Ghost Medicine (26 page)

She reached the station’s parking lot just as Big Ed pulled into his assigned space near the front doors. She parked two rows behind him and went inside.

Seeing
Big Ed striding down the hall, Ella jogged to catch up. “We need to talk, Chief.”

“My office,” he said with a nod.

Moments later, Ella sat across from Big Ed’s desk, searching her mind for the best way to give him the news.

“What happened?” Big Ed asked. He’d stopped rocking back and forth in his chair and was leaning forward. He’d obviously picked up on her mood. “What’s going on?”

Ella gave
him the details. “County has the laptop in evidence, so it’s only a matter of time before they find the file.”

“Are you sure it was my brother’s firm?” He held up a hand before she could answer. “Of course it is.”

“Maybe you should ask your brother to come in and explain. It may be easier for both of you that way.”

He shook his head. “No special treatment. It’s up to county to follow up on
this. If Elroy ends up facing charges, I’ll make sure he gets a good attorney. That’ll be the extent of my involvement.”

Ella went to her office, got on the phone, and called in her team. A half hour later, with everyone there, she started their briefing. By the time she finished, she could almost feel the somber cloud that had descended over all of them.

“Benny, Joe, check out E. Atcitty Construction,”
Ella said, “but your sole objective will be finding any possible connection to Harry’s murder. The actual purchases of stolen goods aren’t part of our case unless they lead to uncovering the killer. What we want is to learn the identity of the man Elroy Atcitty dealt with, if not O’Donnell. Keep in mind that if it wasn’t Billy, this contact could be the same guy who killed O’Donnell—and
our friend.”

“Before we even leave that construction company’s site, word will get out that we were questioning the chief’s brother,” Benny said. “Speculation will go wild, and Big Ed’s critics and the local press will eat him alive.”

Ella rolled her eyes. “We have no other choice. We’re working a homicide investigation.”

After Joe and Benny left her office, Ella looked at Justine. “You got
here early, I saw your car when I pulled in. Anything new from the lab?”

“The bullet we recovered was from a .38, so that rules out Harry’s weapon,” Justine said.

“Okay. What about those plants?”

“I haven’t been able to narrow things down much. Plants just aren’t my field. I’m cross-referencing against some of the data I’ve got, but it’s slow going. The only thing I’ve identified is fresh straw—kind
of obvious—and that could have come from anywhere.”

“You’re gonna get some help soon. Mom will be coming in this morning.”

“That’s great news!” Justine said, brightening up almost instantly. “I’ll leave word out front and ask the desk sergeant to bring her straight to my lab.”

“Take me there yourself,” a familiar voice said from behind Justine.

“Hi, Aunt!” Justine said, and smiled at Rose,
who had her hair down and was wearing her baggy khaki garden slacks, a long-sleeved cotton blouse, and her favorite old chambray jacket with worn cuffs and a half dozen pockets. In Rose’s hand was a tablet computer Herman had bought for her on her last birthday.

“I see you brought your references,” Justine said, eyeing the computer. “Let me show you the way, and we can sort things out there.”

Ella watched them walk away and smiled. Justine adored Rose, and the feeling was mutual. Both would enjoy working together, and had spent several days earlier in the year scanning all her reference maps and charts into digital form, then onto the tablet so Rose could carry them out into the field.

Ella was glad that her mother had decided to help. Rose’s expertise when it came to the Plant People
was second to none. For years she’d worked tirelessly for the tribe, locating and identifying native plants and cataloging the ones with special medicinal uses. She’d charted the location of hundreds of plant populations, and her research had also predicted other sites where particular species might be found.

The project had been mostly a labor of love. She certainly hadn’t been paid enough for
the time she’d spent on the work, but Rose had performed an invaluable service for the tribe, and now that information, in digital form, could be preserved forever.

When Ella went to answer her ringing phone, she was surprised to hear Gerald Bidtah on the other end.

“Investigator Clah, I’m planning to be in Shiprock and I’d like to meet with you this morning. Will you be available?” Bidtah asked.

“No, sir. We’re at a critical point in a double homicide investigation and we’ve just uncovered an important lead.”

“Your people can’t follow it up for you?” he snapped.

“As lead investigator, I handle certain aspects myself. It’s even more so in a complicated case like this one.”

