Emma reflects that people always say things will be okay when everything is completely fucked. She has no confidence that Martino’s presence can unfuck this situation. She barely knows the man.

They get out of the elevator, walk to Raymond’s office, tap to enter.

Raymond is sitting at his stupid desk. His expression is glum and his face does seem a little more gray than usual, she’ll give him that.

“Thank you for coming in.” Raymond touches near items—his pen, a letter opener, a stapler—to straighten them. He doesn’t meet their eyes after the initial greeting. “This is a sad day. A terrible day. It’s unfortunate that you were involved in the circumstances around Special Agent Cooper’s death.”

It still feels surreal to hear those words connected in a sentence. Special Agent Cooper’s death. Emma tries to find balance.

“Ed Cooper was a fine man, and a fine agent,” Raymond goes on. “His family has been contacted, and they’re making the arrangements. The funeral will be held as soon as the body is released by the medical examiner.”

And now, with reeling intensity, it comes to her. Westfall and his crew are—maybe right this minute—collecting evidence from Cooper’s body, adding it to the file about the Butcher. Photos are being taken, like those stark pictures of disconnected body parts that Emma saw in Glenn Neilsen’s office. The idea blindsides her. She hopes Raymond can hurry this along before she succumbs to the urge to be sick.

After straightening his desk, Raymond now straightens his shoulders, steeples his fingers in front. “I am taking full operational control of the Berryville Butcher case. Agent Martino, I’ve spoken on the phone to Agent Carter about how this is to be handled. He’ll be briefing you shortly. If you have any queries, you can address them to Agent Carter or myself.”

“Yessir,” Martino says.

“Now. As to the matter of you young people…”

Here it comes, Emma thinks.

“I’ve determined that, at this time, the juvenile offender interview project that Agent Cooper initiated is to be closed down. It’s been two weeks since your arrival, and until the Butcher case can be successfully resolved, the interviews are simply added workload for the staff—”

“Excuse me, sir?” Bell steps forward, face haggard. “Lewis and I have been working independently on the interviews, so it’s not—”

“Mr. Bell, I’ll thank you to be quiet and listen. While the interviews have been… a very interesting and informative side project, they’re not priority one, and as such—”

“You got the lead on the Butcher case because of Simon Gutmunsson,” Emma says dully. “If we hadn’t interviewed Gutmunsson—”

“If you hadn’t interviewed Gutmunsson, Ed Cooper might still be alive right now,” Raymond snaps.

Emma feels like she’s been slapped across the face.

“I have a plan for Gutmunsson.” Raymond’s brows come together. “But I’m not going to pander to a teenage homicidal maniac.”

Martino perks up. “Sir? We can keep pursuing the connection between Gutmunsson and the Butcher, if you think that might be useful.”