councilman over in the Checkerboard Reservation. And what was to be done about this misconduct? The councilman wanted Leaphorn charged with illegally tapping his telephone, a third-degree felony. He wanted Leaphorn dismissed from the Navajo Tribal Police for using his office to interfere in the politics of the Navajo Nation.
It ended, as such affairs always seem to end, with an unhappy compromise. The chief would assign Captain Dodge to handle an investigation – to determine exactly what had happened and to collect the evidence needed to prosecute the guilty party.
“Investigation,” Councilman Chester had snorted. “That can drag on forever.”
They had thought about that for a moment, with Leaphorn thinking that Chester, having presided over many of them himself in thirty years on the council, should know.
And so it was decided that Captain Dodge would be given ten days to wrap it up and report.
“And how about him?” the councilman had asked, nodding toward Leaphorn.
The lieutenant, said the chief, would be ordered to cooperate fully with the investigators, to make himself available at all times, to provide all relevant information.
“Come on,” Councilman Chester had said. “Give me a break. He’s one of the top brass around here. What kind of cooperation is Dodge going to get in this department with him looking over everybody’s shoulders?”
“Lieutenant Leaphorn will be off duty until this investigation is completed,” the chief said.
And with that Councilman Jimmy Chester left, slamming the door behind him.
“That mean I’m suspended?” Leaphorn asked. And, of course, that had been exactly what it meant.
He sat now thinking of what this suspension would mean. For one thing, all of this meant he couldn’t follow his instinct to cross-examine everyone in the building. Surely someone would have seen somebody come up here and get into his office. And if they hadn’t, that too would tell him something. But he couldn’t do that now. Captain Dodge would be doing it. Leaphorn wished someone a little brighter had been picked. Why Dodge? He was always reliable. And come to think of it, he was also one of the Towering House Clan. And so was Councilman Chester. Which explained why Chester had seemed moderately satisfied with the deal, and why the chief had picked Dodge.
Where the hell was Chee when he needed him? Leaphorn got up and peered absentmindedly out into the parking lot. No sign of Chee’s always muddy pickup truck. What if Chee had done it? Leaphorn considered that. Chester had labeled Leaphorn a tree hugger, but it was Chee who wanted something done to stop the waste dump, and Chee who wanted this office to go on a corruption hunt. Chee was always in and out of his office, but so were Dodge, and Virginia, and Yazzie, and just about everybody else. Chee had the opportunity. How about motive? Leaphorn considered that.
The young man resented him, that was plain, but Chee also respected him. Liked him, too. And he was way too damned smart to do an illegal wiretap and then be so careless with it. It wouldn’t be Chee. How about Yazzie? Nope. Yazzie was a friend, sort of a protege, and a member of Emma’s clan. Dodge? Maybe. But only if Councilman Chester had somehow engaged Dodge in some sort of weird conspiracy to discredit Leaphorn. He could think of no possible scenario for that.
And so he dropped it and did what he had been dreading to do. He picked up the telephone, got an outside line, gave the operator his AT amp;T calling card number, and dialed Professor Louisa Bourebonette.
She would understand why he couldn’t go, but she would be disappointed. “I like to travel,” she had told him. “But it can really remind you of your loneliness. When you’re tired, and you’re having trouble with the language, and you’ve gone all day with not a soul to talk to, then it really hits you.”
The telephone in Louisa’s faculty office rang, and rang, and rang. No classes this morning, he remembered. She would be at home. He dialed again, thinking how he would put it. He would want her to know he simply had to cancel until this was over. With even a hint of a criminal investigation aimed at him, he couldn’t leave, and he certainly couldn’t leave the country. But he wouldn’t want her to worry. He’d already done too much to take the fun out of this trip for her.
On the fourth ring, her answering machine kicked in – her pleasant voice telling him to leave a message after the tone. Well, maybe it was better this way.
“Louisa,” he said. “This is Joe. Bad news. I’m sort of suspected of being involved in that Councilman Jimmy Chester telephone tapping thing. The one in the paper where it sounded like Chester was soliciting a bribe. I’m under orders to stay here until it’s cleared up. If it can be cleared up fast I could still make it, but that’s about one chance in a million. So if it doesn’t drag on too long, I’ll try to catch a later flight and join you in Beijing.” But there was no real chance of that, and she would know it.
He paused, searching for something to say, knowing that he wouldn’t be taking a later flight. Things didn’t work out that way with him. “Louisa. I feel terrible about this. I’m really going to miss you.” He paused again. To his surprise, he found himself thinking that he might say a lot more than that. He might say
Chapter 21
LEAPHORN HUNG UP the telephone and looked at his watch, unusually conscious of time. He might be finished with the Navajo Tribal Police. If the person who had set him up had planned it carefully, Leaphorn might never really be cleared of doubts. In that event he would resign, and if he did, he wanted no loose ends left behind him. He had a possible hook now on the Eric Dorsey. homicide. At least he thought he did. He wanted to know.
For Captain Dodge, he typed one of the detailed memos for which he was noted. In three precise, single- spaced pages he provided a chronology covering every step that might apply, answering every question he thought Dodge would be asking, suggesting people Dodge might want to contact. Finished, he read it through carefully, thought a moment, and stuck the final page back into the typewriter.
I will stay out of this office, of course, until this matter is resolved, but I will check in with you periodically in the event I am needed.
He signed it, stuck the sheets into an envelope, dropped his office key into it, sealed it, and addressed it to Captain Dodge. On his way out, he handed it to Virginia.
Virginia looked uncharacteristically solemn. She glanced at the envelope, and up at Leaphorn, raising her eyebrows in an unspoken question.
“I’m going to tell you something,” he said. “And then I am going to ask you for a favor.”
“Something bad has happened, hasn’t it,” she said.
“Bad enough,” Leaphorn said. “By tomorrow morning, the word is going to get out that I’ve been suspended. What I want-”
Virginia’s expression stopped him. It went from shock, to sorrow, to anger, and the intensity of it surprised him.
“Suspended,” she said.
“It has to do with that Councilman Chester telephone call. The one that was broadcast.”
“That son-of-a-bitch,” she said. “I thought it would be him.”
“We’ll get it worked out,” Leaphorn said. “But until we do I could use your help.”
“Anything,” Virginia said.
“About tomorrow, I’d guess, you’re going to be hearing rumors about this. Captain Dodge is going to have to be asking around, questioning people, so it won’t be hard to figure out that an investigation is going on and that I’m the target of it. Word will be leaking out. What would help me a lot would be if you could sort of slow it down. When people call to ask, could you laugh it off? Could you maybe make them think it’s just another rumor?”
“I’ll tell ’em it’s a damned lie,” Virginia said. “I’ll tell ’em nobody would be that crazy. Not even this bunch.” She held her hand out to him. It took him a second to understand the gesture, then he took it, and felt his hand being squeezed.
“What about the trip?” she said. “To China. You were going tomorrow.”
Leaphorn shrugged.
