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Darkest Calling: Part 2b – Police Investigations
The Phoenix police kept them for hours before they were finally released.
“Looks like you’re legit,” said Knightly. They were all uncuffed.
She perched herself on a desk in the Phoenix police station.
Guppy looked around. It was a different police station than the one that the Skinwalker had escaped from. ”Hopefully we don’t have to burn this one too,” he muttered.
“What?” asked Knightly.
“Nothing,” said Guppy.
“So what can I do for the mysterious, we-don’t-report-our-budget-to-the-American-people Counter-Intelligence Field Agency?”
“We’re investigating the murder of Kate Draper,” said Blade. “Any information you can share would be greatly appreciated.”
Knightly relaxed somewhat. “Draper’s actually the second victim. The first was a young Papago Indian named Paco Yuma.”
”My people prefer the phrase ‘Tohono O’odham’,” said Blade.
“Oh, right.” Knightly nodded. “So anyway, he was murdered on the Tohono reservation in exactly the same way three days before Draper died.”
“Can we see photos of the body?” asked Archive.
“Sure.” She dug out the file and handed it to Archive. “Why?”
Archive flipped through the pictures. “There.” He pulled out one of them. “There’s a single gray dot painted on Yuma’s left hand.” He clicked on his cistron. “And here’s a picture of Draper’s left foot, with two gray dots.”
“Gray dots.” Knightly rolled her eyes. “What are they teaching you guys at school?”
Hammer cleared his throat. “He’s a friendly, actually…” when he caught her gaze, Hammer shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
“We found this piece of paper in Draper’s car,” said Archive. It showed two stick figures, one with a dot next to its left arm and the other with two dots next to its left leg. “I think we have a ritual killing on our hands.”
Blade furrowed his brow. “There is an old Indian legend that I remember my father telling me. There were five evil underworld spirits that plagued the lands of the Kokoham. A shaman called upon the services of five brave sons and daughters, who traveled with the shaman into the desert. Together they confronted the spirits in their lair. The shaman offered his five sons and daughters as sacrifices in exchange for peace with his people. The spirits accepted the offer.”
Archive tapped on his cistron. “It wouldn’t by any chance look like this, would it?”
On the small screen was a complete picture of five stick figures, including the two from the lower right corner that were on Draper’s notes. There were dots numbering one through five on each of them, with an odd-looking face in the center.
“This is from Chants and Rituals of the Sonoran Indian Tribes, by Janice Fletcher.” Archive turned to Knightly. “Do you have a local map of the area?”
“Sure,” she led them over to a large map of southwestern Arizona. “These two red pins indicate the murders.”
Archive’s eyes went wide. “Are you descended from the Kokoham?” he asked Blade.
Blade blinked. He hadn’t expected that question. “I don’t know…” he mumbled. “My father used to rant about it when he was drunk. I think that’s why Palmer took me under his wing. But there’s really no way to prove it…”
“Can you remember anything about constellations at all? I think it ties to the murders.”
Blade considered the question. “There was a star called Sharnoth.”
Archive tapped away on his cistron. “Got it. Sharnoth is a perfectly aligned pentagram of stars inside the constellation of Gemini, although the middle star isn’t visible.”
Blade turned to Guppy. “Can you correlate the remaining three points with that constellation?”
Guppy tapped more keys. “Tapping into the GPCA in Nebraska…got it.” A map of the Arizona desert appeared on the cistrons. The five stick figures appeared on it, two matching the locations of Yuma and Draper’s murders. Then another virtual overlay appeared, indicating the location of the constellations. The cistron beeped as the remaining three sites flickered.
Blade checked his watch and sighed. “We’re too late. My guess is you’ll find your third victim…” he looked at the cistron and then, picking up a pushpin, speared a point on the wall map a couple of inches to the left of Draper’s murder. “Here.”
Knightly nodded. “I’ll send men to check it out. But that means we know where the next murder is going to take place.”
“That’s right,” said Blade with a slow smile. He tapped the fourth spot on the map with one finger. “And in three days, we’ll be waiting.”
