“Planning to come yourself?” Finn asked. “Being here in January for the cleanup was one thing, but an active investigation? Not that I’m complaining. Just wondering.”

“That depends on how workable it would be,” Bishop answered. “Six or more strangers in Salem will be noticed, plenty of questions asked, and we have no cover stories prepared, so we’d have to be official, with a reason to be there other than to investigate crimes that haven’t as yet happened. If we’re officially there for that reason, it warns the potential murderer, which could alter his plans for good or bad, so a big risk. He could escalate—or he could go to ground and try to wait us out before doing anything at all. And our being official in any way also alerts your people that something is going on, so even more questions will be asked.”

“Got a good story to cover that?” Hollis asked wryly. “I’m Hollis, Mr. Deverell.”

“Finn. And I do,” Finn answered promptly, surprising her. “Since the militia has disbanded, those who were not a part of the insanity back in January and were and are coolheaded and responsible have become deputies. The one thing we lack as a police force, though, is something more than merely adequate formal training. The county sheriff resigned before he could be fired, and his temporary replacement is mostly busy putting out political and media fires.”

“Which helps keep at least some media attention at the county capital and away from Salem,” Bishop noted.

“One plus,” Finn agreed. “I’ve gone on record as saying we need solid training in order to prevent anything like that from happening again, and the other families as well as the rest of the townsfolk here have been supportive of the idea. I know the FBI has a Field Police Training Program, sending specialized agent/instructors to work with law enforcement in their cities and towns. Those instructors cover not only investigative skills but also managerial, administrative, and technical skills. I would think sending six or more agents for the job here wouldn’t be considered excessive—at least not to the people of Salem.” He paused. “What do you think?”

“I better not be stuck filing,” Hollis said.

Finn chuckled, surprising her again. “After what happened in January, I . . . commandeered a vacant building and extra lot one street back from Main, and it’s become both our new official headquarters and a potential training facility. We’ve been settling in there. Still a bit chaotic, with new equipment and such still coming in, but my people have a handle on it. Though any software or hardware the FBI has designed to assist local law enforcement in maintaining good records and making use of federal databases would be more than welcome.”

“You’ve got it,” Bishop said. “I can send in a couple of strictly technical people to assist in getting that part of it set up. My active field agents are already accredited as police instructors, so—”

“We are?” Hollis’s voice was startled.