Earthcrack: A Lin Hanna Mystery (8 page)

***

After taking leave of Lin, Neal Smith
quickly headed back to the gallery.
 
He was concerned about the information Lin had shared concerning the
possible identification of the remains discovered the previous day.
 
He too had recognized the carved eagle
belt buckle as Cullen’s.
 
He had
always worn it and it was quite distinctive.
 
Smith had been concerned that Danielle
thought she recognized it and now it seemed quite likely that a positive
identification would be confirmed.
 
What if his connection with Cullen became known?
 
He could not afford to have any
questions raised about his association with him.
 
He needed to share this with Sessions.

Smith had come to the gallery earlier to
tell Sessions about the discovery.
 
John had seemed to think that making connections would be unlikely.
  
He had even shown him his
correspondence with the Santa Fe dealer he had contacted about Cullen’s
find.
 
There was no mention of this
proposed deal—nothing in writing to connect anyone to the situation.
 
Still, Neal was scared of
discovery.
 
This Lin person had a
very active imagination it seemed and she was obviously interested in this
entire situation.
 
That fact made
Smith nervous, indeed.

He reentered the gallery to find that
Sessions had a customer, so he wandered to the back where the assistant was
working at packing up some recent items for shipment to purchasers.
 
This was a relatively new employee,
hired a few months ago to replace Darren Steele.
 
Steele had disappeared the night that
the earlier deal was to have been transacted and had not been heard from
since.
 
Smith knew that Sessions had
tried to locate him and to gain information about his whereabouts from contacts
on the reservation, but after some time with no success, he had apparently
decided to put that behind and hire someone new to work.
 
Sessions suspected Steele might have
stolen the pottery and tried to sell it himself; however, he had heard nothing
reported of such a sale among dealers in the antiquities community. He had
agreed that they would pursue Plan B with Smith having his students search for
signs while on field trips and doing field work in the park.
 
Perhaps they would locate the pottery
after all.

“Looks like you’re busy this afternoon,”
Smith smiled at the assistant, trying to appear casual and relaxed.

“Yes,” the young man responded, “We have
sold quite a few items recently via the new internet catalog Mr. Sessions
started, lots of packing and shipping.”

Smith made small talk with the assistant
for a few moments and then, noticing that the customers were no longer in the
shop, he left the young man to his work and went back to the front area.

Sessions looked up from his work somewhat
impatiently; he was once again going through some correspondence it
appeared.
 
“ What do you need now,”
he sounded preoccupied, “I am pretty busy.
 
I thought I told you I would call you later?”

“I need to tell you about my conversation
with Lin at lunch,” Smith pled, “ I’m sure now that the remains will be
identified as Cullen Honeyestewa, it’s just a matter of confirming the
information. It will be known for sure in a matter of days.” He wiped his hands
nervously against his jeans. “ I’m afraid someone will connect him to me and I
may be questioned.
 
I don’t know
what I’ll do.”

Sessions turned to face him with
impatience, “ If you are smart you will do nothing. You said no evidence was
found that indicated anything other than an accidental death.
 
Has that changed?”

“ No, Lin did not mention anything else
found, just the likely identification.”

“Then, regardless of the identity of
these remains, this is likely to be ruled an accident and there will probably
be no real investigation.
 
No one
pays much attention to such deaths on or near the reservation.
 
Too many drunks disappear and turn up
dead later.
 
Anyway, there is
certainly no proof of the plans we had earlier.
 
No one can tie this to either of us,
unless one of us talks too much,” He fixed Smith with a pointed gaze, “stay
calm and keep your mouth shut.”

“ I think that Lin Hanna is suspicious of
this incident,” Smith pushed on, “ she seems to have questions and she
certainly wants to talk about it all the time.
  
What if she tries to get the
authorities to take a closer look?
 
I wouldn’t put it past her, not with the way she pushed the subject with
me at lunch.”

