The colonel wasn’t having any of this. “It isn’t my fault if none of you layabouts has learned to handle a weapon.”

“I know how to handle a weapon.” Reverend Lincoln’s voice remained calm. “But I’ve seen enough violence in my life—and in the past few days—without adding more needlessly.”

Hesitantly, the professor raised his hand. “I think I’m willing to give it a try. After all, it isn’t like things can get much worse.”

Having run out of coherent gestures, Hanna was reduced to making vaguely ragey noises. “Yes. Yes, they can. For example, just off the top of my head, we could start shooting at each other.”

Ruby held out her hand. “Just give me a gun. There’s no point arguing—we’ve decided.”

Although he seemed a little peeved to have had his drillmaster moment interrupted, the colonel knew an opportunity when he saw it and started handing out weapons. In the end, everybody in the hotel was armed save Hanna, Liza, and Reverend Lincoln.

Lacking anything pressing to do in the hotel, and morbidly curious as to how this was going to shake down, Liza and Hanna trooped down to the range with the rest of the guests—apart from Reverend Lincoln—and much of the staff.

Now that the firearm genie was out of the securely locked bottle, there seemed little point in interrupting the colonel, who did, at least, seem intent on giving the assembled suspects-slash-potential-victims at least some instruction in gun safety.

“Not going to beat around the bush,” he told them as they lined up in a snow-covered field facing a large, equally snow-covered sandbank. “Guns are dangerous. Only a fool says they aren’t. But we’re all adults, and we can handle dangerous things. Just remember four simple rules and you’ll be fine.”

Privately, Liza doubted that. Or rather, she suspected that following four simple rules when you thought a serial killer was coming to serial kill you was easier said than done.

“Rule one,” the colonel continued. “Always treat a gun as if it is loaded, even if you’re sure it is not. Rule two, never point a gun at anything you don’t want to shoot. Rule three, keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire. Rule four, be sure what you’re shooting at, and what’s behind it.”

That seemed simple enough, and despite Hanna’s strident opposition to packing heat, there was a tiny, treacherous part of Liza that did make her wonder if being armed might not be a comfort.

“Normally,” the colonel continued, “I’d say you should use ear protection in training, but we have a killer on the loose, and any one of you may have to defend yourselves with lethal force at any time. So you need to get used to the noise.”