People of the Mist(175)
Panther took a step and shifted his attention to the sooty roof overhead. “When I was in Three Myrtle Village, the old woman, Moth, tried to—”
“Moth!” Shell Comb cried. “She’s crazy! You old fool! You didn’t believe a word she said, did you? Monster Bone took her in a raid against the Mamanatowick. She’s been hit in the head so many times she doesn’t know night from day!”
“But she knew that Monster Bone’s long house burned from the ground up,” Panther replied evenly. “Burned the night before you and Black Spike landed on your return from the Susquehannock.”
“Longhouses burn!” Black Spike cried. “It happens!”
“It does”—Panther pointed up at the roof—“but the sparks usually catch up by the smoke hole. Monster Bone’s house was set on fire so that no one could escape —and in this case it brought you good fortune. Your brother burned to death. You became Weroance, and kept your child. That’s why your wife’s clan never came to claim the child, isn’t it? She never bore High Fox.”
“She died in childbirth!” The pitch had climbed in Black Spike’s voice. “In the presence of Okeus, I swear it.”
“No matter what happened to her, she never returned with you, did she?” Panther goaded. “Dead, left with the Susquehannocks, it matters not. She was out of the way, unable to expose the truth.”
Black Spike’s eyes had glazed, and he shot a frightened look at Shell Comb.
Shell Comb’s eyes seemed to enlarge as she fixed them on The Panther. The corners of her lips jerked, and then with a sudden smile she nodded. “An able concoction, Elder, and I can see how a person could string the facts together like a pattern of beads. But it is a fashion of your own, not the way it was.”
“Indeed?” Panther looked around at his rapt audience.
High Fox was staring, openmouthed, at Shell Comb. “I think that in a few moments, we will see just how well I can string these beads of fact upon their cord. Then, Shell Comb, we shall see whose neck they will fit.”
“Mother!” Shell Comb hissed. “Stop this! Now! The old fool’s out of hand!” “No,” Hunting Hawk said woodenly. “I think we will hear him out.”
Panther turned to face Green Serpent. “If you would be so kind, Elder?”
Green Serpent reached into the basket resting between Lightning Cat’s knees and lifted out the skull. Chanting to appease the young woman’s ghost, he handed it to Panther. The elder took it in his wrinkled hands, holding it carefully. “Observe.” Panther pointed to the ugly dents in the smooth curvature of bone. “The skull was crushed in two places. From the extent of the damage, Red Knot would have dropped instantly, probably dead before she hit the ground.”
Panther met Nine Killer’s eyes. “War Chief, would you take the weapon from Green Serpent and demonstrate how the blow was delivered?”
The Kwiokos extracted a long-handled war club from the basket and extended it. Nine Killer swallowed hard and took the slender handle of the polished war club. The smooth wood chilled his hand. As Panther held out the grinning skull, Nine Killer reached out with the war club, aligning the business end with the side of the girl’s skull. The two stone heads matched the holes exactly. Even from where he stood, Nine Killer could see the strands of long black hair caught in the settings of the war club. “Elder, that hair. Is it… ?”
Panther nodded. “When the club was replaced in the House of the Dead, the killer didn’t notice that some of Red Knot’s hair was stuck in the club.”
“That could be anyone’s hair!” Black Spike objected, his voice hoarse. He couldn’t seem to pry his gaze from the grisly exhibit.
“But it’s not,” Panther replied. “The War Chief and I searched most diligently for the weapon, even to the point of stealing Copper Thunder’s war club to match it to the wound. Grass Mat, you’ll be happy to know it didn’t fit.”
“Of course not!”
“Where? Where was it?” Nine Killer demanded—and suddenly, he knew. He’d seen it so many times. “By Okeus, taken from the very hand of the god! It’s the war club from the altar!”
“The very same,” Panther replied sadly. He reached into his belt pouch. “But if there is any doubt, I will now lay it to rest. This piece of wood was chipped out of the stone setting by the impact of the blow. The War Chief, Sun Conch, and I found it the day we inspected the ridge where Red Knot was killed. You will notice, it fits perfectly.” Panther pressed the triangular piece into place where the stone and wood were joined.