Four Corners War

by Ted Clifton

  “Go to the city council and ask for money to hire an assistant. Tell them you need an assistant mayor to handle the day-to-day stuff so you can stay focused on the big picture. Tell them you’re working on a long-term strategic plan to bring new prosperity to T or C, but can’t do that and take care of every little petty matter that pops up.”

  Big Jack grinned. “My goodness, Ray. You have a very creative, if devious, way of thinking.”

  “Thank you. I think?”

  “Not sure Big Jack can hang in there as mayor. He was telling me about all of the calls he gets from people who want something from him and how he doesn’t want to deal with any of it.” Ray and Sue were enjoying catching up on their drive into T or C for lunch at Sue’s old workplace, the Lone Post Café. Ray was convinced the red chili sauce served in this part of the world was addictive, and that every once in a while, one had to have a chili fix. The Lone Post was his supplier of choice.

  “In another bit of news,” she replied, “Nancy Clark has decided to go back to school and get a law degree. She’s going to be enrolling at NMU in Albuquerque for the next semester. She hasn’t told Tyee, and she asked me how I think he’ll react. Any ideas?”

  “Hmm. Pretty sure he’s not going to be happy about it. He seems to be in a great place right now, and Nancy’s a big part of that, which makes this bad news for him. What prompted this?”

  “It’ll probably sound silly to you, but I think a big part of it’s because of Tyee.”

  “What, she doesn’t want to be with him anymore?”

  “Of course not, Ray. She’s madly in love with him. But she’s afraid that she’s getting too dependent on Tyee, and she doesn’t want to just hang out with him. She thinks some time apart might be best to bring them together.”

  “OK, you really think that sounds like it makes sense?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe this is me being a sexist old fart, but I don’t understand the logic of being apart so you can be together—seems like some kind of female double-talk.” Ray was frowning—this wasn’t his area of expertise, and he really didn’t want to keep talking about it.

  “Fine. I’ll tell her you think she’s just a stupid woman and should just do what her man says!” Sue let a little anger show in her voice, though she knew it was a mistake.

  “Sue, you should tell Nancy that I don’t have a clue how Tyee will react and that she should do exactly what she thinks is best for her.”

  They’d reached the main drag in T or C, and Ray made a U-turn that was more aggressive than necessary, pulling into a parking spot in front of the Café and jolting his old, ugly, but very reliable Jeep—along with its occupants. Happy ended up on the floor. The conversation was over, and no one was pleased.

  They took some time to order and visited with people they knew, but the mood was still chilly. Ray took a breath and tried to set things back on course.

  “Look Sue, I’m sorry. I know you’re just trying to help. But I don’t understand Nancy—or Tyee, for that matter. You seem to think these things have to be managed, and I know you’ve told me before that I just don’t understand how relationships happen, but from my point of view they should just get married and live happily ever after. Am I wrong?”

  “I’m sorry too, Ray. And you’re not wrong, but the problem is that Tyee’s told Nancy that he doesn’t want to get married again. She knows he loves her, but he’s afraid he’ll have another failed marriage, so he’s being really cautious. She’s ready to jump into a commitment and he’s not. She thinks if she just hangs around waiting on him, then nothing permanent will ever happen, so she figures she needs to get on with her life. And it’s possible that once she’s not around for Tyee all the time, that he’ll realize what she means to him and he’ll come after her.”

  “Well hell, why didn’t you say it that way before—that makes all kinds of sense.”

  All’s well that ends well, Sue thought. She smiled and began to actually enjoy her lunch.

  Everyone went back to their routines. Ray went fishing a couple of times. Tyee did research on the Farmington matter and helped the FBI on unrelated projects. Big Jack hired an assistant, Johnny Baca, and immediately delegated to him all aspects of the mayor’s job except rights to criticize and otherwise annoy his new assistant. A sense of an orderly and calm existence began to prevail.

