One clue and two spare robes are all it takes for Linnea to hatch a plan to get into the hotel and, with any luck, free some young women. When she and Parker stumble instead into a cult gathering, what is their Plan B? Find out in Pine & Merrimac #3 from BOOM! Studios.

PINE AND MERRIMAC #3

Writer: Kyle Starks
Artist: Fran Galán
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Editor: Jon Moisan
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 6, 2024

Previously in Pine and Merrimac: The local news is full of coverage about local man, Senator Lockridge, and his run for president. Linnea wonders about a strange symbol she found on her investigation. Parker is frustrated by not being able to find out anything about the island. They get local boat captain Jody to take them to the island. He drops them off at night on the far side. They find an enclosure behind a fence topped with razor wire. With the help of Parker’s bolt cutters, they sneak in and discover a bunch of empty prison cells. Linnea also sees a sculpture that matches the odd symbol she found, along with an altar. They overhear two guards talk about moving the girls, and how all the bikers may have been killed. Linnea throws up; the guards hear her, and they flee, just making it to Jody’s boat!

DARING TO GET A CLOSER LOOK

Pine & Merrimac #3 opens with a flashback to Linnea’s past on the force. She throws up every time she sees a dead body unless she can distract herself, which requires nonstop pinching herself. She is a good investigator, but this is problematic. She attends therapy. She develops migraines and ulcers. Her body cannot cope with this kind of stress. This is when she decides to leave police work and open her own agency somewhere outside of the big city. It’s difficult for her to tell Parker about her decision, especially since she thinks his career needs the city. Instead, he agrees to go with her and help her with her detective work. He naively thinks it could be exciting.

On their little jaunt to the island, Linnea overheard the name of a local hotel. She and Parker go on stakeout. This is not the exciting part of detective work, especially since their phones are at the bottom of the ocean. Parker gets fidgety. He also wonders why the police have not shown up after they called in an anonymous tip. Linnea reminds him that accusations of a sex-trafficking ring here sounds unbelievable. Parker also mentions the weird robes and masks they got from the island.

This reminds Linnea of another case in the area. She was investigating a possibly straying husband and discovered that he was attending a sex party for furries.

They look at the robes and masks, consider the hotel, and decide to sneak in. They wander in and spot a couple guards from the island who talk about not telling the bosses about the people who were snooping on the island and took some spare robes. This is one point where the dialogue seems a little forced and I was not sure if it was just for humor. At any rate, the detectives bluff about not hearing about the location change and the guards admonish them to get on the group chat.

The guards let them into a room absolutely packed with people in masks and robes. This is not what they expected, especially when they spot some heavily armed men in the mix. Linnea must come up with a plan on the fly. Someone mentions that they are bringing out the elders and indeed, some very old, wizened cultists in wheelchairs are brought out. Then a cultist in white robes greets everyone, and couple more cultists bring out a young, blonde woman and tie her up to the sculpted symbol with apparent intent to sacrifice her!

CHALLENGING HER INSTINCTS

I do like the portrayal of Linnea throughout Pine & Merrimac #3. We finally get to see her at her police work, a good detective even though she is young. We also see how hard she is willing to work herself in order to keep up with the job she feels driven to do. She does not want to admit that the stress is overtaking her, ultimately, she must. It is clear that her decision to leave is one of the hardest she has ever had to make in her life, especially since it may involve Parker. We know how close they are, and for her to be willing to part from him speaks volumes about how ill she was. Fortunately for her, and for us readers, he was more than happy to follow her.

The furry sex party is strange, and while it is suggestive, it is not revealing. It is amusing to see Linnea’s reaction as she is exposed to something she had never realized was a thing. It is an interesting interlude that could well connect to the meeting at the hotel. As Linnea says, what are the odds of there being multiple costume sex rings in the same small town? But while that sets us up to expect a small group of unusual folks, it does not prepare us for a rather large cult. And not only is the cult large, it must be well connected in order to dare meet in a prominent hotel and conduct a sacrifice.

BOTTOM LINE: WEIRD BUT INTRIGUING

The characters in Pine & Merrimac #3 are delightful, but their situation grows ever stranger and more sinister. Now that they are in the thick of things, how will they get back out?

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