Chilling Effect (27 page)

gest alternatives. But Lee’s crimes are very serious. I will propose his sentence and ask you to approve it or suggest alternatives. He

used the white man’s weapon against one of his own. He needs to

be removed from the community for our safety and security. Lee, I

recommend a sentence of fi ve years in federal prison—the facility to be determined by the Offi ce of Tribal Aff airs. It will be a facility that will recognize the Chinook culture and will work with you to restore your spirit, so that some day you may be ready to return to us.”

“I accept my sentence,” Lee said.

“Brothers and sisters, do you approve?”

A murmur of assent rose from the circle. No one opposed it.

Aroostine was beginning to feel altogether superfl uous.

“Mr. Lane and Ms. Higgins, do you both agree with the sentence?”

“Yes,” Gordon said.

Aroostine hesitated. Th e sentence was light and not in keeping

with the typical sentencing guidelines. But this was not a typical

proceeding. And Lee Buckmount was not a young man. “Yes.”

A wave of chatter spread throughout the circle.

Carole raised a hand. “We are not fi nished. Th ere are two addi-

tional crimes for which Lee does not take responsibility. However, they may be connected to the death of Isaac Palmer and the attack on Ruby Smith. Th e attorneys will explain. Aroostine, you may speak fi rst.”

216

CHILLING EFFECT

Aroostine cleared her throat and smoothed her skirt over her

hips, then clasped her hands in front of her.

“I’m an attorney with the Department of Justice. I came to

Oregon on a vacation with my husband.” She paused and pointed

at Joe, who waved to the circle. “My boss called and asked me to

stop by and visit Isaac because Isaac had information that showed

someone was embezzling a lot of money from your casino. When

I arrived at Isaac’s house, he was dead. But he had the foresight to make a copy of the documents that showed the embezzlement. He

hid the documents on a computer drive in his car.”

She stopped and dug out a copy of the fi les.

“I can pass them around if you like, but they show that each

week forty thousand dol ars was transferred from the casino’s coff ers to an account in the Cayman Islands. Th e entry had a code number

that didn’t match any of the categories the casino used for accounts payable—for example, employee salaries, payments to vendors,

insurance carriers, or utility suppliers. Isaac was able to trace the creation of that category code to Lee Buckmount’s employee ID.”

She waved the spreadsheets in the air and let her gaze travel

around the circle for a beat before she went on.

“Mr. Buckmount denies that he stole this money—which totals

nearly a million dollars. Over the course of the year, more than two million dollars would have gone missing. Money that should be

staying in
your

y
community

our

y

, funding programs.”

She waited until heads began to bob in silent agreement with

the injustice of the theft.

“But ask yourselves why would he kill Isaac if not to silence him

and perpetuate his crimes? And why else would he threaten Ruby,

demanding to know what Isaac told her?”

She looked around the circle again. Anger clouded some faces,

sadness others.

217

MELISSA F. MILLER

“Before Lee responds to the charge, I’d like his attorney to

address the documents,” Carole said.

Gordon nodded. “Ms. Higgins makes a serious accusation

against my client. And the documents are complicated fi nancial

spreadsheets that she found on a disk that Mr. Palmer used as a

keychain. Th e law requires that evidence, documents, used against

a person be found to be reliable. We can’t test the reliability of these spreadsheets. Th e only person who could explain them is, unfortunately, dead. So I ask the circle not to consider the spreadsheets.”

A man sitting to the left of Joe raised his hand. Th e judge gave

him the stone.

“Eli Nicholas,” he said, identifying himself mainly for Aroostine

and Gordon’s benefi t. “I don’t think it’s fair to say we can’t take these documents into account because Isaac isn’t here to explain them.

Th e reason he isn’t here is because Lee killed him. And he probably kil ed him for this very reason, so he couldn’t tel anyone about those documents.” Th e man stopped abruptly. His face darkened. “And if

it is the federal law that people who kill to prevent their bad deeds coming to light are rewarded, then I for one am glad we have the

Tribal Court and not such a backward, savage system.”

