The Story Teller
Authors: Margaret Coel
P
RAISE FOR
M
ARGARET
C
OEL’S NATIONAL BESTSELLING SERIES
. . .
The Story Teller
“Coel’s fourth Native American mystery may be her best work to date as she brilliantly ties together a who-done-it with Indian culture. The characters all ring true as they rapidly propel forward the tribal conflict with assimilation.”
—Harriet Klausner
“Another splendid mix of mystery and Native American culture.”
—
Library Journal
“You finish [
The Story Teller
] not only well-entertained but all the better for it.”
—
The Arizona Daily Star
“A welcome return to the fascinating world of the Arapaho people.”
—
Book Alert
The Dream Stalker
“Seamless storytelling by someone who’s obviously been there.”
—J. A. Jance
“Swift and compelling.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
“Coel weaves deeply human conflicts into her characters’ lives . . . Critics who have called Coel a ‘female Hillerman’ are right on the mark. Her breezy, fast-paced style and grasp of cultural details make
The Dream Stalker
a book that will keep you reading until late at night.”
—
Daily Camera
(Boulder, CO)
“Murder, romance, a nuclear storage facility and Indian lore blend appealingly in this third mystery . . . Another coup for Coel.”
—
Publishers Weekly
The Ghost Walker
“Margaret Coel guides us mystery lovers on another of her gripping tours of evil among the Wind River Arapahos.”
—Tony Hillerman
“Coel is a vivid voice for the West, its struggles to retain its past and at the same time enjoy the fruits of the future.”
—
Dallas Morning News
“There is something so real, so good about the setting and the people in
The Ghost Walker.”
—Elaine Long, award-winning author of
Jenny’s Mountain
and
Bittersweet Country
“A tautly written, compelling mystery, grounded in and sympathetic to the Arapaho culture.”
—
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
“A corking good read . . . Coel’s Catholic Irish Jesuit priest and his Arapaho friends and neighbors, each with their individual worldviews and sensibilities, make for interesting contrasts in this excellent mystery that focuses on the strange place Native Americans occupy in their own land. An outstanding entry in a superior series.”
—
Booklist
(starred review)
“Engaging . . . Coel’s series in the Hillerman tradition finds a space where Jesuits and Native Americans can meet in a culture of common decency.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
“Sharp writing and poignant characterizations.”
—
Affaire de Coeur
“The writing has grown smooth in a way that makes it clear that Margaret Coel and Father John O’Malley will both be around for a long time to come.”
—
Mostly Murder
The Eagle Catcher
“Margaret Coel’s account of dastardly deeds among the Arapahos on the Wind River Reservation shouldn’t be missed by anyone interested in either new trends in mystery writing or contemporary American Indian culture. She’s a master at both.”
—Tony Hillerman
“The best parts of
The Eagle Catcher
are Coel’s portrayal of the dual cultures that exist uneasily on the reservation and an uncanny sense of dialogue that make her characters ring true. Coel merges her grasp of history with the mystery genre. The result is so successful, you wonder what took her so long!”
—
The Denver Post
“Insightful commentary about Arapaho culture, well-drawn characters and a lively pace.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“The Eagle Catcher
’s Native American theme will inspire comparisons to the work of Tony Hillerman, but its insights into the Arapaho way of life in our century are unique to this form.”
—Loren D. Estleman, author of
Edsel
and
City of Windows
“Welcome Margaret Coel to the ranks of esteemed western mystery writers such as Hillerman, Hager, and Prowell.
The Eagle Catcher
is not only an alluring fresh mystery told with the authoritative voice of a historian, it is also a thoughtful testimony to the clash of cultures that endures in the West.”
—Stephen White, author of
Higher Authority
and
Private Practices
“Intense and fascinating . . . Coel has gifted us with a western mystery full of characters we long to know better and a Wyoming setting that takes our breath away.”
—Earlene Fowler, author of
Irish Chain
and
Kansas Troubles
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Margaret Coel
Catherine McLeod Mysteries
BLOOD MEMORY
THE PERFECT SUSPECT
Wind River Mysteries
THE EAGLE CATCHER
THE GHOST WALKER
THE DREAM STALKER
THE STORY TELLER
THE LOST BIRD
THE SPIRIT WOMAN
THE THUNDER KEEPER
THE SHADOW DANCER
KILLING RAVEN
WIFE OF MOON
EYE OF THE WOLF
THE DROWNING MAN
THE GIRL WITH BRAIDED HAIR
THE SILENT SPIRIT
THE SPIDER’S WEB
BUFFALO BILL’S DEAD NOW
KILLING CUSTER
NIGHT OF THE WHITE BUFFALO
Anthologies
WATCHING EAGLES SOAR
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China
A Penguin Random House Company
THE STORY TELLER
A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 1998 by Margaret Coel.
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.
BERKLEY® PRIME CRIME and the PRIME CRIME logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC,
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eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-66373-8
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley Prime Crime hardcover edition / October 1998
Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / September 1999
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Version_1
For Aileen Marie Harrison
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to thank the many people who lent their expertise and advice to this novel. Among them are:
Dr. Tom Noel, professor of history, University of Colorado at Denver; Michael L. Fiori, detective, Homicide/Investigations, Denver Police Department; Jennifer C. Rowe, officer, Denver Police Department; Ginger Jones, coroner’s investigator, City and County of Denver; Dr. David F. Halaas, chief historian, Colorado Historical Society; Dr. Virginia Sutter, member of the Arapaho tribe; Anthony Short, S.J.; Karen Gilleland, Ann and Tony Ripley, Sybil Downing, Beverly Carrigan, George Coel, and Kristin Coel.
Special thanks to David F. Halaas, Andrew E. Masich, Richard N. Ellis and Jean Afton for their book,
Cheyenne Dog Soldiers: A Ledgerbook History of Coups and Combat.
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Margaret Coel
P
rofessor Mary Ellen Pearson adhered to a carefully constructed routine every Monday evening. This evening was no different. At ten minutes before nine o’clock, she checked her briefcase to make certain all of her papers were in place. Discreetly, of course. It would never do for one of the students in her Culture of the Plains Indians seminar to suspect she was eager for the class to end. At the first pealing of the bells from St. Elizabeth’s across the campus, she hoisted the briefcase, bid her students good night, and departed the classroom.
She hurried down the wide corridor paved with caramel-colored tiles, in and out of shafts of light streaming from the fluorescent bulbs overhead, and swung through a doorway into a small office much like her own. She froze in disbelief. The office was empty. Mavis Stanley had left without her. How could Mavis have done so? They always left together on Monday evenings, two female professors at the edge of retirement, hurrying along the shadowy campus paths, a formidable phalanx to deter waiting muggers.
Not that the University of Colorado campus in Denver was unsafe, as their male colleagues often reminded them. Nevertheless it was an urban campus sprawled against the southern curve of downtown Denver, and the leafy trees and grassy knolls could not conceal the
noise and energy of the city lurking beyond. One could not be too careful.
With clenched jaw, Professor Pearson retraced her steps along the corridor. The overhead lights seemed dimmer, the building silent as a vault. Her footsteps clacked into the emptiness. Other classes had let out; students had already fled. She was alone.
Avoiding the elevator, which was often unpredictable, she made her way down two flights of stairs, skimming past the shadows on the landings, and exited the building through the glass-paned door on the west. The Rocky Mountains rose in the distance, a jagged darkness against the last milky band of light in the sky. Skyscrapers looming on the north, windows ablaze, cast eerie patterns of light and shadow across the dark campus.