“That’s not all,” Val said. “If the skull that was found in Chestnut Ridge Park doesn’t belong to Jeanne, who the hell does it belong to? And who forged the DNA results?”

28

Val’s first instinct was to go to Gavin and tell him about the discrepancy with Jeanne Coleman’s skull.

“No,” said Jack. “Don’t. I advise you not to tell anyone—especially Detective Gavin—that we believe the unknown skull belongs to Jeanne Coleman.”

“But this finding is huge!” protested Val.

“The finding is huge,” said Jack, “but the evidence is shaky.”

Val realized he was right. If exposed prematurely, it could easily be dismissed and ultimately lost. The fact that the teeth fitted into the sockets wasn’t enough to make a claim that the skull was Jeanne’s, especially with DNA stating the contrary. If they jumped too fast both Val and Gwen would certainly get fired. Dr. Blythe would know they broke into the autopsy suite. There was still so much to do and a connection to the medical examiner’s office was key. Val saw Jack’s point and agreed to keep her mouth shut. Particularly since the DNA could have been tampered with.

“If you were committing this crime, why let Jeanne’s skull be found at all? Why risk it?” Val asked Jack. “What do you gain from that, even if DNA says otherwise?”

“Someone is way too confident about the crime they’re committing.” Jack said. “With no other leads at this point, and though it’s a long shot, I want to visit Devil’s Hole Park and see why this resting place was chosen for this skull, maybe find something of significance with the site since it had relevance to Francine Donohue and Samantha Ritcher.”

Jack’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out, glancing at his text messages. “Val, I have a favor to ask of you. When you were a dentist you prescribed medication, correct?”

“Yes.” She wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

Still staring at the screen, he said, “I want you to find out why Francine Donohue was taking the antibiotic doxycycline. I want you to call her doctor.”

“Sure Jack, I can do that. Professional courtesy allows us to discuss mutual patients candidly. I’ll just say Francine was my dental patient. Though I’m wondering why you want to know about this.”

“It might be nothing but Thomas just let me know that he found out that Julia DeHaviland was taking high doses of the same drug six months before her death.” He put away the phone. “But first, we need to take a trip to Niagara Falls.”

Although they were still a distance away from the river, Val could hear the rush of water from where she stood, at the top of the trail in Devil’s Hole Park.