Dorothy smiled, the expression softening the lines of grief on her face."Your mother would be proud to hear you say that.Anna Chee understood that some truths can't be found in books or laboratories."
"You knew my mother?"
"Not well.But she came to see me, about a year before she passed.Asked questions about Evan.About the day he disappeared, about the land where they found his truck."Dorothy's brow furrowed."I thought it was strange at the time.A researcher interested in a fifteen-year-old missing person case.But she seemed so certain there was something more to it."
Kari's pulse quickened.She'd known Anna had been investigating Evan's disappearance as part of her broader research into suspicious deaths, but she hadn't realized her mother had spoken directly with the family.
"What did she ask you?"
"Everything.What Evan was like, what he was interested in, why he'd gone hiking in that particular area."Dorothy set down her mug."She was especially interested in his notebooks.Evan kept detailed records of everywhere he explored.Drawings, measurements, descriptions of rock formations and cave systems.When he disappeared, his notebooks disappeared with him."
"Were they ever found?"
Dorothy shook her head."His truck was at the trailhead with his wallet and phone inside, but his backpack was gone.The notebooks would have been in there."
The words hung in the air between them.Kari forced herself to keep her expression neutral, to not reveal what she knew about the crushed skull, about the evidence of murder that the family hadn't been told.The FBI had insisted on keeping those details confidential, and as much as Kari hated it, she understood the reasoning.In an active homicide investigation, certain information needed to be protected.
But sitting across from Dorothy Naalnish, watching hope and grief war in the older woman's eyes, keeping such information back felt cruel.
"Mrs.Naalnish, I wish I had more to tell you about the investigation."Kari set down her own mug."The FBI is handling things now, and they haven't shared much with us.But I promise you, as soon as I know something, you'll know it too."
"They're treating it as a homicide, aren't they?"Dorothy's voice was quiet, somber."That's why they won't release his remains.That's why everything is taking so long."
Kari hesitated.She couldn't confirm it, but she couldn't bring herself to deny it either."I can't speak to what the FBI is investigating.But I can tell you that Detective Tsosie and I are doing everything in our power to make sure Evan gets justice.Whatever happened to him, we won't let it be forgotten."
Dorothy studied her face for a long moment.Whatever she saw there seemed to satisfy her, because she nodded slowly.
"My son was murdered.I've known it for fifteen years, even when everyone told me he probably just got lost, fell somewhere, couldn't be found.Mothers know these things.We feel them."She placed her weathered hand over Kari's."Find out who did it, Detective.Find out why.That's all I ask."
"I will."The words came out before Kari could stop them, a promise she had no authority to make and no certainty she could keep.But looking into Dorothy Naalnish's eyes, she meant every syllable.
They talked for another half hour, about Evan's childhood and his dreams, about the land that had been sold so quickly after his disappearance, about the company called Devco Holdings that had locked it down and refused to let anyone near.Dorothy walked Kari to the door when it was time to go, pressing a small bundle wrapped in cloth into her hands.
"Blue corn bread," Dorothy explained."My grandmother's recipe.Take it home to Ruth.Tell her Dorothy Naalnish sends her regards."
"I will.Thank you."
"And Detective?"Dorothy's hand caught Kari's arm as she turned to leave."Your mother was on to something.I don't know what, exactly, but whatever she found scared someone enough to make her stop looking.Be careful that the same thing doesn't happen to you."
The warning echoed in Kari's mind as she walked back to her Jeep.Whatever she found scared someone enough to make her stop looking.Except Anna hadn't stopped.She'd kept investigating—right up until the day she died.
Kari sat in the driver's seat for a moment, staring at the Naalnish house with its wind chimes and its photographs and its fifteen years of unanswered questions.She thought about her mother visiting this same house, asking these same questions, following a trail that had led somewhere dangerous.
Anna had been right about Evan.The crushed skull proved that much.If she'd been right about one case, how many of the other sixteen deaths in her files were also murders disguised as accidents?
Kari started the engine and pulled away from the house, the bundle of blue corn bread warm on the passenger seat beside her.She was halfway to the main road when her phone rang.
The number wasn't one she recognized, but the area code was local.She pulled over and answered.
"Detective Blackhorse?This is Lola.Lola Chee."
The name took a moment to place.Lola was a distant cousin on her mother's side, someone Kari had seen at family gatherings as a child but hadn't spoken to in years.She was older than Kari by a decade or so and lived somewhere on the western edge of the reservation.
"Lola.It's been a long time.How are you?"
"Not good, cousin.I need your help."Lola's voice was tight with controlled urgency."It's about my niece Tayen.Can you come see me?Today, if possible.I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."
Kari glanced at the clock on her dashboard.She still had reports to file, updates to give Ben, a dozen small tasks waiting at the station.But something in Lola's voice made her hesitate.
