Ghost Medicine (27 page)

Ella studied it and nodded. “If our friend was killed by a skinwalker protecting an illegal dig that would tie in to Billy O’Donnell, too, the man marketing the artifacts. Billy must have put things together when our friend turned up dead, but figured it was to his advantage to keep his mouth shut. Then when we caught Billy with the illegal pots and stuff, he knew
the only way to avoid jail time was to identify his source. The skinwalker knew that, too, so he killed Billy, the only person who could identify him.”

“I’m also thinking along those lines, partner,” Justine said.

“The problem is that in order to prove any of this, we need more than a theory. My gut tells me that our best bet is to identify the mystery ‘hooker’ who picked up our friend at that
bar,” Ella said. “She’s tied to the killer. Otherwise, the timing of that ‘date,’ the missing laptop, and H’s murder are way too coincidental.”

“We looked into Alice Cisco’s background, but ruled her out despite her resemblance to the woman in the sketch,” Justine said.

“Yes, but we never considered Eileen, who’s older and appears to be a die-hard New Traditionalist. Would she do whatever Truman
asked without question? We need to get Eileen’s prints, not Alice’s, and compare those with the ones on the belt buckle.”

Justine nodded. “A wig and makeup can make for an amazing transformation. Give her a halter top and a push-up bra, and most men wouldn’t spend much time looking at her face.”

“Once my brother gets a chance to check things out here, we’ll turn the scene over to other officers.
They can continue the search. You and I need to go over to Teeny’s and use his special software.”

TWENTY

Since Benny and Joe were still busy at E. Atcitty Construction, Ella recruited Victoria Bitsillie and asked her to provide a team to search the area for signs of a dig.

Ella called Teeny next and described what she needed. He assured her he’d have something for her by the time she arrived at his compound.

Ella didn’t have to wait long for the first of the search team to arrive. Though
it was her off-duty day, Victoria came within twenty minutes of Ella’s call. Four other officers also arrived on scene minutes later.

Victoria fastened a small medicine pouch to her belt, then put on two sets of gloves. “My ad hoc team will search for signs of a dig, but tell me again about the evidence of evil you found.”

“There’s an ash drypainting around that hollowed-out rock,” Ella said,
and pointed.

“Okay.” Victoria glanced down at the pouch on Ella’s waist. “When you called, you mentioned that your brother was on his way?”

Ella nodded. “He should be here anytime now,” she said, then warned her about Frenzy Witchcraft plants.

“I’ll tell everyone. My team will also need special protection. Maybe your brother could provide the officers with medicine pouches? Under the circumstances,
I’m sure the department would compensate him.”

“If I know my brother, he’ll be bringing extra medicine pouches with him for whoever needs one.”

“Good.” Victoria glanced around, studying the area. “How far out do you want us to search?”

Ella told her the areas she and Justine had already searched, then described the plant her mother had identified. “If you find any of those plants, search the
adjacent areas very carefully. Beyond that, use whatever strategy works for the team.”

“I’m acquainted with blackbrush. My
shimasání
used to call it useless brush,” Victoria said with a smile. “She’s a Plant Watcher, too.”

“Maybe she knows my mom,” Ella said.

Victoria shook her head.
“Bi adin doo holo da—bi,”
she said.

“I’m sorry,” Ella said, understanding from her words that Victoria’s grandmother
had passed away. There was no direct way in Navajo to say that a person had died. The word
adin,
which was used to describe death, meant the absence of everything. Translated, what Victoria had said was that her grandmother didn’t exist anymore.

“My
shimasání
sounds a lot like your mother. She knew the land and lived in harmony with it,” Victoria said, then walked away to join her team.

Hearing
the familiar sound of her brother’s big truck, Ella turned her head. Like a giant ATV, it could go practically anywhere on the Navajo Nation, even places where roads were scarce.

Clifford, wearing the white headband that identified him as a
hataalii,
climbed out of the four-wheel-drive vehicle and looked around.

“Sister,” he said, coming over carrying a small cardboard box. “I’ve brought some
medicine pouches for anyone who might need them.”

“Good. I’ve already been asked about that,” she said, then waved at Victoria.

