“That all sounds very reasonable—the only problem is that human bones usually don’t float. Their density is greater than water so they sink. Oh, let me correct that, they might float for a couple of reasons. One is if the victim has osteoporosis which makes the bone less dense than they ordinarily would be. The other is when bones become dry, also making them less dense. And we do have a drying issue in this case, from what I’ve heard.”

Val’s eyes went wide as she finally understood where Jack was heading. “So, it’s incredibly unlikely that someone went over Niagara Falls and an ordinary decomposed skull washed ashore as it did, where it did,” she said.

“Exactly,” Jack answered. “This raises far more questions than it answers. How did it get there? Why didn’t it end up in one of the more likely spots? And where is the rest of the body?”

At that moment, the food arrived. The conversation paused awkwardly as the waiters loaded small, fragrant dishes onto the table along with a basket of naan and a bowl of rice.

Once they were free to talk again, Gwen asked, “That skull—do you think it was deliberately placed there?” She spooned some dhal onto her plate. “The remains from the other victims were purposely put out where they’d be found. The first was in a park, the second in a landfill, now this one is in a river.”

Jack thoughtfully tore off a piece of naan before responding. “A good way to begin to answer that, and some of these other questions, is to look at the area where the skull was discovered but more importantly, examine the skull itself.” He turned towards Val. “Is this a possibility?”

“You are joking, right?” she said, fork in mid-air.

Jack laughed. “No, I don’t suppose the good doctor Blythe would let me see it. He won’t even say hello to me so I don’t think he would let me examine key evidence.” He thought for a moment then said, “Francine Donohue was the only victim to have another body part found, something other than a skull.”

“Yes,” Val said. “Her arm.”

Jack stared straight ahead for a moment. “So why are we finding more remains of Francine than any other victim?”

“She was also the only one in a landfill. Thrown out like she was garbage,” Val said eagerly. She could see where Jack was heading with this.

Jack appeared to be grappling with possibilities and he said, “Maybe we’re looking in the wrong direction. Julia should be the focal point since her death resulted in the arrest of Colin. But, what if we’re wrong? What if the focal point was elsewhere? What if this case centered on Francine and not Julia?”

Val thought the exact same thing, and agreed with strong nods of her head.