Changing Woman

by Thurlo, David

  Giving Justine a nod, Ella went back to the kitchen. Carolyn was bringing out the body bag to contain the corpse.

  “You through?” Ella asked.

  “Yeah, but I’ll need some help putting the body away and loading the bag into the back of my van.”

  Though Tache and Neskahi were within hearing distance, both of them vanished instantly.

  Carolyn looked at Ella. “I’m not moving and neither is this body until I get help. Get Neskahi. I think he was the one who went out into the backyard.”

  “I can help you,” Ella offered.

  Carolyn glowered at her. “I said, get Neskahi.” “But why?” Ella asked, puzzled.

  Carolyn gave her a smug smile. “Because he made a crack about my weight.”

  “Oh, well, since you have a good reason like that,” Ella said with a tiny smile, “it’s hard for me to refuse.” Ella went to the back door and signaled for the sergeant to come back in.

  Neskahi’s face fell and he walked back slowly, shoulders slumped, head down. “That’s what I get for asking if she’d already searched the refrigerator,” he muttered as he moved past Ella.

  Once the body had been taken away and only the masking tape outline remained, Ella tagged and bagged the salt shaker.

  She then sat down on the kitchen floor and turned over the trash basket onto a layer of paper towels. Except for two empty cola cans and a copy of yesterday’s tribal paper, there was nothing of interest, not even a used vacuum bag. Then she noticed a piece of gum stuck to the newspaper. Ella picked up the paper with the gum still attached, then bagged and tagged it, along with both empty cola cans. With luck they’d get fingerprints off the cans, and be able to link the DNA on the gum to a suspect—if she ever narrowed it down to anyone.

  Ella took one last look around and stared at the tape outline pensively. Whoever had been there had been careful. There were no signs of a struggle except for a few grains of salt and the slightly out-of-position table. A crime of passion? Not this well planned.

  They left the crime scene nearly two hours later. The closest neighbors had been questioned, but houses here were at least a quarter of a mile apart and no one had seen or heard anything. The trash pickup had been the afternoon before, they learned, and nothing was in the trash can outside the house.

  “She was a real pretty woman,” Justine said. “I wonder why someone like her would get mixed up with a married guy?”

  “She wasn’t getting any younger, cousin. Maybe she didn’t have a lot of choices and she was lonely.”

  “But there are plenty of men around, no matter what age you are.”

  Ella laughed. “Yeah, but a lot of women have trouble connecting with them after they pass a certain age. And some of the leftover men have been leftover for a good reason.”

  “I know, Ella. But if I were looking for a guy, I’d go to places where I could meet single men and just take my chances. And if I didn’t meet anyone I liked, I’d go it alone instead of settling. I can’t imagine picking a married guy just ’cause he was the only one interested.” She shuddered. “I guess I’m not wired that way.”

  “Not many women cops would be likely to fall for the tired lines these guys come up with. We deal too much in reality and have few illusions about human nature.”

  “Which also makes it hard for us to sustain relationships, doesn’t it?” Justine observed.

  “Yeah, that, too.” She gave Justine a concerned look. “Are you and Wilson having problems?”

  She nodded. “He wants to move things along at a faster pace than I’m comfortable with,” Justine said. “Right now I’m trying to cope with what happened to my hand, and I’m working really hard to make sure I can qualify on the firing range. That’s my first priority—well, that, and keeping up with my caseload. Yet he’s talking about our future together and how he wants to settle down. He’s even started mentioning marriage.” Justine shook her head. “I just can’t deal with all that right now.”

  “You have to do what’s right for you, but be careful,” Ella said thoughtfully. “I’ve learned that life goes on whether we’re ready or not, and the right person can slip through our fingers before we even realize it,” Ella said, thinking about Harry.

  Justine glanced over at her. “Is that what happened between Wilson and you?”

  Ella shook her head. “Wilson and I have always been such good friends that people believed there was more going on than there was. Wilson got wrapped up in that too for a while, before he finally accepted the fact that I just didn’t love him in that way. Then he got involved with Lisa and, in time, that turned out to be an even bigger disaster for him. I think the reason he’s rushing you now is because he’s afraid that things will go wrong again and he’ll lose you.”

  Justine nodded. “I thought that, too, so I offered to move in with him and see how it went, but he said no. He told me he’s not even remotely interested in halfway commitments.”

  “Consider the relationships he’s had and you’ll understand where he’s coming from.”

  “What about you?” Justine asked. “Don’t you ever think of settling down with a man, particularly now that you’ve got Dawn? It would be good for her to have a full-time daddy in her life.”

  “It’s precisely because I’ve got Dawn that I have to be careful. I don’t want her to be hurt. She’s my first responsibility. But to answer your question, yes, I would like to find the right man and settle down.”

  “Do you think Harry could be the right guy?” Justine pressed.

  Ella laughed. Justine’s instincts were right on target, as usual. “I don’t know. We understand each other’s responsibilities very well, so that’s a start. What happens in the future is anyone’s guess.”

  “But it’s always that way, isn’t it?” Justine said, looking down at what was left of her right forefinger.

