“When was this?”
“Shortly after Penelope and her friends appeared at our local hearing.”
“Who was there? Do you remember?”
Barry closed her eyes. “There were five. Two woman and three men. I remember that.”
“Darcy McFarland?”
“I don’t know any of their names. It was Penny who spoke.”
“Was one of the men pretty shaggy-looking?”
“No. All three men were pretty clean-cut. One of them was older, and two were young men.”
“Can you remember anything else about them?”
“Only that they came together and left together. They seemed pretty tight.”
“I don’t want to sound like I’m not grateful for this information, Ms. Barry. I am. That being said, I wonder about your involvement in all of this.”
“I think that’s pretty clear … oh, wait. You’re wondering if I killed your wife, aren’t you?”
“Well, you certainly stood to lose a great deal.”
“Well, Penelope de Silva certainly caused me a good deal of trouble, and cost the partners on this project a lot of time and money, but in the end the thing that has kept us from building this resort wasn’t your wife, or her friends, or all the other environmental groups, but nature. Just when we wanted the water, it wasn’t there. And that’s the story of Utah, Dr. Pearson.”
14
“HOW DID THAT GO?” ROBBIE asked when Silas returned to their hotel room.
“It was surreal. Eleanor Barry is unlike anybody I’ve ever talked to about Penny. I get the genuine feeling that she feels sorry for me, and that given different circumstances she and Penelope could have been friends.”
“Except that she wants to build a mega-resort in a National Monument and insert a drinking straw into a refilled Lake Powell.”
Silas filled Robbie in.
“The bit about C. Thorn Smith confirms what I learned reading the correspondence. Why do you think she would be so open about that?”
“Maybe she’s angry. Maybe she’s feeling frustrated and wants to turn up the heat on him. I get the feeling that Ms. Barry was trying to distract me; you know, look at what the left hand is doing while the right hand—”
“Gets away with murder?”
“I don’t know about that. Like everybody else involved with this business, she certainly had motive. Just because you stand to lose the opportunity of a lifetime to make a mint doesn’t mean that you go out and kill someone.”
“I haven’t seen anything one hundred percent conclusive on this, but money has got to be the number one motive for premeditated murder, Dad.”
“This all seems way more personal than that. The way Penelope was killed, and the others. Drowned, strangled, shot at point-blank range between the eyes …”
“It’s alright, Dad. Come on, let’s get this mess packed up and head out. We’ve got a known felon to interrogate.”
They packed the contents of their room into the back of the Outback. Eugene Nielsen pulled up and stepped out of his vehicle.
Silas walked to the FBI agent. “What can I do for you, Agent Nielsen?”
“Dr. Pearson, Agent Taylor asked me to stop by and talk with you.”
“We’re just leaving.”
“Were you? This will only take a moment. You remember how we discussed interference in our investigation? Well, hard as it is for me to believe, here I am to give you one last warning. You’ve got to leave this investigation to the FBI. It’s come to our attention that you’ve met with Ms. Barry twice. You are to leave her alone.”
“Is she a suspect in Penelope’s murder?”
“I’m not here to discuss that. I’m just asking—no, I’m telling you: leave the investigation to us. If you inadvertently compromise an investigation, you might end up allowing someone to get away with a serious crime. Do you want that?”
“No, of course not. But I also am not willing to sit on my hands for another five years while you guys chase your tails.”
“Last warning, Dr. Pearson. Next time you’ll be getting in the back of my truck and we’ll take a long, leisurely drive over to Monticello where you can think about all the time we’re wasting incarcerating you while we should be out looking for a serial killer. Understand?”
“I understand your words.”
Nielsen slipped his sunglasses back on and shook his head. “It’s always so good to talk with you, Dr. Pearson. It’s like getting spit in the eye every time.”
WHEN THEY WERE driving out of town Robbie broke the silence. “What the hell was that all about?”
Silas gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. “I have no idea, but I’m going to find out.”
“Doesn’t it feel as though he’s changed his tune? Something must have happened,” said Robbie. “Do you think she called the police?”
“How else would they know? Unless she called someone else.”
“Who?”
“Senator Smith. A call from his office to the head of the FBI might set Agents Taylor and Nielsen on us pretty fast.”
“Don’t you think the FBI would tell the senator not to interfere as well?”
“I don’t know. There’s a lot of nepotism in Washington right now. I think anything is possible.”
“How else would Agent Nielsen know that we were there? She had to have called someone and complained. What is it? Why are you smiling?”
Silas said, “What if the FBI was already watching Eleanor Barry? Maybe that’s the reason why they knew I was there. She didn’t call them. They were already there.”
15
“THIS ISN’T GOING TO BE an easy conversation.” Silas piloted the Outback into the town of Page, Arizona.
“How do you want to do this? I could go in and pretend to be a reporter or something.”
“He’s not going to buy it. He’s probably been told not to talk to reporters anyway. No, I think the only way to do this is to be straight up. Maybe he’ll spill something. In any case, this could get testy. I wouldn’t take your shoes off if he invites us in.”
