A Simple Lie

by Mary Bush

  In a moment of much-needed relief, Val let it all out. Once the first words tumbled, she couldn’t stop, describing the attack and how she couldn’t practice anymore. She finished by confessing that this job was her last hope and as she came clean, she caught herself, embarrassed at exposing so much to a stranger. She wanted to die on the spot. Val hated to be seen as a victim, but for the last few minutes, she was just that.

  Julia wheeled her chair back from the desk, her face sympathetic. Val had seen this reaction a number of times before. This is the point where she would be told, “We’ll call you if we’re interested.”

  Julia took a deep breath. “Being a private practice dentist is very different from what this job demands.”

  Oh no. Val cringed. I’m going to be lectured before being shown the way out. There was nothing left to do but sit and take it.

  “Most busy offices like this one can’t have one of the medical examiners going out in the field every time someone dies, so we hire death investigators to go in our place to analyze and report on the circumstances of the death.”

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I thought a degree wasn’t necessary. The ad stated you were looking for someone with a medical background. It didn’t say medical doctor.” All Val wanted to do was hide her head and crawl out of the room.

  “That’s because a medical degree isn’t necessary. The death investigator responds to the scene of a death not as the medical examiner but as a representative of this office. Evidence is acquired from the scene to help someone like me determine cause and manner of death, as well as any information to identify the decedent, if that’s unknown.”

  “So, this is kind of like being a cop?”

  “Not at all. Cops catch criminals and solve cases. The death investigator’s responsibility is to document the when, where and how someone died—in a medical context—but in suspicious cases he or she does become the link between this office and law enforcement.”

  “Again, I’m sorry. Had I known all of this I wouldn’t have wasted your time.” Val picked up her bag. Maybe if she made it obvious that she was ready to leave, Julia would let her go.

  “You’re inexperienced, but not unqualified. It’s certainly not out of the question to consider someone with your background. Honestly, many people are trained on the job and learn that way.” Julia hesitated and took a deep breath. She looked at Val’s hand and then shifted her eyes, locking them on Val’s. “I know what it’s like to need a new start. So, actually, I think you might work out for us after all.”

  “Excuse me?” Val heard Julia’s words, but they didn’t register.

  “Part of being a death investigator, as I said, is to help determine the identity of the decedent. With your dental background, you are definitely someone who could do that. Dental ID is so helpful in many cases.”

  Is this really happening? Is she thinking of hiring me? Val couldn’t believe it and spoke quickly. “I can handle anything you throw at me. I’m willing to do anything. If you give me a chance, I’ll prove it to you.” She couldn’t mask the eagerness in her voice and hoped that she didn’t sound pathetic as she pleaded for this opportunity.

  “The hours are variable, nights and weekends. Plus, you’d be on call.”

  “I can work anytime, day or night.”

  “Good. I’m assuming you can start tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely,” Val said.

  “One last thing, your relationship with Oliver Solaris will be our secret. But the fact you have no experience in this field is something I won’t be able to hide, as you’ll have to be trained and people will notice. They’ll wonder why Oliver would have recommended someone like you for this job. The best advice I can give you is to be ready for this.”

  “Thank you so much, Julia. I will. You won’t be disappointed.”

  “Great. There’s a floater waiting for a dental ID as we speak. He was just pulled out of the river about two hours ago. So, I’ll see you tomorrow at 7:30am and we’ll get started.”

  Julia hesitated for a moment before going into Dr. Phillip Blythe’s office. She had no choice but to meet with him. He needed to know about the new employee. He wasn’t going to be happy and had every right to say no. The first thing he would probably do is yell. Phil always yelled first. Julia braced herself.

  “Good news!” she sang as she walked through the door.

  Dr. Blythe looked up from his desk. A pile of paperwork sat in front of him. “I could use some good news.” His sunken eyes clearly showed the stress he was under.

  “I’ve hired someone for the death investigator position.” Again, Julia was positive. Her plan was to get in and out as quickly as possible.

  “We were down to the wire on that. I wasn’t sure how we were going to function with just Howie.”

  “This new person is also a dentist, so she’ll be able to do dental identifications too. With how busy we’ve been, this should help.”

  Blythe raised his eyebrows. “A dentist? Why does she want to work here?”

  “She can’t practice anymore. She had an accident.” Julia kept her answers brief, hoping to leave Blythe’s office unscathed. Once this was out of his hands and into that of the administration, she would be free and clear.

  “I don’t remember Oliver mentioning this about her.”

  “Apparently, Oliver promised the job to two people. This isn’t the one you’re thinking of. Here’s her résumé. I’ll have Candace get going on the paperwork. Dr. Knight can start tomorrow.” Julia handed him the document, turned and walked away. She made it as far as the doorway.

  “Julia!” he called out, résumé in hand. “This seems to be missing something.”

  “What?” she asked innocently.

  “Experience?” He shook his head in disbelief. “How could Oliver have recommended someone like this?”

  “She’s trainable,” Julia said, trying to appear as if this was no big deal.

