DNA tests on the arm could prove paternity.

When news of the diamond surfaces, she races to Arizona in the slim hope that the diamonds might lead her to what’s left of her father’s arm. Joanna has always borne a grievance for the way her mother was treated and wants the link to her father confirmed. But the father’s very wealthy family refused to accept this evidence and refused to acknowledge either Joanna or her mother and the two were left to fend for themselves. Joanna’s mother had letters from her father documenting the relationship, rejoicing in the pregnancy, and confirming the marriage plans. The two were not yet married and the diamond was to be her mother’s wedding gift. Joanna’s father was also flying home with a special diamond to give her mother who was then pregnant with Joanna. But before they could retrieve it, it was swept away by the water and never found. Many years later, someone floating down the river reported seeing an arm sticking out of the water with a handcuff attached to it. Handcuffed to his wrist was a briefcase containing a fortune in valuable diamonds. Craig’s father, a diamond courier, was on one of the planes that crashed into the canyon in 1956. He also says that the old man had many other diamonds just like it.Įnter a woman named Joanna Craig. As a young boy, Billy suffered a head injury in a rodeo accident that left him somewhat mentally challenged, and he’s arrested and charged with stealing the diamond from a trading post.īilly claims that the diamond was given to him by a mysterious old man at the bottom of the It opens when a young Indian man named Billy Tuve attempts to pawn a diamond that’s worth $20,000 for $20.00.

These novels are set on the borderlands between New Mexico and Arizona, and this one takes place mostly in the area around the Grand Canyon. By this time, Leaphorn has retired, but pops in occasionally to assist Chee in his investigations, and in this book, he basically plays a small cameo role. This is the seventeenth novel in the series, featuring Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navajo tribal police force. In Skeleton Man, Tony Hillerman has created a novel based off the event and set nearly fifty years later. In 1956, two airliners crashed over the Grand Canyon, killing 172 people and leaving their remains scattered along the Canyon.

Skinwalkers tony hillerman sparknotes