Chapter 7

Jimmy swallowed hard as he heard Walt's voice behind him; he turned to see a look he was familiar with, the look Gibbs gives when he was displeased, yes thought Jimmy it was "A Marine glare".

"Sir," Jimmy began to say, "Me and the Ferg… Deputy Ferguson," he corrected himself, "When you were at the Bureau…we borrowed the car and drove round the town, in particular round the motels and rental mobile home sites. I had called Ms Scuito to acquire the possible vehicles that the tyre marks could have matched."

"And?" Walt continued looking at him, with the Gibbs stare.

"And…we found at the Golden Fields Vacation trailer park, a Chevy with the letters WORM on it and when Ferg ran the registration plates of the Jeep it was registered to an employee of WORM, a, Marco Vermere, which is kind of funny because worm in Italian is Verme and in Norwegian, Mark is a worm, so in theory he is a double worm," Jimmy began to say before he saw the look Tim gave.

"Where is my deputy now?" Walt began to say; as he saw the Ferg and Vic appear from the inner office.

"I'm here Walt, I was just telling Vic and she suggests that we visit the site and bring in the men for questioning as well as checking the tyre tracks," Ferg replied.

Walt smiled a sly smile before saying, "Good work lads. Well Vic," as he turned to her, "Let's go and pick th'm up. You and Ferg take the Dodge, I'll bring the Bronco, and I think Mr Palmer you'd better stay here, but Tim you're with me," as he noticed McGee nod.

-oOo-

The two vehicles arrived at the trailer park. Walt had called ahead to the manager saying to keep out of sight and don't make any announcements as this was a murder enquiry and he didn't want runners.

The two cars screeched to a halt at the rented mobile home, one car at the door, the other just to the side. Walt walked to the trailer door and knocked his hand on his gun, the other three had their guns aimed for trouble. They heard a TV blaring with the sound of a football game in action, Walt knocked again and they heard the sound drop and the door open out.

"What you want now you pestering old man? We did turn the sound down…a bit," a small squat guy about fifty, his hair greying and receding stood in the framework; he held a can of beer in his hand.

"That how you talk to neighbours?" Walt began to say, "I take it you're not Marco Vermere…so who are you?" thinking of the driving licence ID that the two Jims had shown him.

"Who's interrupting the game now, Sammy?" they heard a voice shout aggressively from inside the home.

"Marco," Walt smiled, "Sheriff Longmire that's who…we want to ask you a few questions in relation to your job in the mining sector," as they now saw Marco standing behind Sammy, bare chested. "Think you'd better get a shirt on Marco and then you and Sammy can accompany my Deputies and me to the Sheriff's Office."

-oOo-

Now back in the Sheriff's building Vic and the Ferg were interviewing Sammy, he seemed the more frightened of the two, "more brawn than brains" as Dr Mallard would said, more muscle than grey matter.

"So what happened?" Vic asked sitting in front of the man, "Avon not want to play ball with you?"

"Don't know what you're talking about," Sammy replied looking at the ceiling.

"I have a hunch and it goes something like this, just correct me when I go wrong or at least your body language…and odour will tell me," as she sniffed the air and made a face, "You might just shit yourself, but the smell of stale sweat is overpowering…you sure you're not anxious?" as she watched Sammy shake his head and look to the floor.

"Wasn't supposed to happen that way…was only supposed to rough him up…tell him to lay off…but he wouldn't," Sammy began to whine.

"Good," as Vic now stood and pushed the chair back, "Deputy Ferguson here will give you a sheet of paper and you will write down what happened…that is if you can write…and then we will see if it matches your buddy Marco's story," as she walked out the room.

Meanwhile in another room, Tim and Walt were asking Marco the same sort of questions. Marco it turned out, was an engineer and knew the strata, Sammy was just the "goffer", he, Sammy was the muscle, he laid the wires, did as he was told.

"So your Boss…Mr Carter," as Tim looked at his notes from the Bureau, "Made an application to mine gold, but it wasn't was it, it was yellowcake? The Bureau blocked the application but your firm decided to go ahead anyway. The bit we don't get is why Avonaco? Where does he fit into the equation?"

"Vipond, saw our vans round the town him being an EOD, said that he wasn't going to be in the Navy for ever and any chance of a job," Marco began to say.

"But he wasn't was he? Once he found out what your real goals were you had to get rid of him," Tim continued. "What he did, however… was to take a sample, and give it to his grandfather, bet you didn't know that bit…just for his insurance. Then you know what I think," McGee continued beginning to feel more confident, as Walt just stood, his arms folded looking at Marco, "You took him to the gorge to warn him off but you pushed too hard and Avon fell back, but as he went into the gorge he scrapped his fingers against the side…we found yellowcake under his nails…Am I doing ok so far?," as the two men watch Marco nod slightly.

"Good, McGee, now we'll get a statement with Marco's story, and we'll see if it matches his friend or partner in crime, Sammy's," Sheriff Longmire replied.

