The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime

mr. e · Post by **mr. e** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:24 pm

every thing started with a phone call, as my cases always seem to do. it was about 3 in the evening, and i was in the process of shelving several copies of a new acquisition, The Origin of Tree Worship. my assistant John answered, and called me over to the counter. expecting it to be about the copy of the Malleus Maleficarum i had been working on adding to my research collection, i was rather surprised when it turned out to be Lieutenant Joe Begay, of the Navajo Tribal Police.
"Joe, its been a while. how are things up at window rock?"
"not good. i have another case i need your help on. is there any chance you could be up here by tomorrow?"
"i think so. i have people that can cover the store while i'm gone."
"even for a few days or more?"
"yeah, no problem. whats so important?"
"something like what happened last year. i'm afraid i really can't talk about over the phone. i'll fill you in when you arrive."
"ok Joe, i'll see you tomorrow. at the usual place, at noon?"
"yeah. see you then"

well, this had me a bit curious. so i headed upstairs to my apartment, and started searched some news sites. it took me a bit, but i found it. a strange murder. minimal details, but enough. body found dead in the desert, Tribal police and FBI involved in the case, believed to be an animal attack but may be murder, the usual. Joe wasn't kidding about it being like last year. i remember hoping it wasn't more skinwalkers.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:08 am

What's a skinwalker?

mr. e · Post by **mr. e** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:28 am

packing was easy, i keep my gear in several cases so i can just throw it into the jeep. some camping gear, a suitcase, forensics kit, camera's, various lights, even a shotgun and some special ammo i keep for emergencies. i may be a resreacher and detective, but you don't get into this life without learning to be prepared.
i called in some of my part timers to cover the store. not preferable, but i left a forewarding note and they had my cellphone number, so if anyone else came looking for my help i'd be informed.

the drive up was long and boring. i left early in the morning, well before dawn. it takes 6 hours to get up there, not counting stops for breakfast.

'the usual spot' was the Navajo Nation Inn, technically known as the 'Quality Inn Navajo Nation Capital'. ugly name. they should never have changed it. i had some time before Joe arrived, so took a table. it was already ten after 12, but Joe would be following the laid back 'Rez time', so i would have a bit.

Joe walked in around 20 after, right when i figured. with a subdued Ya te'eh Joe took his seat.
"ya te. so whats up?"
"something you'll want to see before we eat. i brought the file with me."

he pulled out a manilla envelope, and pulled out a photocopy of a police report and some photo's. i could see why he wanted to wait on food. the body was not pretty. it was in at least 3 peices, and the entrails were ripped out. turning to the police report, i found it was worse than it looked.

one jane doe, dead for at least 2 hours. was partially eaten. bite marks from a canine, abnormally large bite radius. found yesterday. scene was half way between Window Rock and Chinle, near Canyon De Chelly. one oddity. several human footprints could be found at the scene, but no canine prints.

"so what do you think?"
"i can see why you called me. it is like last year"
"do you think it is the same?"
"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. A Conan Doyle. good advice. it may be more skinwalkers, but i don't want to jump to conclusions. is it possible to see the scene?"

"sure. the body has been removed, but the rest of it is still there."
"good. can we go there after lunch?"
he nodded. Joe was a good man, and being a traditional navajo, he was more aware of the preternatural than most. which is why he called me in last year, and probably why he called me now. i'm white, so navajo taboo's don't effect me.

after we ordered, we spent some time just talking.
"so the FBI is involved?"
"saw the news, huh? yeah, some suit named johnson. has a rod up his rear. thinks it's a murderer using a trained attack dog."
"improbable, but possible."
"we'll see."

conversation pretty much stopped when the food arrived. we took our time. another hour wouldn't matter too much when the scene was a day old.

mr. e · Post by **mr. e** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:35 am

Kolya wrote:What's a skinwalker?

a witch of sorts. shape changers, able to take the form of any animal, fly, turn invisible. they spread wasting sickness, sometimes through dark rituals, other times by using blow guns to shoot pellets of human bone into people.
more like devils than witches to honest. lots of old stories of hogans being atcked, human-animal forms, ect.

they tend to be the 'boogy man' for navajo fears. they can be anyone, and whenever something goes wrong, or a person suddenly grows sick, skinwalkers tend to get blamed.

the only thing navajo fear more are chindi, spirits of the dead.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:09 am

So it is a North American creature? You speak of Native Americans.

