A short way in Val spotted a thin man who wore khakis and a short-sleeve green polo shirt. He turned and looked in her direction as she and Jack approached him. Val extended her hand. “Dr. Delarosa?”

“Yes, you must be Valentina Knight.” He extended his hand as well.

“Yes, and this is Jack Styles,” Val said as they all shook hands. She was a little hesitant to say much more about who Jack was. It probably crossed a line with her position at the medical examiner’s office to have him there with her today, but Val really wanted Jack with her for this. Val looked around, relieved that they were the only people in this greenhouse. Luckily, not that many visit the botanical gardens at 10:30am on a weekday.

“Looks like you’ve got an odd one on your hands. The fact that the victim was holding tree branches… Wow, I have to admit I was shocked when you told me that on the phone,” Dr. Delarosa said. “And the seeds too.”

“That information is not being released to the public,” Val stressed. “Please make sure to keep that confidential. If this information gets out it can really mess up the case for the detectives in charge.”

Dr. Delarosa’s facial cringe said it all. “I have to admit, I told my wife you were coming today and I’d get to see some evidence from the murder case of Gabrielle Morgan. I didn’t mention trees. That was okay, wasn’t it?”

No, not really because what in the hell else would you be looking at? thought Val, but didn’t press the issue. She put on a set of latex gloves, opened her paper evidence bag, then pulled out a sample of the branches. “We think it’s a fir or spruce of some kind.”

Jack let out a gasp. “It can’t be…”

Val shot him a stunned glance. “You know what these are?”

His eyes opened wide, his gaze focussed on the branches. “I am nearly positive, but I’ll wait for Dr. Delarosa’s verdict.” Jack shook his head and moved closer to the branches.

“Very interesting.” Dr. Delarosa put on his own set of gloves, before taking hold of them. He turned them around and inspected the needles closely. “It’s a conifer. That’s a tree that has cones and needle-like leaves. It’s also an evergreen.”

“Aren’t they one and the same?” Val asked.

“No. Minor technical difference. All conifers have cones but not all evergreens do.”

“Isn’t hemlock a conifer?” Val remarked. “Oh my God, is this hemlock?”