“Harry Ute’s murder?”

“Yes, sir. And another victim just last night.”

“Stay on the trail, then. You’ve done excellent
work coordinating federal, county, and tribal law enforcement, Clah,” Bidtah said. “I know that you’ve undoubtedly heard about the restructuring within the department, but rest assured your future is secure. Your experience is invaluable to us.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Make good choices, Investigator Clah, and the sky’s the limit.”

“Yes, sir,” Ella said, her voice strained. What she really wanted
to do was hang up on the sanctimonious prick.

“Call me as soon as you can free up an hour in your schedule. We need to talk about your future with the department.”

“Yes, sir.” Ella placed the receiver down and swallowed back her distaste.

Maybe once Harry’s murder was solved, she’d have a better feel for what her next step should be. Until then, she had work to do. Ella hurried to her partner’s
office and found Justine and Rose seated beside the large central counter. Her mom was wearing gloves, probably a double set.

“Seeds plus this tiny fragment tell me all I need to know. In Navajo, that plant is called
Ch’il lizhini
. It means ‘black plant,’ but most just call it blackbrush. Look at the stem. It’s a distinctive dark gray. The leaves were a dull green once, and those long spurs eventually
become thorns,” Rose said. “It’s one of the few plants without any recorded medicinal or ceremonial use. It grows around sand dunes, and helps stabilize them.”

“Mom, do you know if it’s a species that’s prevalent in any areas right around here?” Ella asked, joining them.

Rose took a deep breath. “The closest one I know of is around Little Wash, west of Rattlesnake,” she said. “I’m sure there
are some other sites in that general area, too. Wind distributes the seeds.”

“We really appreciate your help,” Justine said. “Can you give us a list of other places around the Four Corners where it can be found?”

“I’ll have to look that up for you once I get home and have a chance to check my notes,” Rose said. “But remember that the Plant People like to move around, and they settle where they
will. No one can tell them where they should go.”

Rose picked up her purse and Ella walked her mom back to her pickup.

“I’ll get you that information as soon as I can,” Rose said.

“Thanks, Mom.”

After Rose drove off, Ella hurried back inside, where Justine was waiting. “Where’s the rest of our team?”

“Joe and Benny are at E. Atcitty Construction,” Justine said. “Ralph broke a tooth eating
piñon nuts on break, so he’s off at the dentist’s.”

“So it’s just you and me,” Ella said. “Little Wash isn’t far from where we found Harry’s body. Let’s go over there. We have to take a closer look around and check for disturbed earth, tool marks, or tracks. If an illegal dig is taking place in the area, maybe that’s at least part of the reason Harry was killed.”

“An illegal dig, skinwalkers,
murder … It doesn’t get any worse than that.”

“I sure wish you hadn’t said that,” Ella muttered.

By the time they arrived at the edge of Little Wash, Ella could see how tense Justine had grown. “What’s up, partner?”

“It’s the feel of this place. There’s evil out here, partner. We’ve seen the evidence of skinwalkers for ourselves.”

“Fear is one of their most valuable weapons, cuz. If you refuse
to be afraid of them, they lose their power over you. Stay strong.”

Justine turned off the path and parked. There, on ground zero, they began a careful search for the plant Rose had identified. Little Wash was a long, meandering arroyo that ran for several miles. Their plan was to search the sandy areas along the perimeter of the arroyo first.

After ten minutes of searching fruitlessly, Justine
glanced at Ella. “I’m going up that rise to get a better view of the entire area. From there, I’ll look for clusters of blackbrush.”

“I’ll stick to lower ground and check out places where runoff collects,” Ella answered, continuing to work.

Ella worked north to south, and reaching a section between two low hills, saw Mrs. Yazzie’s sheep grazing nearby. Mrs. Yazzie, Norman’s grandmother, stood
in the shade beneath a tall juniper with her dog and waved. “If you’re going to be working here, I’ll take them back to their pen,” she called out.

Ella jogged over to talk to her. “Do you come out this way often?”

Mrs. Yazzie nodded. “I like eating lunch on that hollowed-out rock over there. It’s cool and I can keep watch over my sheep,” she said, pointing. “You’re not looking for more bodies,
are you?” Her eyes were widening with fear.

