Earthcrack: A Lin Hanna Mystery

by Sharon Canipe

  Neal seemed truly distressed and Lin was not sure how to respond. She wanted to be able to tell Neal that everything would work out but she knew that might not happen. She did believe him. She didn’t think he was responsible for Cullen’s death—whatever caused that—and he hadn’t actually stolen or sold any art—at least he said he had never done anything like this before and she believed he was sincerely regretful and did not wish to be involved in the black market in the future. That said, Lin could not predict how the authorities would react if they learned of his involvement. However, she did know that the information Neal had shared with her was further evidence that John Sessions was engaged in this illegal art market and, if Neal came forward, he might help put a stop to this. Perhaps the authorities would not bring charges against him if he assisted in putting a stop to other illegal activities, but Sessions was not even under investigation at this time. Also, even if Neal avoided legal consequences, he might still be in trouble with the university.

  “I’m afraid only you can decide what, if anything, you’re going to do with the information you have given me.” Lin spoke sincerely. “I can assure you that I’ll not reveal what you have told me to the authorities unless they open a new investigation into Cullen’s death and ask. I will tell his sister what he was doing. That will answer the family’s questions and give them at least some sort of closure but I will not reveal to them where I got the information. That is all that I can promise you, Neal. What else you do with the information is up to you.”

  “I know,” Neal tried to smile. “I have to decide what to do and how to do it. I’m a little afraid of what John Sessions might do if I talk to the authorities, but that’s just how things are. I have a lot to think about. Believe me, I do want to make things right—I’m just not sure what to do right now. It helps that you believe me. At least I have shared all this with someone,” he looked deeply into her eyes, “someone who I hope cares—about me—because I care about her.”

  “She does,” Lin responded, “and she knows you will do the right thing in the right way.”

  Leaving the restaurant, they walked briefly around the beautiful grounds that were softly lit against the dark night. They were silent during the ride back to campus. There was nothing more to say at this point. When they arrived back in the parking lot, Neal pulled in beside Lin’s car.

  “Thanks for calling me Lin. I’ve been agonizing over this entire situation—especially since I confronted John and told him I was out of any deals. I didn’t know how to approach you. I wanted to call. I wanted to talk to you, in fact I knew I needed to talk to you, but I was afraid you would reject any overtures. I think you felt you couldn’t trust me,” Neal spoke in almost a whisper.

  “You were right,” Lin responded. “I knew that I was attracted to you—that I cared for you and wanted to get to know you better—but there was that nagging question—I felt you were trying to hide something and I knew I couldn’t let myself move forward in any relationship with someone I couldn’t be sure would always be truthful with me. Trust is what you called it—and I have to agree.” Lin turned to Neal and looked straight into his deep blue eyes. “ Please know that I do believe you have been honest with me tonight and I do trust that, whatever happens, you’ll find a way to make this right.” Lin opened her door and got out of the car. Neal got out also—even though her car was right beside his.

  Walking to her side, Neal took her in his arms. He was warm and the night was beginning to be quite cool. “Thank you Lin. Thank you for being you and for being here for me tonight.” Neal leaned down and kissed her—deeply but gently and she returned his kiss, once more feeling the stirring of a passion she hadn’t felt in a long time. She knew that she cared about Neal—she could only hope that everything would work out for him somehow.

  Breaking the embrace, Lin smiled. “I’d best be getting back to Sue’s. She and I have a lot to catch up on and…” she paused and smiled at Neal, “I have to talk to Sophie.”

  “I’ll call you soon,” Neal said as he returned to his car, “I have a lot of thinking to do.”

  ***

  Before leaving the parking lot, Lin phoned Sue to let her know she was on her way. “I have some news to share with Sophie—I still don’t know how Cullen died but I do know why he was in the park,” Lin offered.

  “Sounds like your evening was successful!” there was a hint of questioning in Sue’s voice.

