“I’ll work on it as soon as we get back.”
“I think we should start to consider Shives a suspect,” Ella said, “but I can’t figure out why he would want to frame NEED businessmen for murder. With his expertise, I’d think he’d have more to gain if a nuclear power plant opened. With his skills and knowledge, it should be relatively easy for him to get a job with the tribe.”
She paused, considering her next step. “I’m going to call Blalock. I want Shives’s phone records for the past month, and I won’t be able to get them without some help from the FBI. With the ongoing war against terrorism, the FBI has more latitude, especially when it concerns nuclear weapons research and employees of government research facilities—past and present.”
“Good idea, but what do you expect to find?” Justine asked.
“I have no idea, but what I’m looking for is a recent link between Shives and Franklin. If they’ve been in touch, I want to know about it. Something smells fishy here. For all we know, he could also be the Anglo that Whitesheep introduced to Billy Redhouse.”
Justine nodded. “That would tie a lot of unexplained details together, wouldn’t it?”
Twenty-Two
Once they arrived at the station, Ella phoned Agent Blalock. It took a while to convince him to get the phone records for her. “No matter what he said, Delbert Shives knew that Kee Franklin was back on the Rez, and he may also know where Franklin is now.”
“All right,” he said at last. “I think I can find a judge that will cut us some slack.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the help.”
After Ella hung up, she leaned back in her chair and considered her options. If Shives and Franklin were connected, where did Margaret Bruno fit in? Ella remembered the nine-millimeter pistol she carried, but that didn’t mean she was guilty of anything. Of course the bottom line was that she didn’t have anything incriminating on Shives either, and the only people she knew about who could identify the Anglo who dealt with Redhouse and Whitesheep were dead.
As she continued to weigh things in her mind, George Charley stepped into her office and greeted her. “Can I help you?” she asked.
He took a seat across her desk. “I’m worried about Professor Franklin,” he said. “I’ve been trying to locate him for a couple of days, but no one’s seen him.”
“Why are you looking for him?”
“He and I are still on opposite sides of the fence, but I think in the long run he’ll be one of NEED’s biggest assets. I’m going to try and offer him a compromise he’ll accept. There’s got to be some way for us to find common ground. But I haven’t been able to find him, and that worries me. He’s lost his son and has got to be going through a really tough time now.”
“So you came because you’re personally worried about him?”
“No, not quite. The bottom line is that our tribe needs him, and we can’t afford to have anything happen to him. His reputation and area of expertise make him one of a kind.”
“You say that with such certainty, yet his work was classified. What haven’t you told me?” Ella’s eyes narrowed.
He leaned back, his gaze fixed on an indeterminate spot across the room. “All I really have is an informed opinion—nothing either you or I will ever be able to prove one way or another.”
“Fair enough.”
“When I met him, he was known as Dr. Franklin, and everyone at the labs spoke with great respect about him. As an intern, I was able to meet with him a few times and ask about new applications for lasers. That area of study fascinated me, and I was thinking of specializing in it. He never told me exactly what his own work entailed, but he gave me copies of several scientific papers dealing with enhancing the technology used to purify chemical compounds with the next generation of lasers. He told me that it was a wide-open field I might want to look into. He warned me that the information in the articles wasn’t really up-to-date, but that it was the most accurate he’d ever seen outside classified papers.”
“So that’s what made you think that his research was along those lines,” she said, nodding.
“At the time, one of the missions at Los Alamos Labs was to develop and improve the processes for purifying uranium into weapons-grade quality. I think that’s what Kee was doing. He may have even pioneered the technology.”
“I see now why you want him so badly.”
“I also suspect he made additional breakthroughs that are still classified because the government doesn’t want anyone else to know about them. I have a feeling that maybe the reason he dropped out of the program was because he was close to making a discovery that would have made nuclear weapons, or anything requiring enriched uranium, much cheaper. That, in turn, would have increased the demand for uranium, and he knew what it was already doing to the people here.”
“I was told he hit a dead end with his research,” Ella recalled.
“I don’t believe that. He was brilliant, and didn’t seem the type ever to give up.”
“Thanks for telling me all this. I appreciate it.”
“If you happen to find Dr. Franklin, please tell him that I’d like to sit down and talk to him, and that I’m willing to work with him until we find a way to join forces.”
“I’ll do that.”
As George walked out, Ella picked up the phone and called Wilson. With his science background, he might be able to provide her with some extra information.
Wilson answered after a few rings. He didn’t need more than a “Hi, Wilson” to know it was her. Good friends seldom did.
“Whatcha need?” Wilson asked. “I know when you call in the mornings it’s because you’re working a case and need something yesterday.”
She laughed. “I’ve learned some interesting things about Kee Franklin, and I’d like to get your input on the science part. But I don’t want to talk about this on the phone. Can I meet you in your office?”
“Sure.”
Ella arrived at the campus less than fifteen minutes later. She hurried to Wilson’s office and found him sitting behind the desk.
He looked at her and winced. “You’re wired, and on a roll, Ella. You make me nervous when you get this way. Sit down and tell me what’s up.”
