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After the first bite, Brian reached into his pocket and handed her a flat, whitish stone.
    â€œWhat does this mean? Are we going steady?” she asked.
    He cracked up. Roni had to smile. One of the things that made Brian tolerable was that he thought she was funny.
    Roni took a closer look at the stone. “Is this like an Indian thing?” she asked.
    â€œVery good, Watson.”
    â€œYou’re Watson; I’m Holmes. Where’d you get it?”
    â€œDr. Dart gave it to me. I just figured he was totally out of it, but last night I looked it up. It’s a really old Native American artifact. I mean really old, like four thousand years. It’s called a turkey tail because of the way it’s shaped.”
    Roni held the stone in her hand and touched the sharp, scalloped edge. “What did they use it for?”
    â€œNobody knows for sure. It looks like a spear point, but it’s too thin and delicate. The book I read said they were used during ceremonies or as grave furniture.”
    â€œGrave furniture?”
    â€œYeah, like to bury people with. So they can hunt buffalo or whatever in the afterlife.”
    â€œCool.”
    â€œOnly a few have ever been found in Minnesota. I think it’s really rare.”
    Roni set the artifact carefully on the table. “So the cave might be some sort of tomb? This could be really important! Remember what Eric Bloodwater was telling us on the bus?”
    â€œYou mean about his dad owning that land?”
    â€œIt’s true,” Roni said. “My mom filled me in. His dad owns the development company that’s going to put up all those ugly condos. Dr. Dart was trying to stop the sale, but he couldn’t find any proof that the bluff was an important archaeological site.”
    â€œAnd when he finally found something, he got bonked on the head.”
    â€œDo you really think he was attacked?”
    â€œSure.” Brian laughed. “By a ghost.”
    Roni looked down at the turkey tail. The pale, translucent stone glowed in the evening sun. “This might be just what he needed.”
    â€œThat, and the skeleton. What do you think we should do? Go to the college? The newspaper?”
    â€œHow about your mom? She’s a cop.”
    â€œShe said the police would be talking to Dr. Dart tomorrow, when he got better.”
    Roni grinned. “Why wait?” she said.

14
    family dinner
    Eric Bloodwater’s mother insisted that Eric and the twins, Sam and Owen, sit down and eat dinner together with her every night. They usually ate on the late side because that was the only way his father could ever join them. Tonight they were having her lasagna, very cheesy and rich, one of Eric’s favorite meals.
    Often, Mr. Bloodwater didn’t even bother to eat with them, even when they had waited for him to get home. He would just pile his plate high and wander off to his upstairs office to make more phone calls. Fred Bloodwater liked to think of himself as a mover and a shaker. He was definitely a mover, Eric thought. They’d moved six times in the past five years.
    Eric hoped they would be able to stay put for a while. He liked Bloodwater. Not too small, not too big. A couple of movie theaters, a skateboard park, a good bakery and a decent-size mall. If his father’s new development succeeded, he might even be able to finish high school here. Just one more year.
    His mom asked him how his class had gone.
    â€œNot bad,” he said. “We went for a walk along the Bloodwater River. Kinda boring. But then this really weird thing happened . . .”
    Just then his dad walked in and said hi to everyone, giving his wife a kiss on the forehead and mussing the twins’ hair. Eric guessed he was too old for his dad to muss his hair anymore.
    He smiled inside, thinking about how he was about to blow his dad’s mind.
    Mr. Bloodwater sat down at the table and said, “Mmm. Lasagna. My favorite.” He