'What do you think?' she said. And grinned at him.
Chapter Fifteen
ACTING LIEUTENANT JIM CHEE sat on a sandstone slab in the shade of a juniper awaiting the arrival of Joe Leaphorn, Former Boss, Former Mentor, and, as far as Chee was concerned, Perpetual Legendary Lieutenant. He admired Leaphorn, he respected him, he even sort of liked him. But for some reason, an impending meeting with the man had always made him feel uneasy and incompetent. He'd thought he'd get over that when Leaphorn was no longer his supervisor. Alas, he hadn't.
This afternoon he didn't need a Leaphorn conversation to make him feel like a rookie. He'd learned very little prowling around Yells Back, mostly negative, reinforcing what he already knew. Jano had hit Ben Kinsman on the head with a rock. He'd found no trace of blood at the blind where Jano had caught the bird to suggest that Jano's arm had been slashed by the eagle's talons. Nor had he turned up any evidence that he was overlooking any possible witnesses to the crime. He reconsidered what Dr. Woody had told him. Woody had recalled seeing a car coming from the north as he emerged from the track that led toward Yells Back Butte. Possibly it had been Kinsman en route to meet his destiny. Possibly it was the person who had killed Kinsman following him. Or possibly Woody's memory was faulty, or Woody was lying for some reason Chee couldn't fathom. Whatever the case, Chee had this uneasy feeling that he was missing something and that Leaphorn, in his gentle way, would point it out.
Well, now he'd find out. The cloud of dust coming down the road from the north would be the Legendary Lieutenant. Chee got up, put on his hat, and walked down the hill to where his patrol car had been baking in the sun beside the road. The pickup pulled up beside it and two people emerged—Leaphorn and a stocky woman wearing a straw hat, jeans, and a man's shirt.
'Louisa,' Leaphorn said. 'This is Lieutenant Chee. I think you met him in Window Rock. Jim, Professor Bourebonette.'
'Yes,' Chee said as they shook hands, 'it's good to see you again.' But it wasn't. Not now. He just wanted to know why Leaphorn was looking for him. He didn't want any complications.
'I hope this isn't causing you any inconvenience, Leaphorn said. 'I told Dineyahze we'd just wait there at the station if you were coming in.'
'No problem,' Chee said, and stood there waiting for Leaphorn to get on with it.
'I'm still trying to find Catherine Pollard,' Leaphorn said. 'I wondered if you've turned up anything.'
'Nothing helpful,' Chee said.
'She wasn't here the day Kinsman was attacked?'
'Nope. At least, she wasn't until later in the day,' Chee said. 'I don't have to tell you how long it takes to get an ambulance into a place like this. By the time the criminalistics team got its photographs and all that, it was late afternoon. But she could have shown up after that.'
Leaphorn was waiting for him to add something. But what could he add?
'Oh,' Chee said. 'Of course, she could have gotten here earlier.'
That seemed to be what Leaphorn wanted him to think. The Legendary Lieutenant nodded.
'I ran into Cowboy Dashee at Cameron today,' Leaphorn said. 'He'd heard I was looking for Pollard. Knew about the reward we were offering for the Jeep she was driving. He told me a woman who keeps some goats up here had seen a Jeep going up that old road to the Tijinney place before sunrise that morning. He asked me to pass it along to you. In case it might be useful.'
'He did?'
Leaphorn nodded. 'Yeah. He said you had a tough Orie with this Kinsman homicide. He said he wished he could help you.'
'Jano is his cousin,' Chee said. 'I think they were childhood buddies. Cowboy thinks I've got the wrong man. Or so I hear.'
'Well, anyway, he thought you might want to talk to the woman. He told me they call her Old Lady Notah,' Leaphorn said.
'Old Lady Notah,' Chee said. 'I think I saw some of her goats up there by the butte today. I'll go talk to her.'
'Might be wasting your time,' Leaphorn said. 'Or might not be,' Chee said. He looked back toward the butte. 'And, hey,' he added. 'Would you tell Cowboy I said thanks?'
'Sure,' Leaphorn said.
Chee was still looking away from Leaphorn. 'Did Cowboy have any other tips?'
'Well, he has his own theory of the crime.' Chee turned. 'Like what?'
'Like Catherine Pollard did it.' Chee frowned, thinking about it. 'Had he worked out the motive? The opportunity? All that?'
'More or less,' Leaphorn said. 'He has her coming up here on her vector control job. She runs into Kinsman, he makes a move on her. She resists. They struggle. She bangs him on the head and flees the scene.' Leaphorn gave Chee a while to consider that. Then he said: 'But then why didn't you see her driving out while you were driving in?'
'That's what I was thinking. And if she's on the run, why did her family—' He stopped, looking abashed.
Leaphorn grinned. 'If Cowboy is guessing right, the family hired me to look for her thinking that would make it look like she'd been abducted. Or killed or something like that.'
'That doesn't make sense,' Chee said. 'Well, it sort of does, actually,' Leaphorn said. 'The lady who hired me struck me as a mighty shrewd woman. I told her I didn't see how I could be of any help. She didn't seem to care.'
Chee nodded. 'Yeah, I guess so. I can see it.'
