“You can be sure of that,” Billy told him. “And I promise that you’ll have the chance on this trip to see the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings because the letter on my desk is from a Miss Candice Mason. She claims that grave robbers in the Four Corners are thicker’n lice and they’re looting Anasazi artifacts and selling them to a ring of international thieves.”
“Do you believe that, or do you think she’s just another one of them old biddies that have nothing better to do than cry wolf every time she sees an Indian pot or arrowhead?”
“I believe her,” Billy said, “because I know Candice. Or at least, I knew her mother. They’re a good, solid ranching family. The girl’s mother died a few years back and she was a treasure in that part of the country. A real Florence Nightingale. Candice’s late father was a state legislator and also highly respected.”
“How old is Candice?”
“I don’t know. Maybe in her early twenties. I’ve heard that she runs the old homestead ranch and is doing pretty well at it too.”
“All right,” Longarm said, “so she’s not crying wolf.”
“I want you to go there and investigate. We have a rich Anasazi heritage here in Colorado, and damned if I want a bunch of profiteers and looters to be capitalizing on it.”
“All right,” Longarm said. “Actually, I’ve heard that American Indians have been the rage in Europe ever since Buffalo Bill Cody took his Wild West Show over there a few years back.”
“That’s right. And Mesa Verde is just one of the sites of old Anasazi ruins located in southeastern Colorado. According to Miss Mason, there are hundreds, probably thousands more throughout the entire region. This telegram says that some of the locals have tried to protect them from the looters and have been shot for their interference.”
“Is this a federal problem, or a local one?”
“It’s federal if they are transporting old Indian bones, pots, and whatever else they can traffic in across state lines. The last thing we want is our nation’s heritage going overseas to European curiosity shops or museums.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Of course I am,” Billy said. “And Miss Mason says that the Indians down there are so upset they’re starting to take things into their own hands. Innocent people might be killed. Hell, you could have all kinds of complications if the atmosphere gets sticky. Custis, unless we nip it in the bud, we could have an honest-to-goodness Indian war!”
“Oh,” Longarm said, smothering a grin, “I think that might be stretching things a bit.”
“How can you be sure? If someone was digging up the bones of your grandmother, for example, wouldn’t you be upset enough to shed some blood?”
“Nah,” Longarm said, keeping a straight face, “my grandmother was a regular old witch. Anybody who would fool with her remains would deserve ‘em.”
“Don’t patronize me, Custis! This is real serious business. People are being killed. I know that for a fact. And I believe that Miss Mason is right to say that there is probably an organized gang dealing in Anasazi bones.”
“What does that term mean?”
“What term?”
“Anasazi.”
“It means something like ‘the ancient ones,’ if I remember correctly.”
“Huh. Well, I guess that the next thing you’ll say is that you want me to leave on the first train down to Pueblo.”
“I do.”
“Dammit, Billy, I just returned from Montana,” Longarm complained, “and I’m a mite worn down. You promised me that I could have a few weeks of long-overdue vacation time, and I’ve sort of found a lady that would like me to share some time with her.”
“There’s always a lady who wants you to share time with her. This is important!”
“So is the lady.”
“Yeah, well, the lady can wait.”
“You tell her that,” Longarm said.
“Listen, I know you’ve got a lot of vacation time coming, and I know that Montana thing was pretty rough. You did one hell of a job up there, and don’t think that my superior doesn’t know about it. Why, even the governor knows about it.”
“Nice to hear that,” Longarm said, “but I still need some time off.”
“Look, I know I made you a promise,” Billy said. “But this is a job that I don’t want to give to anyone but you. It requires sensitivity to the Indians’ feelings about the fate of their revered ancestors. When you get into the Four Corners area and start investigating things, you’ll be walking a tightrope between the Indians and this gang of grave robbers.”
“Why?” Longarm asked. “I’ll just let the Indians know that I’m working in their behalf. That way-“
“That way you’ll never catch the grave robbers or infiltrate their gang.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Listen,” Billy said, “Miss Mason says right here in this letter that the talk around Cortez is that this is a very sophisticated operation. It’d have to be, Custis! Otherwise, these people would be caught when they try to sell
