Bad Medicine Read Free Page B

prodded.
    “Senator Yellowhair’s daughter.”Ella saw Justine take one step back as if she’d been hit. She reached out to steady her assistant.
    “Are you okay, cousin?”
    “I went to school with her…” Justine muttered, her voice shaky. “Are you sure—”
    Ella nodded. “I’m sorry.”
    “You said she was under the influence, or having some kind of attack?” Carolyn asked.
    “I saw what appeared to be convulsions, but I can’t even guess at a cause,”Ella answered. “That’s your department.”
    Carolyn expression was guarded. “You want toxicology?”
    “I want you to establish the cause of death, like you always do. Unless I miss my guess, the accident didn’t kill her.”
    “You’ll most likely want a full autopsy then.” Carolyn took a deep breath, then let it out again.
    “Is there something wrong?” Ella looked at her friend curiously. She’d never seenCarolyn hesitate on anything pertaining to her job. Senator Yellowhair was bound to cause problems, it was certainly one of his major talents, but Carolyn had never been known to run from trouble.
    “Let’s just say I know how our senator operates,” Carolyn answered with obvious distaste. “My findings are always substantiated by tests, so I can cover myself and my department. But he’ll object tomy doing tests or an autopsy on his daughter because he’s going to want her buried quickly and without scandal. You can expect major-league trouble from him when I don’t release the body right away. Cover yourself as best you can. He’ll be after somebody’s ass on this. Count on it.”
    Ella nodded. “Don’t worry. I can handle whatever comes. I know what I saw.”
    “Which case do you want given priority?”Carolyn asked.
    “This one, the homicide. Do the workup on it first. The faster we move, the better chance we have of not having it end up a real luncher.”
    “We won’t have to eat this case,” Justine answered flatly. “We’ll solve it.”
    “Idealism of youth,” Carolyn said, walking away.
    Ella saw the spark of anger in Justine’s eyes and laughed. “Relax, Justine. She just said that to annoy you. We’lldo our jobs. And, speaking of our jobs, let’s get back to work. There’s a lot left for us to do here before we can release the scene.”

TWO
    Ella sat at her computer. She’d run a check on Bitah, and he was certainly no model citizen. From what she’d turned up, he’d been arrested for drunk and disorderly just two days before his death. He’d been in a fight with an Anglo by the name of Louis Truman, fellow employee of the mine, in a Farmington bar. The two of them had pretty much torn up the place. Truman, unlike Bitah, had no previouslocal arrest record.
    Ella picked up the telephone and dialed Blalock’s mobile number. She wanted to know more about Truman’s background, and experience told her that the Bureau’s files would be more comprehensive than her own. Though the Bureau was supposed to cooperate with tribal law enforcement, she hated asking for favors, and she knew that was exactly how Blalock would view her request.
    Ella smiled as Blalock practically barked his name into the phone. “I see you’re in Bureau mode,” she said.
    “Whatcha need?” he snapped. “I already spoke to your assistant earlier today. The vehicle tracks are too common to identify.”
    “Were you voted Mr. Congeniality in your graduating class at the Bureau?”
    “First runner-up. How did you guess? Is there a point to this conversation?”
    “I needyou to check the Bureau’s computer and see if you come up with anything on an Anglo by the name of Louis Truman. He lives in Farmington,” she said, giving him the background and Truman’s street address.
    “I’ll run it through, then meet you at the guy’s house. I assume you’ll want to question him ASAP.”
    “I can be there in forty minutes. How about you?”
    “Same ETA. I’ll see you there.”
    Ella pickedup her jacket and stepped out of her tiny