LC 04 - Skeleton Crew (47 page)

LEWIS WAS THE first to break the surprised silence. "Okay, who did
kill Lopez?"

"Yeah," said Nate, sitting with his feet propped on a chair.
"You're going to be hard-pressed to convince us that someone else
did it. It happened, after all, about 440 years ago. Are you that
good?"

"We'll see. Go ahead, Lindsay. You have our interest." Lewis
leaned back on the edge of the table, half sitting, half standing.

"Yes," said Carolyn, "you've got some of the principal characters and evidence sitting over there on the table. Go for it."

"Sancho had blood on him and he had the cross," said Steven,
reminding Lindsay of the heavy evidence against him.

"Which, apparently," said Lewis, "is the same cross we have. It
has to be handed over to our FBI friend here, but I think we can
prove it belongs with the Estrella." He held it up. It was stunning.

"Possession of the cross doesn't mean he took it." Lindsay saw
Jeff nodding his head in agreement. She had convinced him
already. She half expected to hear an "amen" from his corner. "Nor
does it mean he killed for it. Blood on his clothes only connects
him with the crime scene. Not with the murder." Lindsay noticed
that Ramirez eyed her closely, wanting to disagree, but saying
nothing.

"But can you prove to us that he didn't do it?" asked Nate.

"I can prove that the evidence doesn't show that he did. Are
you asking me to prove a negative?"

"I'd never do that," Nate said, grinning.

"I'm making an assumption that the diary is an accurate
account," she said. A big assumption, but she knew they would
agree. They all wanted it to be accurate. They were all planning papers around it, and so far it corresponded with what they had
found.

Lindsay limped across the room and retrieved Lopez's skull
and the mallet. She was having fun and after the previous evening,
it was welcome.

"Lopez was killed with an instrument like this. Because of the
angle and placement, the killer was probably left-handed." She
held the skull up in her right hand, facing the audience. In her left
hand she held the head of the mallet and touched it to the skull,
illustrating how the first blow occurred.

"What was Sancho?" asked Steven.

Lindsay smiled. "Left-handed."

"Seems to me evidence is still stacking up against him," Steven
said.

"Sancho's left hand had been nailed to the mast. The ship's doctor wanted to cut it off," announced Bobbie. "He couldn't have
used it."

"That's right," agreed Lindsay.

She handed the mallet and skull back to Carolyn, who returned
them to the tanks. John handed Lindsay a bandanna to dry the
brine from her hands.

"But that doesn't mean he couldn't have used his right hand
and hit him backhandedly" said Steven. "If you can't use one
hand, you are forced to use another. And it was Lopez's fault he
was nailed to the mast. That gave Sancho a strong motive."

"True, that alone is not proof, but I'm not finished."

"He had the victim's blood smeared on him," Nate added, "the
blood he got from contact with the wall where it was splattered."

"Yes, and what does the diary say about that?" Lindsay asked.
"Does anyone have a copy of the diary handy?" Trey handed her
a notebook. She quickly flipped through the pages, and read the
section:

Father Hernando and Captain Acosta arrived with the
boatswain. As the good father prayed over him, I shook my
head at the little halos of his splattered blood. Poor Lopez, for
all his desires and aspirations, this was all that was left of him.

"Blood drops and spatters are thin at the edges and thick in the
middle. They dry around the edges first, the middle last. The
diarist describes the splatters as halos. When Sancho smeared it, the edges had dried, but not the middle. Sancho smeared the blood
after it had time to partially dry. That was well after the murder."

"She is right about the blood," Ramirez confirmed. "Very observant, Dr. Chamberlain."

"He may have returned to the scene of the crime," said Nate.

"He may have, but the evidence against him was the blood,
which they thought he got on him during the crime. To say now
that he came back to the scene afterward no longer connects him
to the event of the murder itself." She stopped a moment to let it
sink in. "I think Sancho took the cross when he found the body. I
doubt that a man like Sancho could resist."

"I think we have to give Lindsay this one," conceded Steven.
"But to be fair, none of us know anything about blood splatter."

"Yes, Chamberlain," said Trey. "You have such an interesting
repertoire of knowledge."