-oOo-

The group returned to the reservation and went to speak with Chief Mathias to inform him what they had discovered at the Bureau and of the arrest and charging of two of WORM's employees.

"So do you think Avonaco being an EOD, found the explosives and began to realise that the men who came here were in fact illegally trying to mine on the Reservation and in particular the gorge?" Chief Mathias questioned.

"We think so and since the gorge is a sacred site of our fallen ancestors, Avonaco tried to intervene and was murdered," Henry replied.

"He offered his services to gain proof of the activities but unfortunately it cost him his life," Longmire continued, "If it hadn't been for Mr Palmer noticing the yellow substance under Avonaco's nails we might never have got a lead," as he smiled at Jimmy. "And then again if it hadn't been for Agent McGee's team back in D.C. we wouldn't have had a connection to WORM," as he looked at Tom and winked seeing the look on Mathias' face.

"I know a campaign has been underway to halt any mining of uranium in the Black Hills because of its effect on the Native American and wildlife populations, as well as the effects on the water table and local ranchers. Indigenous leaders and anti-nuclear activists began organising around this issue in the 1970s and there are still efforts underway to prevent mining on native lands," Chief Mathias continued, "So we are now also raising the issues here. We thank you for your assistance Agent McGee…Mr Palmer," as he nodded to the two. "But before you go, Ilia Li Takoda, meaning friend to all, would like to speak to you Jimmy," as he pointed to the tipi behind the Vipponah's shack.

"I thought it was their daughter's?" Jimmy questioned.

"It is, but she is also our Shaman, she has agreed to give you a personal audience," he replied. "Henry will accompany you to Ilia Li," as he turned to walk away closely followed by Walt.

Tim just stood looking at the hills around him, wondering what he should do, as he watched his surroundings Avonaco's grandmother came over and whisper in his ear, "Vȯsotȯtse hevénovevótse ma'heono, the hills are the homes of the sacred powers." She then hugged him, turned, and walked slowly back to her home.

Inside the tipi Ilia stood in full Native Indian dress, she was burning sweet scented herbs and the smoke gave a heady haze as it snaked its way to an opening at the top. As Jimmy's eyes became accustomed to the light, she stepped forward and offered him a wooden bowl

"Our Lake DusMino, is a medicine lake, if you drink the waters," Ilia Li said. "It has magical powers…it will help make babies," as she looked at Jimmy's surprised face.

"What Ilia is saying is, is that DusMino is one of several basins in the Durant area, which was formed by coal seam fires. After the coal deposits burned, the clinker and other sediments collapsed into the space vacated by the burned coal forming a natural basin. Wood tar can be found round the edges and this has medicinal purposes," Henry informed Jimmy. "This is then made into a liquid and becomes Terva Viina or tar wine, Ilia also infused herbs into it…it has been known to be quite hedonic," as Jimmy had visions of weird dancing. But he took the bowl and bowed slightly in acknowledgement watching as Ilia placed her hands together and also gave a small bow, before watching Jim drink.

"Wow, that was different, don't suppose you bottle it? Would go down a treat at a party," as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve, he saw both Ilia and Henry laugh.

"You ready to go now?" Henry asked, "We need you to get you back to the airport for your flights home."

Epilogue

Back in D.C. Tim was writing up his report while Jimmy was down in autopsy regaling Dr Mallard with his out of town experience, his development opportunity.

"You know Dr Mallard I found the whole experience somewhat overwhelming, as well as being part of the team. I mean… I know what Agent McGee and the others do but it was…well as if I was part of the overall picture rather than being just stuck here…not that I don't mind," as Jimmy began to dig himself deeper under the table. "I mean I did some field work," Jimmy stammered on.

"I know Mr Palmer, but I have one question to ask. It was something Agent Gibbs said about you going back to the hospital to help out again, but you see… I was in Abby's lab when you called in requesting information on the tyre tracks and I just happened to mention to Jethro," as Ducky began to smile, "You and the Ferg were actually out looking for vehicles were you not?" as he saw Jimmy begin to redden. "Good field work Jimmy."

Up in the bullpen, as Tim put the last of his report together, Tony appeared from the elevator.

"So the great wanderer returns" as he threw his rucksack on the floor, "Do tell. How was the great open prairie, lots of buffalo roaming the plains?" as he took his seat and smiled across at McGee. "And the Autopsy Gremlin, how did he fair, he wasn't scalped or tied to the totem pole or anything?"

"Tony, Durant turned out to be a nice town, not huge but it had its amenities. The Reservation was sad; it was if there was segregation, the residents corralled into a pen like farmyard animals. Makes you realise just what we have really, the freedom, but less of me," as he now looked at Tony and smiled, "How was your case?"

"Nothing much just a case of mistaken identity…he didn't know his fungi. Poisoned himself, but as Ducky said, a heart attack, just remind me never to have a mushroom omelette again."

The End

I hope you enjoyed Lori it was a delight to write. And of course I hope everyone else enjoyed too.
I would like to thank xobin for her assistance in being a beta and an advisor as this, as it was not a programme I was familiar with as they stopped showing in the UK after series 3.