Laura Constantine walked into the conference room in the Seattle FBI field office, smelling burnt coffee and the press of bodies in cheap suits filing into the room. Outside, October morning rain blanketed the sixth floor windows in sheets, distant car traffic hissing by below on soaked roads. She found a seat in the front row, in an uncomfortable chair with thin padding. Her SAC waited for the room to settle, walked to the front of the room, smoothed his conservative tie, and cleared his throat.

"Morning, everyone. At ten o-clock this morning, a group of bodies were found by a mushroom hunter in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. 911 dispatched the State Patrol, who called it in to us."

Williams picked up a remote from an old oak podium and turned off the overhead fluorescent lights. The screen at the front of the room lit up with the grizzly image of a campsite littered with bodies.

Two agents walked in late, ducking their heads as they walked under the projector. Williams smirked and glanced coolly over the top of his wire rimmed glasses. "Thank you for your punctuality, Norris and Spooner."

Norris saluted. "You got it, SAC Williams."

An agent in the front row put her hand in front of her mouth to stifle a laugh. Williams smoothed his thinning hair. "Well, you didn't miss the good parts. In total, we have three John Does and three Janes." He flipped to the next picture, a closeup of a woman with bound ankles and wrists. "Only one of the bodies, the seventh, has been identified so far."

He paused to consider the picture. The woman's blonde hair fell in damp streaks over her gray face. Her fleece jacket dripped with mud. "This is Lisbeth Hoffmann. German citizen, here on an expired tourist visa."

He flipped to Lisbeth's passport photo. She smiled back under a watermark, middle aged eyes crinkling. The same blonde hair lay neatly brushed on her shoulders. "We've found out so far that she was a professor of biology at Heidelberg University, North-Northwest of Stuttgart, Germany. Lisbeth's wrists and ankles were tied, but no other bodies were tied or immobilized."

Williams paused. "Questions so far?"

Laura raised her hand. "How was she identified? Why was she the only one ID'd?"

"Good question. All of the other bodies carried no identification. No credit cards, no driver's licenses. Lisbeth's passport was tucked into a pocket in her hiking backpack. We don't know if it was left there intentionally, or forgotten."

He flipped to another photo of the scene, this one showing a folding table littered with a camp stove, rain-soaked journals, a cutting board, and an empty frying pan. "Early observations from the State Patrol point to poisoning. Several of the bodies have visible vomiting or diarrhea present. We're unsure if the food prepared here played a part."

Norris sat forward, his red tie draping forward. "Do we know anything about the contents of the journals?"

Williams shook his head. "They're soaked in rain, and the State Patrol didn't look at them or photograph them. I'm hoping we can recover at least some of the contents."

Laura tilted her head. "Are there any vehicles?"

"None. Which is strange." Williams flipped to a hybrid satellite and map view of the site. "The site is here," he pointed at the pin for the crime scene. "In the middle of nowhere, really. Forest Road 1060, or close to it. We're actually lucky it's mushroom season, so they were discovered while they were pretty fresh. The closest town, Rockport, has a population of 100 souls on a good day. The next town over, Concrete, is a heavy hitter for our narcotics department. About as many meth labs as people."

Laura raised a hand. "If it's near a meth production hotspot, do we suspect drug involvement? Maybe a deal gone bad?"

Williams shrugged. "Too soon to say. But it seems too elaborate, unless they were sending a big message. The bad deals we've seen usually end up with a body dumped in the Skagit River, wrapped in barbed wire."

Williams continued. "The Mt Baker-Snoqualmie Forest is huge." He gestured in a circle around the room. "A lot of us are transplants from the rest of the country, but this thing touches six counties and nearly two million acres. We don't know if this is the only site, or how they got here. The roads are barely maintained, and they'll shake your teeth out on a good day."

Norris raised his hand again. "Are we liaising with the Forest Service? Could they provide maps and aerial surveillance?"

"'We' aren't yet, but I think you should. I've noticed you and Constantine have the most questions in the room. Which I'm taking as an offer to volunteer. I'm confident you'll find the answers to your questions if you look hard enough."

Williams set his clicker on the podium, and dismissed the group. The men buttoned their loosely cut suit jackets, large enough to fit over shoulder holsters. The agents filtered out of the room slowly, talking among themselves in a low buzz. Williams pointed to Laura and Agent Norris. "You two, stay behind for a minute. I'll give you the location and fill you in."

The last of the other agents left, and Williams shut the door. "State Patrol is still there securing the scene. You and Norris will run point on the investigation as partners. I tapped Diaz as the point on crime scene investigation. Meet up with her downstairs and she'll take a team out with you."

Laura nodded. "Has the State Patrol made contact with the Medical Examiner?"

"They did. The MCDI is leaving now. They have a head start on you all, they're heading out from Mount Vernon. His name is Frank Giffords. They call him the Deputy Coroner."

Norris inclined his head. "Ever worked with him before? Is he any good?"

Williams shrugged. "No idea. Give me a report when you're done."

Laura smiled. Williams had a way of getting his agents to do homework for him. It was one of the things that made him a great SAC; he put the trust in agents to find out for themselves. It could also be infuriating when you wanted a straight answer.

Williams turned toward the door then stopped himself. "Oh. One last thing. Be careful up there. Backup is an hour or two away."

Norris scoffed. "Thanks, boss. Real reassuring."

"The truth isn't always cozy, agent Norris."

The group broke apart. Laura walked out with Norris, and turned to him. "Check out a GSA van for us, I'll call the Forest Service and see if they can meet us there."

Norris nodded and walked to the fleet coordinator's desk. Laura stopped at her standing desk, and pulled up a map of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie Forest Ranger's stations. She found the phone number for the Mt. Baker station on Highway 20, picked up her desk phone, and dialed. The phone softly trilled.

A gruff man's voice answered, seemingly bothered by the intrusion. "Mt. Baker station."

"This is FBI special agent Laura Constantine. I'm looking for..." She squinted at the screen. "Franklin Wall, the District Ranger."

"You found him. Call me Billy."

"Okay, Billy."

"Why the call?"

"We're investigating a crime scene in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie Forest. It's road 1060, by Marblemount."

"Well, shit. What happened up there?"

"We have seven dead bodies, one tied up. All around a campsite. We suspect poisoning, and likely kidnapping for the tied body, who was a German citizen."

"Wow. Okay. What do you want me to do about it?"

"We'd like you to meet us there. We want to know the lay of the land... literally and figuratively. What is the area like, who uses it, and what they might have been doing there."

There was a long pause, then a long sigh. "Okay. I'll get moving soon, once I get another staffer to cover my desk."

"Thanks."

"You know, you're lucky they were found now."

"I know. It sounds like the area is pretty remote."

"Sure. But that's not what I mean."

"I'm sorry?"

He scoffed. "You see this rain outside?"

Laura turned toward the window, streaked with fat droplets of rain. "Of course."

He leaned out of his chair to look at his weather station readout. "It's 39 degrees here, cooler at altitude. It's been a cold October. When we drop below freezing, all of that turns to snow. One inch of rain becomes 13 inches of snow. Or worse yet, ice. We might only have a few days until highway 20 closes for the winter, and you're locked out."