"Okay, Lindsay. Who did do it?" Korey asked.

"Any guesses?" Lindsay asked.

"How about the diarist," Gina said. "He risked his life to get the
cross, and Lopez took it from him."

"I hope Valerian didn't do it," remarked Juliana. "But he had
those dealings with Lopez, and Lopez wouldn't let him keep his
servant in his quarters."

"I never liked that captain," Nate joked. "He was a wuss."

"I think I know who did it, and why," said Lindsay. "But all the
evidence is circumstantial."

"Circumstantial evidence is very strong in court, if you have
enough of it," said Ramirez.

"Okay, give, Lindsay," Bobbie said. "Who did it?"

"I think that Bellisaro did it."

"Bellisaro?" said Harper. "He hardly ever said anything. Why
do you think he did it?"

"Yeah, Doc," said Nate, "how do you figure that poor guy did
it?"

"I think he had the most powerful motive. The diarist describes
that Bellisaro had a broken arm and leg that he got in battle, and
that his injuries had healed well. The diary also describes that
when the ship went down, Bellisaro fell through the middle of it."

"So?" said Nate.

"Here I have more evidence than you do. I thought HSkR4 was
Valerian because the measurement indices indicated it to be from North Africa. But it has healed breaks in the arm and leg. He was
found amidships, and he is left-handed. The diary describes
Bellisaro with those former injuries as well as his falling into the
well of the ship."

"So what?" repeated Nate.

"So his skull suggests that he is from Morocco," said Lindsay,
watching all their faces, waiting for someone to get it. No one said
anything. "Bellisaro was not originally in on the plot to change the
ship's course. He had to be convinced, and the captain wasn't having any luck. Lopez told the captain not to worry.

"During the dinner that the captain hosted, we learn that Lopez
knew a lot of people. The diarist mentions that Lopez knew
Bellisaro's grandfather. He also hinted that Bellisaro might be
offended by the salted pork, and wasn't it good of the captain to
order chicken instead. Lopez also asked if Bellisaro was offended
when Valerian and the diarist played chess. Each of those times,
Bellisaro either refused to engage in conversation, or left the
room."

"I don't get it," said Juliana.

"North Africa was primarily Muslim. Spain was still under the
euphoria of the Reconquista, reclaiming Spain for the Christian
Spanish and driving out the Muslims who had ruled the country
for several hundred years. Military societies arose to award the
faithful Christian soldiers who fought for Spain, like the Order of
Santiago-one of the most honored and powerful, of which our
diarist was a member. He recounted some of the privileges derived
from being a member, such as exemption from certain punishments. There were many other more lucrative perks that made
membership very important if you were to get along well in a
highly stratified bureaucratic society like Spain. Bellisaro was also
a member of the Order of Santiago, according to the diarist. There
were also strict rules about who could become members."

"Oh," said Bobbie. "You had to have pure Spanish blood."

Lindsay nodded. "In particular, Christian blood."

"But Bellisaro had Muslim heritage," said Bobbie.

"Yes, he did. It was common for men to forge their genealogy.
The payoff was big. And the loss for Bellisaro would be equally big
were he to be discovered. Lopez knew, and he was blackmailing
Bellisaro to get him to change course. He knew Bellisaro's grandfather and said so at dinner, probably for Bellisaro's benefit. He also mentions the pork, which Muslims don't eat, another reference to the fact he knows about Bellisaro's lineage and is rubbing
his nose in it. It didn't matter that Bellisaro was Christian himself,
it mattered that his grandfather was not."

"What about the chess game?" asked Juliana.

"The chess set had a detailed image of a queen-an image of a
woman. Lopez mentioned it as a backhanded reference to the
Muslim prohibition against images of women in their art. Just
another suggestion to Bellisaro that Lopez knew. I believe Lopez
wore Bellisaro down until he agreed to change course.

"Bellisaro was basically an honest and honorable man. He struggled hard to save the ship, and he tried to save the children first
when the ship was sinking. But Lopez found his weak spot.
Bellisaro didn't take the cross because that was not the motive for
the murder and he wasn't a thief. The motive was to save his career
and his family's position. It was the difference between wealth and
poverty. Lopez could hold Bellisaro's secret over him forever, and
that's why Bellisaro killed him-to be free of the extortion."