  “Damn it, Julia! How could you have hired her? I am up to my eyeballs in crap here. Can’t you see that?” He pointed to the papers littering his desk. “In addition to all of this, I’m now hounded by the hour on the Coleman murder. Since the press announced that toothless skull was found, it’s been nonstop. They’re not going to ease up until I give a positive ID.”

  “Aren’t you ready to make one?”

  “I have no doubt the skull belongs to Jeanne Coleman. I’m just waiting for the DNA results, which have been difficult to get. There’s been a lot of issues with it.”

  “Like what?”

  “It’s far too degraded.”

  “It can’t be. She’s only been dead for a couple of months.”

  “That’s exactly the problem. We’re to believe this skull’s only been exposed to the outside environment for two months but the amount of breakdown isn’t consistent with that. There was no tissue left on the bone. That was purposely stripped off. Deep linear marks from a knife are evident. But the skull itself is dried out. If I had to guess, it had been outside for two years, not two months. This skull is either too old to belong to Jeanne Coleman or someone is trying to make it look like it’s too old. Honestly, I think it was purposely dehydrated, by baking it.”

  Julia narrowed her eyes. “Are you releasing that information?”

  “Absolutely not. We’re keeping this private for now. Can you image the additional hell we’d have to endure if the public found out that the killer ripped out Jeanne Coleman’s teeth, dismembered her, then cooked her skull?”

  “Good decision,” Julia said. Blythe went quiet and she took the opportunity to get back to the topic of the new employee. “So, can I get Candace going on the paperwork for Dr. Knight?”

  “Julia, we need competent, well-trained professionals for this job, and you want to bring in someone so green she’s useless. I can’t have someone without any experience running around causing more trouble than they’re worth. We can’t afford to babysit someone right now.”

  “I can train her. Howie ca
n—”

  “Howie can’t. You can’t. Neither you nor Howie have time for this. How is this person supposed to be able to do this job? I have no one to hold her hand.”

  “On-the-job training is very common for a death investigator.”

  “Yes, when there is the time and resources to do it. Right now, I am understaffed and underbudgeted.”

  “But—”

  “I understand what you’re going through, I really do.” He rubbed his temples. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “And I sympathize with you, but I can’t have your bleeding heart run my office.”

  Julia swallowed hard. “That’s not why I want to hire her.”

  “No? Then what is it? Do you honestly expect me to believe the similarity of her situation to yours didn’t influence your decision?” Julia detected an accusatory, sarcastic tone in his voice.

  “Not at all.” She said the words slowly. Her eyes didn’t leave his.

  “The fact that both of you no longer practice had nothing to do with it? She, because of what did you say? An accident? And you because of your… situation.”

  As soon as he said “situation,” Julia just glared at him. How dare he throw her situation in her face? It was so like Phil to do this kind of crap.

  “Look, I feel a camaraderie with my fellow professionals, and maybe you want to give this person some of the advantages you’ve had, but this is not the time or place for that,” Blythe said.

  His words only made her angrier. “If you want to talk about a situation, Phil, we can talk about one.” She crossed her arms. “I finished the O’Rourke case.”

  The muscles in Blythe’s face tensed and he drummed his interlocked fingers repeatedly. “And?”

  “The wounds were in conical-shaped pairs. Most are located to the head and neck area. Death was by exsanguination. The carotid was lacerated and he bled out. This kid didn’t have a chance.” She paused. “The scratches are in lines of four and the bruises resemble a paw. Plus, there are six incisor marks between the conical punctures of the canines that are easily detected in the bites. I have no doubt it was a dog attack. Looks like you were right.”

  “I know I am. This was that dog’s second assault.” His expression remained rigid. From the case file, Julia had learned that the same rottweiler was to be euthanized for attacking its seventy-year-old owner. The dog was so friendly at the pound that instead of putting it down, it was put up for adoption. The O’Rourkes were the unlucky recipients. Two-year-old Billy O’Rourke paid the price when he was left unattended with the dog.

  She also found out that Dr. Blythe was the only person who claimed it was a dog attack. Two other pathologists stated it was a child abuse case. The wounds, the other doctors said, were created with various kitchen tools. The gash to the neck was made with a box cutter. The parents had spent the last year in jail, their other three children placed in foster homes.

  Dr. Blythe’s career, which had once been a prestigious one, was now swirling around the toilet bowl. Several significant errors on other cases where he rendered wrong conclusions made the problem worse. Julia suspected he might be heading in the same direction with the Coleman case.

  “Looks like you were right on that one, Phil,” she said, adding, “I’ve told Valentina Knight she’s hired. I know she can do the job.”

  He stared at Julia. “I’ll give her one week. I’m only doing this because Oliver seemed to have had some confidence in her. There will be no special treatment. If she can’t do this job, she’s out.”

  “Fair enough.” Julia couldn’t argue with that.

  3

  The next morning, Val stood outside Betty’s window, waiting to be let into Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office. First-day jitters were nothing compared to the anxiety she was feeling right now.

