Kari made a note to verify his alibi.“Did you tell anyone that Dr.Harrington planned to visit Monster’s Hand despite your warning?”
Natoni hesitated for the first time.“I mentioned it to my grandfather.He was… concerned.”
“Concerned enough to take action?”Kari pressed.
“My grandfather is eighty-four years old and uses a walker,” Natoni said with a flash of anger.“He didn’t kill your professor.”
“What about friends, colleagues?”Tsosie asked.“Anyone who might have felt strongly about protecting the site?”
“I didn’t broadcast it.But yes, I spoke with other guides, with the elders.We were concerned.”
“Names,” Kari said, pushing her notebook across the table.
Natoni looked at it but didn’t pick up the pen.“So you can interrogate respected elders based on nothing but their desire to protect sacred knowledge?No.”He turned to Tsosie.“You understand what I’m saying.You know what’s at stake.”
Tsosie’s expression remained carefully neutral.“We’re investigating a murder, Natoni.That takes precedence.”
“Does it?”Natoni leaned forward.“Over knowledge that’s survived for thousands of years?Over powers that your detective training doesn’t prepare you for?”He turned back to Kari.“You’re just another outsider with a badge.You left your heritage behind in Phoenix.”
The accusation hung in the air between them.Kari waited for Tsosie to defend her, to remind Natoni that she was his colleague, a fellow officer.The defense didn’t come.
“Calm down, Natoni,” Tsosie said instead, his tone even.“We’re just doing our job.”
The subtle shift in alliance wasn’t lost on Kari.She kept her expression neutral through years of practice, but made a mental note of the moment.
“Dr.Harrington’s body was arranged after death,” she said, redirecting to the case.“Herbs were placed around him in a specific pattern.Does that hold any significance to you?”
Something changed in Natoni’s posture—a new tension, quickly suppressed.“What kind of herbs?”
“Cedar, sage, something with purple flowers,” Kari said, watching his reaction closely.
“Purple flowers?”Natoni’s face grew thoughtful.“Sounds like globemallow.”
“And the significance?”
“That’s not part of any blessing ceremony.That sounds more like…”
“Like someone was trying to ensure something stayed where it was,” Tsosie said.
Natoni nodded, his eyes solemn.“How was the body positioned?”he asked.
“On his back, arms at his sides, facing east,” Kari said.
Natoni shook his head slowly.“That’s not right.That’s all wrong.”
“Wrong how?”Kari asked.
“If it were a true blessing, there would be cornmeal, different herbs.The positioning would be different.”Natoni appeared to be thinking aloud.“This sounds like someone with partial knowledge trying to… I don’t know, improvise a protective ritual.”
“To protect the body?”Tsosie asked.
“No,” Natoni said, meeting his eyes.“To protect everything else from what killed him.”
The statement sent an unexpected chill through Kari despite the room’s comfortable temperature.She reminded herself that she was dealing with cultural beliefs, not evidence.
“Where would someone learn about these protective rituals?”she asked.
“Not from books or the internet,” Natoni said.“That kind of knowledge is passed down orally, usually within families training healers.”He hesitated.“There aren’t many who would know the old protective rituals.They’re rarely needed now.”