  “Yes, I guess it is,” Ella said, wishing life came with a really good set of instructions.

  Rose watched her granddaughter playing in her room with Jennifer. It bothered her to have a stranger practically living here, but what really annoyed her was seeing how easily Dawn had accepted this new person.

  Turning away, Rose walked to what had once been her husband’s study. The room was divided in two these days—half was Ella’s office and the other half was her sewing and weaving room.

  Rose searched for a novel Ella had given her last year. It was the story of a Navajo man who’d been turned into a vampire, but he was subject only to the beliefs of the Dineh. Prayer sticks accomplished what crosses could not. Ella had found the novel entertaining and had recommended it to her.

  Finding the book on the shelf, Rose sat down on the sofa and began reading, but soon she was forced to give up. No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, her thoughts seemed to drift back to Herman. It had been nice having a man her own age to talk to yesterday, someone who remembered the good times and the bad times on the Rez as she did.

  With a sigh, she tried to focus back on the book, but to no avail. Finally, hearing a car driving up, she stood. A knock sounded at her door shortly thereafter. “I’ll get it,” Rose called out.

  A man she recognized, a member of the Tribal Council, stood on her porch. Ronald Etcitty was one of the leaders of the progaming faction pushing for the council’s approval.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  “I understand that you speak for many of the traditionalists who are opposed to gaming, and I’d like a chance to talk to you about our position,” he said.

  “If you know I’m a traditionalist, you should have also shown me the courtesy of waiting outside and not approaching my door without an invitation,” Rose said softly, but clearly.

  “I would have, but my heater won’t work very well unless the car is moving, and I didn’t know if you’d even heard me drive up. Won’t you forgive the lapse?” He flashed her a wide smile.

  To Rose, a smile from a politician served the same function as the noisy tail of a rattlesnake.
“Come in, then. We’ll talk.”

  Jennifer peered out from Dawn’s room and, receiving a nod from Rose, returned to play with the little girl. Two was sitting in the doorway, watching the stranger.

  Rose gestured to him to have a seat. “All right. You have my complete attention, Councilman.”

  Ronald Etcitty kept his voice low. “Your daughter is a well-respected policewoman for the tribe, but she’s in a precarious position right now. Did you know that?”

  “What do you mean?” Rose asked. She didn’t like where he was heading. Tension gripped her, but she tried to remain outwardly calm.

  “Our tribe’s finances are almost completely depleted. Officers, I’m sure you’ve noticed, are being overworked to the point of exhaustion. Crime is on the rise and yet their ability to do their job well is being compromised. What’s worse, their lives are more at risk than ever before because of the impossible demands being made on them.” He paused, obviously for effect, then continued. “By working against gaming, you’re opposing the opportunity to practically guarantee a safer working environment for your daughter.”

  Rose held herself perfectly still. She was furious, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d pushed the right buttons. “My daughter would be in even more danger if casinos opened on our land. A flood of professional gamblers, organized crime, and alcohol can’t result in anything good for our people.”

  “Are you aware that as things stand right now, if your daughter needed backup from other officers, she probably wouldn’t get it for a half hour or more? Without the funds to hire new officers, we’re going to be facing a real crisis very soon. Of course, one solution we’ve been considering is redistributing our current officers to cover more ground. Your daughter’s unit would undoubtedly be disbanded and she could be sent to Window Rock, for example, or way over to Tuba City.” He looked through the doorway to where Dawn was playing. “The tribe has a day-care center in Tuba City, so your granddaughter would be looked after—though I suspect they’ve had some staff cuts too, so she wouldn’t get the attention you can give her here.”

  “This almost sounds like a threat.” Rose commented pleasantly. He’d succeeded in scaring her, but she was determined not to let him know it.

  “Oh, no, not at all,” he said smoothly. “I simply came to provide you with more information. I thought that if you could understand the realities of our tribe’s situation, you’d be able to explain these things to others who have also opposed gaming.”

  “In that case, I’m afraid you’ve wasted your trip.” Rose stood. “I agree with the council that we need funds desperately. But gaming is not the answer.”

  His eyes flashed with a trace of anger. “And what solutions do your antigaming group propose? Do they have any idea at all how we can ease the tribe’s financial crisis?”

  “I’ll think more about it and discuss the matter with other people. For now, the only thing I can say is that you don’t fix one problem by adding another one.”

  As the man left, Jennifer came out to join Rose. “I only heard a little of what you said, but I think you really handled that well.”

  But it hadn’t been good enough. Rose knew she was making enemies and, sooner or later, they would rally against her. She could only hope that when the challenge came, she’d be able to meet it with courage and dignity.

  FIFTEEN

  Ella and Justine spent most of the afternoon at the local tribal offices questioning Betty Nez’s coworkers inside an empty conference room. Betty had been well liked, and from what Ella could see the entire secretarial pool was mourning the passing of a friend. As they questioned the group, one by one, a picture of the murdered woman began to emerge.

