by Vr McCoy
“Good evening,” I replied.
“How's it going?” she inquired and lay down next to me on the ground.
“Not so good, Nina. I can't get to him.”
“Who, the killer?” she asked?
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Kayah said you're trying too hard to see what you already see,” Nina stated.
“I know, she mentioned something like that to me as well. It sounds like a riddle,” I replied.
“Such is life,” she said and held my hand. She knew I was feeling down.
“Did you see all the gifts the Hopituh left for you?”
“Yes, they're very nice.”
“They provided me with gifts also. You should have been there when they were coming up. They were touching me, holding me and hugging me. I ate and drank so much my stomach is swollen,” she said, laughing and placing my hand on her perfectly flat belly.
“Yeah, you're becoming a fatty,” I replied. We both laughed and she hit me affectionately. She was athletic and very physical, even when she played.
“Even the council members came. They asked if you could pay them a visit before we depart. I think they want to thank you in person. It's beautiful out here tonight, isn't it,” Nina commented, looking out at the calm and magnificent night.
“Yes, it is,” I stated, staring at her beauty. Then she looked back at me and smiled. It was in her nature to be loquacious, so I let her continue until she swung on top of me and began kissing me under the beautiful, starry night.
“You're thinking about Gracie?” Nina inquired but knew the answer.
“Yeah, we're sharing the same starry sky and moon with the killer,” I answered, and that's when it finally dawned on me.
“What is it,” Nina inquired as I sat up from the ground.
“Kayah was correct; the answers are right in front of our faces. They have been there all the time. It's the moon, Nina. The killer is following the moon. We need to look at a calendar with the moon on it.”
We got up and rushed to where the laptop was located in the pueblo. I googled for a calendar with the moon phases on it, then accessed my personal files. I juxtaposed the dates of the killings on the moon calendar and there it was, plain as day; the killer's schedule. It contained when he abducted the women and when he killed them.
“All the abductions occurred on the new moon of each month, or as the Native Americans call it, the dark moon. The only killing that I witnessed was Jessica. It occurred on January 16th during the full moon. Following this pattern, the other women were killed on the full moon as well. This means Gracie has until the 16th of February before he takes her outside and ceremoniously kills her.”
“I have to call Steve and let him know.”
“But how is this going to help find him? All we know is when he's going to commit this murder.”
“Well besides telling us how much time we have to work with, we now have his pattern, He follows the moon, which means we have to research lunar followers and worshipers to see if we can make a match.”
“I'll access the BIA database and research anything pertaining to moon worshippers.”
“Thanks, Nina. I'll call Steve and inform him so they can work on other possibilities as well,” I said. This wasn't a big break, but I'd take whatever crack in the case I could find!
After I notified Steve of our lunar findings, I asked to be excused to return to the Kiva. I didn't want to dreamscape, but just meditate and reflect. I wanted to see if there was anything I might have missed in my hastiness. Nina insisted on being with me, so I let her come. I lit a fire in the Kiva. It was a cold night on the Black Mesa. I laid out the prayer rugs and sat in a lotus position to meditate.
Several hours went by as I continued deep into the night, with Nina curled up beside me. I dreamscaped occasionally to check in on Gracie, and then continued meditating. It was becoming as fluid as Asku and Kayah had said it would be for me to traverse the different realms. I no longer needed the assistance of sleeping pills or peyote, but I still had some lessons to learn on reading signs and symbols.
I saw morning approach in the opaque sky above. I was getting sleepy, so I placed more wood on the fire to sustain it while I slept. I lay down and snuggled behind Nina with my arms around her, to ensure her warmth when the fire subsided.
When I woke, Nina was no longer within my arms, but up and waiting, as usual. She was an incredibly caring and patient woman.
“Good morning, sleepy head. How are you?” Nina inquired.
“Starving,” I replied.
“Yeah; me too. Let's say we drive to Tuba City and grab a meal,” she suggested.
“Sounds like a winner to me, but I have to see the Great Mother before we depart,” I replied.
“Did you find out anything last night,” Nina inquired.
“Yes; a lot of things were illuminated for me. I heard the howl of the Coyote. I know who he is; he is like me! I'll explain everything when we talk with Kayah.”
We exited the Kiva and went down to Kayah's pueblo. Kayah, like Nina, was already up and waiting for us. We sat down in front of her on the rugs she had waiting for us.
“I am enlightened, Great Mother. I needed to slow down and refocus. I have spent so much time in the Spiritual Worlds that I have neglected the signs and symbols of the Middle World. It all makes sense now. Only two of the Kachina Spirits appeared at the Jemez Order. The Kachinas you've shown me when we first met in the dream world are illustrations of not only the two dead priests who were found, but of the third missing priest. Monsignor Davis mentioned that there were no more missing dead priests. The third priest escaped and is alive.”
“Each dream is particular and unique, Cheveyo. Learning how to read and interpret them is just as important skill as being able to receive them. Until now you have visited and received dreams from Middle Realm, from the Earth, but receiving and interpreting visions from the Upper and Lower Realms is different. When you are channeling you're utilizing the spiritual world. There is an old Hopituh saying: Give the Navajo corn and he will eat for a day, but give the Hopituh seeds and a plow and he will not only eat forever, but he will also feed the Navajo.”
