Scalp Dance: A Sam Chitto Mystery by Lu Clifton

Author:Lu Clifton [Clifton, Lu]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780998528496
Google: TeGuzQEACAAJ
Amazon: B08L8CFBQT
Publisher: Two Shadows
Published: 2020-10-14T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Chitto’s desk looked like a supply cabinet had been dumped on it. He stowed the laundry packets from the washateria on top of his four-drawer file and examined the pile of supplies. An oversize version of the Tribal Jurisdictions in Oklahoma map. Pads of peel-off sticky notes. Scotch tape. A stack of computer printouts showing powwows, celebrations and festivals scheduled across the checkerboard. Wanda hadn’t overlooked a thing.

Taping the map to the wall, he sat down, staring at it. Much of Oklahoma had been dissected into various colored shapes. Seven large blocks stood out. The Cheyenne-Arapaho Nation, in a red sandstone color, and the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache, in coral, dominated the southwestern section. In the south-central section was a turquoise block, the Chickasaw Nation. The Choctaw Nation, the color of desert sand, filled the entire southeastern corner. Above the Choctaw was the Muskogee-Creek Nation, shown in a pale chestnut. In the northeast corner was the Cherokee, colored pumpkin gold. West of the Cherokee and bordering the Muskogee Nation was the Osage, a yellow-green on the map. Smaller colored squares made up the rest, representing the remaining nations. Thirty-eight federally recognized tribes in all.

He looked through the stack of scheduled events next. Some were one-day long, others two or three. Fewer in number, those that lasted four days. He sat awhile, considering common denominators of the puzzle he was piecing together.

Celebrations lasting four days . . .

Ones that would attract enough traffic to erase any signs of traceable evidence . . .

Those held in remote locations where unusual activity would go unnoticed . . .

Those occurring in late summer and fall, celebrating the end of the old year and beginning of the new . . .

An hour later, the large stack was sorted into several smaller ones, but only one stack interested him. Picking up the pad of yellow Post-its, he wrote down the dates of the four-day celebrations and their locations.

July 22–25 … Cherokee Nation … Tahlequah

July 29–August 1 … Red Earth Festival … Oklahoma City

August 5–8 … Oklahoma Indian Nation Festival … Concho

August 12–15 … Ottawa Nation … Miami

August 19–22 … Southern Plains Festival … Apache

August 26–29 … Ponca Nation … Ponca City

September 2–5 … Choctaw Nation … Tuskahoma

September 9–12 … Chickasaw Nation … Tishamingo

September 16–-19 … Wyandotte Nation … Wyandotte

September 23–-26 … Muskogee-Creek Nation … Okmulgee

Chitto placed the yellow stickers on the map, noting the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations had already been hit. The Wyandotte festival was taking place that weekend, and the Muskogee-Creek, the following one.

Broad strokes in place, it was time to narrow the field. Picking up the green sticky pad, he printed DW on two of them, representing Delbert Wilcox, the first victim. He placed one flag at Tuskahoma, where the man was found dead, the other north of Ada, where he lived. He selected orange for Charlie Carter, victim number two. He flagged Tishamingo, the place of Carter’s death, and another in Checotah where he lived.

Rocking back in his chair, he picked up one of his worry stones and studied the stickers.

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