Sessions turned and paused in what he was
doing, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, if it ever comes up. I don’t
think the authorities will pay any attention to the questions of a volunteer
who really does not know much of anything.
 
Anyway, I’m not worried and you shouldn’t be either.
 
Now go home and take a break.
 
Get yourself calmed down so your own
behavior does not raise questions.
 
Besides, that Lin Hanna person is a rather attractive lady and she looks
like she might be interested in you.
 
Why don’t you get to know her better?” He urged Smith out the door and
closed it behind him, returning to his desk and his paperwork.

The young assistant had not looked up
from his work in the back room at any time during this conversation, but he
couldn’t help but overhear a part of what was said.
 
He wondered what the two were discussing—sounded
mysterious to him.
 
Probably nothing
important and he would certainly not say anything or ask anyone about the
conversation.
 
He needed this job
and didn’t want his boss to think he was questioning anything.
 
He carefully placed the boxes he had
packed on the shelf for pick up when the UPS truck came tomorrow and went back
to reviewing the next stack of internet orders to be filled.

The next few days at the park were busy
ones.
 
There were several school
groups of various ages scheduled and Lin was asked to give talks and tours to
some of them.
 
She enjoyed the kids
and the opportunity to get back into her previous role as an educator for a
short while.
 
She was kept busy
reading up on information about the park and preparing for these
occasions.
 
She was learning as much
as the students about this fascinating place and its interesting history.
  
In addition to the groups, there
seemed to be an increasingly steady stream of the usual visitors, including a
couple of tour groups of mostly retirees.
  
It was late on Saturday afternoon
just before closing time for the visitor center before things seemed to slow a
bit.

“We’ve had a busy week,” Lin said to
Danielle, as the two of them began to tidy up the shelves in the visitor center’s
small shop area in preparation for closing and being ready for the next
day.
 
It seems a long time since
Monday when the remains were discovered,” she had not forgotten and was still
curious as to how this incident would be resolved.

“It has been busy,” Danielle
responded.
 
“The school field trips
are almost over but soon the tourists—both groups and individuals—will
be coming in.
 
It’ll be pretty
steady through Labor Day.
 
I’ll be
glad when we get some extra help in a few weeks.”

Lin saw an opportunity, “I realize now
how hard it is to keep everything covered with such a limited staff.
 
I was looking at the schedule next week
and wondered if you would like for me to plan to meet with Dr. Smith and his
graduate students when they come in.
 
I saw that on the schedule.
 
I’m already down to work that day but only for four hours.
 
I wouldn’t mind coming in earlier to
handle that and I feel comfortable doing so.
 
I’m feeling that I know the rules well
now and I think Dr. Smith would feel comfortable with me.
 
After all, I was with his class earlier
this week out at Lomaki and I ‘ve even had lunch with him when I was in
Flagstaff the other day.”

Danielle raised an inquiring brow, “
Really, I didn’t realize you were on such familiar terms with him.
 
Certainly, you could handle this meeting
and thanks for offering.
 
I have
several things on my calendar that day.”

Lin felt a bit embarrassed, perhaps she
had sounded too eager? “I didn’t mean to imply that I knew him well,” she
explained, “it was really just a chance encounter,” she added quickly, “but we
are, at least, acquainted and I’m happy to work with him and his students.”

“ Very well then,” Danielle’s smile put
Lin more at ease, “ that can be one of your summer duties.
 
Someone has to keep track of these grad
students and make sure that they stick to authorized areas and activities.”

“I’ll do my best,” Lin responded.
 
She hoped that Danielle didn’t simply
think she wanted to spend time with Neal Smith for social reasons. Her
reference to having lunch with him was certainly subject to misinterpretation.
 
After all, Dr. Smith was an attractive
man and he appeared to be about her age.
 
Lin had observed that he didn’t wear a wedding ring and he had, after
all, tried to flirt with her a bit when they first met.

