“One call,” he said, never taking his eyes off the screen. “I left the number on the pad in the kitchen. The man would only say that he was calling about Native Americans.”

Would that be Sleighbow, calling to see if she’d gotten started on the case? Surely not. Surely he would not be that impatient. In her experience, insurance people didn’t understand the meaning of the word “fast.”

She tucked herself into the tiny kitchen, barely big enough for one. Older houses usually had enormous kitchens, but this house must have been built for a woman who hated to cook, because you couldn’t open the oven and refrigerator doors at the same time.

The number on the pad had an area code that seemed familiar, but the number wasn’t Sleighbow’s. It occurred to her that it might be FedEx about the package she’d just sent, or even one of the Lakotah calling to see if she’d made any progress.

No, wait, it’s not an 800 number, so it must be the Lakotah. I did tell them I was going to know by today whether or not the relics were where I thought they were. Maybe my contact wasn’t home, and whoever got the box doesn’t know what it is.

She dialed the number, then dug into the fridge for an apple and string cheese while it rang. She was short on time, short on energy, and short on fuel.

“This is Jennifer Talldeer. I sent the box already,” she said, checking her watch, as soon as someone picked up on the other end. Make this fast and get on the road, she thought absently; she needed to bolt this and get out of here. She felt a growing irritability, maybe even a little lightheadedness; the apple was wearing thin. “You should have gotten it before ten this morning.”

Silence for a moment, then the person on the other end said, “What box?”

“The relics you—I mean, the Lakotah elders—wanted me to track down,” she replied, rattling on quickly, and thinking she must be talking to a younger relative who was not privy to what the elders had been doing. “Just tell Charlie Wapiti I got them and I sent them this afternoon.”

“I—uh, Miss Talldeer, I did call you, but it wasn’t about Lakotah relics,” the man on the other end of the line said. “I’m Franklin Morse, I’m with Morse Construction in Kansas, and I was told by a Mr. Sleighbow you might want to talk to me about Rod Calligan.”