“No, just a species of native plant,” Ella answered quickly. “The locals call it blackbrush or black plant. Do you know it?”

She shrugged. “Not really. I don’t pay attention to all of the Plant People, just the kinds that can harm my sheep, like broom snakeweed. It’s one of our Life Medicines—good for people, but bad for livestock. At least my flock
has always had the good sense to avoid it.” She looked up at the sky. “It’s time for me to move them on. That way they won’t overgraze.”

Mrs. Yazzie said good-bye, then, with the assistance of her nondescript-looking but well-trained dog, began herding her sheep in the general direction of her home, visible in the distance.

Ella quickly turned her attention back to work. Glancing around, she
saw the hollowed-out rock Mrs. Yazzie had mentioned. As she walked over to check it out, something on the ground caught her eye.

On a flat layer of sandstone beneath a low overhang was a small ash painting. She had a feeling it had been placed there for the express purpose of scaring Mrs. Yazzie. It was a good thing she hadn’t come here today.

“Justine,” she called out.

Her partner jogged over,
followed Ella’s line of sight, and stopped about six feet away. “What’s that doing
here
? Are skinwalkers after Mrs. Yazzie now?”

“That’s the way it looks to me,” Ella said. “I’m going to call my brother. I want him to see this firsthand.”

Ella pulled out her cell phone, but unable to reach Clifford, was forced to leave a message instead. “He knows it’s urgent,” she told Justine, “so hopefully
he’ll call me back soon.”

“There’s something that looks like a little medicine bag over there, on top of that flat rock,” Justine said, pointing with her chin.

Ella circled toward that high spot, searching the ground for footprints along the way but finding none. “That’s not a regular leather pouch. From the looks of it, I think it’s made from the skin of a horned toad. It’s one of their calling
cards.”

“There are other things here,” Justine said, going over and studying what was on the ground. “It’s a bunch of human hair, like the tangle you’d pull from a hairbrush, weighed down with a rock. And there are nail clippings, too.”

“Try to get a DNA match on those,” Ella said. “Skinwalkers steal personal things like those and use them to cast spells to make their victims suffer and die.”

Justine shuddered.

“It’s just somebody’s hair and nails,” Ella said. “Stay focused, cuz.” As her phone rang, Ella glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Clifford.

Ella described the scene to him, then waited for her brother to comment, but there was only silence at the other end. “Did you get all that?” she asked. “I can send photos to your cell.”

“I’d rather see the display in person,
and frankly, I don’t want this kind of evil showing up in my cell phone gallery. These things, if they are real, have power of their own, and my family uses this phone sometimes. Humor me on this, okay?”

“Okay. But so far, what’s your take on this, brother?”

“From your description, I’ve got to say it sounds like the real deal, but I’ve never seen those signs and displays all in one place,” he
said at last. “I’ll come over and take a look, but in the meantime, don’t touch anything with your bare hands. You need to watch for contamination with datura, poison ivy, and other dangerous plants. Some of those are particularly nasty if inhaled, so don’t go sniffing around, either, trying to pinpoint a scent that may seem peculiar to you.”

“Good to know, brother.”

“I’ll be there in about
forty minutes,” he said.

Ella joined Justine. “My brother’s coming to take a look.”

“As soon as we can, we should talk to Truman,” Justine said, taking photos of the drypainting from different angles. “He’s Navajo, a social studies teacher, teaches Navajo culture, and he’s probably a skilled researcher as well. He may be our man.”

“I agree. The teacher’s been out of work for months, yet still
seems to be prospering. If he’s found a way to make some extra money, like working an illegal dig and selling the artifacts to O’Donnell, he might have decided to use fear to keep others away from his site.”

“But then why not take credit and let people think he’s a skinwalker?” Justine asked.

“Remember what happened to his grandfather? He probably wants to make sure he stays in control—in other
words, undiscovered. He doesn’t want to end up dead.”

“One thing—there’s no way our friend came across this drypainting,” Justine said, avoiding Harry’s name now that they were so close to where he’d died. “It rained Tuesday, the day he was killed, and Wednesday it was windy and dusty. Like the other things we’ve seen recently, even the tracks at the crime scene, this display was created at least
a day or two
after
the murder.”