She was talking with her mother as we pulled up but turned to look at Henry and me with what could have almost passed for a smile. “So, while I’ve been working, you’ve been out getting a holy high?”
I waved at Hazel and turned back to her daughter. “It wasn’t really my choice. Anything happening?”
“Artie Small Song, in a fit of remorse, hasn’t turned himself in, if that’s what you mean.” She flipped a wave of her hair back, glanced at the Cheyenne Nation dismissively and then back to me. “Your buddy, the man who puts the ‘Special’ in Agent, Cliff Cly, left a message and wants to meet at noon.”
I made a face. “Can’t. I have to be in Billings in about an hour. My daughter and her future mother-in-law are landing from Philadelphia and I’d better be there to update them as to the ongoing preparations, or lack thereof.” I tipped my hat back and thought about Cly. “He probably just wants an update; he’s got people he has to answer to and reports he’s got to write just like the rest of us.”
She didn’t seem convinced. “Uh huh.”
I fished the bracelet from my pocket and turned to her mother for some relief from the jasper stare. “Mrs. Long, do you know when the AMA stopped using the two-snake caduceus in their insignia?”
Lolo answered. “In 1910; they thought it was inappropriate, witch-doctor symbolism-that, and when they discovered the double helix in 1953, everybody mistook the caduceus for DNA rather than snakes.”
I smiled as it dawned on me. “You were a medic.”
She actually smiled back. “Yeah.”
I handed her the bracelet. “So this would be from 1910 or older?”
She studied the insignia. “But this isn’t AMA.”
“What is it then?”
“Army Medical Service Corps, or one of its ancestors; possibly the WWI Sanitary Corps.” I was again attacked by jasper. “Where did you get this?”
“Painted Warrior.”
Henry interrupted. “A little bird told him.”
We both ignored him. “I’d seen something reflected in the trees, and we found it in a crow’s nest.”
She flipped it over in her hands. “It looks like it could’ve been up there since WWI.” She paused. “No, it couldn’t have.” She handed the bracelet to her mother, who readjusted her glasses and stared at the engraving on the other side.
“These are modern medications.” The older woman glanced up at me, and I was starting to see more of a resemblance between mother and daughter. “Heavy medications.”
“What’s that mean?”
She shook her head. “Diazepam is used to treat muscle spasms, seizures, and other side effects from alcohol addiction; the same with baclofen but it’s more for control of spasms. Tizanidine is a muscle relaxant, and so is dantrolene. Oxybutynin is an anticholinergic used to relieve urinary and bladder difficulties, and pregabalin is a pain killer and an anticonvulsant.” She handed the bracelet back to me. “Whoever is using these medications on a regular enough basis to put them on a medical bracelet is in enough trouble that they can hardly stand up, let alone push somebody off a cliff.” She reached behind her and poured a couple of cups full of coffee and handed one to me and the other to the Bear. “But they might think about jumping themselves.”
“So, a dead end on both counts?” I pocketed the thing and sipped my coffee, gesturing with the cup. “Thanks for this.”
She smiled, and it was unreserved. “You both look like you need it.”
I glanced at Henry, who appeared to be catching a second wind, and grunted an affirmative. “We had a late night.” I patted my pocket. “Why would someone use an old bracelet like this for a medical ID?”
She shrugged. “We see it from time to time; people use whatever they’ve got here on the Rez. The first thing we do when people come through here is check every piece of jewelry they have on them. We had a guy one time whose allergies were engraved on a Howdy Doody bracelet.”
Boy howdy.
“Can you do me a favor and check to see who in the health services records has prescriptions for all of these medications?”
“I’ll need a warrant.”
I appealed to a higher power and looked at her daughter. “Chief?”
Long looked at the head nurse. “Mom.”
It was the three-syllable “Mom” I’d heard my daughter use on my wife for years, and a variation of the “Dad” that I would be hearing very soon.
Mrs. Long held out her hand for the bracelet. I deposited it in her palm and watched as she began writing the medications on a pad.
I turned to Lolo. “How’s Adrian?”
“He’d be better if you brought back the dog; what’s his name, anyway?”
I scored major points on the lack-of-imagination scale and told her. “I’ll bring him in; he loves my daughter, but he takes up a lot of room.” I gave Henry a look and started toward the car. “Lolo, any word from Clarence?”
“Nothing; why?”
“Don’t you find it strange that he wouldn’t be in to check on his son?”
She shook her head, the thick, loose hair mimicking her movements. “You mean if Adrian is really his?”
I stopped and turned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve been asking around, and it would appear that Clarence indeed has some problems in that area, and besides, he’s probably passed out somewhere. Anyway, I thought you didn’t like him for this.”
I slipped on my teaching hat as I turned to go. “Remember, you’re in the business of liking everybody for this-until you find out who did it.” Then I added, “ I’m in the wedding business, until my daughter kills me, which should be in a little over an hour.”
“I’m going to kill you.”
I shifted to turn and look at the two beautiful women in the backseat of the Thunderbird, one family and one soon to be. “I’m sorry, Cady.”
Lena Moretti kept her counsel but placed a hand on my daughter’s knee in hopes of calming her.
“There’s a case on the Rez that’s kind of landed in my lap.”
“A case.” I could see the tears beginning to form in her gray eyes. “Unless I’m mistaken, Montana’s not your jurisdiction.”
“It’s a homicide.”
She turned her head, looked out the side window, and wiped her nearest eye with a swipe.
“A woman fell from a cliff with her child in her arms.”
“I don’t want to hear this; I really don’t.” Both hands came up this time, scrubbing the tears away. “I don’t mean to come across as some self-centered bitch, but I just thought for a few days. I mean…”
Her mouth opened as she breathed and then turned her head toward Lena, the next words tumbling out. “Did I ever tell you about my college graduation? My dad couldn’t make it because there was a case. My graduation from law school? There was another case.” She sighed and smiled into her lap. “I can mark the progression of my life, every landmark-in cases.” She looked up at me. “There’s always a case, Dad.”
There was a very long and uncomfortable silence in the car as we all listened to the tires on the interstate highway, rolling us into Little Big Horn country. She laughed a sad gasp, and it was far harder on me than the tears. I reached a hand out. “You’re right.”
Her eyes wouldn’t meet mine and searched the floor mats at her sandaled feet. “I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re right.” I cleared my throat in an attempt to stay steady. “If your mother were here, she’d kick me.” This, at least, got a laugh. “I’ll just gracefully back out of the case.”
The eyes came up as she shook her head at me. “Daddy, you’ve never backed out of anything in your life, gracefully or otherwise.”
The Cheyenne Nation grunted, and I gave him a quick look. “Well, maybe it’s time I started.” I took my hat off and rested it on my drawn knee. “They’ve pretty much figured out who did it, so it’s just down to a manhunt at this point. They don’t need me for that.”
Cady took Lena Moretti’s hand and held it, gently pounding her knee with both their fists. “It’s okay.”
I glanced out the side and noticed we were approaching Hardin and had taken the exit ramp for the Blue Cow
