“You really should, it’s a great way to get to know the rest of the staff. I’ve heard you pretty much keep to yourself.” Julia went to the sink and stripped off her gloves.

She was right. Val did keep to herself. There was good reason to do so. “I’m afraid someone will find out about Oliver, that I never knew him. Keeping a safe distance from everyone seems necessary.”

“Phil is the only one you need to worry about and I can handle him,” Julia said as she washed her hands. “Why don’t you come over to my house tomorrow night? We’ll have a low-key girls’ night in. I’ll cook,” she suggested.

Val eagerly agreed. She hadn’t had someone she could call a friend in a long time and was happy that Julia might fill that void.

“Let me warn you that I’m a bad cook. But I’ll get a lot of wine, so we won’t care.”

“Sounds great to me,” Val responded enthusiastically.

“I’m going to make pasta. It’s the only dish I can make. I serve it every time I have company, along with a homemade loaf of bread. I’m a proud owner of a bread maker.” She rolled her eyes at Val. “It was a wedding gift.”

Julia rushed out of the room with Val sticking close behind. “I’m going to tell Phil that you need to be involved in the Jeanne Coleman and Francine Donohue case. With your dental background, you really ought to be.”

Val stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. She was so excited she almost hugged Julia. “You know, I noticed something unusual with Francine’s skull and have been meaning to talk to you about it,” she said.

“What did you find?” Julia asked eagerly.

Val explained her thoughts on how the teeth came out. “Did you happen to notice if any of the teeth were broken when you examined them?”

Julia thought for a second. “No. I don’t think any of them were. But I’ll have you take a look. Maybe I missed something.”

Val asked what else was going on with the case. She wanted to know everything.

Julia gave her the details, then stressed the latest information. “Gavin seems to think Samantha Ritcher may be connected, but honestly, Phil’s opinion is that it’s a long shot. Gavin let us know that the last time Samantha talked to her sister was when she was a teenager. So, really, there’s no link. It’s probably just some bizarre coincidence.”

Val remembered the woman with the overdose and grew confused. “Whose sister was she?”

“Francine Donohue’s,” Julia said as they walked into the employee lunchroom.