Ron Caliburn · Post by **Ron Caliburn** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 9:42 am

I think skinwalker is a North American Native term for it . . . but it's a world wide phenemona - shape changing magicians and monsters.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:12 am

He listed some specifics, thought it might be something specific to Native American or even North America.

Ron Caliburn · Post by **Ron Caliburn** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:50 am

It's more a category than a creature.

Pretty much "Somehting that can cjhange its appearance to look human or monsterous"

mr. e · Post by **mr. e** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:09 pm

to the navajo it is specific though. the followers of the witchery way. there is some bleed over to the other types of witches, like the users of curse objects or the frenzy way. the type is common in most of the tribes of the region, and oddly enough the ancient Norse of scandinavia, the origins of the 'bear sarker'.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:08 pm

That sounds familiar. I hear smart people throwing stuff like that around the cooridors here. That is at times an short lived nickname of mine.

Sophoroto · Post by **Sophoroto** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:12 pm

So when you fight you take on the form of a bear, if my memory seves correct that is what the norse bear sarker did.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:14 pm

Just like it but different. It's more a constant thing with varying degrees of calm.

Sophoroto · Post by **Sophoroto** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:19 pm

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:30 pm

mr. e · Post by **mr. e** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:11 pm

actually a bear sarker was so named because they wore bear skin into combat. the myth is that when wearing the skin, they took on aspects of the bear, including it's great strength.

in the navajo tradition, a skinwalker usually is a coyote form, wearing the skin of a coyote to turn into one.

there are similarities and overlaps with various werecreature mythologies, but i can say from experience that skinwalkers can be all too human. somehow that makes it worse.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:32 pm

Well like I said....

Should we ever meet, you'll understand.

Kei Nakamura · Post by **Kei Nakamura** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:39 pm

I look forward to meeting you Mr. Davion. Did you by chance keep detailed notes and case files?

Depending on what I find in my research of you, i may have a large data base that you may like to have access to.

GhostSpider · Post by **GhostSpider** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:52 am

Uh, Kei, speaking of which, are you ever going to return those books I loaned you. I know you were going to make digital copies (something I myself have been working on). If you need more time with some of the books, then let me know. The ones you are finished with I will need back.

Kolya · Post by **Kolya** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:28 am

She's very good about returning stuff.

Sophoroto · Post by **Sophoroto** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:14 am

mr. e wrote:actually a bear sarker was so named because they wore bear skin into combat. the myth is that when wearing the skin, they took on aspects of the bear, including it's great strength.

in the navajo tradition, a skinwalker usually is a coyote form, wearing the skin of a coyote to turn into one.

there are similarities and overlaps with various werecreature mythologies, but i can say from experience that skinwalkers can be all too human. somehow that makes it worse.

So what some people call were creatures are actually skinwalkers? How can one tell the differnce between the two?

mr. e · Post by **mr. e** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 2:48 pm

you can't at first glance. you have to dig deeper, discover more about the case.

first, skinwalkers are a uniquely southwestern phenomenon. the type isn't found elsewhere. the 'bear sarker' has similarities, but its much more affiliated with European whitchcraft. so any shape changers without a connection to the american southwestern tribes are probably not skinwalkers.

second, behavior. a werecreature tends to hunt and consume victims. a skinwalker only kills to spread disharmony, or to obtain the bones to make corpse powder. they do not eat human flesh, usually.

this ties into motive. a werecreature hunts because it is hungry, or because it finds inflicting pain and terror fun. a skinwalker has an agenda. a plot of some kind. often vindictive. they use their powers to curse people who offend them or who discover their nature. some use the dark powers to 'help' the community, by killing enemies and those the skinwalker considers a threat.
a person becomes a skinwalker by committing disharmonious acts. like incest, or killing a close relative. they then gain powers that further cause disharmony. this is why even 'helpful' acts by a skinwalker are feared. their very existence disrupts the balance of the lives of the people.

the big problem of course is that skinwalkers are blamed for almost everything bad in traditional navajo thinking. if a person grows sick, a witch is blamed. a person goes mad, has an accident, ect. even today when germs, cancer, and mental problems are better known, the belief persists. so you have to sort out the wheat from the chaff, to find what is the result of supernatural forces, and what is more mundane explanations.

