Longmire: The Laws on the Rez

The Lonesome Crime Scene

Vic Moretti of the Absaroka County sheriff's office caught the call from Mathias on her radio, and just happened to be in the neighborhood. She didn't like Mathias Stillwater, or much of the Cheyenne Reservation Police Department, but there was an unspoken working agreement that both departments honored.

She had seen the Acura SUV drive away and her curiosity was piqued. "So who was that?" Victoria Moretti was a tall drink of water, but the cool blonde beauty could be a giant pain in the ass, plus she would never let a thing alone.

"No one," he replied, "Jealous?" he wanted to say.  He neither liked, nor disliked her, but she had an irritating ability to annoy. "Where's Walt?"

"He's coming, I happened to be in the neighborhood so I decided to see what was going on."

"Come on," he said, and started up the hill, not bothering to see if she would follow. He twisted a piece of tape around a tree for whoever came after them.

They climbed the path to the clearing, Vic complaining, every so often, asking if they were almost there. He said nothing but kept climbing. When they reached the clearing, he pointed, "There, next to the log. Looks like her head was bashed in by a rock. She's been here a few days. She looks like she might be Cheyenne, but I don't recognize her. Maybe an autopsy will say if she was raped or not, then killed to make sure she didn't talk. Think Walt can find the time to investigate this?"

"Investigate what?" Walt Longmire appeared, climbing under the tape. He looked at the girl laying on the ground. "What a shame," he said, "Who'd want to kill a pretty girl like this?"

Walt Longmire was a tall, raw-boned Wyoming cowboy, but he wasn't a bad guy. Their paths crossed too often, but he was generally respectful of Mathias and stayed out of Cheyenne business, about as often as Mathias stayed away from the county. On occasion, both were known to go behind the other's back, but they generally respected each other's territory. The arrangement could be mutually beneficial, and if necessity dictated that they needed to work together, it could be done with a minimal amount of difficulty. Most of the time anyway.

"Did she have any ID?" Walt asked, "did you find the murder weapon?"

Mathias shook his head, "For all I know he took it with him, or threw it as far away as he could. All I have is her, and unless she has a record, or we can get a photo ID, we have no way of even knowing who she is. How long do you think it will be until she can be autopsied?"

"I don't know how busy the coroner is, Mathias, if he's not backed up it should be soon."

"Well, there's a former FBI pathologist who's staying at the casino, if you can get a room for her, she might be willing to do it."

I knew it, thought Vic, but I didn't know that Mathias liked white women. Now that's a surprise.

"I'll see." Walt had a congenial temperament until you crossed him. "If this pathologist is willing to help out, I'm sure it would sure be appreciated. I should transfer her back to you, but this is a felony. There's always another murder victim waiting, unfortunately."

They set about doing the small things that made up a crime scene investigation. Mathias was not surprised when they turned her over and found nothing, she looked like she hadn't been moved since her murder. Full rigor had set in, but it told them nothing. Vic grumbled when she had to retrieve her kit from her truck, but she was angry at herself for not thinking to bring it in the first place. Having to investigate any murder was unpleasant, but a young person's murder put her in a bad mood.

As he expected, there was no sign of the weapon. Most likely a rock with the victim's blood on it, it would now be far from the scene. It would take more than just the three of them to locate it if they could. It could be covered now with leaves, or it could have lodged in a hidden place in a log or tree roots.