“Not at all. Cops catch criminals and solve cases. The death investigator’s responsibility is to document the when, where and how someone died—in a medical context—but in suspicious cases he or she does become the link between this office and law enforcement.”

“Again, I’m sorry. Had I known all of this I wouldn’t have wasted your time.” Val picked up her bag. Maybe if she made it obvious that she was ready to leave, Julia would let her go.

“You’re inexperienced, but not unqualified. It’s certainly not out of the question to consider someone with your background. Honestly, many people are trained on the job and learn that way.” Julia hesitated and took a deep breath. She looked at Val’s hand and then shifted her eyes, locking them on Val’s. “I know what it’s like to need a new start. So, actually, I think you might work out for us after all.”

“Excuse me?” Val heard Julia’s words, but they didn’t register.

“Part of being a death investigator, as I said, is to help determine the identity of the decedent. With your dental background, you are definitely someone who could do that. Dental ID is so helpful in many cases.”

Is this really happening? Is she thinking of hiring me? Val couldn’t believe it and spoke quickly. “I can handle anything you throw at me. I’m willing to do anything. If you give me a chance, I’ll prove it to you.” She couldn’t mask the eagerness in her voice and hoped that she didn’t sound pathetic as she pleaded for this opportunity.

“The hours are variable, nights and weekends. Plus, you’d be on call.”

“I can work anytime, day or night.”

“Good. I’m assuming you can start tomorrow?”

“Absolutely,” Val said.

“One last thing, your relationship with Oliver Solaris will be our secret. But the fact you have no experience in this field is something I won’t be able to hide, as you’ll have to be trained and people will notice. They’ll wonder why Oliver would have recommended someone like you for this job. The best advice I can give you is to be ready for this.”

“Thank you so much, Julia. I will. You won’t be disappointed.”

“Great. There’s a floater waiting for a dental ID as we speak. He was just pulled out of the river about two hours ago. So, I’ll see you tomorrow at 7:30am and we’ll get started.”

Julia hesitated for a moment before going into Dr. Phillip Blythe’s office. She had no choice but to meet with him. He needed to know about the new employee. He wasn’t going to be happy and had every right to say no. The first thing he would probably do is yell. Phil always yelled first. Julia braced herself.

“Good news!” she sang as she walked through the door.