  “In more ways than one—I’ll tell you more later,” Lin laughed as she ended the call.

  As she drove the relatively short distance to Walnut Canyon, Lin tried to think clearly about what she had learned this day. It was hard for her to put her personal feelings for Neal Smith aside but she tried to do so. She had to remain grounded in what she was trying to do. True, she now knew what Cullen was doing in the park but she still didn’t know how he died. At least, she had some information to share with Sophie and her family. That would help them a lot, but she was still certain that there were some connections to these most recent murders. Perhaps Raymond Tso was somehow involved with Cullen also, after all the man who worked for John Sessions was Tso’s cousin and he disappeared about the time Cullen died, only to reappear a year later and become a victim himself! Lin felt some sense of satisfaction that information was coming together, but she knew things were not yet completely clear.

  It was still relatively early; Lin noticed the clock in her car. Sue had a lot of new information and she did too. They needed to get to work. She hadn’t really started organizing her notes this afternoon while waiting for David, but she and Sue could still work on such tonight, for a while anyway. The thought made her eager to get back.

  Thinking of David also reminded Lin of Neal’s tenuous position. Perhaps he should talk to a good attorney—maybe get some advice and help with how to proceed. Lin knew that David Cameron couldn’t help him; he was a public defender after all—but maybe he knew someone he could recommend—someone, like himself, who would care about Neal and give him good advice. She determined that she would mention this idea to Neal when they talked next time. She smiled to herself—she was glad that there would be a next time now!

  ***

  The drive into the Walnut Canyon residential area from the main park entrance was a dark one. Lin was glad to see the welcoming lights that glowed from the windows of Sue’s apartment as well as from the other residences. She pulled into the parking space and glanced over her shoulder at the scattered files and papers on her back seat. She really needed to bring some order to all of this information. Lin was so grateful that she had a few days off here to try to bring some order and some resolution to this situation. She hastily gathered up her files, locked the car, and headed for Sue’s front door.

  When she entered, she found a disturbing sight. Sue had not mentioned that anything was wrong when Lin called, but now she sat on the sofa, her arms around a sobbing Sophie!

  “What’s wrong?” Lin asked as she hurriedly placed all of her disorganized papers on the small dining table.

  “Sophie just got a disturbing call from the tribal police on the reservation,” Sue rose and grabbed a tissue for Sophie, “her father is in the hospital in Tuba City—she thinks they will be bringing him to Flagstaff later tonight, or maybe tomorrow.”

  “What happened?” Lin was alarmed.

  Sophie tried to speak through her uncontrolled sobs but could not.

  Sue spoke for her, “It appears that he was badly beaten. Someone was hiding at his home and attacked him as he exited his truck. They are not sure of the extent of his injuries but…it looks serious.”

  Sophie had finally found her voice, “It had to be Tso—one of his men—maybe the same one who attacked me—but my father,” she could not go on for a moment, “my father is an old man. He is not strong, I need to be with him, and with my mother,” Sophie broke down again.

  Sue spoke up, “ and you will be with them—as soon as we know where they will be. There is no point in driving up to Tuba Cit
y tonight if they are going to bring him here soon. We need to wait until we know more.”

  Sophie was crying quietly now. In a few moments she seemed to regain her composure a bit, “I know, it is hard to wait but that is all I can do right now. I did get to speak to my Mother,” she added. “She said he was awake, in a lot of pain, but he was able to talk to the police and describe the person who attacked him.”

  Lin jumped on this bit of positive news, “That’s good. It’s good that he was conscious—that’s a positive sign, at this point,” she couldn’t help thinking that this would not have happened if the tribal police had picked up Raymond Tso immediately when they got the report of the attack on Sophie but…

  Sophie must have been thinking along the same lines for she said, “ The police had picked up Mr. Tso for questioning but he had denied knowing anything about the person who attacked me. Apparently they didn’t have enough evidence to hold him but maybe now…”

  “Well,” Lin interjected, “I have some more information to give you that may help somewhat. I talked to Michael’s lawyer this afternoon and, later, I talked to a friend of mine and he gave me some additional information—information about Cullen.” Lin thought she saw a bit of improvement in Sophie’s demeanor with this news.

