
 
I know just the place.”
 
He rose and went to his desk where he
began to straighten things up and place papers in his briefcase, “ I hope you
have time for drinks and dinner—the Jackson Grill is a special place and
I want to take you there.”

“I have plenty of time,” Lin smiled. “I’m
staying with Sue Gray at Walnut Canyon but I called her so she won’t be
expecting me home early.”

Neal’s look clearly said that he wished
Sue were not expecting her home at all that evening but Lin quickly added, “ We
have some things to talk about tonight, but it is early yet so there is plenty
of time for us to enjoy a good dinner—and a talk of our own.”
 
She gave Neal a warm smile that she
hoped showed she was serious and was genuinely happy to be with him—but
she couldn’t promise more just yet—not until she knew where he stood—not
until she was sure she could trust him.

The drive south of Flagstaff led them
through the tall ponderosa pines.
 
The forest fairly glowed in warm late-afternoon sunlight.
 
The Jackson Grill was housed in a rustic
lodge amid beautiful grounds.
 
Inside was a beautiful dining room with views of the forest from large
windows.
 
Linen draped tables and
soft lighting indicated a certain sophistication amid the rustic setting.

Neal spoke to the hostess and they were
directed to a small table next to a window in an intimate corner of the dining
room.
 
Here the other guests couldn’t
easily overhear them.
 
It was still
early but there were a few diners already seated.

Lin ordered a glass of red wine and Neal
asked for dark ale.
 
Their drinks
arrived with a crock of sharp cheddar cheese and a basket of whole grain
crackers.
 
A relish tray of raw
vegetables soon followed.

“Enjoy, but save room for dinner,” Neal
winked at her as she hungrily dipped a celery stalk into the tangy cheese, “the
food here is terrific.”

“Lunch was a long time ago,” Lin only
vaguely remembered the soup and salad from Coyote Cafe, “and I have had a busy
afternoon,” she added.

“What have you been up to,” Neal asked—spreading
a cracker for himself.

Lin decided to be truthful.
 
She would share what she could about her
activities, but she wasn’t ready to bring up the Cullen connection just yet.
 
She started to update Neal on happenings
since the recent park deaths—those he knew about already, of course.
 
Lin was not sure how much he knew of
subsequent activities so, at the risk of repeating what he might already know,
she discussed the arrest of Michael and Teddy, the attack on Sophie, the
involvement of Raymond Tso, and the connections to Henry Piestewa and Darren
Steele.

Lin carefully omitted any information
about John Sessions and his possible art theft involvements—after all
they might not be connected to the present case anyway.
 
Neal listened thoughtfully, without
interrupting her.
 
As she concluded
her story, Lin indicated that she felt the authorities were on the right track
to solve these most recent murders.

“I’m hopeful that Michael and Teddy may
be released tomorrow, after they talk to Billy Taylor and tell him what they
were doing for Raymond Tso.
 
It
looks like Tso—or someone connected to him—may be responsible for
these killings.
 
He certainly has
used violence to get his way in the past and seems to be continuing to do so
now.”
 
Lin paused as the waiter had
come to take their order for dinner.