“These hand and arm signals you mention, is this something police use?” Vince asked.
“Some of them, yes, especially when they’re sneaking up on a suspect in hiding. There’s a wide range of specialty signals that different organizations use. I like the Army Field Manual signals. I’ll teach you some critical ones. The thing we need to remember is that this will be a one-way communication. You can signal me, but I can’t signal you. And you won’t know if I’m receiving your signal.”
Vince thought about it. “So if I want to communicate something, I need to use a signal in a way that the men won’t realize what I’m doing.”
“Yeah, that’s critical.”
Vince nodded. “Got it.”
I said, “I’m going to find a place in the forest where I’ll be largely hidden but have a view of the mountain summit. So remember that you have to be visible to me when you make any signal.”
“How will I know when I’m visible?”
“The key will be to stand in a place where you can see Lake Tahoe stretched out to the north. If your view is unobstructed, then I’ll be able to see you. And I’ll be in place by the time you get to the summit. Try to keep moving when you are not going to make a signal. Then, when you have something to communicate, put one hand on your hip and then hold still for a few moments first. That will be my clue that a signal is coming. I know a photographer who has a spotting scope that I might be able to borrow. But looking through a scope can be very fatiguing. I’ll have to look away now and then to keep my eyes from glazing over. So it’s easy to imagine you giving a signal at a moment when I’m not looking through the scope. But if I see you standing with your hand on your hip and holding motionless for a bit, I’ll know a signal is coming, and I’ll keep watching until you give it.”
“What if you’re not the only person watching me? They could have one of their own watching me from a distance. Like the drone operator he mentioned. She would see my signals, too, right?”
“That’s a risk we have to take. Because I’ll know by the hand on the hip that your signal is coming, I’ll be able to recognize it quickly, so you won’t have to hold it long. Also, if a person isn’t familiar with hand and arm signals, and if the signal isn’t given with dramatic flourish, they probably wouldn’t recognize that it is a signal at all.”
“Got it. Okay, what signals should I know?”
“The fewer signals we use, the less likely we are to make a mistake, and the more likely you are to remember them. So I’ll teach you just a few important ones.”
Vince nodded. Brie looked skeptical. Street looked worried as if I were putting too much focus on something that wouldn’t be useful.
“First of all,” I said, “even though I’ll be looking through a telescope, you and the other men will still just look like tiny figures up on the mountain. It would be helpful to know who’s in charge. To point out that person, we use the ‘leader’ signal. With your right arm hanging at your side, put three fingers of your left hand across the bicep of your right arm.”
Vince did as I said.
“Now, keeping your right elbow at your side, flex your elbow and swing your lower right arm up and out so that your right hand is pointing toward the leader. You don’t even need to look at him. I won’t be able to make out how many fingers you have on your bicep. But I’ll see the arm point, and that will be enough.”
Vince went through the motions twice.
“Good,” I said. “The next signal to learn is one most people already know. To communicate money, we generally put our thumb to our fingertips and rub them back and forth. Like this.” I held my hand up and demonstrated. Vince and Brie both nodded awareness.
“The problem is that if you hold your hand in front of your body, I won’t be able to make out the movement. So you hold your hand up and out to your side. Like this. If from my point of view, your hand is silhouetted by the sky, I can probably make out your movement. If I can’t see your thumb and fingers moving, I’ll still be able to figure it out.”
“Why would I need to communicate money?” Vince said.
“Maybe you won’t. But when you consider why someone would go to such lengths to rappel down ice in weather that would keep anyone else off the mountain, money becomes a possible motivator. Maybe there’s a bag of money up there in the cliffs.”
“How would money get up on the mountain? Fall out of an airplane?”
“Maybe. I was once involved in a murder case where the killer was after some gold coins, eighteen-seventy Double Eagles that had been buried in an avalanche not far from Job’s Sister. So anything’s possible.”
“What if it is treasure but not actual money?”
“Same thing. The money signal will communicate that these men are after lost treasure, so to speak, regardless of its form. And it explains better than almost any other concept why they are going in such inclement weather. They don’t want to provide any hint of their activity to others who might also be looking for the money.”
Vince said, “Anything else?”
“There is the remote possibility they want to rescue someone who’s trapped up there.”
“Why wouldn’t they just request a search and rescue? Oh, maybe that person has committed a crime and doesn’t want anyone else to know that he’s up there?”
“Right,” I said. “Or maybe there’s a wounded person who was the victim of a crime, and they want to go up to finish him off.”
I saw Brie wince.
“A good way to indicate there’s a live person in trouble is with the hostage signal,” I said.
“How do I do that?”
“Reach your hand up and grip your throat. That signifies a victim under serious threat. I’ll understand.”
I continued, “Another reason they might want such privacy is to cover up a crime or retrieve a weapon used in a crime.”
Vince thought about it. “Like if one of them was up on Job’s Sister and shot and killed someone, but then dropped his gun. So now he wants to retrieve it so he can’t be linked to the crime.”
“Exactly.”
“Which would imply…” Vince paused, thinking it through. “It might imply that we could be coming across a body.”
“Right. In addition to retrieving a murder weapon, they may want to hide the body.”
“So what signal would I use for a weapon or a crime?” Vince asked.
“These various things, covering up a crime, retrieving a weapon, finding a body, these are all connected to danger. And there is a signal for danger. For that, you raise your arm up and out, palm down, and draw the edge of your hand across your throat.” I demonstrated.
“Like cutting your throat,” he said.
“Yeah.”
Vince frowned. “I could tell you all of this stuff later, after I get down off the mountain.”
“True.”
“Unless of course, I don’t make it off the mountain. If I’ve already signalled information to you, you have it whether I die or not.”
“That’s true as well.”
“And if you have the information, it might help you find and save my boy.”
“Vince, don’t,” Brie said. “This is creepy enough without you talking about dying on the mountain.”
“I’m just facing reality,” he said.
“Anyway,” I said. “I will try to find Jon regardless of what happens.”
Vince was quiet, maybe pondering the likelihood of dying when hiking a mountain in a windstorm. No doubt, it was significant.
“It’s time to leave,” I said.
Vince nodded, looked at Brie, and she nodded, too. We all walked down the stairs to the drive.
I spoke quietly just in case anyone was listening. “Your job is to show up at your meeting,” I said as we stood next to Vince’s old pickup. “I’ll be out there in the mountains, watching. Do whatever it takes to make them happy, and give me the appropriate signals. We’ll reconnect when you get back home.”
Street and the dogs and I walked to where we’d left the Jeep near the beer festival and drove away. We got to the opposite side of the lake an hour and a half later.
I dropped off Street and Blondie.
I called an acquaintance of mine, Ryan Picard, an ornithologist in Zephyr Heights who spent most of his time photographing birds.
“Owen McKenna, here,” I said.
“Hey, McKenna, long time. Did you start that life list we talked about?”
“No. A good idea, and I keep thinking about that Painted Bunting you showed me. But I’m not that organized. I’m calling for equipment info.”
“Bird stuff?”
“No, it’s not. Some men are climbing a mountain. I want to observe them from a distance of one or two miles. I don’t need photos. I’m wondering if you have a spotting scope I could borrow.”
“At that distance you’re going to need a spotting scope with a very long lens.”
“Is that something I could borrow from you?”
“Yeah. When do you need it?”
“Tonight, if possible.”
Picard was slow to respond. Probably reimagining his evening to consider having me drop by and take up a bunch of time. “You’re not trying to do this in the dark,” he said.
“No. Tomorrow morning. Early.”
“When would you be here?”
“I’m home. Maybe fifteen minutes?”
“See you then,” he said and hung up.