 
Lin wondered to herself why she shouldn’t
pursue social contact with Smith; he was nice looking, intelligent, and he
certainly seemed interested in her.
 
There was something there that made her hesitate though.
 
She still wondered about his reaction to
the incident on Monday.
 
He did seem
nervous and he did not want to talk about it.
 
Lin would’ve loved to explore her own
questions with him.
  
It was
hard to explain, but she sensed something in his reaction to the incident.
 
Still, he was responsible for all those
students and it was a pretty shocking thing to have happen on a class field
trip.

Lin hastened to finish up her
duties.
 
It was Saturday and she had
agreed to go into town with Toby.
 
He was meeting some friends for dinner and a movie and had invited Lin
to go along.
   
Lin looked
forward to an evening with these younger folks.
 
It would be fun and relaxing after this
long, busy week.
  
Finishing up
at the center, she hurried back to her apartment to get ready for the evening.

***

Lin was not scheduled to work in the
visitor center on Sunday so she took advantage of her day off to sleep in a
bit.
 
It had been fairly late when
she had returned from the previous evening’s activities.
 
It had been fun to be with Toby and his
friends—reminded her of time spent with her own “young adult”
children.
 
She did not see them
nearly as much as she would have liked—although they both lived in North
Carolina, they were some distance away from her home and very busy with their
own jobs and families.

  
It was nice to have a “lazy”
Sunday morning—at least for a while! As midmorning approached she decided
to take a short hike so she drove over to Sunset Crater to walk some of the
visitor trails there.
 
She found the
lava fields very interesting with cave-like tubes running here and there and
interesting formations everywhere.
 
It was easy to imagine what it must have been like when these barren
black rocks were bubbling masses of molten lava oozing and flowing about.
 
From the middle of the lava field it was
easy to imagine that one was out alone in a wilderness area.
 
The road and the facilities at the
trailhead were not visible.
 
This
would be rather spooky in the dark, Lin imagined—not to mention the fact
that the sharp lava rocks would likely cut you to pieces if you got off the
trail.

After her walk, she returned home and
fixed some lunch.
 
She took her
sandwich and soda outside to the folding table the apartment residents used for
picnics and gatherings and sat down to eat and read.
 
She had pretty much lost herself in the
pages of this mystery when she was surprised by Danielle, dropping down in the
opposite chair.
 
She was damp with
sweat and her hair curled in damp ringlets on her neck.

“You look hot,” Lin greeted her, “ let me
get you something to drink.”

“Water would be great, thanks.”
 
Danielle wiped her face and neck with a
towel, “I’ve been running in Deadman’s Wash.
 
It’s warmer than I thought today.”

Lin went into her apartment and grabbed a
bottle of water.
 
She opened it and
took it back out to Danielle,
 
“ I
didn’t realize you were off today.”

“I wasn’t really.
 
I opened this morning and worked almost
a full half day,” Danielle responded. “ Then Toby called and offered to finish
out the afternoon.
 
We don’t have
school groups on Sunday’s, of course, and the number of visitors seemed fairly
light earlier so I took him up on his offer.
 
The maintenance guy is here working on
some things so Toby could call on him if need be.
 
Besides, there are few phone calls to
deal with on Sundays so…I decided to get in a run and relax awhile.”

“Good idea, especially since this coming
week seems to be heavily scheduled already.”

“Yeah, and in addition to everything else
I have a meeting with Deputy Taylor tomorrow morning.
 
He is bringing out the official report
on our incident last week,” Danielle offered.

“Really,” Lin tried not to sound too
interested, “has he mentioned what the findings are?”

“Not really, but he implied it was going
to be ruled an accidental death.
 
I
think he also has some confirming information about the identity of the
remains.”

Lin felt a moment of concern regarding
the pending report.
 
She hoped that
everything would be open and available to be read.
 
She was still very curious about this
incident but she didn’t want to overstep so she didn’t say anything more.

