“Amen,” Finn said soberly. “Look, I’m going to get back to town so I can notify Megan’s parents.”

“Make sure you keep a deputy with you when you’re moving around,” Bishop warned him. “Even with clear evidence that the unsub is targeting the Five, we don’t know how he’s choosing his victims. And you’re very visible.”

“Megan wasn’t an elder, much less the head of her family,” Finn pointed out.

“And Simon Cavendish?” Bishop asked.

“An elder. And a likely successor for Nellie unless and until she has kids. I’m pretty sure he’s on her short list.”

Diana was curious, and willing enough to offer a distraction from horrors by following that tangent, but she didn’t have to be an empath to feel Finn’s restlessness, and knew he needed to be doing something. Even if that something was notifying next of kin.

Bishop was saying, “Better safe than sorry. You have to consider yourself a possible target, and act accordingly.”

Finn grimaced, but nodded. “Yeah, okay. Are you guys going to keep searching up here while your ME works?”

“One of us plus a deputy needs to stay with each victim until Jill’s able to get them down to town and to the hospital so she can do full autopsies. Miranda and I will do that. Reese and Hollis are already moving again, continuing to search the area you marked for them.”

“Diana and I will keep going,” Quentin said. “Search as much as we can while we have the light for it.” He frowned suddenly. “The crows.” He looked at Bishop.

Nodding, Bishop said to Finn, “When you’ve notified Megan’s parents, and assuming there’s still no sign of Simon, maybe you should ask Nellie to contact Tia. We need the crows helping us search specifically for Simon.”

“Copy that,” Finn said. He headed off, gathering with a slight gesture one of the two deputies standing several yards away. The remaining deputy stood her ground, but her expression clearly told anyone who wanted to know that she wasn’t going to go near the remains on the other side of the boulder without a direct order to do so.

“What about Hollis?” Diana asked Bishop. “You said she was the one who talked to the crow that led you to Megan’s remains.”

“I’ll get in touch and ask her to keep an eye out, to try to talk to any crow she sees.”

“Try?”

“So far, we’re only certain Hollis has been able to talk to Tia. It could be easier to communicate with Tia because she’s their leader, or one of them. She’s likely one of the older crows, with more experience of people. We don’t know enough to be sure of that yet.”

“One more thing we need to know,” Quentin said.

—

BY DUSK ON that overcast and very chilly Wednesday, they had transported the remains of Megan Hales and the unidentified male victim to Salem’s small but modern hospital, where Dr. Jill Easton had the assistance of both her usual partner, Sam Norris, and one very clearly spooked but nevertheless steady older doctor who had performed more autopsies than any of his colleagues in town.