Sophoroto · Post by **Sophoroto** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 3:19 pm

Thank you Mr. E, I will have to see if I can find them in Mr. Greydawn's library. I hadn't heard of them before though I am sure Mr. Greydawn has.

Kei Nakamura · Post by **Kei Nakamura** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 2:27 am

They are there, you might want to try cross referencing "lycanthrop, navajo, brujo, shaman, and shapechanger" to narrow down the fields.

GhostSpider · Post by **GhostSpider** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 11:34 am

Bear Sarker?

That wouldn't happen to be another name for a Berserker, would it?

Sophoroto · Post by **Sophoroto** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 1:54 pm

Thank you Miss Nakamura I will.

Actually Mr. GhostSpider it is what the word " Berserker" was derived from.

GhostSpider · Post by **GhostSpider** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 5:12 pm

Well, that answers some questions.

Ron Caliburn · Post by **Ron Caliburn** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 9:33 am

mr. e wrote:you can't at first glance. you have to dig deeper, discover more about the case.

first, skinwalkers are a uniquely southwestern phenomenon. the type isn't found elsewhere. the 'bear sarker' has similarities, but its much more affiliated with European whitchcraft. so any shape changers without a connection to the american southwestern tribes are probably not skinwalkers.

second, behavior. a werecreature tends to hunt and consume victims. a skinwalker only kills to spread disharmony, or to obtain the bones to make corpse powder. they do not eat human flesh, usually.

this ties into motive. a werecreature hunts because it is hungry, or because it finds inflicting pain and terror fun. a skinwalker has an agenda. a plot of some kind. often vindictive. they use their powers to curse people who offend them or who discover their nature. some use the dark powers to 'help' the community, by killing enemies and those the skinwalker considers a threat.
a person becomes a skinwalker by committing disharmonious acts. like incest, or killing a close relative. they then gain powers that further cause disharmony. this is why even 'helpful' acts by a skinwalker are feared. their very existence disrupts the balance of the lives of the people.

the big problem of course is that skinwalkers are blamed for almost everything bad in traditional navajo thinking. if a person grows sick, a witch is blamed. a person goes mad, has an accident, ect. even today when germs, cancer, and mental problems are better known, the belief persists. so you have to sort out the wheat from the chaff, to find what is the result of supernatural forces, and what is more mundane explanations.

A sort of Native American boogeyman - which lends itself to being used as a catchall.

Kei Nakamura · Post by **Kei Nakamura** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 12:40 pm

Not exactly Mr. Caliburn, the native americans would treat both the physical ailment, and go after whatever spiritual ailment (from inside or outside forces) may have weakened the body in order to cause the ailment in the first place.

Not unlike the healers of my country before the arrival of western culture and medicine

Ron Caliburn · Post by **Ron Caliburn** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 7:21 pm

I mean catchall in the sense that a lot of different monsters end up under the same label.

Think of all the diverse monsters under the following labels

Ghost
Goblin
Vampire
Demon

makes it hard to figure out the detals on a specific critter some times.

mr. e · Post by **mr. e** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:11 pm

sorry about the delay, been away from the computer for a bit.

when we got to the scene of the incident, i followed my normal procedures. first, i close my eyes, take a deep breath and let it out, and tried to open myself to any psychic residue in the area. i have very little psychic potential, mostly leaning towards precognitive abilities. the dreams i get staying in haunted buildings are beyond description.

but here i didn't pick up more than a general sense of fear. probably from the victim. i set about collecting evidence. i usually carry a forensics kit just for that reason. first, rubber gloves to avoid spreading my fingerprints or DNA around. very important. i also pulled out my digital camera to make sure i got plenty of pics before i started crawling around.

i didn't find much. the FBI must have scoured the area clean. the body was already gone, taken to the coroners. the reports looked pretty accurate. no canine prints, barely any human prints. definately two different people, one set was much larger than the other, and barefoot to boot.

after checking the scene itself, i moved to search the surrounding area. i tracked the foot prints a littleways, but they vanished onto some rocks. on my way back along those prints i noticed some hair caught on a bush, sorta grey/brown. i grabbed a picture for a record first. then pulling a plastic baggie from a pocket and a set of tweezers from my belt, i carefully collected as much as i could.

when i got back to the cars, i asked Joe some questions about this location. the prints go off towards the canyon, and there is only rock between them and the canyon itself. that makes tracking pretty much impossible. i told him about the hair i found, and asked him to take it in for analysis.