  Sue broke in, “I’m going to put on some coffee, and then we can talk. We have to wait for more news about Mr. Honeyestewa’s condition anyway—so we may as well catch up on what we have learned.”

  Sophie’s spirits seemed to lift a bit. At least they could be doing something constructive.

  Soon the warming aroma of freshly brewed coffee emanated from the kitchen.

  “How about some dessert,” Sue offered, “I have some cookies left from a baking session last week.”

  Sophie indicated that she would like some but Lin declined—she was still full from her excellent dinner. The thought of her evening with Neal still warmed her in spite of her concerns about his situation. She could hardly wait to tell Sue about her evening but—first things first.

  Lin had spread her notes in front of her and now she began to stack them into some semblance of order. She noticed that Sue also had a stack of information that seemed to include handwritten notes as well as copies of news articles.

  “Let me go first,” Lin said, turning to Sophie, “I have some positive news about Michael—he has talked to his attorney and now things are much clearer.”

  Sophie seemed to brighten at this news. Lin quickly launched into a report of her conversation with David Cameron. Sophie’s face clouded when Lin reported that Michael and Teddy had been involved in the illegal art trade—at least peripherally, as employees of Tso. Lin was quick to point out that, apparently, neither boy did this entirely voluntarily. Tso was coercing them because of their debts.

  Lin continued with her story—leaving nothing out—and further related what Michael had said about going to the park on Monday and what they had seen. Lin concluded this part of her story by pointing out that the boys and their attorney were scheduled to share all of this information with Deputy Taylor in the morning. Perhaps that would provide more evidence against Tso. Maybe they might be released—the murder charges against them dropped—especially since Tso seemed to be attacking the family now.

  “Anyway,” Lin added. “We can hope that this information will help the boys in their situation.” She noted that Sue had been leafing through her stack of news articles as she related what Michael had told the lawyer about Tso’s interest in the art trade—about the now discarded map and Tso’s offer of continued work if the boys could find this supposed cache of valuable pots.

  “From what David said,” Lin added, “Michael wants no part of that at all and, if Tso is arrested, he may be out of business for good.”

  “ I hope so,” Sophie said, “I hope the sheriff’s man believes Michael when he tells all this to him. If he does not…” she could not finish her thought.

  Lin sought to be reassuring, “I think he has to believe him. At least, given the attacks on you and your father, Tso has to be investigated further. It’s a start, anyway.”

  Sue broke into the conversation, “I think I have some information here which could help to back up at least part of Michael’s story—the part where he told about a Chinese man coming to talk to Tso…” the ringing of Sophie’s cell phone cut Sue short.

  Lin went to the kitchen for more coffee while Sophie spoke on the phone. When she returned to the table, Sophie had finished talking.

  “My father has a broken hip and several broken ribs,” she reported, “he is badly bruised but they did not find signs of further internal injuries—at least not at this point. He is in a lot of pain but he is still alert,” she added, “they are transferring him to Flagstaff tonight and will do surgery for the hip tomorrow morning. They said he was stable, otherwise.” She seemed at least a bit relieved. “I can be with my mother at the hospital tomorrow—she is coming with him.”

  “We’ll have to find her a place to stay,” Sue offered, “Maybe…”

  “That is taken care of,” Sophie said, “She will stay at the Taylor house near the hospital.” Sophie went on to explain that this was an inn operated by the hospital auxiliary as a service to families of out of town patients, “I can stay there with her, as well,” she added, “it’s only a block from the hospital. It will mean you two can have more room here.”

  “That is not a problem at all,” Sue reassured her guest, “but I know it would be convenient for you to be there for your mother and father. We can take you over tomorrow before the surgery. Now, where were we with all our information—I have something here that might be helpful.”