“I want to know one thing from you—is it possible that Kee Franklin could have made a breakthrough in his research years ago? Is he as good as people seem to think?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve only known him as a physicist who occasionally guest lectures, but his insights on laser technology are incredible.”
“Do you think he would have walked away from it all just on principle?”
He considered it for several moments. “Yes. There are some things he feels strongly about, as you know. Even after all these years, he’s very cynical about his work at the labs. I just remembered an offhand comment he made to me one day that I think will bring the point home to you. He told me that if the labs ever found a really cheap and efficient way or purifying uranium, they’d make a stack of atomic bombs as high as Shiprock. Then he said that they’d almost had a process that worked once, but they’d hit a human roadblock. I asked him about it, of course, but he shook his head and said that he was an old man who sometimes exaggerated.”
“Do you think it’s possible Kee found a way of purifying uranium with lasers and kept the details from the labs on purpose?” Ella asked.
“It’s possible. He hates the uranium industry for what happened to the Dineh.”
She told Wilson about Delbert Shives. “If Shives was working with him at the time, shouldn’t he have known what was going on?” Ella asked.
“Shives might have guessed that Kee had made a breakthrough, but without specific details and data from Kee, he couldn’t have proven anything. I’ve met Shives, and he’s no match for Kee in the brainpower department. I doubt Shives could have been able to duplicate Kee’s results on his own.”
“But if Shives ever managed to get hold of the data and information he needed, and take it to the right com
pany…”
“It might make nuclear power plants very competitive with coal-powered generators. Shives could become a very wealthy man—provided he owned the patents on the process. But that would require him to get it from Kee, either directly, or from his notes. As long as Dr. Franklin hadn’t patented the process himself, or published his research, Shives could write it up so it would look like he was the one who’d made the discovery.”
“Thanks, Wilson. I owe you one.”
“It’s all conjecture on my part—and I hate conjecture. But it’s a reasonable conclusion based on the facts.”
“Okay, Professor. I’m heading back to the station. Thanks again.”
“Let me know if there’s anything else I can do.”
By the time Ella got back to her office, Agent Blalock was there waiting.
“Don’t tell me you’ve got phone records for me already!” she said, not really believing it.
He reached into his pocket and brought out an envelope. “The Bureau is capable of cutting some major corners when it needs to, particular in times like these. The fact that nobody seems to know where Dr. Franklin is at the moment makes a lot of my superiors extremely nervous, especially with the death of his son and everything else that’s been going on around here.”
Ella studied the printouts. “I see you cross-referenced the numbers already.”
“I figured it would save us all some time.”
“Yeah. And there’s the connection I was looking for. Delbert Shives contacted Dr. Franklin no less than five times during the last three weeks. Shives was lying to me.” She went down the list of numbers. “I recognize this company, Permian Energy Network.”
He nodded. “It’s a multinational energy conglomerate formerly connected to uranium mining, which owns a big chunk of the power facilities in the West. Their headquarters are in Texas. I looked them up.”
Ella looked down at the list, and another name caught her eye. Delbert Shives had called Robert Whitesheep once several days before Billy Redhouse had died. Perhaps Shives was the Anglo Whitesheep arranged to meet the councilman.
Justine came to the door just then, and, seeing Blalock, turned and started to walk away when Ella called her back.
“Have you got something for me, partner?”
Justine came back in, nodded at Blalock, then looked at Ella. “I pulled out all the stops and started digging into Delbert Shives’s life. The last time Shives made a substantial salary was when he was working with Dr. Franklin years ago. Since then, he’s been laid off from two power companies. His last employer sounded vague about the reasons for letting him go, so I pressed harder. It turns out Shives got into some legal trouble. He was accused of trying to patent some proprietary processes that belonged to that company.”
“Does he have any patents right now?”
“Yes. Several, in fact—all to do with lasers and chemical extraction processes. I checked with Wilson, and he said it was all basic stuff, nothing extraordinary, but the royalties he gets from his patents help keep him afloat. Despite his degrees and education, Shives has never been able to do more than just barely hang on to his small business. That’s why he works part-time at the power company.”
“Maybe Shives stole a part of Dr. Franklin’s process at the labs—just not enough of it for him to fill in the gaps and market it as his own. It’s possible he’s spent all these years trying to duplicate Franklin’s genius, and now with the prospect of a nuclear power plant opening here and in other places, he’s decided to get it from Franklin—one way or the other. If Shives got the process, he could market it to the highest bidder—not just the tribe or the Permian Energy Network.”
“And that’s what all the robberies have been targeting? Trying to find Kee Franklin’s old research notes?” Justine asked.
“It makes sense,” Ella answered. “If Shives came up with a uranium enrichment process that could make the fuel even more powerful, and cheaper than ever, he could undercut the current price of uranium to power plants and become an incredibly wealthy man.”
“How did you find out Dr. Franklin worked on this kind of research?” Blalock asked.
She smiled, but didn’t answer.
