service circles as 'the CYA maneuver,' intended to Cover Your Ass by diluting the blame when things went wrong.
'All right then,' Mickey was saying. 'Unless anyone has more questions, the policy will be to charge this homicide as a capital crime and impanel a jury for the death sentence. I guess I don't have to remind any of you people here that this will mean a lot more work for all of us.'
The woman in the chair to Chee's right was a young Kiowa-Comanche-Polish-Irish cop wearing the uniform of the Law Enforcement Services of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She snorted, 'Us!' and muttered, 'Means more work for us, all right. Not him. He means he guesses he don't have to remind us he's running for Congress as the law- and-order candidate.'
Now Mickey was outlining the nature of this extra work. He introduced Special Agent in Charge John Reynald. Agent Reynald would be coordinating the effort, calling the signals, running the investigation.
'There'll be no problem getting the conviction.' Mickey said. 'We caught the perpetrator literally red-handed with the victim. What makes it absolutely ironclad is having Jano's blood mixed with the victim's on both of their clothing. The best the defense can come up with is a story that the eagle he was poaching slashed him.'
This produced a chuckle.
'Trouble is, the eagle didn't cooperate. There wasn't a trace of Jano's blood on it. What we'll need to get the death penalty is evidence of malice. We'll want witnesses who heard Mr. Jano talking about his previous arrest by Officer Kinsman. We need to find people who can remember hearing him talk about revenge. Talking about how badly Kinsman handled him during that first arrest. Even bad-mouthing Navajos in general. That sort of thing. Check out the bars, places like that.'
'Where'd this jerk come from?' the LES woman asked Chee. 'He sure doesn't know much about Hopis.'
'Indiana, I think,' Chee said. 'But I guess he's been in Arizona long enough to establish residency for a federal office election.'
Mickey was closing down the meeting, shaking hands with the proper people. He stopped Chee at the door.
'Stick around a minute,' Mickey said. 'I want to have a word or two with you.'
Chee stuck around. So did Reynald and Special Agent Edgar Evans, who closed the door behind-the last departee.
'There're several points I want to make,' Mickey said. 'Point one is that the victim in this case may not have had a perfect personal record, you know what I mean, being a healthy young man and all. If there's any talk going around among his fellow officers that the defense might use to dirty his name, then I want that stopped. Going for the death penalty, you understand why.'
'Sure,' Chee said, and nodded. 'I'll get right to the second point then,' Mickey said. 'The gossip has it that you're engaged to this Janet Pete. The defense attorney. Either that, or used to be.'
Mickey had phrased it as a question. He and Reynald and Evans waited for an answer. Chee said: 'Really?'
Mickey frowned. 'In a case like this one, in a touchy business like this, culturally sensitive, the press looking over our shoulders, we have to watch out for anything that might look like a conflict of interest.'
'That sounds sensible to me,' Chee said. 'I don't think you're understanding me,' Mickey said. 'Yes, sir,' Chee said. 'I understand you.' Mickey waited. So did Chee. Mickey's face turned slightly pink.
'Well, then, goddamnit, what's with this gossip? You got something going with Ms. Pete or what?'
Chee smiled. 'I had a wise old maternal grandmother who used to teach me things. Or try to teach me when I was smart enough to listen to her,' Chee said. 'She told me that only a damn fool pays attention to gossip.'
Mickey's complexion turned redder. 'All right,' he said. 'Let's get one thing straight. This case is about the murder of a law officer in the performance of his duty. One °f your own men. You're part of the prosecution team. Ms. Pete runs the defense team. You're no lawyer, but you've been in the enforcement business long enough to know how things work. We got the disclosure rule, so the criminal's team gets to know what we're putting into evidence.' He paused, staring at Chee. 'But sometimes justice requires that you don't show your hole card. Sometimes you have to keep some of your plans and your strategy in the closet. You understand what I'm telling you?'
'I think you're telling me that if this gossip is true, I shouldn't talk in my sleep,' Chee said. 'Is that about right?' Mickey grinned. 'Exactly.'
Chee nodded. He'd noticed that Reynald was following this conversation intently. Agent Evans looked bored. 'And I might add,' Mickey added, 'that if somebody else talks in their sleep, you might just give a listen.'
'My grandmother had something else to say about gossip,' Chee said. 'She said it doesn't have a long shelf life. Sometimes you hear the soup's on the table and it's too hot to eat, and by the time the news gets to you it's in the freezer.'
Mickey's beeper began chirping as Chee was ending that observation. Whatever the call was about, it broke up the cluster without the ritual shaking of hands that convention required.
Chee hadn't lucked into a shady place to leave his car. He used his handkerchief to open the door without burning his hand, started the engine, rolled down all the windows to let the ovenlike heat escape, turned the air conditioner to maximum and then slid off the scorching upholstery to stand outside until the interior became tolerable. It gave him a little time to plan what he'd do. He'd call Joe Leaphorn from here to see if anything new had developed. He'd call his office to learn what awaited him there, and then he'd head for the north end of the Chuska Mountains, the landscape of his boyhood, and the sheep camp where Hosteen Frank Sam Nakai spent his summers.
From Phoenix, from almost anywhere, that meant a hell of a long drive. But Chee was a man of faith. He did his damnedest to maintain within himself the ultimate value of his people, the sense of peace, harmony and beauty Navajos call
Hosteen Nakai was Chee's maternal granduncle, which gave him special status in Navajo tradition. He had given Chee his real, or war, name, which was 'Long Thinker,' a name revealed only to those very close to you and used only for ceremonial purposes. Circumstances, and the early death of Chee's father, had magnified Nakai's