  Until—

  “Goddammit Ray,” the governor thundered over the phone, “I thought I told you to handle the Farmington situation, and now the whole damn thing has blown up. Farmington! Middle of nowhere Farmington! Nothing ever happens there, and suddenly people are being murdered. Fuck, what am I supposed to do now? Ray, are you paying attention? That’s not a rhetorical question—I genuinely want to know what in the fuck I’m supposed to do.”

  “Governor, sorry but I don’t know what you’re talking about. What happened in Farmington?”

  “That idiot you left in charge of the sheriff’s department, some guy named Trujillo or something, has arrested some other guy named Kee for the murder of that woman. Kee’s a Navajo. I don’t know the details, but he’s an old goddamn Indian who can barely walk, and your man Trujillo arrested him with no proof at all.”

  “Look Governor, I’ll have to call Trujillo and find out what’s going on, but he’s not stupid. He’s not about to arrest someone without a reason.”

  “Bullshit. I just got off the phone with the president—yes, the fuckin’ president of the Navajo nation. He told me that my official in Farmington had illegally arrested a Navajo Nation citizen and he wanted the man returned immediately. I’ll tell you, Ray, I didn’t like this guy’s attitude. And how the hell did that moron become my official? Anyway, I asked Mr. President if he was threatening me with some kind of goddamn Indian war. I told him that if he was, well, my ancestors had been through that once already, and I was sure as hell not going to take any of his Indian bullshit. He hung up! This bastard Begay actually hung up on me. What the hell’s going on in this world—has everyone gone crazy?”

  Ray was reluctant to respond to the governor, whom he’d always suspected was a little off-center. Anyway, he was sure that wasn’t the point the governor wished to make. “Governor, all I can do is call, and see what’s happening and get back to you.”

  “Ray, that’s not good enough. I also got a call from Grimes. He’s angry and he said your Indian threatened him—what’s that about?”

  That did it for Ray. “Grimes is a bully,” he seethed, “who only wants to shout at people and make them do exactly what he says.” Sound familiar? Ray thought, but didn’t say. “He wants you to interfere with a local murder investigation and reign in some tax people who are annoying him, and he wanted me to give you that message. He was rude, and when Tyee made a wiseass remark he got angry and left. No one threatened him.”

  “Okay, okay. I know Grimes is an asshole. He’s also in big trouble. It’s not just the state, but huge sums he owes the feds, too. And it involves the Navajo leaders, especially the president, Begay. Ray, I know I get angry, and start to shout and sometimes don’t make a lot of sense. I’m sorry. But I do need your help. There’s been another murder in Farmington. It’s one of the city leaders, a councilman named Thomas Martin. Jeez, Ray, it sounds like that place is coming apart. I can send in the state police, but I’m concerned it could make matters worse. I know you’re pissed at me right now, but what I need is for you and Tyee to go back to Farmington and untangle this mess. Will you?”

  “Tell your pilots to come and get us.” Ray hung up. He had a bad feeling. Again.

  A message from Acting Sheriff Trujillo was waiting for Ray when he arrived at the Farmington airport’s fixed-base operator’s office. It said a squad car was outside for Ray and Tyee, and its keys were in the airport office.

  Tyee raised an eyebrow. “Guess someone warned him we were coming?”

  “Yeah. Could’ve been the governor or someone he told to call.” Ray’s mind wasn’t entirely on that matter. “I think this c
ould easily turn into us against everyone. We should assume at this point we don’t have any allies. My feeling about Trujillo being a good cop still stands, but we need to be cautious while we proceed.”

  “Indian Sidekick starting to wonder about White Man Leader.”

  “Very funny.”

  At the sheriff’s office they asked to see Trujillo and were told he was out and not expected back that afternoon. Ray left a message indicating he needed to talk, and that they would be staying at the Holiday Inn.

  “Not exactly a warm welcome,” Tyee observed.

  “No. This is not a good sign. Could be just a little push-back after being yelled at by the governor. Or could be Trujillo’s not who I thought he was. What do you think about trying to contact the Navajo president to see if he wants to talk to us?”

