"Marcus Tso," Ben said between breaths, "you are under arrest for suspected involvement in the deaths of Martin Reynolds, Jennifer Holbrook, and Jason Haskie."He recited the required warnings as he carefully helped Tso to his feet, maintaining control of the now-subdued suspect.
"You don't understand," Tso said, his first words since the confrontation began."This isn't what it appears to be."
"Save it for formal questioning," Ben replied, guiding him back toward the hogan where evidence of his activities remained.
Tso fell silent, his earlier resistance replaced by a kind of resigned composure that Ben found almost more unsettling than his flight.
As they approached the hogan, Ben could hear the approaching vehicles of his backup units.The timing was fortunate—they could secure the scene and properly document whatever evidence remained inside the structure.Ben had no intention of letting crucial information disappear the way the Shadow Walker had fifty years earlier.
"Detective Tsosie to dispatch," Ben said into his radio."Suspect in custody.Request forensics team to my location for evidence collection.And notify Detective Blackhorse—we need her here immediately."
As backup units arrived, lights flashing across the desert landscape, Ben secured Tso in his department vehicle.The suspect sat quietly, his earlier panic seemingly replaced by calm acceptance.He made no attempt to explain the damning scene Ben had witnessed, offered no justification for the photographs of victims arranged before a ceremonial fire.
Ben watched him through the window, trying to reconcile the respected cultural guide with the man who had fled police and possibly arranged ritualistic murders.The evidence seemed overwhelming, yet something about Tso's demeanor—not guilty defiance but something closer to somber resignation—kept Ben from feeling the satisfaction he'd expected upon making this arrest.
As officers secured the scene and began documenting evidence, Ben's phone vibrated with a call from Kari.
"Ben?What's happening?"she asked immediately.
"I've got Tso in custody," he replied, moving away from the vehicle so the suspect couldn't overhear."Found him in an abandoned hogan with photographs of all three victims, case files, and herb bundles identical to those found at the murder scenes.He ran when confronted, but I apprehended him without incident."
Kari was silent for a moment."What was he doing?"
"Some kind of ceremony, I think," Ben said."Speaking in a language I couldn't identify.Had everything arranged in a semicircle around a small fire.Kari, it looks like we've got our Shadow Walker."
"I'm on my way," she said."Don't let anyone question him until I get there."
"Understood," Ben agreed."But Kari—he's not talking.Hasn't offered any explanation for what I found."
"Sometimes silence says more than words," she replied before ending the call.
Ben returned to his vehicle, studying the man in his backseat.Marcus Tso stared straight ahead, his expression unreadable, offering no defense for the damning scene Ben had witnessed.
The ceremonial herbs were being carefully collected by evidence technicians.The fire pit would be analyzed for traces of what had been burned there.Whatever Tso had hastily packed into his satchel would be inventoried and documented.
All the physical evidence pointed to Tso's guilt.Why, then, did Ben feel a nagging uncertainty—as if they were still missing crucial pieces of a puzzle that stretched back fifty years
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Kari spread the contents of Marcus Tso's satchel across the table in the small evidence room, carefully cataloging each item.The leather bag had yielded a disturbing collection: photographs of all three victims, hand-drawn maps of the murder sites, bundles of the ceremonial herbs identical to those found in the victims' mouths, and—most troublingly—a stack of worn notebooks.
The faded blue cover, the distinctive handwriting on the first page marking it as "Personal Observations - J.Chee - 1973"—there was no mistaking their origin.
These were Kari's grandfather's missing notebooks.
"How did Tso get these?"she asked, puzzled.
Ben leaned over her shoulder, examining the journals with equal surprise."They're not copies," he said."These are originals.Look at the age of the paper, the fading ink."
Kari gently turned pages, confirming Ben's assessment.These weren't reproductions or forgeries—they were actual journals her grandfather had maintained during the original Shadow Walker investigation, just like the ones Yazzi had given Kari.Maybe these would contain additional clues.
"We need to question Tso," she said, carefully returning the journal to the evidence table."Now."
They walked in silence to the interview room where Marcus Tso had been held since his arrest two hours earlier.The tour guide sat at the metal table, tense and still.He'd refused to speak since his initial statement to Ben at the scene, declining even basic procedural questions during processing.
As Kari and Ben entered, Tso straightened but maintained his silence, his eyes tracking them as they took seats across from him.
"Mr.Tso," Kari said, placing a folder on the table between them."I'm Detective Blackhorse.We met briefly at the trading post."
