Shooting Chant Read Free Page A

you if this is suicide, but I won’t be able to give you any definitive answers yet.”
    “But you’ve got a gut feeling, right?” Ella pressed.
    She nodded. “I couldbe wrong, but I’d recommend you continue to investigate the possibility of a homicide on this one.”
    “That was my feeling, too,” Ella said. Carolyn’s guesses were seldom off the mark, and it was good to have her corroborate her own observations.
    Two hours later, after her team had processed the area and the body and the car had been taken away, Ella went to talk to Justine.
    “We need to findJimmie Herder. He’s the security guard who found the body.”
    “Tonight?”
    “Or first thing tomorrow. I figure he’s probably out trying to hire a Singer. I’ll stop by my brother’s house tonight and see if Herder’s contacted him.”
    “I’ll check with his family,” Justine said. “If I find him, I’ll let you know right away.”
    Ella made sure that Landreth knew her team would be back in the morning forone last look around and that a cop would remain to guard the scene until then. Once that was done, she got back into her vehicle and sped down the highway.
    She’d agreed to meet her old friend Wilson Joe tonight and speak to the kids in the outreach program, but she was hopelessly late. Wilson was a full-time professor at the college, but he still managed to find time to work with the youngerkids on the Rez after hours. It was his way of getting them involved in something other than trouble—the kind of trouble that recently had led to the appearance of gangs on the Navajo Nation.
    Right now, the kids were learning about animals and plant life on the Rez. Wilson had asked her to come and tell the kids a little about the Plant Watchers since Ella and her mother were members of thatsociety.
    As she drove to the meeting, the monotony of the landscape helped her relax. Ella’s mind drifted back easily to the crime scene. That Anglo’s death still puzzled her. Instinct told her that there was a lot more to it than what appeared on the surface. The evidence presented a picture filled with too many little inconsistencies. The victim supposedly had shot himself with his left hand,yet the nicotine stains on his fingers suggested he was right-handed. The location and time of the shooting also bothered her. Why would he pick an afternoon break to do the job, and the parking lot at work?
    The Navajo Way said that everything had a pattern and only by seeing and understanding that pattern could one find harmony. Inconsistencies marred the order of things and revealed the patternof evil, and recognizing that pattern was the first step toward reversing it. She wasn’t a traditionalist, but some things just made sense.
    Five minutes later, Ella parked her vehicle and walked inside the elementary school where Wilson’s group met. About ten children were in a room partially used for storage, showing off their pets and some of the plants they’d grown as part of a special project.

    Ella smiled at Wilson talking to Alice Washburn, Gloria’s eleven-year-old daughter, but she didn’t interrupt.
    “I’ve named my rabbit Winnie,” Alice said. “She was a gift, though Mom wasn’t too happy about her. Winnie just had babies, but only one is still alive. He’s really a cool little rabbit already.”
    As the other children started asking Alice if they could have the baby rabbit when it wasold enough, Wilson took Ella aside.
    “I was worried that you wouldn’t make it.”
    “I got held up. It couldn’t be helped. But I’m glad you’re all still here.”
    “We may have a small group, but they couldn’t be better kids. They’re interested in just about everything.”
    “They look like a great bunch.”
    “I’m really lucky to be teaching them, to be honest. They’ve helped me more than you can imagine.It’s been really tough for me these past few months.”
    Ella knew he was referring to the death of his fiancée and all the discoveries