Val couldn’t believe what she’d just been told. Big was an understatement. It was huge. She parked the car, then fumbled through her bag, quickly pulling out her phone. She needed to call the office, call Howie. She needed to call someone. There was definitely some screw-up in sending her here. Where was Dr. Blythe? Did he know about this? She couldn’t think straight as she tried to decide whom to call first.

With her fingers ready to press the numbers for Howie, Val stopped. What if this wasn’t a mistake? What if Dr. Blythe was already with the remains and was waiting for his newest death investigator, the dentist, to show up? How incompetent would she look if she had to call for help before even getting out of the car?

She put the phone away, grabbed her supplies and started off into the landfill, heart pounding, wondering what on earth she was supposed to do when she arrived at her destination.

Bright lights showed the way. As she got closer, she found Gavin and Warren with a couple of other people. Blythe was not one of them. He was nowhere to be seen.

One man was talking and motioning at something on the ground. She walked up to the small group and stood silently, hoping to be noticed. When that didn’t happen, she spoke timidly.

“Excuse me.” Her voice barely audible.

They continued talking, unaware of her existence. She tried again, louder.

“Excuse me, sir!”

This time all the men turned round.

“I’m Dr. Valentina Knight.”

“Doctor? I thought you were a death investigator, not a medical examiner,” Gavin said.

“You’re right. I’m the death investigator,” Val immediately corrected. It was just habit for her to use the title Dr., one she was trying to break. Howie had told her not to do this because it would lead to confusion. As Val tried to explain, she felt the knot that was tied around her tongue tighten. “I’m a dentist with a change in profession.”

Her awkward response fell like a lead weight on the intent crowd. She wanted to crawl into a hole. What an unprofessional thing to say at such an intense and serious moment. Here she was at an important death scene and she was blowing it, fast.

“This person is a dentist?” Gavin said to Warren. “Why the hell didn’t Blythe mention it?” He clearly sounded pissed off. “Honestly, I’m happy to have someone besides him examine this.”

“I agree. But Blythe will rip you a new one if you do. He’s in charge of the remains in this case,” Warren said.

“As I see it, our medical examiner can’t be reached. It’s my decision now.”

Rather than shooing her away, Gavin introduced Val to the men standing around them and then started to explain what was found.