  Sue pulled several copies from her file. “ I didn’t find much in the Arizona Daily Sun that could help us. There were several general articles about the art black market but nothing that implicated anyone specifically locally; however, the Santa Fe newspaper did a series sometime back and they focused on an art dealer there named Lee Chou. He is Chinese and apparently does a large export business to buyers in Asia. The article mentioned some suspicious dealings he had had but Chou has never been arrested or charged with any crimes. He maintains that he has always done honest business and claims that the suspicions are unfounded—he just has a lot of contacts in Asia. It appears that the authorities in New Mexico have investigated his operations but they have never found enough evidence to bring any specific charges.”

  Lin thought about what Sue had found out. “Could the Chinese man whom Michael saw visiting Raymond Tso be this Lee Chou? If we could connect him there it would back up what Michael is telling us about Tso seeking to find and sell artifacts on the black market.”

  “Yes, it would,” Sue replied, “but I still found nothing to connect John Sessions to this trade, at least not in any media sources I could find. He has apparently avoided any open suspicions.”

  “But he can’t avoid the fact that Darren Steele once worked for him and I learned something from my friend tonight which links Steele with Cullen—at least indirectly.” Lin was careful not to mention Neal’s name and she hoped Sue would pick up on that—she wanted to protect his privacy as much as possible at this point.

  Lin continued, “My friend told me that Cullen had found some very valuable pottery somewhere near Wupatki—near the tribal collection site. He wanted to sell these pots and use the money to repay Michael’s debts and help him get back to school.”

  Sophie seemed shocked, “ I can’t believe that Cullen would have done something like that! He was always talking about our heritage and why it should not be exploited. He would have told someone if he found something like that—the tribe, the park… I can’t believe he would steal!”

  Lin placed her hand over Sophie’s and tried to comfort her, “Family ties are so strong,” she said, “I am sure he must have felt torn about his decision, but he also felt it was very important to help his nephew. He would have known what might happen—what has happened—to Michael because of those debts. I feel su
re he only wanted to help and felt this was the only way.”

  Lin continued, “ My friend explained that was why Cullen had John Sessions’ business card in his possession. He had put him in touch with Sessions. Darren Steele was supposed to meet Cullen and get the pottery. Apparently Cullen never showed up—maybe he changed his mind or maybe…” she did not add the obvious conclusion that he had died, whether by accident or otherwise. “Anyway, Darren Steele also took off and disappeared about that same time. No one seems to know what he was doing before he turned up in this area recently and now he is dead.”

  Lin didn’t feel it was necessary to reveal more about Neal’s role in this whole affair. She was still torn—feeling the need to protect his privacy but also hoping that he would do the right thing with the information that he had.

  Sophie spoke quietly, “ So we don’t know how Cullen died but we do know why he must have gone to the park—he was going to get that pottery and sell it. I’m not sure I can tell my parents about that—they would be ashamed.”

  “That is up to you,” Lin replied, “they might understand why he felt he had to do something. He had told Michael that he was going to help… I had hoped we might find out more about how he died but we may not, unless the sheriff reopens the investigation with evidence from this current case—we can hope for that but….”

  Sophie smiled, “ You have done your best and you have helped us to learn more. I don’t think you should try anymore. You could put yourself in danger—especially if Raymond Tso is involved in all of this—and I think he is.”

  Sue spoke up, “ I agree, Lin needs to be careful where this case is concerned—we all need to be careful but…” she pointed to the stacks of papers before her, “the information Lin’s friend gave her does tell us that John Sessions is dealing in stolen art and artifacts—or he would not have sent Cullen to him.”

  Lin nodded in agreement but she didn’t say anything more. The knowing glance Sue gave her indicated, however, that the subject was certainly not closed in her mind. Lin realized that she would have to tell Sue more, but she still didn’t want to reveal Neal’s name to Sophie—not just yet.