The Sinister Pig - 15 by Tony Hillerman

Author:Tony Hillerman [Hillerman, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Mystery Fiction, Detective and Mystery Stories, Police Procedural, Police, Cultural Heritage, New Mexico, Navajo Indians, Police - New Mexico, Indian Reservation Police, Chee; Jim (Fictitious Character), Leaphorn; Joe; Lt. (Fictitious Character)
ISBN: 9780061098789
Google: hnp7HWVWlgIC
Amazon: 0061098787
Publisher: HarperTorch
Published: 2003-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

“So I have to promise it stops with me,” Leaphorn said.

Goddard nodded.

“OK, I promise.”

“Stein also worked a lot in the Middle East. In Yemen, for example, and in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Oil field and pipeline stuff, officially,” Goddard said. “But most likely with the Central Intelligence Agency paying a share of his expenses and getting its share of what he was learning.”

Leaphorn sat with his hands folded on his stomach, intertwining the fingers, making roofs of them, making fists, while he thought. “To sum it up, would it be fair to say you think Stein might have been sent out here to see how this great network of pipelines we have all around us might have been used to siphon off some of that forty billion bucks?”

“Who knows? But wouldn’t that make a wonderful story?”

“And also fair to say that Stein might also still be doing some CIA work? What’s the CIA interest?”

“Maybe some sort of money-laundering scheme. You know, the theory is that Saudi oil money is sponsoring the Al Qaeda terrorist operation. Don’t ask me to guess at that connection. Swapping oil, maybe, so the money can’t be traced?”

Leaphorn nodded. “And if Stein was out hunting the [115] way oil and gas was pipelined out to folks not paying for it, maybe that hunter wasn’t careless,” Leaphorn said.

“Maybe he was hunting Stein,” Goddard said. “Maybe it was Osama bin Laden or one of his terrorists. An even better story.”

“You think Stein was working for the CIA? As I used to understand the law, the Agency is supposed to leave the inside the U.S.A. stuff to the FBI. Not that those security people paid much attention to that sort of red tape.”

“I guess it’s possible,” Goddard said. “But I think it’s more likely the motivation was politics. Maybe the Department of Justice, maybe Interior, or one of its divisions. Or more likely one of the big-money operatives in either the Republican or Democratic Party, hunting for campaign ammunition, or one of the environmental protection outfits with a different ax to grind. Maybe even the Libertarian Party wanting to prove how hopelessly inept the federal government is these days.”

“Another question,” Leaphorn said. “Who wanted Stein shot?”

Goddard grinned at him. “Let me know if you find out.” The grin faded away. “And if you do find out, remember it has to be someone with connections powerful enough to force the FBI brass to cover it up.”

14

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