They found the Love residence, and Robbie and Silas walked to the front door and knocked. A woman answered the door.
“Ms. Love, I wonder if your husband is home?”
“Who wants to know?”
Silas looked at Robbie and then back at the woman. “Please tell him Silas Pearson is here.”
She closed the door and in a minute came back. “He said for you to leave. I think he’s calling the police right now.” She started to close the door.
Silas pressed a hand on it. “Ms. Love, I’m sure I’m the last person your husband wants to see right now, but I’ve just learned that Eleanor Barry is being investigated by the FBI. I think he might want to hear what I know. Can you tell him, please?”
Silas removed his hand and she closed the door. In a moment Paul Love was there. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair seemed thinner than when Silas had seen him last. “What do you want, Pearson? And who the hell is this?”
“This is my son, Rob.” Robbie nodded. “I know you blame me for your situation—”
“Of course I blame you! Look at my hand!” He held up his right hand. It was still blue and disfigured. “Two operations! Six pins! I may never get full use of it back.”
“You pulled a gun on me.”
“You were accosting us.”
“I’m not here to debate with you about what happened at Phantom Ranch, Mr. Love. I thought you’d like to know that another one of your projects is under the microscope. Your development in the Escalante, the one at the Hole in the Rock, is at the center of the investigation into the murder of my wife.”
“Jesus, not this again. Is there anybody left in the Four Corners states that you haven’t accused of killing your wife, Pearson?”
“I’m not accusing you of killing my wife, but I think that Penelope was in Escalante opposing your resort shortly before she went missing. Maybe you know so
mething about this? The Escalante Resort, I think you were calling it? The one with the floating marina at the bottom of the Hole in the Rock. Your name is on the development application as a partner. Eleanor Barry is being investigated by the FBI.”
“Listen, Pearson, I know that you’ve been under a lot of stress. But all this sleuthing, first about the Vaughn woman and now about your own wife, it’s getting out of hand. I think you’ve gone off the deep end.”
“What can you tell me about Penelope and Eleanor Barry?”
“Nothing. There is nothing to tell! They met once or twice at public meetings. I’m sure Barry didn’t care for your wife, but that doesn’t mean shit. Hell, I don’t like you but I don’t have any intention of killing you. Maybe tossing your ass off my porch, but that’s about it.”
“This from a man who pulled a gun on me.” Love didn’t say anything so Silas pressed on. “You had a big stake in this, didn’t you? Half-a-billion-dollar project would make one hell of a splash. What was your piece of the project?”
“If you’re so smart, look it up. I’m not talking with you anymore.”
“Penelope’s body was found in the lake, Mr. Love. You’re a marina guy; you run a powerboat rafting company. If anybody was going to get rid of my wife’s body in Lake Powell, it seems it would be you.”
Love just shook his head. “I’m sorry that your wife is dead, Pearson, but I had nothing to do with it. In a few months I’m going to be on trial. I’ll see you then.” He closed the door.
Silas stood and looked at the door. Paul Love had lost almost all of his bluster in the months since the events at Phantom Ranch. He seemed deflated and defeated.
Robbie waited until he was sitting in the car to say anything. “I think he’s telling the truth. I was watching him pretty closely. He made eye contact with you the whole time. He doesn’t like you, nor did he care much for Penelope, but I don’t think he was involved in her death.”
“I think you’re wrong. Guys like Paul Love know how to lie. It’s what they do. He lied about his involvement with the superintendent of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to block wilderness designation at the Grand Canyon, and I think he’s lying now.” Silas was driving toward the outskirts of town.
“I’m just saying that he wasn’t doing the things we usually look for to see if someone is lying—the eyes looking up and to the left. It’s what’s called a visually contracted image. When you lie about something you often try to imagine the lie, and create a picture in your head. If you look up and to the right, you’re accessing a memory of something. Left means lie. Right means remember. Also, there was his body language. Did you see how he was fidgeting with the door while we talked, and shuffling his feet? A person who is lying usually becomes stiff and rigid; it’s part of their effort to control the situation. Love was flopping like a fish out of water. He didn’t want to talk with us, but I don’t think he was lying about his involvement with Penelope.”
“This is what five years of education has got me? A kid who is an expert on lying?”
“This is handy stuff,” he said.
“If he wasn’t lying, what do we make of what he said?”
“One thing was helpful. He told us to ‘look it up.’ I think there is a lot more information on what Love, Barry, and this friend of yours Isaiah were up to in the desert than we know about, a bunch of stuff on paper that we haven’t accessed.”
“So we stick to the plan. We’ll head to Moab in the morning and you can get your car from my place.”
“Where are we going now?”
“I know a place out in the desert. I camped there a few times last year. It’s nice. You can’t smell the power plant from there.”
After replenishing their supplies they drove through the fading light to the location where Silas had camped the previous spring and set up their tent. Robbie started dinner while Silas gathered wood for a fire. As the sun set it cast long shadows across the desert and illuminated buttes and cliffs far in the distance.
