She put on gloves and inspected the inside of his mouth. Three teeth were broken. The jagged edges must have been cutting his tongue, which had nasty lacerations near the tip. She had to put her entire thumb in his mouth to reach his jaw joint. Her index finger rested on his cheek and she began palpating the area for injury. After this point, it all became a blur, but she remembered the change in his eyes. He wasn’t pleading for help anymore. He was happy.

He bit down hard, the sharp teeth cutting through her latex glove and skin. She tried to pull her hand back and as she did, he clamped down harder, making a crunching sound.

She screamed in pain and the cops rushed in. The first one grabbed the suspect’s head, trying to pry open his jaws. The second began punching him in the face. But Mr. Tate fought back fiercely, his teeth still locked in her flesh. This was all she remembered. She passed out right after that. It was only later at the emergency room that she learned her mangled thumb was nearly torn apart.

A woman’s voice snapped Val to attention.

“Just get everything prepped and I’ll look at it later.” The woman stood in the doorway, talking to someone in the hall. There was an inaudible response.

“Take the X-rays. We have to wait for DNA anyway,” she answered, clearly irritated. After a second of silence she entered the room.

“How do you do. I’m Julia DeHaviland.” She was slightly taller than Val. Her brown hair extended just to her shoulders and thick bangs came down to the top of her glasses. Makeup might have helped to hide the worn, pale complexion of her skin, but she wore none.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Dr. DeHaviland.” Val stood and stretched out her hand.

“Call me Julia otherwise I’m going to have to call you Dr. Knight. I prefer to not be that formal.” She took Val’s hand, shaking it firmly, and then sat down at her desk. “I was told you are here about the death investigator position.”

“Yes, I am.”

Julia sorted through the papers in front of her, sighing as she moved them around. “Do you have a copy of your résumé with you? It looks like Betty didn’t give it to me. With the scheduling screw-up, I’m not surprised.”

“Of course, I have one right here.” Val reached into her bag, pulled out the requested document, and slid it across the desk. It seemed like conducting this interview was the last thing Julia wanted to be doing.

“Thanks.” Julia leaned forward, put both elbows firmly on the desk, and briefly read the lines. When she frowned and then narrowed her eyes, Val sensed there was a problem. She swallowed hard when Julia thumbed through it a second time.