  “Everyone knows each other here,” Lea Benally, a young receptionist in her midtwenties, explained. “We don’t always get along, mind you, and there are times when we’d cheerfully choke each other, but the truth is we’re all in the same situation and we know it. We have jobs, and we want to keep them. Our friend always worked hard and helped whoever was running behind. She’ll be missed.”

  Ella noticed that no one wanted to mention Betty by name. Even among these modernists, not many were willing to tempt fate by inadvertently summoning the chindi.

  “Who was she going out with?” Justine asked pointedly.

  Lea squirmed. “We all knew she was seeing someone, but she was careful never to say who he was.”

  “But you still had a good idea, right?” Ella pressed.

  “We made a guess, but we don’t really know for sure,” Lea said with a shrug.

  “Tell me who you think it was,” Ella prodded.

  Lea hesitated. “He had nothing to do with what happened to her. I’m certain of it.”

  “Then we’ll be able to prove that right away,” Justine answered.

  There was a knock at the door and a Navajo woman in her early fifties wearing a gray wool suit peered inside. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Officers, but should I ask one of our tribal attorneys to be present?”

  Ella looked at Rita Zahnes, the office supervisor, and was surprised to see the trace of fear in her eyes.

  “Why would you think that’s necessary?” Ella asked. “Our questioning is routine at this point. We’re just getting background information.”

  “I spoke to some of my people, and I understand that you’ve been asking them to speculate on who our coworker was dating. Speculation like that could get them into serious trouble.” She shifted her gaze to Lea. “I wouldn’t want anyone to face slander charges or a reprimand.”

  Lea’s eyes grew wide, and she turned to Ella. “I honestly don’t know anything. She and I were friendly to each other here at work, but we were always focused on our jobs. There’s not much time to just chitchat.”

  Ella looked at Rita. “We asked all of you not to discuss the deceased until we’d spoken with everyone here, but it looks like you didn’t respect that request. So I’d like to talk to you next. If you feel you need an attorney, by all means call one right now.”

  “I don’t need an attorney,” Rita said, instantly on the defensive.

  “We’re glad to hear that you’ve got nothing to hide,” Justine said.

  Excusing Lea, Ella gestured for Rita to have a seat. “We already know that the deceased was seeing a married man, and we have an idea of who that person is,” Ella bluffed. “I don’t think you want to be charged with obstruction of justice, and I do believe you’d like to see whoever killed your friend put in jail. Why don’t you just tell us what you know and let us do our job?”

  Rita looked down at her hands and bit her bottom lip. “Look, this is very awkward for all of us. Sure, there’s been gossip about who she was seeing, but the way it started . . . I just don’t know if any of it is true.”

  “Tell me what you heard,” Ella said.

  “The gossip all started when Lea saw the woman who worked here,” she said avoiding the name, “with a guy who looked like Andrew Talk.”

  “The Tribal Council member.” Justine verified with a casual nod as if she’d already known about this.

  “Yeah, but Lea was in a bar in Farmington at the time and the room was dark. Lea said that she got up to go say hello to her, but, before she could get across the room, her coworker ducked out with the guy.”

  “All right. Send Lea back in, and this time don’t discuss this with anyone.”

  “You don’t even have to ask,” Rita said, moving quickly to the door as if fleeing from a rabid dog.

  Lea came in a moment later. “Look, I really don’t have anything to say—”

  “Lea, relax,” Ella said. “Whatever you tell us will be kept confidential.”

  Lea’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Ella thoughtfully. “You already know, don’t you? That’s why you’re pressing me. You need to hear it directly from me?”

  Ella nodded. “That’s it in a nutshell.”

  “The truth is I never got close enough to our friend to say for sure who she was
with. That place was really dark, but from the glimpse I got, I think it was my boss, Andrew Talk. I wanted to go say hi to them, but one of the guys there suddenly grabbed me and asked me to dance. By the time I got free, they were gone.”

  “Lea, I want you to think really hard. You say that you never got close, and you couldn’t see the guy really well. So what is it that made you think it was Andrew Talk?”

  “To be honest, the only clear look I had of him was when he was hurrying away, but I saw the back of his belt and that’s when I knew who it was. I suppose it might have been someone with the same name, but...” she said with a shrug.

  “Now you’ve lost me. What do you mean ’the same name’?” Ella asked.

  “The guy I saw was wearing a hand-tooled leather belt. As he walked away, the spotlight on the dance floor caught it and I saw the name Andrew tooled in outline on the back. You’ve seen those belts, haven’t you? The high school kids make them all the time.”

  “And that convinced you that it was Andrew Talk?” Justine asked.

  “Well, that, and the fact that Andrew has a belt like that. I’ve also seen the way he would look at her when he thought no one else in the office was watching. He really liked her.”

  When Lea left the room Justine glanced at Ella. “I probably see two or more of those belts every day. Even some of our cops wear them off duty.”

  “I say we pay Mr. Talk a visit,” Ella said.

  “Okay. His office is at the other end of the hall,” Justine said. “I remember seeing his name on the door when we walked down here.”

  “Let’s go.”

  The office was empty, and one of the men working across the hall came out. “If you’re looking for Mr. Talk, he’s been out since yesterday.”