On more careful reading of the request-for-expertise form, I discovered that the analysis had been requested by the Société de la faune et des parcs, the Quebec equivalent of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A poacher had been kil ing moose for years with blatant disregard for the annual quota.

Conservation agents had decided to prosecute and wanted an opinion. Could I tie the cut marks on the moose bones to a saw recovered from the suspect’s garage?

I could.

Big bones. Big animal. Big lesson in proceeding rapidly while not ful y cognizant of the mission.

No need for Shakespeare here.

Thoreau put it wel : “Some circumstantial evidence is strong, as when you find a trout in the milk” (Walden).

Or Bul winkle in a body bag.

About the Author

Kathy Reichs is forensic anthropologist for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of North Carolina, and for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She is one of only fifty forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of theAmericanAcademy of Forensic Sciences. A professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina–Charlotte, Dr. Reichs is a native ofChicago , where she received her Ph.D. at Northwestern. She now divides her time betweenCharlotte andMontreal and is a frequent expert witness at criminal trials. Her first novel,Déjà Dead,brought Dr. Reichs fame when it became aNew York Timesbestsel er and won the 1997 El is Award for Best First Novel.Death du Jour, Deadly Décisions, Fatal Voyage,andGrave Secretsalso became international andNew York Timesbestsel ers.Bare Bonesis her sixth novel featuring Temperance Brennan.