Lin changed the subject, “By the way, I
would like to do a bit more reading about archeology in the park before I meet
with Dr. Smith and his students on Tuesday.
 
Are there any papers on hand you might
recommend?”

“Yes, there is a good bit of
information.
 
I’ll be going over to
the center this evening after closing to catch up on some paperwork. I can’t
seem to get anything like that done when there are visitors coming and going.
 
If you get the chance, drop by and I’ll
pull some things for you.
 
I should
be over there about six and I’ll be there for awhile—I have a lot to
catch up on.”
 
Danielle rose, “ and
thanks for the water.”

“Anytime,” Lin smiled, “ Maybe I’ll see
you later.”

Danielle returned to her home and Lin
settled back to read once more.
 
Shortly, she began to feel herself nodding off.

“I wouldn’t recommend sleeping in that
plastic chair—hard on the back!”
 
Lin awoke with a start to find Neal Smith standing beside her, grinning.

“ Dr. Smith…. er, Neal,” Lin stammered,
dropping her book as she rose from the chair, “ I certainly wasn’t expecting a
visitor!”

“Keep your seat, I didn’t mean to startle
you.
 
It was just too good to pass up
when I saw you were sleeping,” he smiled as he pulled up a chair for himself, “
I would’ve called first but I know that cell phone service is terrible here so
I decided to just drive out and take a chance you wouldn’t be busy this
afternoon.
 
I thought you might like
to ride up to the Canyon for a couple of hours—if you don’t have plans
that is. It’s still early.
 
We could
walk the rim trail and maybe catch an early supper.”

“That sounds like fun,” Lin smiled. “
Just give me a minute to change and I’d love to join you.”

“Great!”
 
Neal replied, “I’m going to run over to
the visitor center to check the schedule and sign up for some more times for my
grad students and me to come out during the next few weeks.
 
I’ll meet you in the parking lot in
about ten minutes, if that’s ok?”

“I’ll be there,” Lin called as she turned
to enter her apartment.

Soon they were pulling out of the visitor
center lot and heading out of the park toward the canyon.
 
It was a beautiful spring afternoon and
Lin felt relaxed and excited about another visit to this natural wonder she had
not seen in many years.
 
As they
headed north on Hwy 89 she found herself enjoying fully this day—and the
company of Neal Smith.

Neal seemed relaxed as they chatted about
their work and the beautiful afternoon.
 
He certainly did not display the nervousness she had observed during
their lunch earlier in the week.
 
Lin thought that he seemed to have gotten over the shock of Monday’s
discovery.
 
He was very much the
attractive, congenial fellow she had first met upon his arrival that day—even
a bit flirtatious, as he had been then.

Lin thought about her last visit to the Canyon—that
had been with her kids and with Ben.
 
She struggled just a bit to keep from thinking about how much she
sometimes missed all the fun they had shared together.
 
Refocusing her thoughts on her present
companion, she asked Neal to tell her more about himself and his work.

“Well, I have been at NAU in Flagstaff
about fifteen years now, before that I was at Arizona State but that was not a
tenured position so I was happy to find such here.
 
I’ll probably finish out my career
here.
 
I could take an early
retirement now, but I’ll probably work for five or six more years.
 
Then I will retire and maybe travel and
do some writing,” Neal seemed to enjoy the prospect.

Lin had already told him about her family—Ben
and his military career, her grown kids and grandkids.
 
“What about your family?”
 
She ventured cautiously.

“No kids, or grandkids,” Smith responded.
“I miss that.
 
I was married once, but
that ended a long time ago—we just sort of grew apart.
 
Our careers and interests were
different.
 
It was a mutual decision
to go our own ways.
 
We had married
when we were very young, both in undergraduate school.
 
It just happens sometimes.
 
We’re still in touch from time to time—still
friends.
 
Since then, I’ve been on
my own—guess I’m used to the bachelor life style, but I do enjoy the
company of attractive and interesting ladies.” He turned to Lin with a warm
smile.