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"Okay," she said. "Seems like I have no choice, because we're all scared."

"What do you know?"

As she asked the question, Cora could feel Sarah's fear. Sitting next to her, the woman was hunched in the car seat, her shoulders tense, her jaw likewise. This lady was scared and she shouldn't be. Not that badly or in that way. You didn't make good Army soldiers by crippling them with fear. You made them carefully, bruise by bruise, giving them what they could take and then pushing it further, and then letting them recover and strengthen.

"I didn't know any of the people who were murdered," Sarah said softly. "But I knew of them, and people were talking, of course. You're not supposed to talk. They told us that in no uncertain terms. No talking. This incident is privileged information. Talking means trouble." Her voice was angry.

"Sure," Cora said. "It won't go any further. I don't even know your name."

Sarah flashed her an appreciative glance.

"They were saying that somehow they must have done something, that none of them were well-liked. Someone said that the woman, Janice, had been in a big shouting match with someone else a few days ago."

"Do you know what that was about?"

But Sarah - if that was actually her name - shook her head. "No clue. I heard it from someone who heard it from someone. But when we can, you must understand, we're talking. We don't buy this whole 'shut up and say nothing' thing. Until they give answers, we're all worried."

It was clear that the Army was trying to keep things quiet, but at what cost? If soldiers were too scared to even speak about the murders, how could anyone possibly solve the case? Cora's mind boggled at the repressive attitude that was clearly being enforced by a few, but affecting all, in the interests of their short-term aims.

"Listen, let me tell you this," she said passionately. "This is not what the Army's about. This is a glitch in the system; it's a few people who are high up enough to be making dumb decisions without foresight. When this is solved, I'm taking this further. I'm reporting the entire unit who’s in charge of this base, for their actions and their irresponsibility. I’ll take it all the way to the chief of staff if I have to. But I can’t do it now. There’s not enough evidence to make anything stick, and whoever thinks they’re in control here will just deny it."

They were both silent for a while, but Cora was still fuming.

Damn it, this was important. Nobody should be allowed to get so delusional about their power that they suppressed information in this way. It shouldn't happen. And it sure as hell needed fixing.

"This is not what the Army's about," she said again, feeling it was important that the woman knew this.

"Thank you," she said. "I think I needed to hear that."

"I appreciate what you've told me. It’s brave of you. And I'll look into it. But is there anything else you can tell me that could help?" Cora asked.

She felt there was something. She didn't expect Sarah to tell her. In her situation, at her age, Cora wasn't sure what she would have done, or what would have influenced her decisions.

Sarah sighed. "Look, this is just hearsay. I only know it happened to the one woman. The person she had an argument with, that shouting match, was one of a group of guys who are known to be bullies. We try to avoid them. They're toxic. If they gang up on you, the word is that they can make your life hell."

Cora's mind raced. She needed to know more about these bullies. But she needed to ask it in a gentle way. Sarah had already shared a lot of information, and Cora didn't want to scare her off.

"I understand you don't want to give names. But if you could give me a lead to just one person in this group, it would help." She waited. Perhaps that was too much of an ask.

"Even where they stay? Where they sleep? Where they like to go when they go out partying?"

"Go out partying?" Sarah grimaced. "I've heard some stories there. Look, I don't even know all of their names. I've heard some first names, but that's not much use to you. What I'm willing to say for sure is that they all stay in the same barracks, on the north side of base. Two of them are drill instructors. They like to visit a restaurant in town called Hog Heaven Ribs & BBQ. I've heard they raise hell there. They go, they get drunk, they break things. The owner wants to ban them but that won't happen. But they're driving other customers away."

"How many of these guys are there?" Cora asked. It was too late now for Hog Heaven Ribs & BBQ to be open, but it was a possibility for tomorrow if she hadn’t found them by then.

"Five, I think. Four or five," Sarah replied. "And that's really all I know."

"I appreciate it," Cora said. At least now, she had a lead.

As Sarah climbed out of the car, Cora watched her go. She had been brave to give her any information at all. There was a toxic culture on this base, and she wanted to smash it. The soldiers deserved better than this. They deserved to be safe and heard. The culture was making it easy for the killer.

As soon as Sarah had walked back into the bar, Cora turned to Gabe.

"North side of the base? Shall we see if we can find a lookout point?" she asked.

"I brought binoculars," Gabe said. "But you think you'll see anything at this hour?"

Cora shrugged. "Maybe not. If we don't then we come back in the early morning. But if these guys are up to anything they shouldn't be doing, they'll most likely be doing it late at night."

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