The Phoenix police kept them for hours before they were finally released.
“Looks like you’re legit,” said Knightly. They were all uncuffed.
She perched herself on a desk in the Phoenix police station.
Guppy looked around. It was a different police station than the one that the Skinwalker had escaped from. ”Hopefully we don’t have to burn this one too,” he muttered.
“What?” asked Knightly.
“Nothing,” said Guppy.
“So what can I do for the mysterious, we-don’t-report-our-budget-to-the-American-people Counter-Intelligence Field Agency?”
“We’re investigating the murder of Kate Draper,” said Blade. “Any information you can share would be greatly appreciated.”
Knightly relaxed somewhat. “Draper’s actually the second victim. The first was a young Papago Indian named Paco Yuma.”
”My people prefer the phrase ‘Tohono O’odham’,” said Blade.
“Oh, right.” Knightly nodded. “So anyway, he was murdered on the Tohono reservation in exactly the same way three days before Draper died.”
“Can we see photos of the body?” asked Archive.
“Sure.” She dug out the file and handed it to Archive. “Why?”
Archive flipped through the pictures. “There.” He pulled out one of them. “There’s a single gray dot painted on Yuma’s left hand.” He clicked on his cistron. “And here’s a picture of Draper’s left foot, with two gray dots.”
“Gray dots.” Knightly rolled her eyes. “What are they teaching you guys at school?”
Hammer cleared his throat. “He’s a friendly, actually…” when he caught her gaze, Hammer shrugged. “It’s complicated.”
“We found this piece of paper in Draper’s car,” said Archive. It showed two stick figures, one with a dot next to its left arm and the other with two dots next to its left leg. “I think we have a ritual killing on our hands.”
Blade furrowed his brow. “There is an old Indian legend that I remember my father telling me. There were five evil underworld spirits that plagued the lands of the Kokoham. A shaman called upon the services of five brave sons and daughters, who traveled with the shaman into the desert. Together they confronted the spirits in their lair. The shaman offered his five sons and daughters as sacrifices in exchange for peace with his people. The spirits accepted the offer.”
Archive tapped on his cistron. “It wouldn’t by any chance look like this, would it?”
On the small screen was a complete picture of five stick figures, including the two from the lower right corner that were on Draper’s notes. There were dots numbering one through five on each of them, with an odd-looking face in the center.
“This is from Chants and Rituals of the Sonoran Indian Tribes, by Janice Fletcher.” Archive turned to Knightly. “Do you have a local map of the area?”
“Sure,” she led them over to a large map of southwestern Arizona. “These two red pins indicate the murders.”
Archive’s eyes went wide. “Are you descended from the Kokoham?” he asked Blade.
Blade blinked. He hadn’t expected that question. “I don’t know…” he mumbled. “My father used to rant about it when he was drunk. I think that’s why Palmer took me under his wing. But there’s really no way to prove it…”
“Can you remember anything about constellations at all? I think it ties to the murders.”
Blade considered the question. “There was a star called Sharnoth.”
Archive tapped away on his cistron. “Got it. Sharnoth is a perfectly aligned pentagram of stars inside the constellation of Gemini, although the middle star isn’t visible.”
Blade turned to Guppy. “Can you correlate the remaining three points with that constellation?”
Guppy tapped more keys. “Tapping into the GPCA in Nebraska…got it.” A map of the Arizona desert appeared on the cistrons. The five stick figures appeared on it, two matching the locations of Yuma and Draper’s murders. Then another virtual overlay appeared, indicating the location of the constellations. The cistron beeped as the remaining three sites flickered.
Blade checked his watch and sighed. “We’re too late. My guess is you’ll find your third victim…” he looked at the cistron and then, picking up a pushpin, speared a point on the wall map a couple of inches to the left of Draper’s murder. “Here.”
Knightly nodded. “I’ll send men to check it out. But that means we know where the next murder is going to take place.”
“That’s right,” said Blade with a slow smile. He tapped the fourth spot on the map with one finger. “And in three days, we’ll be waiting.”