“So, to put it bluntly,” Candace said, turning away from the window. “We’ve got a bunch of cavemen out there like back in prehistoric time.”

“Something like that,” Kevin said. As he’d expected the women were aghast. Strangely, he actually felt a little better now that he’d voiced his anxieties.

“What are we going to do?” Candace demanded. “I’m certainly not going to be involved with sacrificing any more until this is resolved one way or the other. I was having a hard enough time dealing with the situation when I thought the victim was an ape.”

“Wait a sec,” Melanie said. She spread her hands with fingers apart. Her eyes were blazing anew. “Maybe we’re jumping to conclusions here. There’s no proof of all this. Everything we’ve been talking about is circumstantial at best.”

“True, but there’s more,” Kevin said. He turned back to the computer and instructed it to display the locations of all the bonobos on the island simultaneously. Within seconds, two red splotches began pulsating. One was in the location where Melanie’s double had been. The other was north of the lake. Kevin looked up at Melanie. “What does this data suggest to you?”

“It suggests there are two groups,” she said. “Do you think it is permanent?”

“It was the same earlier,” Kevin said. “I think it is a real phenomenon. Even Bertram mentioned it. That’s not typical of bonobos. They get along in larger social groups than chimps, plus these are all relatively young animals. They should all be in one group.”

Melanie nodded. Over the previous five years she’d learned a lot about bonobo behavior.

“And there is something else more upsetting,” Kevin said. “Bertram told me one of the bonobos killed one of the pygmies on the retrieval of Winchester’s double. It wasn’t an accident. The bonobo aggressively threw a rock. That kind of aggression is more associated with human behavior than with bonobos.”

“I’d have to agree,” Melanie said. “But it’s still circumstantial. All of it.”

“Circumstantial or not,” Candace said, “I’m not going to have it on my conscience.”

“I feel the same way,” Melanie said. “I’ve spent today getting two new female bonobos started on the egg-collection protocol. I’m not going to proceed until we find out if this wild idea about these possible protohumans is valid or not.”

“That’s not going to be easy,” Kevin said. “To prove it, somebody has to go to the island. The trouble is there are only two people who can authorize a visit: Bertram Edwards or Siegfried Spallek. I already tried to talk with Bertram, and even though I brought up the issue about the smoke, he made it very clear that no one was allowed near the island except for a pygmy who brings supplementary food.”

“Did you tell him what you are worried about?” Melanie asked.

“Not in so many words,” Kevin said. “But he knew. I’m sure of it. He wasn’t interested. The problem is that he and Siegfried have been included in the project bonuses. Consequently, they are going to make damn sure nothing threatens it. I’m afraid they’re venal enough not to care what’s on the island. And on top of their venality we have to weigh in Siegfried’s sociopathy.”