Panther could imagine her, young, alive, and vivacious. He could see those dark eyes flashing, sense her saucy smile. Her blood must have raced as she hurried off to meet High Fox that fateful morning. How excited she must have been. That shining black hair would have swung with each anxious step.
But here she lay, dead and cold, her flesh swollen with rot, the eyes sightless. The pulsing blood had blackened to clot in her veins.
Who did this to you, girl? And, why did they do it?
“War Chief, could you come here?” Panther could see bits of leaves in her hair. As Nine Killer bent down beside him, Panther asked, “You saw her up on the ridge. Could you lay her out just as she was?”
Nine Killer flinched as he touched her cold skin. Her body gurgled as he rolled it over. Despite some remaining rigor, Nine Kilftr placed the limbs appropriately.
“She was laid out thus, Elder. This leg drawn up, the hand clasped so.”
“That was the hand clasping the necklace?”
“Yes, Elder.”
“I have the necklace,” Green Serpent said from where he watched in the rear. “Would you bring it, Lightning Cat?”
The priest nodded and stepped from the room to return with the necklace dangling from his hand. Panther studied it in the light, looking closely at the stone shark’s tooth. “I’ve seen these. From the bluff down by Piney Point.”
Sun Conch made a small forlorn sound.
Panther looked up. “What is it, Sun Conch?”
“That necklace, Elder. I wasn’t sure when Nine Killer first mentioned it, but… it belongs to High Fox.”
“You think this is what he said he ‘lost’? The object he wanted you to look for when you got here?”
Sun Conch looked as if she’d swallowed poisonous swamp laurel. “Yes. Probably.” Nine Killer exhaled wearily. “It was in Red Knot’s hand. So, High Fox is the killer after all.”
“No!” Sun Conch shook her head violently. “He isn’t! I swear, I would know if he—he could do something like this! It isn’t in him!”
Panther held up a hand to calm the girl, but he spoke to Nine Killer. “Remember, War Chief, High Fox might have given the young woman the necklace as a gift. She was, after all, running off to meet him.”
Nine Killer looked unconvinced.
“Think. How many explanations can this have?” Panther held Nine Killer’s gaze. “Did she clutch it to her breast? Perhaps to hold it close while she died? Like a warrior does a Power bundle?”
“That is possible.”
“By itself, the necklace does not” “indicate guilt. It is only another of the curious facts we must sort out.”
“Yes, Elder.” Nine Killer relented.
Sun Conch stepped sideways to lean her shoulder against the wall, and Panther noticed that she seemed to need the support. Her legs were shaking.
“I need more light.” Panther turned to study Red Knot’s matted hair. Streaked Bear hurried to place more wood on the fire.
The flames leapt up, and Panther examined the bloodstains on the dress, and the way the girl’s head lay. “Come, let’s remove her clothing.”
“Her spirit must be placated,” Green Serpent insisted. “You dare not bother her until she knows your purpose. The dead can be most easily offended.”
“Of course, Kwiokos,” Panther agreed. “If you will inform her of our mission as we work, I would deeply appreciate it.”
Green Serpent grinned, exposing his stubby brown teeth. Then he removed his large gourd rattle from his belt, shaking it in a shish-shishing motion as his old voice quavered in a sad song to Red Knot’s ghost.
Only then did Panther and Nine Killer lift the girl, slipping her dress over her head. Panther took the garment and studied it in the firelight. Red Knot had danced her last dance in this beautifully tanned deer hide dress. Chevrons of dark blue peak decorated the front. At the point of each, a bit of copper had been sewn to gleam in the firelight. A line of pearls, each carefully drilled through the center, had been tacked to the neckline, and long fringes had been cut from the hem.
Panther turned his attention to the ominous dark stains. “The smear of blood on the left shoulder is interesting. From the way it’s feathered across the deer hide, it was carried there by her hair. Brushed onto the leather of her dress. Take a look, War Chief. What do you think?”
Nine Killer stepped forward to look at the deer hide that Panther held up. “There’s a difference in the way the blood is smeared from the front to the back.”
“Indeed.” Panther cocked an eyebrow. “The blood on the back smeared when it was wet and fresh. The blood that pooled on the front cooled and dried there. It’s dark, thick, and clotted.”