  Tyee fidgeted. “First reaction is I have no desire to enter the Navajo reservation. Most white people think the idea of Indian sovereignty is some kind of joke. It’s not. We enter their reservation and they decide to throw us in jail, the governor can’t do anything about it. An official of the federal government can eventually get to see us, but we’d be stuck for weeks until they work it out. More than likely,” he admitted, “that won’t happen. They wouldn’t want the publicity or ill will with the feds. Still, it could.”

  “That’s not very comforting. But my gut says they won’t want to start that kind of trouble either way. I’m thinking the worst that happens is they ask us to leave—unless there’s something about you being Apache that will cause them to act differently.”

  Tyee shook his head. “Apaches and Navajos have good relations. That’s not the risk. The risk is you and the governor. If the president’s involved in some kind of crime like stealing from the state or federal government, then that’s what will make them do something stupid. Actually, they’d probably just arrest you and would let me go—you know, on account of our cultural bond.”

  “The Indians win again. Oh, wait a minute, I remember now—you guys lost.”

  “White Man becoming very annoying, again.”

  “Sorry. I think it sounds like we might want to touch base with our FBI friends regarding a few things before we venture onto foreign soil. Let’s go check in and make some calls.”

  “Couldn’t get hold of Agent Crawford, but did talk to Agent Sanchez in Albuquerque. He wasn’t very reassuring. Like you, he said if there’s trouble on the reservation, we’d be shit out of luck for a few days. Personally, he thought they wouldn’t harm us, but they could hold us for a while without much reason at all. He did give me a name and number of the agent in Farmington who has the most contact with the Navajos.”

  Tyee smirked. “So it’s like, ‘You create a mess on the rez, call that guy. Not me.’ ”

  “Yeah, I think that’s what he was saying. Also, he seemed to think somehow it was funny that we were concerned about being captured by the Indians. Or maybe I misread his reaction.”

  “FBI folks not known for their sense of humor. Maybe it’s something they’re workin’ on to improve their image a little.”

  “Trying to be more like us?”

  “Yeah, that’s it.”

  “Glad they’re trying to improve themselves.”

  “I talked to a low-level guy at Indian Affairs,” Tyee said. “He told me there were all kinds of rumors about President Begay being dirty. He said we should be extra careful how we approach this, because there’s a lot of tension on the reservation right now. He’s hearing from some of his contacts that they think something might explode any day.”

  “Hmm. We’ll need to talk to Begay at some point. But maybe we wait until we have a better idea what’s going on. Right now, I think we should go visit with Trujillo. He left me a message saying he was sorry he missed us. He’s back in his office and wants us to come back by so we can talk.”

  “Ray, Tyee,” Trujillo greeted them, “I’ve got one big mess. Two mysterious deaths of prominent people, and the most likely suspects are the richest man in town and the missing sheriff.”

  Ray frowned. “I don’t understand. I heard from Governor Johnson that you’d arrested an old Navajo named Kee in the Barbara Jackson murder.”

  Trujillo widened his eyes and exhaled. “Not sure I can say anything good about my conversation with the governor. All he did was yell at me. I tried to give him an update, but he kept interrupting and somehow it got all confused. I tried to straighten him out, but he just yelled some more and hung up.”

  “Believe me, I understand. The governor did not learn listening skills in grade school. So, why did you arrest Kee?”

  “This may not be the nicest way to put it, but Kee is a known drunk. He mostly lives on the street, and he’s had numerous run-ins with our department. He’s claimed for years to be Sheriff Jackson’s father. You can imagine that did not sit well with the sheriff. Jackson hated him. One time Kee was arrested, and he was beaten up in jail. There was an investigation, and a cellmate was charged, but one has to wonder what really happened. It’s all an ugly, tragic story for both of them. Whether he was Jackson’s father, I have no idea. But his mother was known to have been ‘friendly’ with Kee, who back in the day was somethin’ of a wild man.

  “Then,” Trujillo sighed, “he walks in here a couple of days ago and confesses to killing Barbara Jackson. Said he hit her over the head with a cast-iron skillet. Well, that’s not a detail that’s been released to the public. We had to take him seriously. I put him in jail, and as I was trying to tell the governor, we had to wait for him to dry out so maybe we could get a better idea if he really did it. My guess is he didn’t—he’s almost eighty, and in poor health. I’m not real sure he could lift that skillet, much less use it as a weapon.”