Aroostine found herself nodding along with Eli’s logic.

“I agree,” Carole said. “Th e documents tell the story that Lee

tried to silence. Lee, what do you want to say?”

“Nothing.”

“Lee does not accept responsibility. Does the circle wish to ques-

tion him?”

Eli, stil gripping the stone, asked, “Does the bank account in the Cayman Islands belong to you?”

Aroostine watched Buckmount’s eyes as he calculated his

options. He knew that within days, the Department of Justice would

receive a subpoena response that would prove he owned the account.

Finally, he nodded reluctantly. “Yes, it does.”

218

CHILLING EFFECT

“Well, that’s easy. He should return that money to the tribe,”

Eli said.

A chorus of agreement sounded.

Th e judge raised her hand. “Please, take the stone if you wish

to speak.”

One of the fi shermen raised his hand, and Eli passed him the

stone.

“Ethan Chessman. I’ve been on the waiting list for the com-

puter career training program for over a year. All that money could clear the backlog of people waiting for vocational training with

plenty left over.”

Carole said, “I agree. I reviewed the cultural board’s budget

with Matthew Cowslip. Th ose funds would fi ll many gaps in the

programs and support the expansion that the cultural board and the

Tribal Board have proposed. Does anyone
disagree

disagr
with r

ee

disagr

estitution?”

No one spoke. Finally, Lee raised his hand. Th e stone made its

way around the circle to him. He closed his fi st around it and said petulantly, “Th at’s my money. I’m entitled to it for all the work I’ve done. I created a viable casino. I provide jobs through my security company. I secured the testing facility contract. I’ve earned that

money.”

A few people hissed. Gordon shut his eyes for a moment as if

to block out his client’s behavior.

Aroostine refl ected that there was a reason most criminal defense

attorneys encouraged their clients to exercise their Fifth Amendment rights.

Carole shook her head. “Th e Court approves the circle’s sen-

tence of full restitution.”

Buckmount squeezed the stone but didn’t speak. Gordon spread

his hands and gave his client the old “told ya” look.

“Th at leaves just one more charge—the theft of US military

equipment,” the judge said.

219

MELISSA F. MILLER

Aroostine had earlier agreed with Ruby not to proceed regard-

ing the break-in at her home because there was no real evidence to

support it. Ruby assured her that, as long as Buckmount went to

prison for the murder and the kidnapping, she did not feel the need to prosecute the break-in. Now she was about to advance a charge

that had even less support than the break-in.

She looked around the circle again. “As you probably heard, I

found two unmanned aerial weapons, or drones, in a cave. Th ey had

been taken from the testing facility. Isaac Palmer believed that Mr.

Buckmount arranged for their theft.” She paused and took a deep

breath then exhaled slowly. “Sadly, he died before he was able to amass conclusive proof. But ask yourself, if not Lee Buckmount—who owns

the company providing security services to the testing facility and who has stolen over a million dollars—then who among you would

steal those drones? I don’t know you very well, but I’m fairly certain the answer is no one. Only Mr. Buckmount had the means, the funds,

and the motive to commit this serious federal crime.”

Buckmount was shaking his head furiously.

Gordon spoke. “I have advised Mr. Buckmount not to respond

to this charge. He’s accused of a national security off ense. Respect-fully, it is not this circle’s place to judge him for that.”

Privately, Aroostine thought Gordon’s assessment was dead on.

But, she wasn’t the judge.

Boom raised his hand, and the stone was rolled along the circle,

hand to hand, until it reached him.

“I have to disagree. Lee brought the contract to test military

drones to our people. Th ink about that—he brought the military

onto our reservation,
our

our
land. And for what? Greed. Simple, deadly

greed. And with the drones came danger. Danger to our lives, to our autonomy, to our peace. It is our place to judge him. And I do judge him for his avarice and the eff ect it’s had on our people, especially our young people.”

