Mourning Dove Read Free Page B

or three different times. The roof was red, layered in rolls of mineral-covered fiberglass and sealed around the edges with black roofingcompound and galvanized nails. There was probably no insulation anywhere, but, judging from the roof vents and a big LPG tank, the house had a furnace and cook stove. There was also electricity, thanks to the power lines along the paved highway less than a half mile away. Electricity and gas heating were a blessing still too rare on the Rez where the twenty-first century had yet to arrive. A smallpump hose indicated a well. Running water was a luxury not everyone had on the Rez.
    She stopped by the mailbox at the edge of the driveway and noted that the dirt road continued down toward the river and another house, barely visible beneath a willow. The mailbox, hand lettered with the name Blacksheep, was so full of mail that the door wouldn’t close. If Samuel was stopping by to check on thehouse and take care of the mail, he hadn’t been by for several days, maybe more.
    Ella put on a pair of latex gloves, then took a closer look at theenvelopes inside. Based upon some of the postmarks, the oldest mail had been there for at least two weeks. Along with the many advertisements there was an electric bill and two issues of a National Guard magazine. Then she noticed something peculiar.The mail, even the flyers, had been sorted according to size, unlike the jumbled mess that was normally rubber banded together and delivered to her home, and both sets of mail were delivered by the same post office in Shiprock.
    Someone with a penchant for order had looked through the stack, leaving the rubber bands in a neat pile by the base of the mailbox before placing the mail back in thebox. She doubted it was the carrier. Glancing down, Ella studied the four rubber bands, the kind the postal carriers in her community used. A barely discernible layer of dust covered them, suggesting they’d all been placed there at the same time, and probably recently.
    Had Jimmy Blacksheep’s assailants come here before or after attacking him and checked his mail? Jimmy had died less than twomiles from his home after making it back from halfway around the world. That was either very bad luck or no coincidence at all.
    Deep in thought, her senses alert for more clues, Ella noted a single set of fresh vehicle tracks that had been disturbed just enough by the wind to blur the tread pattern. Photos would have to be taken soon to preserve any record at all.
    Ella climbed back into hervehicle and drove up to the house, avoiding the previous trail. The tire tracks left by the last visitor showed the vehicle had pulled up and turned around, probably facing back down the driveway to facilitate a quick exit. Vague imprints showed the driver had gotten out and walked to the house but, despite searching, she couldn’t find any traces of blood. That told her one thing at least—the woundedperp hadn’t been the one to walk around here afterward.
    Dust had accumulated on the front porch, and she saw the vague footprints that went all the way up to the door. Lookingclosely, Ella then noted the absence of dust anywhere on the doorknob. Someone had come here recently, checked the mail, then gone inside the house, either using a key or, since there was no sign of a forced entry, maybethe door had been unlocked.
    Ella knocked but no one answered. Gloves still on to avoid leaving fingerprints, she tried the knob. Many traditional Navajos didn’t bother to lock their doors, though people in law enforcement, like Samuel Blacksheep, generally didn’t share the public’s illusions about safety on the Rez.
    The door
was
locked. Ella looked around, searching the usual hiding places forkeys. She checked atop the door frame first, then started looking under the four empty flower pots on the wooden floor. Her search was unsuccessful.
    Ella listened but there were no sounds coming from inside at all, only the faint whistling of the breeze sweeping