“I have heard this before in a different context, Great Mother,” I responded.
“You must learn how to utilize the tools given to you, Cheveyo,” she replied.
“The third priest is the one I am chasing. He appears in the Spirit World because he is like me. He is able to use the night as I do. He is able to evade and not be seen. He knows of me and that is why he carefully shields himself from my visions. I believe him to be a Shaman, and his spirit guide is the coyote. What can you tell me about the coyote, Great Mother?”
“He is a powerful adversary. He is more powerful than most because he is underestimated in his strength. What he lacks in physical prowess he multiplies in intelligence, which is his greatest tool. He is cunning and clever. He is the true trickster; a master of deception and disguise. If he is a Shaman, he will be difficult to find and just as difficult to defeat. He will fool and trick you. When the coyote howls at night he will continue to do this, from one spot continuously for an extended period of time. This is to fool the other animals of his whereabouts. Once they relax, thinking they know of his location, he sneaks away and observes from another to pounce on prey and avoid enemies.”
“He is a loner, but is also opportunistic. He will travel with other coyotes, no more than three or four to a pack. He is most dangerous in a pack with support, but he is also more reckless and careless. He takes uncalculated risks while in a pack.”
“You will never see him by day, only by sunrise and sunset. He is active at night, like you Toquer Shoo-coots. You trick him in order to catch him,” the Great Mother stated. “He appears with the other Kachina Spirits, but he remains unknown. I do not know his identity. He keeps it shrouded from me also. He is powerful in the spirit realm,” Kayah added.
“So we've been attempting to track a shaman all this time?” Nina said in a
stonishment.
“Yeah, that's why he is so similar to me. That's why he covers the victim's eyes. He doesn't want others with vision quest abilities to see him. The eyes are not only windows to the soul, but window to the psyche and to our dreams. It isn't called vision quest for nothing. I think we are looking for a cult comprised of other escaped priests in which one verifiably is a shaman. Monsignor Davis confirmed that `they' are not missing! That is probably why Jessica said it felt like there were several hands on her before they killed her. There actually were several hands,” I stated.
“So how do we locate them?” Nina asked.
“We remain on the course we first took; we look for the priests at places they congregate,” I said.
“Seriously? You can't narrow it down?” she inquired.
“It already is. We start with the NAC-NA, the Native American Churches of North America. We begin with all the ones within the radius of our crime scenes, but first we need the coyote footage at the scenes of the abductions. I have a theory I need to look into. I'll call Steve and see what he can do.”
“Are you going to brief him on this new discovery?”
“Not yet. He has a lot on his plate and I don't want the A.D. to mess this up. We're dealing with a small window of time and a narrow margin of error.”
Nina and I thanked the Great Mother for all her assistance and she wished us luck and a safe journey. We stopped by the Hopi Tribal Council Facility in the Kykotsmovi Village on the way to Tuba City. The council was extremely thankful for what we did for the Hopituh Shin-nu-ma and joined us for a meal in Tuba City. The council picked up the tab and asked if we could return at a later date. They wanted to honor us with a celebration for uncovering the truth of the missing Hopi Priests in Jemez. We agreed and departed.
Steve sent the coyote footage to Nina's GOV.com address, since it was considered government property. I checked the footage while Nina drove. Steve also included a message about Monsignor Davis: Monsignor Davis was discovered dead in his room at the Jemez Order Facility. It was confirmed that he committed suicide. The FBI found two bodies exactly where you said they would be and arrested Arelio Sanchez and Jose Gutierrez in the killings of Priest Maize and Honanie. The rumors have started that you might be connected to the serial killer.
I was wondering when they would get around to that again. The killings had been going on before I even came to Albuquerque and never mind the fact that I have an unblemished track record for solving some of the FBI's worst crimes. They always thought it could be an officer of the law. I guess I'm a dead ringer for the profile; young male, pretty much isolated, a loner treated as an outcast, with mental health issues. The serial killer and I had more in common than they could ever fathom.
“They found the buried priests and arrested Sanchez and Gutierrez. There are also rumors about me being involved with the coyote because of the way I dropped off the parcel without being seen,” I briefed Nina.
Our next stop would be to visit the Native American Churches. There were three NACs in the radius of the serial killing abductions; one in Tuba City to which we were en route, one in Chinle and one in Window Rock. They were all on the Navajo Nation Reservation. In our questioning of the staff we would be looking for anomalies in answers to eliminate and narrow down our suspects. This was our big break in the case. I could feel the pieces coming together.
The NAC / NA differs in practices from church to church, but the one thing that they have in common is that they're peyotist.
There wasn't a service being held at the church when we arrived, but the doors were open, so we let ourselves in. We weren't expecting a warm reception. We haven't received one yet and the news of the FBI on Indian Lands had most of the Res in an uproar. The Hopituh just wanted justice for the fallen priest and to vindicate the Coyote Society of having anything to do with this killer, who called himself by their name.
