Tony Hillerman - Leaphorn & Chee 17 - Skeleton Man
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"And don't forget to tell Tuve to get the diamond he actually owns out of the court's evidence room," Chee said. "And after he uses the one Bernie salvaged from the Skeleton Man shrine as evidence to get his charge dropped, tell the sheriff to start looking for another suspect in that Zuni homicide, and then I guess he should give that diamond to Miss Craig, here."
"Or maybe the insurance company will claim it," Joanna said. "I'll get my attorney, to decide how to handle that."
"One more thing," Chee said. "Tell Tuve not to try to pawn that twenty-thousand-buck diamond of his for twenty dollars again. It makes pawnshops suspicious."
"And causes way too much trouble," Bernie said.
"Well, I can think of one good thing that came out of all this," Chee said. "Old Joe Leaphorn's been retired long enough so those tales he likes to tell at those little Navajo Inn coffee meetings are getting awful stale. When he hears all the details, this one's going to give him ammunition for another couple of years."
At Park Service headquarters the party broke up. After much handshaking and good-byes, Joanna went off to the Grand Hotel for a hot bath and a long sleep. Cowboy was hauled away to the hospital for an ankle x-ray and a cast. And Chee arranged for a ride for Bernie and himself back to where his car was parked near the Salt Trail terminus on the Grand Canyon rim.
Total exhaustion won its battle over Bernie's postadventure excitement very early on her drive homeward with Chee, but not before some loose ends had been dealt with. Chee had told her that if she was willing, he would pick her up tomorrow and they could scout for a house to buy, or a building lot if that seemed a better idea.
"You know, Jim," said Bernie, "I went back to your mobile-home place yesterday-or was it the day before yesterday, I'm too tired to remember-and I think you're right. I think we should live there at first. Then if we don't like it, we can do something else."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Chee said.
"Well, I went by there and you weren't home, so I walked around it. Sort of inspected. And it could be fixed up some."
"You're just saying this because you're tired, and damp, and so sleepy you can hardly keep your eyes open. You just don't feel up to renewing our old argument."
Bernie laughed, sort of feebly. "No. It's because I sat there on that log you like to sit on, and I watched the river go by, and the breeze blowing in the cottonwoods, and listened to all the birds that hang around there. And I just felt comfortable with it."
"Well, how about that," Chee said. And that was followed by a period of meditation.
"Bernie, I was just going to tell you that I've had a big `For Sale' sign painted. Already have it put up on the highway, with an arrow pointing toward my place. And I called in a want ad to the advertising people at the Gallup Independent and the Farmington Times, giving my telephone number and-"
Bernie broke the Navajo "don't interrupt" code.
"How did you describe it?"
"Well, I said, `Beautiful shady site overlooking San Juan River on the west edge of Shiprock with roomy, attractive, and comfortable mobile home trailer. Electric and phone lines installed.'"
Bernie laughed and reached over and hugged him.
"You didn't mention water."
"Well, it's no big deal to haul your water in. There's that storage tank there by the trailer, and the hose runs into the kitchen, and-"
"Another hose into the bathroom. Right?"
"Well, I didn't mention the bathroom problem."
Bernie didn't answer that.
"I thought about trying to explain that arrangement, but they charge by the word. And I was afraid that might sort of, you know, diminish the appeal. What do you think?"
"I think it would diminish the appeal," Bernie said, and yawned.
"I'll try to work out a brief way to put it," Chee said. "Do you have any suggestions?"
But, alas, Bernie was already asleep.
29
Captain Pinto returned to the table the Navajo Inn diner had come to reserve for Leaphorn and friends' coffee chats. He carried a tray of doughnuts, one for each participant. He took the chocolate one for himself, said, "Pick the one you like," and sat down.
"Joe," he said. "You were going to tell us how that slow-moving love affair between Sergeant Chee and Bernie Manuelito came out of this. Did I miss anything?"
"Nothing interesting," Captain Largo said.
"Well, I think you all know the happy ending," Leaphorn said. "They had a fine traditional wedding at her mother's place. But."
"But what?" Pinto asked.
"Well, apparently Chee's performance down in the canyon made such an impression on Bernie that she gave in, and they're living in that little old house trailer Jim calls home."
"I'll bet that won't last long," Largo said. "That Manuelito girl, she's something else."
They tried their doughnuts, sipped coffee.
"Bernie heard from that Joanna Craig woman," Leaphorn announced. "The one who was trying to recover her daddy's arm bone. She said they've done the DNA test, and they have a perfect match. She told Bernie the lawyer who got control of the estate involved in this, he called her lawyer and was offering some sort of deal. And Joanna said she'd rather burn in hell than make a deal with that man."
"Another thing," Pinto said. "I heard Tuve told the Arizona State Police that Ms. Craig shot that private eye, that Sherman. How'd she get out of that?"
"The way I heard it, Sherman was maybe a little embarrassed getting shot by a woman with his own pistol, or maybe it was he didn't want a lot of digging into what he was doing out there. Anyway, he insisted that it was an accident. Claimed he was fooling with the pistol and it went off."
"What's that all about?" said Largo. "I wasn't in on that."
"Don't ask," Pinto said. "It's way too complicated to understand."
"Well, how about the diamonds, then?" Largo said.
"Chee told me the Park Service and the Arizona people recovered the body of that Chandler fella. The Colorado River had washed him all the way down to the shallow end of Lake Mead. But no diamonds on him. Found the body of the Skeleton Man, too. But no identification. No more chance of doing that than they have of finding the diamonds."
Joe Leaphorn, the legendary lieutenant, was smiling. "Just think. Million of dollars' worth of diamonds on the riverbottom. Or Lake Mead. Maybe the pumps will suck some of them up. Maybe we'll be hearing of diamonds being sprayed out of those wonderful Las Vegas fountains. Just think of the new set of legends this is going to produce."
About the Author
Tony Hillerman is a former president of the Mystery Writers of America and has received its Edgar and Grand Master Awards. His other honors include the Center for the American Indian's Ambassador Award, the Silver Spur Award for the best novel set in the West, and the Navajo Tribe's Special Friend Award. He lives with his wife in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The End