Daniel exhaled all the foulness of the air he’d breathed in. Then he said very quietly, “Olivia Hamilton.”

CHAPTER 15

Henry Meloux and Prophet left before Sheriff Marsha Dross and the legion of agents from the FBI and BCA arrived at Paavola’s cabin. Because of his past, Prophet needed law enforcement to remain ignorant of his presence in Tamarack County, and Meloux had done nothing but gently guide Waaboo. So everyone had agreed not to mention their involvement. As the Crime Scene Team from BCA went carefully over everything, all the others who’d been there when Olivia Hamilton’s body was discovered had been moved away from the cabin, separated, and interviewed. While this was going on, the body of Olivia Hamilton was taken away.

Sheriff Marsha Dross stood back, observing, relegated for the moment to the level of simple bystander. Another woman stood with her, and she and Dross talked quietly until the interviews with Cork and Jenny and Waaboo had been completed. Then Dross and the woman approached them.

“This is Agent Danette Shirley,” Dross said in introduction. “She’s from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She’s with their Missing and Murdered Unit.”

Cork knew about BIA-MMU. Jurisdictional complications, poor interagency communication, and complaints about the lack of due diligence from local law enforcement when it came to investigation of missing Indigenous people had led to the creation of this relatively new unit of the bureau. Dross explained that as soon as it was clear that the body buried in the blueberry patch was Native, she’d made a call to MMU.

Agent Shirley was different from the BCA and FBI agents. Older, for one thing, maybe around fifty, Cork speculated. But she was also Native. She had long graying hair done in a single braid that hung down her back. She wore beaded earrings and on her wrist a silver bracelet set with turquoise. And she had a comforting smile when she looked upon Waaboo.

“I have five grandkids,” she told him. “One about your age. They call me Yaya.”

Waaboo grinned and pointed at Cork. “I used to call him Baa-baa.”

Cork could see that she’d immediately put his grandson at ease.

“I understand that you saw Olivia Hamilton. Is that right?” she asked gently.

“I didn’t see her. I just kind of felt things when I was in the cabin.”

“What exactly did you feel?”

Waaboo thought a moment. “Scared. Mad. Sad.”

“So you didn’t really see her or speak to her?”

Waaboo shook his head.

“But the woman buried in the blueberry patch, you saw her, is that right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And she talked to you?”

“Not like you and me are talking. I just sort of heard it in my head.”

“What did you hear?”

“That she was lost. She wanted to walk the Path of Souls.”

“The Path of Souls?”

“The way to the next world,” Cork clarified. “An Ojibwe belief.”

“Ah,” Agent Shirley said and nodded. “I’m Lakota. We say they ‘walk on.’ Did she mention Olivia Hamilton, Waaboo?”

“We just went over this with the other agents,” Jenny said. “It was clear what they thought of Waaboo and his visions. I’d like to take my son home.”

“As I said, I’m Lakota. Believe me, I understand about visions.” Agent Shirley smiled again at Waaboo in that grandmotherly way. “Just a few more questions. Okay?”

He nodded.

“Did you hear the woman in the blueberry patch mention Olivia Hamilton?”

“Unh-uh. Just that there was another lost spirit.”

“In the cabin?”

“She didn’t say.”

“So, how did you know where Olivia Hamilton was?”

“I didn’t. I just felt maji-manidoog here.”

“Maji—?”

“It’s an Ojibwe word,” Cork said. “Evil spirits. Devils. After Waaboo told us he sensed something evil, we went inside to check.”

She nodded, then smiled encouragingly at Waaboo. “What did you sense in the cabin?”

“Someone was lost in the dark. And someone else was really mad. And scared. And mean.”

“Another person?”

“It was kind of confusing. It was like a lot of noises everywhere.”

“Would you be willing to go back into the cabin and see if you sense anything more?”

“No,” Jenny said. “Absolutely not. There’s no way I’m going to let my son set foot in that place again.”

“I understand,” Agent Shirley said with what struck Cork as sincerity. “But it might help us know who put that poor girl down in that dark place.”

“You believe Waaboo, Agent Shirley?” Cork said.

“Please, call me Danette. And I’ve seen stranger things.”

“I’ll go,” Waaboo said.

Agent Shirley looked at Jenny. “All right?”

Jenny’s face was stone, but she said, “Not without me. And I’d like my husband there, too.”

“That’s fine,” Agent Shirley said.

“I’ll get him,” Cork said.