“Yes, thankfully he was.” The thought sent additional chills down Val’s spine. An innocent man had spent two decades in jail for a crime he did not commit. Val didn’t want to think of this right now. She was going through her own emotional rollercoaster with Mr. Tate, the patient who bit her. Though he ended her dental career, the evidence the prosecutors had to convict him on serial murder was shaky at best, and she knew it. Of course, what he did to her was unmistakable. He sunk his teeth into her hand, violently.

But was he a serial killer? Val’s stomach churned. Mr. Tate was facing the death penalty. Val’s testimony could decide his life and she didn’t feel confident enough to point an almighty finger at that fate; not with what the prosecutors were telling her anyway, though by their accounts, it was all ironclad.

Val microwaved the food and brought the dishes into her living room, placing them on the coffee table in front of the couch. Gwen and Jack sat on the floor. Val joined them, and they filled their plates.

Val took a few bites before speaking. She needed to, before she passed out from hunger. “A mother and her son are dead.”

In between more bites, Val explained the aspects of the case that she knew so far—the tree branches, the seeds, the slashed throat; the fact that Gabrielle Morgan, of the Morgan family, appeared to be an overprotective mother, one that didn’t socialize with her neighbors. Oh, and the cancer. Gabrielle had cancer.

Jack scooped salsa onto his enchilada. “That’s certainly one of the most bizarre I’ve heard about in a long time.”

Val took another bite. “So much of this case points to a murder and then suicide, but there are things that just raise red flags. Like, why would a mother kill her son this way? So violently. Could she have cut his throat so deep, with one swift slash? With a hunting knife? Why would she even own such a thing?”

“One swift slash? That concerns me. The kind of knife, not so much. A tool to do the job is simply that, a tool to do the job,” Jack said. “Unless there are signs of child abuse, which, Val, you’ll have to look into, I’d think a mother slicing her child’s throat would have hesitation marks, even if it was for a ritual. If she was hurting him for the first time, she’d be new at this. Confidence wouldn’t have been there. And confidence would have been required for one effective gash, regardless of the type of knife.”

Val nodded, agreeing with Jack on this point. Even those who chose to end their life by slicing their wrists have hesitation marks. It’s telltale for I’m not sure. Causing harm to oneself or another human being is never faultless the first time around.