“Bravo, Val,” said Jack. “All excellent points. I have the same questions. Now that we understand the ritual to some extent, my main question is—and this is a likely possibility that we need to explore—was she sacrificing his life for hers? It all goes back to my original assumptions on this case, when I asked you if she ever hurt the child before. Was she abusing him? It would be extremely hard to hurt him now without that, even if she wanted his life in exchange for hers.”

“We heard nothing about this ritual having a sacrificial element,” Val said.

“Doesn’t matter. Only what Gabrielle Morgan thought, believed, and would have done matters. We don’t know any of the answers to those questions yet,” Jack said.

“So, did she love her son, or herself more?” Val said. “Or did someone else kill them both?”

Val put her elbows on the table and placed her forehead in her palms. “Jack, please tell me now if you think this case is open and shut.”

“I can’t tell you that because that information isn’t here. Is there reason to be skeptical of the obvious? Yes. Are you wise and prudent to examine all angles? Yes. Is this what any good criminalist would do? Yes. Honestly, Val, I’m sitting back and not asking my own questions when you’re questioning people because I think you’re doing one hell of a good job. You don’t need help working this case. I’ll jump in only when I’m needed.”

Jump in only when I’m needed. Another good friend of Val’s said that to her, at a defining moment in time as well. That was last spring, when she was working the case that caused the injury to her leg.

“Have the DNA and fingerprint results come back on the tape from Gabrielle’s hands and mouth?” Jack asked. “That’s your next piece to this puzzle.”

“The results on the tape aren’t in yet. But that should be ready any day now,” Val said.

“Good. That will be another step in confirming if she could have done this to herself or not. That gives you plausibility and hardcore evidence that she might be the guilty person. Keep in mind, you have no evidence like that yet. Everything so far has been circumstantial.”

6

Gavin had a hard time doubting that Gabrielle Morgan killed herself and her son, especially after Val had told him, in a phone call just that morning, about the yew tree. After Val finished, he filled her in on what he had learned from Adam’s teachers.