"Wouldn't Lopez have told someone, like the captain?" asked
Sarah.

"To a man like Lopez, secrets are power, and he would only
share power when he had to. He didn't have to tell the captain.
Bellisaro probably knew that. But, as I said, this part is circumstantial."

Lewis clapped his hands. "You've convinced me, Lindsay."

"Me, too," Steven said. "I didn't think you could do it."

"Good job, Doc. I confess, you got a lot more out of the diary
than I did. I'm going to have to read the thing again," said Nate.

Lindsay sat back down. "Good job, Rabbit," John whispered in
her ear.

Ramirez made his way through the crowd to where Lindsay
was sitting. "You put on quite a show. I enjoyed every minute of it.
When the solution to our current problem surfaces in your brain, I
hope you will call."

"I will indeed. Thanks again for the flowers. They're lovely. You
going to take the cross?"

"Ah, the cross. The police asked me to get it for them. It's supposed to be evidence in an attack. However, there are problems. Is
this the cross that was stolen? Who knows? I would have said, how
many crosses could there be? But apparently, you have discovered potentially a whole shipful. Then, I wonder, is this the cross in the
diary, and therefore an artifact of the Estrella? Who knows that,
either?" He grinned mischievously. "You archaeologists present
me with nothing but problems, and only solutions to very old
crimes. You go get some rest. I would not describe your appearance in so unflattering terms as that fellow, but you do look like
sleep would be welcome."

"I think I'll take your advice."

Lindsay went up to Harper's room and lay down, but couldn't
sleep. The reality that someone here, an archaeologist, had tried to
kill her, weighed on her so heavily she felt she couldn't breathe.
She stared into the darkness trying to remember who was on the
skeleton crew. It was so dark, the wind made her eyes water and
her vision blurred. Trey could tell her who he had selected.

Trey-it wouldn't have been Trey. He was a friend and
wouldn't have done this to her. Would he? No. The attacker was
probably the murderer. John was there. John loved her. He
wouldn't hurt her. Who else? Someone from John's crew? She
knew only Luke. Could one of his crew have known about the
treasure all along? That was a dead end. She didn't have enough
information to even guess.

Who else was there? Sarah and Juliana? She couldn't see either
of them doing such a thing. Steven, Nate? Why? What did she
know about Nate? He was shot at, and he was looking for the treasure. Two facts, but what had they to do with anything? What had
they to do with her? Steven? Steven was on the scene when they
found the rifled sea chest. But as she had just demonstrated in the
meeting, being there after the fact proves nothing. Korey was at the
dam helping attend the artifacts. He stayed and helped to secure
the site. But why would he try to kill her? No reason she could
think of.

Lindsay turned over, trying to find a comfortable position to lie.
Jones, the person whom she was most suspicious of, wasn't even
in contention. Or was she? It was dark. Someone from Jones's crew
could have climbed the stairs and secreted themselves in the dam.
No. Lindsay hadn't seen any ships on the sea, certainly not Eva
Jones's sailing ship. They could swim underwater from the
shore-no, the minisub. They could have come in the minisub,
come aboard the dam, hid until they saw their opportunity,
knocked her out, covered her up, and left the same way they came. But why? Did she know something she didn't think she knew? Did
someone think she knew something? Did she let something slip at
her meeting with Jones? Was it something so important that Jones
would go to all that trouble?

Lindsay again flipped over on her back. What could she know?
Or, what had she seen? As she puzzled over the question, she
thought she saw a form coming toward her in the dimness of the
room. Lindsay didn't think very long, she flipped over and off the
bed and scrambled under it, feeling around for a weapon. The
lights went on.

"Lindsay, it's me, John. Are you all right?"

Lindsay crawled out from under the bed, hoping the redness in
her face wouldn't show up under her bruises. "I'm fine."

John helped her to her feet. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare
you. But I'll have to say, hurt or not, your reflexes are fast."

Standing up in the bright light, Lindsay realized that under the
bed was not the best of hiding places.