“After the mole was removed, there was an open wound. They just had to get something contaminated into it. Jesus Christ, they could have used feces and that would have done the trick. In this case, that contaminated material had some nasty, nasty unusual bacteria.”

“This isn’t going to be easy to prove. You have the greater knowledge about bacteria.”

“If it was me, I could have used something that would have caused far worse damage than she received,” Julia said plainly. “She has as much reason to set me up as I did to disfigure her. I know things now that I didn’t back then. She befriended me on purpose. Keep that in mind. She befriended me!” Julia began raising her voice and a few people from neighboring tables looked over. Bradley motioned for her to keep her voice down, but Julia couldn’t.

“I found out that she was already having the affair with him when she came up to me at the gym. She started talking to me every time I was there. She invited me to lunch and we started doing things together. I thought she was my friend. She asked me to remove that mole for her. This was all planned. I know it was.”

“Julia, I’ll do what I can.”

13

Val glanced down the hall. The door to Julia’s office was still shut. “Damn,” she muttered. She needed Julia to sign some paperwork and had been looking for her all morning. Howie came around the corner and she grabbed him, asking, “Have you seen Julia anywhere?”

“She hasn’t come in yet.”

“Do you know when she’ll be in?”

“No idea. I tried calling her but she’s not answering her phone or returning my messages. She has a budget meeting this afternoon with Dr. Blythe and Candace so she’ll eventually show up.”

“Valentina, can I see you?” Dr. Blythe asked, though it was more of a demand. She hadn’t even heard him walk up behind her.

Howie didn’t reply. He simply waved and continued on his way.

“You’re handling the Samantha Ritcher case, right?” Blythe asked.

“Yes, I am,” she said.

“The cause of death was not drug overdose. She died from anaphylaxis. That’s a pretty severe allergic reaction.” The tone was condescending and somewhat insulting.

Val knew very well what anaphylaxis was. She often prescribed medications when she was in practice and had to make sure she wasn’t giving patients anything they were deathly allergic to.