220

CHILLING EFFECT

Offi cer Hunt raised his hand and received the speaking piece.

“I disagree. I mean, I agree with the sentiment but we cannot

sentence people on such weak evidence. Imagine if it were you.”

Aroostine barely managed to stifl e her gasp. A police offi cer

with empathy for an admitted murderer. It was so unusual as to be

unheard of.

“Recommendation, please. Shall we vote?” Carole asked. “Does

the circle wish to impute guilt for the theft of the drones to Lee? If yes, raise your hand.”

Most of the hands—not all, but a solid majority—shot upward.

But several did not. Aroostine saw Offi cer Hunt, one of the fi shermen, Cathy, and Eli all sitting on their hands.

Th e judge made a sad little
ooh
sound. “Th

ooh

e circle wishes to

sentence Mr. Buckmount. However, the Court fi nds insuffi cient

evidence tying him to the drone thefts. He will not stand for this

charge.”

Aroostine groaned inwardly, disappointed but unsurprised. It

didn’t really matter in the end. Someone—the Defense Department,

most likely—would bring charges in federal court. Th e government

wouldn’t let the theft of military weapons go unpunished.

Carole raised her arms. “Th is circle is closed. We ask the Great

Spirit to mend our break and make our circle stronger. We ask the

Great Spirit to mend the break that exists inside Lee Buckmount

and make him whole again. Brothers and sisters, let’s break bread

together to strengthen our community.”

People stood and began to walk around.

“Th at’s it?” Aroostine asked Gordon.

“Appears so. It was a pleasure to meet you, Aroostine.”

“You as well. Aren’t you staying for the meal?”

Gordon’s eyes drooped. “No, I’m afraid not. Th ere’s a federal

marshal parked out front. I’ve arranged for him to escort us to

the federal prison in Salmon Run. Th ere’s a decent-sized Chinook

221

MELISSA F. MILLER

population there, and the prison will house him at least temporarily while he’s processed.”

“Escort us? You’re going, too?”

He smiled tiredly. “He’s my client. He needs me. Now, if you’ll

excuse me. I really do want to get him settled so I can get back

before . . . you know, it gets dark.”

Aroostine shook his hand. “I wish you the best, Gordon.”

“Th ank you. Th e same to you.”

He trudged over to Buckmount to collect his reluctant client.

Joe walked over and swooped her up in a hug.

“Well done!”

“I don’t know about that. I didn’t
do
much.”

“Buckmount’s going to prison. A million dollars is coming back

to the reservation. I think you did a fair amount, Roo.”

She smiled. Joe had never taken much interest in the outcomes

of her cases. But then he’d never been so personally involved, either.

Joe lifted his eyes from hers and looked over her shoulder. She

turned to see Boom standing nearby, just far enough to give them

their privacy.

“I’m sorry I didn’t have better evidence about the drones,

Boom. He must have been very careful,” she called to him.

Boom walked over, shaking his head. “Nonsense. Don’t apolo-

gize. You’ve done us a great service. Your grandfather would have

been proud.”

At the thought of her grandfather, seeing her here, among the

Chinook, helping them in her small way, her eyes fi lled with tears.

“Th ank you.”

“What are your plans now?”

“I think we’ll stay one more night at the cottage and then

return to our hotel for the last night of our trip. We have a return fl ight already booked for Sunday. I’m glad I never got around to

canceling it.”

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CHILLING EFFECT

Lily ran up to them. “Can we all sit together at the dinner? Please?”

“Yes, child,” Boom said.

“Sure thing,” Joe agreed.

Aroostine squatted so she was eye to eye with the girl. “I’d be

honored to sit near you. You were so brave, Lily, telling everyone

how you felt.”

Lily’s eyes were solemn, but a hint of pink pride bloomed on

her cheeks. “Th ank you. I really was so scared we wouldn’t get there in time to help my mom. Boom really, really does drive slowly. Like a tortoise.”

Boom and Joe roared with laughter. Aroostine smiled but a chill