After eating and chatting, they watched the fire burn down. Before turning in Robbie said to Silas, “Does anybody else ever come out here?”
“I’m sure they do, why?”
“I thought I saw headlights, that’s all.”
“Where?”
“Off in that direction. It was only for a minute.”
“It could have been some lights from Page.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Do you see anything now? Maybe it was just someone driving back from his hogan. This is part of the Navajo res.”
“Maybe that’s what it was. Let’s get some sleep, Dad.”
Silas sat up for a long time after his son had gone to sleep, looking across the horizon of the desert. He felt a sense of paranoia he hadn’t experienced for many months. It was like something or someone was waiting for him beyond the tangle of darkness, but remained just out of view.
16
THEY LEFT EARLY AND HEADED back to Utah. While driving through Blanding, Silas jerked the wheel and pulled the Outback to the curb.
“What is it?”
“Did you see that banner?”
“I missed it. What was it?”
“Senator Smith is in town today. He’s at some kind of dedication ceremony. I feel a sudden surge of civic pride.”
“You don’t even live here! Did you know about Smith being in town?”
“It’s pure coincidence. Really.”
Robbie didn’t believe him and told him so.
The event was taking place at a tree-shaded park on the western edge of town. “You’re going to land in jail if you’re not careful,” said Robbie.
“I’ll keep my nose clean. Smith and I have never met face to face so we should be fine.”
“‘I’ll be fine.’ You’ll be in the clink. You think his staffers don’t know who you are?”
“Listen, we’re here, and he’s here. Eleanor Barry said there was something that kept him from supporting her plans. Maybe it was something that happened between him and Penelope’s gang of friends. Don’t you want to know what that is?”
Robbie went along with his father. The event was billed as an open forum on water in the west. A decade of drought had left Utah parched, and while Smith was adamant in his denial of climate change, he didn’t let that get in the way of pontificating about the needs of his constituents for more water.
While there were microphones set up in the grassy park, it didn’t seem like the small crowd in Blanding had much to say on the matter—not that the senator let them get a word in edgewise. For almost an hour he held forth about the need to harness the latent potential for growth and prosperity that Utah’s water provided. What water? Silas kept thinking.
There were a few questions, but the crowd—worn out from being in the hot sun—drifted toward a table of lemonade and cookies as the senator shook a few hands. Silas angled toward him.
“Good speech, Senator.”
“Thanks for coming today,” Smith said as he shook his hand. If the events of the last year had taken a toll on the man, it didn’t show. He looked presidential, his hair neatly combed and dusted with gray, his crisp white shirt rolled up at the sleeves.
“I wonder if you have a few minutes to talk.”
“If this is an issue about a federal program, you might want to take it up with your congressman. I can get you his number.”
“It’s not about a federal program. Sir, have you heard of a project called the Escalante Resort?”
Smith hesitated only a second. “Yes, it’s east of the Town of Escalante, isn’t that right?”
“That’s correct, sir. It’s been on the books for about five years now. It’s a big project.”
“I believe I’ve written a letter in support of it.”
“I think that’s correct. Do you know the proponents of the project?”
“Remind me, are you with the press?”
“No, sir, I’m just a concerned citizen.”
“We�
��re going to have to make this quick, Mr. …”
“It’s Dr. Pearson. I believe you knew my wife, Penelope de Silva.” Silas waited to see if there was a glimmer of recognition. If there was, the senator disguised it well. “Sir, do you know Eleanor Barry?”
“Name sounds familiar.” Now Smith looked around for an aide.
“She is currently under investigation by the FBI. She’s the lead proponent of the project.”
“What’s she being investigated for?”
“I don’t know. What I do know is that she claims to have your support for this project.”
“Well, I write a dozen letters a day in support of businesses across the state. Haven’t you and I met before?”
“I don’t think so, sir.”
“No, I know you from someplace.” The senator seemed to be accessing a file of names and faces in his head. “You broke into my office last year.”
“There were never any charges laid. You’ll recall that your assistant caused me some … inconvenience.”
“There’s a restraining order in place. I could have you arrested just for standing here.”
“Be my guest.”
“I don’t have time for whatever game you’re playing now, Pearson. You’ll have to excuse me.”
“Sir, my wife was found murdered near where the Escalante Resort was to be built. She had been at a public hearing just a few months before. She and her friends were trying to stop the project. I think that the people you are supporting may have had something to do with it.”
“Tell the FBI. My involvement in that scheme was just a letter, one of a thousand my office writes every year.”
Robbie stepped forward. “Senator, that’s not entirely true. You’ve gone way beyond writing a letter to the regulator. You’ve pressured a number of federal departments to get behind the development. You’ve written many letters to the BLM accusing them of being anti-business—”
“The BLM have turned into a bunch of tree huggers. And all I’ve done—”
“Why have you pressured every other federal agency about this project except for the Bureau of Reclamation?” Silas asked.
The Same River Twice Page 6