The
victim,
well
dressed
but
stripped
of
identification,
is
found
at
the
edge
of
the
vast
Jicarilla
Apache
natural
gas
field
just
inside
the
jurisdiction
of
the
Navajo
Tribal
Police,
facing
Sergeant
Jim
Chee
with
a
complex
puzzle.
Why
did
the
Washington
office
of
the
FBI
snatch
custody
of
this
case
from
its
local
agents,
cover
it
with
secrecy,
and
call
it
a
hunting
accident?
What
was
the
victim
seeking
among
the
maze
of
pipelines
and
pumping
stations
in
America's
largest
gas
field?
Was
he
investigating
the
embezzlement
of
billions
of
dollars
from
the
Indian
Tribal
royalty
trust
in
the
Department
of
the
Interior?
On
a
level
nearer
to
Chee's
heart,
did
the
photographs
Bernie
Manuelito
took
on
an
exotic
game
ranch
near
the
Mexican
border
reveal
something
connected
with
this
crime?
Did
Bernie,
once
a
member
of
Chee's
squad
but
now
a
rookie
Border
Patrol
Officer,
put
herself
in
terrible
danger?
Tony
Hillerman
leads
his
readers
through
another
of
his
intricate
plots
to
the
solution
of
this
crime,
with
a
cast
of
vivid
characters:
a
Washington
political
mogul
and
his
more-or-less
renegade
pilot;
a
customs
official
who
bends
the
rules;
a
Mexican
smuggler
with
a
conscience;
and,
finally,
"Legendary
Lieutenant"
Joe
Leaphorn,
now
retired,
who
connects
the
lines
on
a
dusty
old
map
to
find
the
answers
--
and
the
Sinister
Pig
--
among
the
great
scimitar-horned
oryx
grazing
on
the
historic
Tuttle
Ranch.
