Corrie again shook her head. “I’m guessing this is about more than money.”

That seemed true enough, Nora thought.

“It seems somebody, or some organization, has been scouring the world for Parkin family remains, digging up graves, and even kidnapping, perhaps murdering, a living Parkin. Clive killed two people for that skull. Fugit killed one and was ready to kill again.” Corrie closed her eyes, then after a moment opened them again. “After crossing everything else off the list, all I can think of is that it’s some sort of genetic thing Parkin and his descendants have. Something desirable.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. But if you forget any truly freaky theories, like a nut with a penchant for Parkin skulls, what else is left?”

“Nothing,” Nora admitted. “But with genetics, you’re casting a net that’s almost ridiculously broad. A genetic mutation that could, theoretically, confer a resistance to cancer? Or promote longer life? I mean, of course, something like that would be worth millions—even billions.” She looked at the blue plastic box, sitting to one side, that contained the skull. “Did you see a connection such as those among the Parkin descendants you investigated? Remarkable intellect, long life, resistance to disease?”

“No. But I never got that specific.” Corrie looked up at Nora. “What about Albert Parkin himself? Anything odd about his life?”

“We don’t know much. He abandoned his wife and kids in Missouri to go to California. As you know, he was struck by an arrow in an Indian attack in Utah, which cracked his collarbone and helped us identify him. He died of starvation in late February of 1847, and he was the first person cannibalized. Except, of course, for Samantha Carville, whose leg was partially eaten.”

Corrie winced. “So that’s all we know about Parkin?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“And he was cannibalized how, exactly?”

“His skull was roasted upside down in the fire and the cooked brains scooped out, the rest of him presumably chopped up, butchered, and cooked.”

The wind buffeted the tent.

“And the rest in the Lost Camp? What happened to them?”

“They continued to starve, went mad, died, and were eaten. Like Parkin—he just happened to be first. Except for two people: one made his way to the Donner’s camp on Alder Creek, and another was found by a rescuer, but died later raving mad.”

“They all went crazy?”

“It’s not unusual: extreme starvation usually triggers a mental breakdown before the end.”

“In what ways did they go nuts?”

“The man who escaped the Lost Camp, Boardman, said his wife had tried to kill and eat him. He said they were fighting with each other, hallucinating, that sort of thing.”

“What happened to Boardman?” Corrie asked.

“He died of starvation in the Donner camp.”

“Did Boardman eat Parkin?”

Nora thought. “He claimed to Tamzene Donner that he didn’t ‘indulge’ in cannibalism. He was a preacher and said it was a mortal sin. Or so she said in her diary.”

“So we have essentially a secondhand account of what Boardman told Tamzene, who then wrote it down.”

“Right. Although Mrs. Horne’s journal mentioned Boardman’s surprise arrival in camp, we know the specifics—secondhand—only from Tamzene.” Then Nora hesitated. “Except…”

Quickly, she dug into her rain gear and pulled out the sheet of paper that had dropped from the journal she’d found in Clive’s hotel room. She unfolded it and looked over the old, uneven handwriting, the quotes from the Bible, the strange drawings here and there among the words. It seemed to be primarily a list of names and dates, with additional information mostly in Latin:

MORS COMMENTARIUS

In this dismal place where, after the blizzard of 23rd Oct. 1846, abandoned by man & forgotten by God:

Widow Morehouse agt 50 years; died of Cupid’s disease 20th Dec. 46.

Sam. Carvil agt 6 years; died 25th Dec 46. “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God.”

Spitzer et Reinhartt non potuerunt incipere

Aug. Spitzer, died 21 Jan 47 unrepentant; Joseph Reinhartt agt 35 confess’t his sin of murder before expiring 28 Jan 47. Both taken by starvation. “At the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of a man.”

‡ Nobis maledictum: ‡

Albert Parkin, agt 38 years; died 20 Feb 47.

Coeperunt malis festum

“And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images,

and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul

shall abhor you.”

† Jul. Carvil †, anthropgs., agt 27 years; died 23 Feb ex insania

† Leander Widnall †, anthropgs., agt 17 years; died 24 Feb ex insania

† Mrs. Jul. Carvil † anthropgs., agt 30 years; died 24 Feb ex insania

“Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.”

25 Feb 1847

As witnessed by Asher Boardman

husband of † Edith Boardman †

Lamented and lamentable

Et anthropgs.

“Is that the document you picked up in Clive’s room?” Corrie asked.

“Yes. The one that slipped out of Tamzene’s journal.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a list of names, sort of a death almanac of the Lost Camp. Given all the biblical quotations and Latin, it might have been compiled by Boardman himself.”

“You know Latin?”

“If you’d taken as many grad-level zoological courses as I did, you’d know it, too.” She read the document over and over. It was like a puzzle written in shorthand.

“Keep going,” Corrie said.

“It says that the widow Morehouse was the first to die, of ‘Cupid’s Disease’—a euphemism for venereal illness—followed shortly by Samantha Carville. Then it mentions the two killers, Spitzer and Reinhardt. There’s an aside about them: non potuerunt incipere. That translates roughly to ‘could only begin.’” She put down the note. “Could only begin what?”

“Eating Samantha Carville,” Corrie said. “Remember where you found the missing leg bone?”

“My God, you’re right.” Nora began examining the document again. “Then, in January of 1847, the killers died. Boardman writes that Spitzer was unrepentant to the last, but Reinhardt confessed to murder. That must mean Wolfinger.”

“Go on,” Corrie said.

But Nora paused a moment. “After that, the tone of the document seems to change. Boardman prefaces the rest with nobis maledictum, ‘our curse.’ He makes a big deal about Parkin’s death in late February, following it with a dire biblical quotation and something in Latin like, ‘the beginning of the terrible feast.’”

“So the cannibalism started in earnest once Parkin died.”

“And the deaths also started mounting more quickly,” Nora said. “Julius Carville. Leander Widnall. Carville’s wife, Julius Carville, and Widnall are all described as dying insane. There are little daggers surrounding the names of all three, also, and some Latin abbreviation—anthropgs. I’ve no clue what it means.” She looked up. “The last date recorded is February 25. Boardman concludes with the mention of his wife. She has daggers around her name, too, and that same strange abbreviation—anthropgs.”