  “Why would he confess?”

  “No idea. I don’t think anyone would claim he’s of sound mind. So, it could be as simple as he’s crazy and just confessed for no good reason. I don’t know. My problem is that this news got out, and now everyone wants a lynching—not literally, of course. But they do want this guy to be guilty.”

  “Guess that would solve some people’s problems. What about the councilman who was killed? What happened there?”

  “That happened after Kee was locked up. So, even if he could be a suspect in the Barbara Jackson murder, there’s no way he killed Thomas Martin. And we’re still not sure whether Martin’s death was murder. The governor jumped to conclusions and never let me give him all the information we have. Martin was found dead at his house of what could have been a self-inflicted gunshot. There was no note found. We did find a gun, and while we don’t have ballistics results yet, we’re fairly sure it’s the one he was shot with. We’re still gathering evidence and talking to people. But, as I tried to tell the governor, we can’t rule out murder, yet. It’s still an open question on what really happened.”

  “What do you think?”

  “I should tell you that I believe Barbara Jackson’s murder and the death of Thomas Martin are connected. It’s just too big a coincidence; there’s no question in my mind. The connection could be that Martin killed Jackson, or was involved in some way, and committed suicide because of his involvement. Or it could be two different killers, or that both are murders committed by the same person. But I think they are connected. And the person who I think is in the middle of this mess is Grimes.”

  “Guess that doesn’t surprise me too much. But how is he connected with Martin?”

  “Martin was Grimes’s man. Grimes got him elected with huge contributions to his campaigns. Everyone knew Martin did what Grimes told him. He didn’t even try to hide it—he was actually very proud that he was seen as the representative of Lewis Grimes in city politics.”

  “Was there any connection between Martin and Barbara Jackson?” Good question from Tyee.

  “Only a rumor that after a rather stormy and visible affair with Grimes, she turned to Martin for consolation. Martin’s wife left him about two years ago. She accused him of all sorts of things, includi
ng affairs. Their divorce was settled quietly with the help of what our gossips say was a large cash settlement, courtesy of Lewis Grimes. Martin’s wife took the money and the kids and went back home to Indiana. After that, Martin became Grimes’s buddy on many a late-night adventure involving almost every attractive woman in Farmington, and quite a few from Albuquerque. After Barbara’s last argument with Grimes, it was rumored that she’d moved in with Martin.”

  “Not exactly your Chamber of Commerce picture of Farmington.”

  “No, it’s not. There are many good people in this town, mostly Christians who find Grimes and his pals undesirable. But Grimes is a very powerful man. It’s believed he’s secretly purchased a controlling interest in the biggest bank in town. He has an unusually cozy relationship with the Navajo nation, and he owns the largest employer in the county, Grimes Oil Company. He’s not someone anyone wants to go to battle against because most people are afraid of him. So, his rather juvenile sexual habits are ignored.”

  Ray thought a moment before he responded, “Let me be clear why we’re here. The last thing in the world I’ll do is spy on you or question your decisions. If I think you’re making a mistake, I’ll address it with you first. But we’re working for the governor. He may be bombastic, or maybe insane, but he’s in charge. My feeling is that he only wants to solve problems, and you and Farmington have become a problem. What we’ll do, if you let us, is observe and assist, but not interfere. That also means we’ll handle communications with the governor. In that regard we definitely can be a benefit. He yells at us, too, but after some time working with him, I can usually wait him out and calm him down enough that he’ll listen. He has some problems with Grimes that aren’t involved with anything you’re trying to resolve. And as you know, he could come in here with a bulldozer and damage a lot of people’s lives. I think that would be a mistake. I’ve told the governor you’re the best man to handle the problems in Farmington, and the best man to run this department, if it comes to that. I still believe that. Let us help you, and maybe we can avoid hurting more people than we have to.”