Black Sun Descending by Stephen Legault

reclamation pit or why I dreamt of her.”
    â€œYou say that you didn’t know her, but your wife did. What did they work on together?”
    â€œThe only time I remember Jane and Penny together was for a meeting at our home here in Flag about Wilderness along the river corridor in Grand Canyon National Park. There were a few other folks in the room, people that Penny must have known and volunteered with, and there was the superintendent of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.”
    â€œChas Hinkley.”
    â€œYes, you know him?”
    â€œOnly in so much as his name appears in Ms. Vaughn’s computer a number of times.”
    â€œDid he write her threatening emails?”
    â€œNo. Nothing like that. But she wrote him a great number of times.”
    â€œWhat did she say?”
    Nielsen straightened up. “Dr. Pearson, let us ask the questions.”
    Silas looked at him. “No, Special Agent, I won’t let you ask the questions. We’re having a conversation. If this is an interrogation, then I’m leaving.”
    Nielsen nodded his head. Ortiz smiled warmly. “Ms. Vaughn seemed to be petitioning Mr. Hinkley for support for her proposal for legislated Wilderness in the Grand Canyon. In her last email she indicated that she was willing to concede that there would be no such designation in Glen Canyon—the part below the dam—but that what she called ‘capital-W’ wilderness was necessary to ensure the protection of the Grand Canyon.”
    â€œDid Hinkley respond?”
    â€œNot that we can see.”
    â€œIs he a suspect?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œDon’t you think that the two of them had a particularly acrimonious relationship?”
    â€œI wouldn’t describe them as friends, but no, there was nothing there to indicate motive.”
    â€œDid you review her paper files?”
    â€œYes.”
    Silas rubbed his face. “You don’t think that the notes found there were more than casual banter?”
    Ortiz smiled again. “Dr. Pearson, what else can you tell us about Ms. Vaughn that we might not already know?”
    Silas remained silent. He weighed his conversation with Dallas Vaughn in his head, and considered the threats against her by Slim Jim Zahn. If they weren’t taking the Hinkley threats seriously, what would they think about these hunches that he was developing? Finally he said, “Nothing. I can’t think of anything more to tell you.”
    Ortiz pulled a heavy file from his briefcase on the floor and put it down on the table. He tapped his pencil on it a moment before opening it. Silas could see that there were neatly organized stacks of paper in it. The whole thing was an inch and a half thick. Ortiz sifted through them. Nielsen smiled at Silas.
    â€œDid you know that Ms. Vaughn had made comments in the past that she wanted to blow up Glen Canyon Dam?” Silas looked from one agent to the other. “Yes, that’s right. She had said so publicly. Eight years ago. And again just five years ago. She said that the best thing we could do for the Colorado River was blow up Glen Canyon Dam and let the river run free through Glen Canyon and the Grand Canyon.”
    Silas looked at the file. He pointed to it and said, “Is that an FBI file?”
    Nielsen was still smiling. “The National Security Agency keeps an eye on people who publicly threaten to blow up government property, Dr. Pearson.”
    â€œHalf the environmental activists in the Southwest have mused about blowing that thing up. It doesn’t make them a national security threat.”
    Ortiz shrugged his shoulders. “You teach English, Dr. Pearson. Words have meaning. You know this. Ms. Vaughn threatened terrorism, and the government had to keep an eye on her.”
    â€œWere you keeping an eye on her when she went missing?”
    â€œNo. Obviously we weren’t following her every move.”
    â€œWhat about when she was