“So both Ginger and the store owner are dead,” Mercy murmured. “After Ginger told us about DJ being the front man for Eden trading. And after her boss made a phone call as soon as we left the store. That’s not suspicious at all.”

Rafe’s nod was grim. “That’s the general consensus. Someone killed them so that they couldn’t describe—or identify—DJ Belmont.”

“Ephraim?” Farrah asked. “Did he do it?”

Rafe shrugged. “It’s possible. If so, he was really busy. He killed the couple for their camper at one twenty this morning. The bodies found in Corwin’s bedroom were found at six thirty this morning by his brother-in-law, who had finished his shift at the medical center in Alturas. He and his sister have co-owned the house since their parents died ten years ago. When she married Corwin, they moved out, but had to move back after Christmas when money got tight. He said that things were tense between Corwin and his sister because of money, but that he’d never heard them fighting and his sister had never told him that she suspected her husband of having an affair, so finding the murder-suicide scene was a shock. The brother claimed to have spoken to his sister at one A.M., when she called to tell him she’d gotten home from her job safely, like she did every night. His cell phone record backs that up. The brother’s been very cooperative with the local sheriff’s department.”

“How do you know time of death of the honeymoon couple so exactly?” Mercy asked, trying to think like the professional she’d always prided herself on being. But it was easier to be clearheaded when you hadn’t met the victim. When you hadn’t asked the questions that led to her death, and the deaths of so many others.

“The bride wore an Apple Watch,” Rafe said. “Her pulse was being constantly monitored and stored on her phone. It recorded the time that her heart rate went to zero.”

Mercy exhaled slowly. “So Ephraim would have had to kill Ginger, Corwin, and his wife after killing the couple at the campground, because at least Corwin’s wife was still alive when he was at the campground. How far is the campground from Snowbush?”

“Three hours.” Rafe nodded to Tom when he returned. “I told them everything.”

“I figured you would.” Tom started the engine, then turned in his seat to frown at them. “But that’s not information I was supposed to tell you.”

Meaning, he could lose his job if they told anyone else.

“Then why did you?” Farrah asked.

Tom backed the van out of Rafe’s driveway and headed down the street. The agent who’d been sitting out front when they’d emerged that morning was to follow them wherever they went. It had been Molina’s demand and Mercy had been grateful for it.

“Whatever Ephraim does impacts the people in this vehicle,” Tom said. “I consider you all as need-to-know. I would want to know, that’s for damn sure.”