LC 02 - Questionable Remains (35 page)

She did not. "I have often speculated about that,"
Lindsay said, "and believe that the whole question of where
the Lumbees came from can be solved by looking at those
things you mentioned, including the designs on their art
and belongings passed down through the generations."

"Art. I didn't think of that one," she said. "That's a good
idea, too." She pulled a small pad and paper from her purse
and began to write. "I write down all the ideas where I can
get clues," she said. "This is something I really want to do.
I know our history is out there somewhere just waiting to be
dug up in some fashion. Do you think I can come to school
here and work on it?"

"I think that is a very valid direction for research. And
assuming your grades are fine, I'm sure you can come here.
By the way, my name is Lindsay Chamberlain. I guess Dr.
Kerwin told you. What's your name?"

"Bobbie. It's really Roberta-one of those family things
you get stuck with." She wrinkled her nose. "Roberta
Lacayo."

JUAN PARDO'S SECOND expedition took place from
September 1567 to March 1568. For purposes of this story, I
had his expedition take place in the summer. Unlike de
Soto's expedition, Pardo had no horses.

Residents of Tennessee may notice that I took some liberties with their geography. The caves of Grand Serpentine
and Hell Slide do not exist, nor does Ellis County.

The stories of Piaquay and his people, though based on
what is known both historically and archaeologically about
the Indians of the southeast, are fictional, as are the archaeological sites Lindsay visits.

Estaban Calderon is fictional, but there is historical and
archaeological evidence that his portrayal is consistent with
events surrounding expeditions of Spanish conquistadores
of the period through what is now the southeastern United
States. The character Roberto Lacayo is also fictional, but
explorers did become lost and lived among the Indians,
where they learned native languages. When found by subsequent expeditions, many became interpreters between the
Spanish and native people.

BEVERLY (ONNOB

Bones don't lie.

But forensic anthropologist Lindsay Chamberlain had
not bargained for this kind of trouble when she signed on
with the archaeological dig at the Jasper Creek Site. Who is
the mysterious woman unearthed in burial twenty-three?
Since she's only been in the ground fifty years or so, she certainly isn't party of the ancient Indian village they have
been excavating. The trouble is, she's not the only unexpected find. Body after body has surfaced in the town of
Merry Claymore, and some of the graves are very fresh.

When the local sheriff asks for her help in identifying the
victims, Lindsay can't say no. As she and her crew are
drawn into the maelstrom of suspicion, accusation, and terror raging between those who want the truth unearthed and
those who want it to remain buried, Lindsay's special
expertise with bones could be the death of her.

A Rumor of Bones is the first volume in the Lindsay
Chamberlain mysteries, which feature solutions to crimes
that did not happen just yesterday.

FROM CUMBERLAND HOUSE PUBLISHING