'Miss Pino? This is Captain Largo of the Navajo Tribal Police in Shiprock. Could you give us a little more information to help us find Margaret Sosi?… What?… No, no, we think she's all right. What we need is a clearer idea of just why she left when she did.'
Largo listened.
'A letter?' he said. 'When?… Did she say anything about what her grandfather said in it?… Uh-huh. I see. Did she mention the name?… Sure. I can understand that. Would you remember it if you heard it? Was it Gorman?… You're sure. How about the first name… Her uncle?… Okay. Go over it again, would you please? Everything you remember she said.'
Largo listened, jotting notes now and then on his pad.
'Well, thank you very much, Miss Pino. This is very helpful… No, we think she's safe enough. We just want to find her.' Largo looked at Chee with no expression whatever and added, 'Again.'
'One other thing. Did she say when she planned to come back?… Okay. Well, thanks again.'
Largo replaced the receiver, gently.
'You are one lucky Navajo,' he said, 'which is almost as good as being smart.'
Chee said nothing.
'It turns out I can tell Sharkey that Margaret Sosi got a letter from her grandfather mailed the day after the shooting, and in this letter he told her about some danger. Warned her to stay away from Shiprock and not to go around Gorman.'
'Danger?'
'That's all she told the Pino girl. Or all the Pino girl could remember her saying about it. She said Margaret told her her grandfather must be very upset, because writing a letter was very hard for him to do. She said she was worried about him and she was going to see about him.'
'That was the letter he mailed from Two Gray Hills,' Chee said.
'Probably,' Largo said. 'Been nice if you'd have asked her some things like that. Something practical. You know, Sharkey's going to be curious about that. He's going to say, 'Now, your policeman had this girl in his custody. But he didn't ask her why she came to the hogan. Or find out about the letter. Or find out that her grandfather warned her about something dangerous. Or anything useful.' And Sharkey is going to say, 'What do your officers chat about in cases like this? I mean, how do they keep the conversation going until they let the suspect walk away?' What do I tell Sharkey about that?'
'Tell him we talked about ghosts,' Chee said.
'Ghosts. Sharkey will enjoy that.'
'I heard you asking the Pino girl if Margaret Sosi mentioned a first name for Gorman,' said Chee, changing the subject. 'You thinking the same thing I am?'
'I'm thinking we don't know for sure which Gorman she was supposed to stay away from. The one who had already been shot or the one that one was looking for.'
'The occupant of the aluminum house trailer,' Chee said.
'Maybe,' Largo said. He scratched his nose. 'Or maybe he was just having his picture taken.' He got up, stretched, walked to the window, and scrutinized the parking lot. 'Put it together,' he said, finally, 'and what have you got? Albert Gorman, a car thief, drives from L.A. to Shiprock, looking for Leroy Gorman. A minor hoodlum rents himself an expensive plane ride and comes after Albert. They shoot each other. Gorman goes to his uncle's place, gets there in the night, tells the old man what happened. Next day Uncle Begay goes out to the trading post and mails a letter to Margaret Sosi. Tells her something or other is dangerous and to stay away from Shiprock and to stay away from Gorman. Which Gorman? I'd guess it wouldn't be the Gorman with the bullet in him. Old as Begay was, he's seen enough hurt people to know when one's bad hurt. He'd have known Albert wasn't dangerous to anybody. The warning would be about Leroy. Stay away from Leroy.'
'Yes,' Chee said. 'Probably, anyway.'
Largo abandoned the parking lot and sat again behind his desk. He regained his interest in his thumbnail, holding the heel of his hand on the desk top, thumb rampant, flexing slowly when he inspected it. 'I am going to call Sharkey,' he said. 'I think we better find that Sosi girl.' He glanced from thumb to Chee. 'Again,' he added.
'Yes,' Chee said. 'I think so.'
'And Leroy Gorman,' Largo said. 'You think Sharkey has that photograph? Of the trailer?'
'No.' Chee described Sharkey's search of Albert Gorman's wallet.
'So either Gorman got rid of the photograph or somebody else took it out of his wallet. Old Man Begay, maybe. Or Joseph Joe didn't know what the hell he was talking about.'
While he was saying that, Largo was picking up his telephone. He told the operator to call the fbi in Farmington and get Sharkey for him. 'You sure Joe told Sharkey about the photograph, about Albert Gorman looking for Leroy Gorman?'
'I'm sure.'
'That son of a bitch,' Largo said. He didn't mean Joe.
Sharkey was in.
'This is Largo,' Largo said. 'We have a teenage girl missing, which looks like it's tied in with this Gorman shooting of yours. Name's Margaret Billy Sosi. You heard anything we should know about?'
Largo listened.
'She's a student at St. Catherine Indian School in Santa Fe. Granddaughter of Ashie Begay. She got a letter he mailed the day after the shooting. Her granddaddy told her something about staying away from Shiprock and not to go around Gorman because it was dangerous.'