“I know her,” Clifford said, and smiled. “Her great-uncle taught me to be a
hataalii
.”

“She never mentioned that,” Ella said.

“Uncle,” Victoria said, walking up and greeting Clifford. “It’s good to see you here.” She looked down at the box. “Are those for our officers?”

“Yes, feel free to hand them out.”

“Thank you, uncle. Four of my people are unprepared for this kind of danger.”

“Have you already seen the drypainting my sister found?” he asked, handing her the box.

Victoria shook her head. “This time I have a different job.”

As Victoria walked away with the medicine bags, Ella looked at her brother. “What did she mean by ‘this time’? Have you worked with
her before?”

“It was ten or twelve years ago, I think. Her great-uncle over by Teece Nos Pos asked for my help. Three skinwalkers had staked out their territory, and people were being witched. When I arrived, I saw he’d brought her along to help.”

“Why? That’s no place for a kid, and she must have been my daughter’s age back then.”

“It surprised me, too, until I saw her work. That woman has
a very special gift.” He gazed at Victoria, then looked back at Ella. “I’m a
hataalii,
a Singer, and my power comes from the Songs and the knowledge I’ve acquired through the years. Hers is a divine gift. She’s a stargazer.”

“You mean a diagnostician, like a hand-trembler?”

“No, not like that. She has the ability to gaze into a rock crystal and find things that are missing.” He paused. “Her
abilities are … remarkable.”

Her brother never handed out praise easily, so his words surprised her. “Does she work as a stargazer when she’s off duty?”

He shook his head. “According to my teacher, to develop her talent, she would have had to apprentice with one who’s like her. Unfortunately, like many of our young people, she won’t even acknowledge that the gift is hers.”

“Why?”

“I’m not
sure, but I do know her older brother is a pastor at a very conservative Christian church in Farmington. He preaches that her gift is a mark of the devil. Maybe that has something to do with the choices she’s made.”

Ella watched Victoria, a consummate professional, direct the officer in a methodical search pattern. Ella had a feeling that little escaped her careful gaze.

“It looks to me like
she’s reconciled who she is with the ways of the future and the needs of our tribe. I admire her for that.”

Ella led Clifford to the drypainting and watched as her brother crouched down and studied it closely.

“Some of the details of the drypainting aren’t quite right, but the one who made this may have been in a hurry,” he said.

Ella showed him the horned toad pouch, the hair, and the nail
clippings.

Clifford looked at the evidence, then gazed at Victoria for a few seconds before going over to talk to her. Ella followed.

“I need to ask you a question,” Clifford told Victoria. “Are those the only places the evil one marked?” he said, pointing with his lips to where the drypainting and the other items lay.

“Uncle, I don’t know. I’m only here to search for signs of a dig.”

“Look
within yourself,” he insisted. “Are those the only places?”

Victoria stared at the stretch band bracelet on her wrist. It was made of small rock crystals strung together.

“I believe so,” she said at last. “The drypainting alone must have taken a lot of time, and he wouldn’t have wanted to linger out here in the open any longer that absolutely necessary. This one likes being invisible.”

Victoria
looked at Ella quickly. “That’s just cultural knowledge and logic, nothing more.”

As Victoria returned to her work, Clifford walked away, shaking his head. “She may want to believe that, but deep down she knows the truth.”

Splitting up, Ella continued the search while Clifford spoke to each of the officers, offering encouragement and, when needed, reciting prayers of protection. After about
an hour, he went back to his truck.

“I’m leaving now,” he told Ella as she came over. “I have patients I need to see.”

“Let me know if you hear of this kind of activity anywhere else on the Rez.”

“Of course.”

As he drove off, Justine came up, cell phone in hand. “I just spoke to Benny. He and Joe are back at the station. They brought Big Ed’s brother in for questioning, no arrest or cuffs,
and Elroy drove himself. Benny found the missing county property at the construction company’s site. Elroy claims he didn’t know the merchandise was stolen, and he does have at least something to back up his claim. Someone glued on metal tags with phony serial numbers over the originals, and you couldn’t tell without scraping them loose.”

“This is still going to weigh heavily on Big Ed. No matter
how you get around it, the stuff
was
stolen. Is the press or media on to the story yet?” Ella asked.

