Evening was casting long shadows over the dense jungle area of the crime scene as Jake pulled up in the Jeep. Sophie had told him she would take a rideshare back to the Banyan Tree Motel and pick up her rental to re-join him after her appointment with Dr. Wilson, so he decided to go back out to see if any further discoveries had been made, and just insert himself back into the investigation.

Detective Wong detached himself from a cluster of law enforcement personnel and met Jake near the Jeep. “We found two more bodies. Much more decomposed than your client. The chief has ordered a full survey of the ditch and the surrounding areas to find any further remains.”

“Aw, man. I hope that stream wasn’t feeding into some drinking water reservoir,” Jake said. “But it looks like we might be able to cross a few more names off the missing persons list Sophie has put together.”

“That’s if we can identify them.” Wong gestured toward a large plastic tub. “This one is so far gone it came apart when the ME tried to move it.”

Jake held his breath against the smell as he looked in. Bones gleamed amid a sludgy mass that seemed to be liquefying before Jake’s eyes. “Nasty. Definitely going to need to use dental records to check who it is.”

“That’s what we’re counting on.”

Freitan strode up. “Well, we seem to have hit a body dump motherlode. We’re going to search until we run out of light, and then pick it up again tomorrow. If you want to come to a team meeting to strategize, we are meeting back at the station in about an hour.”

“I know Sophie will want to be there too. What can I do to help?”

“Put up crime scene tape. We’re cordoning off the entire creek, and that goes on for quite a way along the road.”

Jake didn’t resent the lowly task, but he was glad he had put on his usual worn black ripstop combat pants and waterproof hiking boots as he tromped through the long grass and heavy bushes, unrolling a large spool of tape with another officer.

“I hope someone called the water department,” he remarked to the uniform working with him, a sturdy young man whose nametag read RAMIREZ. “This stream is heavily contaminated.”

“Even the governor of Hawaii has been alerted by our station chief,” Ramirez said. “The situation with missing persons on the Big Island has been declared a state of emergency.”

Interesting that Ramirez was the one to tell him such important news, not the detectives working the case with him. Jake wondered if it was just an oversight, or if Freitan and Wong were intentionally cutting him and Sophie out of the loop. That would be a mistake, with Sophie’s connections to the FBI and her access to the DAVID program’s sophisticated analytical capabilities.

“Has the local news gotten ahold of this yet?” Jake asked.

“Hope not. We don’t need this kind of publicity,” Ramirez said. “Spooks the tourists.”

“Maybe they need to be spooked.” A measure of greater caution might have saved Julie Weathersby’s life. Jake dreaded phoning the parents; but he needed to get it done before the meeting. “Hey, mind carrying on without me? Got an important phone call to make, and I need to get somewhere with a strong signal.”

The corner of the side road that turned off toward the crime scene and the main highway was the closest place Jake could pick up a good enough signal. He called Bix first to update him on the situation, which took a while. “Sophie and I will be going to a team meeting at the Hilo PD Station. The detectives working the case want me to get the parents over here without alerting them so they can be told the news formally and be interviewed. What’s your take?”

“Damn shame. Poor girl. That said, let’s do a conference call. I want to be sure we cover all our bases. In my experience, parents of murdered children are angry and looking for a scapegoat. I don’t want it to be us.”

“Don’t much see how that could apply when Julie was killed a week ago, and we did the family and Hilo PD a service by finding her body,” Jake said. “But all right. I’ll reach out and add them to this call.”

He punched in the Weathersbys and added them to the call. He was relieved when Julie’s father picked up; he’d dreaded speaking to Mrs. Weathersby, with her soft wet blue eyes that reminded him so much of his mom.

“Aloha, Mr. Weathersby. This is Jake Dunn from Security Solutions. There have been some new developments in your daughter’s case. I’m on the line with Kendall Bix, and we’ve been asked by the Hilo detectives to see if you and your wife can come to the Big Island and meet with them.”

“Not a problem, Dunn, because we are already in Hilo,” Weathersby said. Jake could picture the man’s ruddy face to match his hearty tone. “We are working with the FindUsNow PR folks to get the word out about Julie, and they recommended we come to the Big Island to share with the local news and such here.”

“Perhaps you might have let us know that, Mr. Weathersby,” Bix said testily.

“And regardless, please wait to hear from Detectives Wong and Freitan,” Jake interjected. “Don’t speak to any news reporters, please.”

“Why not? We are trying to alert the public so that if anyone has seen her they’d let us know . . .”

“Please, Mr. Weathersby. There are elements in play that you may not be aware of. We need your cooperation on this,” Bix said forcefully. “You are paying us for our advice as it pertains to your daughter’s case. Please take it.”

“Mallory from FindUsNow says differently,” Mr. Weathersby said. “He says the more of a stink we raise in the media, the more attention our daughter will get.”

“Can I get a number for Mallory at FindUsNow?” Bix asked. “I think we should all get on the same page.”

Weathersby provided the number and reluctantly agreed to cease his efforts to get the media involved.

Jake shook his head as Weathersby disconnected, leaving him on the line with Bix. “I hope you can get that PR firm to rein it in. This case is about to go nuts when all those bodies hit the news, and if the media gets its hands on it and a leak is traced to us in any way . . .”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Bix said. “Two steps ahead of you. Now get to that meeting with Hilo PD.”

“Roger that, boss.” Jake ended the call. He put the Jeep in gear, following Wong and Freitan’s taillights as they headed back to the station for the meeting.