“Why have you been harassing a Molly Dolan? She’s phoned me directly and lodged a fairly serious complaint against you and this office. She’s even moved out of the Airbnb she was renting so that you couldn’t find her again.”

Val just shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea what to say, how to respond without sounding crazy.

“Valentina, there’s a reason for it. And if you tell me, I’m willing to listen.” His voice was searching and his eyes locked on hers. If ever Val had a positive moment with Dr. Blythe this was it. The way he looked at her, the tone in his voice, the fact that he hadn’t fired her and showed her the door already, made Val pause. Should she trust him?

“Are you going to fire me?” she asked.

“Not yet. For now, I’m going to place you on a leave of absence, pending review of this matter. This will buy some time.” He leaned towards her. “Val, if you can think of anything you need to say, tell me. I’m very interested in anything pertaining to Julia. I might be able to help.”

His words were comforting, lulling. And oddly, he hadn’t fired her immediately. She thought about the DNA swabs, but just couldn’t confide in Dr. Blythe. Not now. She was walking around so many traps that she didn’t know which one was ready to grab her. The DNA was something she knew she had to take care of herself.

Val silently left the medical examiner’s office. Before heading home, she had one stop—the Erie County Crime Lab. It took less than an hour to drop off her DNA samples, though she did hold one back. The request on the testing was stat. She listed her cell phone number as the point of contact. As a death scene investigator, dropping off samples for testing was common. No one questioned her. No one knew what her current employment status was. A leave of absence was a far cry from termination.

I’ve got her now! Val almost said it out loud.

Several days later, The DNA results came in. They were negative, proving that Molly Dolan and Julia DeHaviland were not one and the same. Val didn’t know which way to turn. This was just impossible.

She had one last hope, something else to test for, but there was no way she could do this without Dr. Blythe’s help. Should she take it? He was the only one who could do what she needed. She wished she could talk with Jack but that would be impossible. Today, Thomas was undergoing bypass surgery and she couldn’t bother Jack now for guidance. Val needed to stand on her own two feet. She knew she had to, and she knew she could do it. She’d learned to interrogate people, sense deception. Val finally confronted Dr. Blythe.