'No, he won't,' she said.
'He'll be asked at the trial,' Chee said.
'If it goes to trial, he will say his reason involves religious beliefs that he is not free to discuss outside his kiva. He may say that two of its tail feathers were pulled out in the struggle, eliminating its ritual use. And then, if I have to do it, I will call in an authority on the Hopi religion who will also explain why a eagle thus stained by bloody violence could not be used in the role assigned to it in this religious ceremonial.'
'Okay,' Chee said. 'Please continue, Mr. Jano. What happened next?'
'I took the rabbit and walked maybe two miles down the rim of the butte to where another eagle has its hunting ground, got into the blind there and waited. Then the eagle you saw came for the rabbit and I caught it.'
Jano stopped, looked at Chee as if waiting for an argument and then went on.
'This time I was more careful.' He smiled and displayed his forearm. 'No injury this time.'
Jano said he had seen the Navajo Tribal Police car driving up the trail while he was carrying the eagle down the saddle toward his truck. He said he'd hidden behind an outcrop of rock for a while, hoping the policeman would leave, and then had crept down the rest of the way, thinking he had not been seen.
'Then I heard a loud voice. I think it was the policeman. I heard him several times. And then—' Chee held up his hand. 'Hold it there. Did you hear a response from the person he was talking to?'
'I just heard that one voice,' Kinsman said.
'A man's voice?'
'Yes. It sounded like he was giving orders to someone.'
'Orders? What do you mean?'
'Yelling. Like he was arresting someone. You know. Ordering them around.'
'Could you tell where the voices were coming from?'
'Just one voice,' Jano said. 'From about over where I found Mr. Kinsman.'
'I want you to skip back a little,' Chee said. 'When you were climbing down the saddle, was the Jeep still parked where you first saw it parked?'
Jano nodded, then looked at the microphone and said: 'Yes, the Jeep was still there.'
'Okay. Then what did you do when you heard the voice?'
'I hid behind a juniper for a while, just listening. I could hear what sounded like walking. You know, boots on rocky ground and sort of coming in my direction. Then I heard a voice saying something. And then I heard a sort of a thumping sound.'
Jano paused, looking at Chee. 'I think it might have been Mr. Kinsman being hit on the head with something. And then there was a clatter.'
Jano paused again, pursed his lips, seemed to be remembering the moment.
'Then what?' Chee asked. 'I just waited there behind the juniper. And after it was silent awhile, I went to look. And there was Mr. Kinsman on the ground, with the blood running out of his head.' He shrugged. 'Then you walked up and pointed your gun at me.'
'Did you recognize Kinsman?'
Janet Pete said: 'Hold it. Hold it.' She frowned at Chee. 'What are you trying to do, Jim? Establish malice?'
'The D.A. will establish that Kinsman had arrested Mr. Jano before,' Chee said. 'I wasn't trying anything tricky.'
'Maybe not,' she said. 'But this looks like a good place to cut this off.'
'Just one more question,' Chee said. 'Did you see anyone else when you were there? Anyone at all? Or anything? Going in, or coming out, or anything?'
'I saw a bunch of goats over on the other side of the saddle,' Jano said. 'Lot of trees over there. I couldn't tell for sure. But maybe there was somebody with them.'
'Okay,' Janet said. 'Mr. Jano and I have some things to talk about. Good-bye, Jim.'
Chee stood, took a step toward the door, turned back. 'Just one more thing,' he said. 'I found a blind at the rim of Yells Back where you may have caught an eagle.' He described the location and the blind. 'Is that right?'
Jano looked at Janet, who looked at Chee. She nodded.
'Yes,' Jano said.
'The first eagle, or the second one?'
'The second one.'
'Where did you catch the first eagle?'
Jano didn't glance at Janet this time for permission to answer. He sat, eyes on Chee, looking thoughtful.
He won't tell me, Chee thought, because there was only one eagle, or he won't tell me because he isn't willing to reveal the location of another of his kiva's hidden hunting blinds.
Janet cleared her throat, rose. 'I'm going to cut this off,' she said. 'I think—'