Blalock exhaled softly, then stood. “I’ve got some of my own contacts on the Rez searching for Franklin, and more, including Agent Payestewa, checking the mountains and campgrounds all around the Four Corners. If I get anything, I’ll give you a heads-up.”
As Blalock left the office, Justine leaned back in her chair. “Okay, I’ve got one more tidbit—it’s about Margaret Bruno.”
“I was wondering if we’d ever figure out how she ties in.”
“I don’t have that, but like Shives, she’s got an interesting record. She was a cop in Amarillo, Texas, and apparently was known for aggressiveness in the field. Bruno never was in a situation where she actually fired her weapon, but she was sued two times for excessive force. In both cases the city settled out of court, but after that she was taken out of the field. They decided to make her a training officer at the police academy there and sent her to classes at the FBI Academy and elsewhere. She resigned as soon as she completed her courses and took a job as a security officer for Permian Energy Network, the big energy company.”
“How did she do there?” Ella asked skeptically.
“After several incidents PEN decided she was too competitive and confrontational and gave her the pink slip. She sued, one of the witnesses against her recanted, and she won a settlement. With the nest egg from that she started her own consulting firm, giving workshops to different police departments and private industry security teams. Her business is doing pretty well. That’s all mostly a matter of public record.”
“But you’ve got something else off the record?” Ella asked, catching the gleam in her partner’s eye.
Justine nodded. “I tracked down an old neighbor of the Shives family. I spoke to her off the record, and I leaned that Bruno was a foster child who was taken in by Delbert’s parents. Shives’s father was an alcoholic, though few knew about it. He often became abusive, but Delbert, who was quite a bit older, always protected Margaret from him. They became very close but, according to the neighbor, Margaret was basically unstable. She had a dangerous temper, raised hell in the neighborhood, and the only one who could ever control her was Delbert. My contact said that Margaret adored him.”
“That’s good work, Justine. Do you think Bruno is the one who broke into the garage and killed Jason?”
Justine shook her head. “I don’t know. For a former cop, that would be really stretching it, but then again, she apparently has a mean, aggressive streak in her. Did you say she carried a nine-millimeter?”
Ella nodded. “A Smith & Wesson, and not the murder weapon.”
“Cops often carry backups of a smaller caliber,” Justine pointed out.
“And cops can go bad, especially after being hardened on the job. Sometimes the lure of being in a position of power and control over others attracts people with dangerous tempers—a bad combination. We need to find out more about her. If Margaret or Shives has been involved in any of these crimes, we’ll need a lot more to go on than past history. But here’s another tidbit. Shives called Robert Whitesheep several days before Billy Redhouse was killed. We now have a connection that supports the possibility that he’s the Anglo who dealt with the councilman.”
“That’s good news. We’re on a roll now,” Justine said.
“Just keep plugging away at Bruno’s background. You’re doing a great job, Justine.”
“Teamwork, that’s all it takes. I’ll get back to the terminal and see if I can squeeze any more information from Bruno’s and Shives’s backgrounds, or from anyone else in their past.”
“Go for it, partner.” Ella smiled. “I’m going to try and get a little more paperwork done. Let me know if anything new turns up.”
Another hour passed, and Ella finally decided she couldn’t take another second of red tape. Reports seemed, magica
lly, to multiply on her desk. No matter how hard she worked, the stack never went down.
Her phone rang, and Ella picked it up quickly, hoping for some crisis that would give her an excuse to leave the office.
She recognized Kevin’s voice.
“I wanted you to know that by the end of today, the pony will have a stall. I’ve also had the old corral repaired and a new gate mounted. I hired a high school boy to clean up after the pony every day after school, too. Your mother can use the manure in her garden. Mix in a little alfalfa, let it cure, and you’re got a great soil builder, or so I’ve been told.”
“Sounds good.”
“One more thing. I’ve having a load of sand dumped inside the old corral and leveled so that the area can become a riding arena for Dawn.”
“She is not taking riding lessons yet, no way. I don’t care if you line the corral with feathers.”
“I wasn’t thinking of anything formal. I figured you could let her sit on the horse and have someone lead it around. She won’t be in any danger, and she’ll think she’s in heaven.”
“Kevin, I’ve got news for you. That’s not heaven. That’s a nightmare.”
“Oh, come on, Ella. You know she loves that pony. You’ll make her so happy.”
Ella sighed. She was fighting a losing battle. Dawn would hound them all until someone put her on the pony’s back. “I’ll see if Jennifer Clani will do it.”
“She’s really an excellent choice, you know. She’s got dozens of rodeo ribbons.”
Ella’s eyes narrowed. “You already spoke to her, didn’t you?”
“I refuse to answer that question on the basis that it might incriminate me.”
“One of these days, Kevin…”
He laughed. “How about meeting me at the Totah Café? I’m treating myself to their stuffed sopaipillas tonight. I want to celebrate.”
“What’s the occasion?”
“I’ll tell you when you get there, and I think you’ll be pleased.” When she didn’t accept his invitation right away, he added, “Aw, come on. You got to eat dinner sometime, and it’s news that, as a cop, you’re going to find interesting.”
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