“Mr. Weiss’s death has not been announced publicly yet.”

“Oh,” said Nell Hoagland. “Oh.”

Leah went on. “That leaves six who haven’t been found.” She opened her file and took out a stack of photographs. “You can pass these around. They’re labeled on the backs. They are Timothy McKinney, Joseph Lambert, James Holliman, Edison Leonard, Lonny Mann, and Lee Wolf. One of the reasons I came back to Weldonville at this point was to see what else the FBI and other agencies might have learned, what they’ve tried, where they’ve looked, who they’ve talked to, and so on. It’s a lot less convenient to try to keep up with these things from the road. But they may find a connection between any of these men and the living criminals who haven’t turned up yet.”

“We’re glad to see you home,” said Linda Harris. “Even if it’s for research.”

“Thank you,” said Leah. “And I should mention that I’ve been learning a lot while I’ve been away. I’ll have some recommendations when I’m back for good.”

Nell Hoagland said, “I would like to add that so far you’ve been quite easy on the budget.”

“The kind of work I’ve been doing is mostly traveling from one jurisdiction to another, and then doing a lot of looking and listening. It doesn’t usually cost much.”

Phil Haymes changed the subject. “This could be our last report until your training and study project is complete. Isn’t that right?”

Leah looked around. “You’re all more experienced at government than I am, but isn’t that the way it works? The more reports, the worse things are going and the longer they’ll take.”

Mayor Donaldson chuckled. “Ain’t that the truth.”

Haymes said, “No argument there. But what I meant was, if anybody has questions for the lieutenant, this would be a great time for them. Once this meeting is over, it would not be appropriate to approach Lieutenant Hawkins independently to ask for reports. When she’s finished, there will probably be a report with her suggestions.”

David Hall, who seldom spoke but usually communicated his opinions during meetings with nods and frowns and sighs, said, “Good enough.”

Mayor Donaldson said, “And of course if there’s anything any of us can do, we’ll do it. As we told you at our last meeting with you, I’m staying in office and in the city at least until you’re done, and so are several other people, including Mr. Haymes.”