We met with a young parishioner when we entered the Native American Church of Tuba City. She was cleaning the aisles. Nina spoke to her in Navajo. None of the leaders were present for questioning. We'd probably fare better questioning her anyway; she seemed receptive. We began by asking her preliminary questions leading up to the core of the interrogation. I didn't understand Navajo, so Nina conducted the interrogation. We inquired if she heard anything about missing women in the big cities, and asked if she had noticed anything strange or peculiar around the church or the Reservation.
Then we moved towards a more priestly line of questions. We asked if any of the priests were healers or seers. She stated that they didn't have any at their congregation. They were peyotists who practiced snake dancing, and she escorted us to the snake room. She answered all our questions without difficulty. Suffice it to say they weren't the church or priests we were attempting to locate. She did state that there was talk about great healers in Window Rock. We thanked her and departed.
We decided to keep Window Rock for last and went to the NAC in Chinle. When we arrived there they were holding mass. We waited in the back aisle and observed the peyote ceremony. They had a so called healer in their midst, who didn't really have the gift, and snake dancers. I held my laughter out of respect, but inside I was cracking up at the charlatan healer. The snake dancers appeared to be authentic. After the mass we introduced ourselves and attempted to question the leaders. After the peyote consumed during the ceremony, they were more than cooperative. These weren't the priests we were looking for either. We waited for several hours, but didn't observe any suspicious activities and departed for Window Rock.
It was getting late when we arrived at our destination. There were several parishioners and two of the church priests in a meeting when we arrived. We were asked to wait until the meeting adjourned. We bided our time thinking if we cooperated perhaps they would in return. When their meeting ended we spoke to priests; Roanhorse and Wauneka, who were willing to meet with us without parishioner bouncers. We met with them separately and inquired the same questions we asked in Tuba, but this time the answers were more intriguing. Everything we asked one priests the other would contradict. One priest stated that he hadn't heard of the abducted women and the other stated the opposite. It was clear that they weren't expecting us or the questioning.
We informed the priest that we knew who the subject was that we were looking for, and were just attempting to tie up some loose ends. One of them boldly stated, “Good luck with that.”
The priests we interviewed from the other churches had inquired about how they could assist us. Roanhorse and Wauneka didn't seem to care in the least about getting involved. They also fit the profile. They spoke of their healer, who also had the gift of seeing, but he wasn't present at the time. I sensed we were definitely in the right place.
We inquired about the whereabouts of the other priest and they stated that he was attending to the flock; visiting the homes of the parishioners. Nina was forward enough to inquire which houses would we find him at. Both priest were opposed to giving us information in that regards and stated that it's was private affair visiting the homes of the parishioners. The priests were beginning to get agitated by our questioning, so we decided to leave well enough alone and departed. We couldn't afford to have the reservation police find us here harassing the Navajo when I had warrants out for my arrest. I touched as much as I could while there since they didn't offer to give us a tour, nor did we expect one; especially after the interrogation. Hopefully I could pick up something in dreamscape from my contact.
We decided to stay in Window Rock and investigate further. We wanted to attend one of the Masses and meet with the healer. We had to wait until the following day to attend the services. Therefore we checked into the Quality Inn off Hwy 264. Nina and I finally had a little time to relax. We decided to take a shower together and made love. Afterwards we rested in bed together. Nina checked emails and I looked at the coyote footage.
“What exactly are you expecting to find in this footage? We've all seen it a thousand times,” Nina said.
We continued to check the footage of the coyote together. Then I researched for videos of coyotes in the wild. I spotted the anomaly I was looking for. After countless observations of the coyotes in the wild, I confirmed my suspicion.
“It is just as I thought,” I said with enthusiasm.
“What is it, Chris?”
“This isn't a normal coyote in any way. He is abnormally larger and his gait is completely different, see?” I said to Nina.
“Yes; it is, but what does that mean?” she inquired.
“He walks like a man would walk on four legs, imitating a coyote. I never thought I would witness one, but this shaman is a shape shifter,” I stated.
“Yes; it does have an abnormal walk,” Nina replied, as astonished as I was after carefully scrutinizing the coyote and comparing it to others.
This shaman was more powerful and experienced than I'd expected. He had abilities I couldn't begin to fathom. How did I defeat such a man? How did I tell this to anyone? Who would believe me even if I showed it to them? Nina was a believer because of her background and history with shamanism.
“So what's the plan?” Nina asked.
“First I would like to sleep on it, and then consult the spirits. Perhaps I can find some enlightenment there,” I replied. Nina wanted to keep her watchful Eagle eyes open, but I convinced her to get some rest. We both needed it and fell asleep on the bed together.
When morning came we couldn't wait to go back to the Window Rock NAC. I didn't receive much from dreamscaping last night. It was as if there was a shroud covering the church. All I could see was darkness. This was no doubt the work of a skilled Shaman. The church was closed when we arrived. There was an itinerary on the door for scheduled activities including the services. The worship wasn't until 10:00 and the work study was at 11:00. We were early, but decided not to add breaking and entering on the list of felony charges. Therefore, we went to have breakfast nearby. Gracie wasn't inside anyway. I would have felt her presence. We needed to speak to the healer and perhaps some of the congregation when they arrived.