“Joe said no, but Benny thinks it’s just a matter of time. He’s got that Los Angeles big-city perspective when it comes to bad publicity and news cycles.”

“This isn’t L.A., but I agree with Benny,” Ella said in a heavy voice. “Bad news travels a lot faster than good. Let’s get over to Teeny’s
before it all hits the fan. We’ll leave the scene to Victoria and her crew.”

*   *   *

By the time they arrived at Teeny’s doorstep, he already had what they needed. “I took the sketch county had circulated and altered it by minimizing the woman’s make-up and adding long hair to the image. Come see what I’ve got.”

Ella followed Teeny inside, and as she did, the rich aroma of cinnamon and baking
bread filled her senses.

“I made cinnamon rolls. They’re cooling right now,” Teeny said. “Once you take a look at this new sketch, come try some.”

“You really should open your own restaurant,” Ella said with a happy sigh. “You’d be a millionaire in no time.”

“Cooking is something I do because I enjoy it. I don’t want it to ever become a business for me. I love to eat, in case you can’t tell,
and if others like what I cook, too, that’s just a plus.”

Moments later, Ella sat in front of Teeny’s computer and studied the image on the monitor. “That could be Eileen Tahoe, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. Can we find a photo of Eileen and work backwards, giving her short hair and heavy makeup, and see what we come up with?”

“Is she from this area?” Teeny asked.

“She went to Chinle
High,” Justine said. “I did a quick background search on her, and their Web site has tons of alumni photos. She’s got to have at least one photo online.”

It didn’t take Teeny long to find a suitable photo. “Okay, here we go. Let’s give Eileen more pronounced eye makeup, then go with short, close-cropped hair like in the sketch,” he said.

After several minutes, he waved Ella toward the screen.
“Here’s what I got—close, but not identical.”

Ella studied the altered photo. “Let’s take this to the Horny Toad and show it to the bartenders and waitresses.”

“Right now?” Justine asked.

“
After
we have one of Teeny’s rolls,” Ella said with a smile.

“Good call,” Teeny said, chuckling. “You’ll still catch some of the lunch crowd.”

Ella and Justine left thirty minutes later. It was nearly one
in the afternoon.

“I’m going to call Dan, that’s his jurisdiction,” Ella said.

“And you’d love a chance to see him.”

“Cousin, it’s
business,
” Ella said.

“Yeah, yeah, but admit it. The man’s pure eye candy. I was invited to the county’s gym a few weeks back. Sergeant Emily Marquez, my old roommate, stopped by and asked me to go with her. When we got there, we ran into Dan, who was busy working
the heavy bag. He was hot and sweaty, stripped to the waist with his six-pack on display, and whooee!”

Ella laughed. “So you’ve been checking out my boyfriend?”

“What can I say? You can’t blame a girl for looking. That guy’s ripped—hot.”

“That he is, partner.” Ella said, smiling.

By the time Justine pulled into the parking lot in front of the tavern, Dan was already there, standing beside
his pickup. He wore dark slacks and a Western shirt, with a light Western-cut jacket that covered his badge and gun.

They met at the entrance. “There’s still a good lunch crowd inside, judging from the nearly full parking lot,” Dan said. “Do you have the sketch you told me about on the phone?”

Ella handed a copy to him. “The similarity is there, but I’m still not convinced we’ve got the same
person.”

“Let’s see what kind of reaction we get,” Dan said.

They went inside and spoke to as many patrons as they could, but no one could help. Seeing a bartender he knew, Dan went with Ella to talk to him. Meanwhile, Justine decided to question several women wearing ID badges from a nearby company. All were seated at a corner table.

The bartender looked at the image for several seconds. “I’m
almost certain I’ve served her before. I was working a split shift the last night Harry was here, and she may have been the one with him, but I can’t say for sure.”

Disappointed, Ella and Dan joined Justine. “I’ve got nothing,” Justine said in a sour voice.

“What we got is inconclusive. We need to check this out with the regular evening staff and clientele,” Ella said. “We also need to find
a way to get Eileen’s fingerprints without letting her know what we’re doing. She’s not on file anywhere. Justine checked.”