DeMarco looked at Bishop. “Finn talked to her family?”

“He did, though they were so overwhelmed by the news of her death they couldn’t tell him much.”

“All due respect to Finn, we need to talk to them.”

Bishop nodded. “On the list for tomorrow. Miranda and I will talk to them.”

“And we’ll have Jill’s post by then,” Hollis said. “Maybe know more about what he did to the latest victim, to Megan, if there’s anything at all consistent. Maybe more puzzle pieces. But I don’t see that adding to the profile, not unless Jill finds something none of us is expecting. And we saw what was there.” She sighed. “Still not seeing much benefit to our heads-up. So why bother? Just the Universe messing with us?”

There were several rueful smiles at another common complaint, and it was Miranda who said, “Maybe how we got the heads-up is the important thing.”

“Because it was in the gray time?” Diana frowned.

“It does stick out, as Hollis said. You two have both been able to gain useful information in the gray time, but before it was always after we were already on a case. Right?”

“Yeah. So . . . why was it different this time?”

Still frowning, Diana looked at Hollis, noting that the other woman was also frowning. “Hollis?”

“What?” Hollis looked at her, saw her, then blinked. She became aware she was chewing on a thumbnail, forced herself to stop, and crossed her arms as she leaned back in her chair. “It’s your time or place a lot more than it is mine,” she pointed out.

“Yeah. So maybe you can think about it, about what we saw with . . . clearer eyes than I can.”

Hollis frowned back at her. “Something didn’t seem right to you. You thought it was strange. Unusual.”

“Well . . . thinking about it more since then, maybe.”

Bishop said, “Sure that isn’t a little self-doubt talking?”

Diana immediately shook her head. “Not at all sure. There are still plenty of blank places in my memory of most of my visits to the gray time in those early years. That’s why I think Hollis might have a better take. I’m certain when I’m there, confident of what I know or don’t know. I’m usually certain afterward that what I saw, what was told to me, was something I could trust, especially in the last few years.”

Quentin was watching her steadily. “But not this time? You were sure even right after that visit that something had been different. Because the supposed victims you were both shown were in color. Right?”

Diana nodded. “We both saw them in color. Which really, really stands out in the gray time.”

“Signposts,” Bishop said.

She nodded again. “So far, everything I’ve ever seen in color in the gray time was important.”

Quentin said, “Is that why you keep thinking about going back?”

“Maybe.” She looked at him for a long moment, then returned her gaze to Hollis. “You’ve been there a few times now. Is any of it bugging you? I mean other than those . . . victims . . . all in color?”