  Julia had promised to keep the fact that Val had never met Oliver a secret. She was forced to take this guarantee at face value. The problem was what to say to everyone else who thought she knew him. Right now, that was Betty and anyone she might have told. Val stared through the glass. Betty wasn’t alone. There was a woman standing with her.

  As soon as Val was inside the metal doors, Betty said, “This is Candace Drapier. She’s our head administrator and pretty much handles everything going on here. She’ll show you where to go and get you sorted out.”

  Candace was tall, an easy five feet ten, with short blond hair and wide-set blue eyes. She came forward, hand outstretched to greet Val. “I’m so happy to meet you.” With the opposite hand on her hip and the other taking Val’s in a firm handshake, she squeezed a little too tight, then peered down. It had a carnivorous feel and Val couldn’t help but sense she was being appraised, questioned and evaluated all at once. Candace suspects something, she thought. Or she wants to suspect something—which honestly, is worse.

  “I have some paperwork for you to do. It’s all the standard first-day-of-work forms.” Candace handed Val a folder filled with various documents. “I need you to complete these and give them back to me ASAP.” She continued to rattle off the itinerary.

  “We’ll get your ID done at some point today. You’ll need that for just about everything you do. The ID swipes to open all of the doors here, and you will have to display it at any death scenes you go to.” She pulled on the strap around her neck and showed Val her own ID card.

  Val nodded, trying to make a mental note of the rapid-fire instructions.

  “Well then, come with me. I’ll bring you by Dr. DeHaviland’s office first. I know she wants to say hello, and then I’ll take you to your office so you can get started,” Candace said.

  As they entered the hallway, Candace pointed to an open door to their right. The sign outside the entrance read “toxicology department”. “This is where we perform all of our drug testing. Dr. Beauchamp is our head toxicologist. It’s amazing what they can find in tissue samples nowadays, isn’t it?”

  “Yes. It is.” Val had a decent knowledge of medications. She had to prescribe them for her patients when she practiced. She poked her head in the room and was surprised by the large size. “They must do a lot of drug analysis here.”

  “A lot is an understatement. This is a pretty busy morgue. We handle about a thousand autopsies per year. All of our departments are worked to the max. You’ll be a welcome addition for Dr. Blythe and Dr. DeHaviland.” Her tone seemed sincere and Val felt her tightly wound nerves ease a little.

  They continued down the hallway.

  “In addition to the toxicology lab, we also have a histology lab so we can check for pathology in the tissues quickly. Of course, most autopsies take place in the main morgue area. There is one private room for high-profile cases, but only Dr. Blythe and Dr. DeHaviland use that.”

  “DNA testing isn’t performed here?”

  “Oh, that’s done at the Erie County Crime Lab. Everything DNA goes there.”

  As the two walked together, Val began to relax around Candace. Convinced now she was just being paranoid, assuming everyone would be suspicious of her.

  “So, there were two of you fighting for this job? How odd.”

  The question came out of nowhere and Val felt her stomach drop. She had no idea what to make of this. Her voice faltered as she said, “Excuse me?”

  “We had a devil of a time getting anyone in, and then all of a sudden there were two of you. What did you do to win? We didn’t even interview the other girl. You must have some spectacular credentials.” Her tone implied interest and admiration for Val. But Val couldn’t help but sense something darker in it too.

  Fortunately, Val didn’t have to answer because at that moment they arrived at Julia’s office. The door was partially open and Val could see her speaking on the phone. “I don’t care if you file for divorce. I was expecting it anyway, just like this bullshit lawsuit.” There was a pause and then Julia spoke again. “I had nothing to do with that disfigured bitch. Go ahead. Try to sue me.”

  Candace grabbed Val’s arm and led her away quickly. “Dr.
DeHaviland seems a little busy right now. Why don’t I show you your own office? We’ll catch up with her later.”

  They were barely away from the door when she whispered in Val’s ear, “I’m so sorry you had to hear that. Poor Dr. DeHaviland. Her story is so sad. Everyone in this office knows about it, and I’m sure you’ll hear it sooner or later. Let me just set the record straight for her. I don’t want you to fall prey to any office rumors.”

  “What is it?” Val asked reflexively. She couldn’t help it after hearing the words divorce, disfigured bitch, and lawsuit.

  “As you just heard, she’s being sued. And that’s not the whole story. The person who’s suing her is her husband’s girlfriend.”

  Val’s eyes opened wide.

  “Don’t look so shocked. Julia should be commended. Talk about revenge. This woman was one of Julia’s patients—that’s back when Julia used to practice. You might not have known this, but Julia was a plastic surgeon before she came to work here.”

  Val remembered that Julia had said she used to be in private practice and waited to hear more of this story.

  “The girlfriend had a mole removed and ended up getting a nasty infection that started to destroy the skin and tissue on her face. The doctors thought it was some weird type of flesh-eating bacteria. Of course everyone assumed Julia did it on purpose, that she gave the other woman something that caused the infection. But no strange species of bacteria was found, so no criminal charges were brought against Julia. They couldn’t prove anything. It didn’t take long before the civil suit was filed. I’m not sure for how much, but I know it’s a lot.”

  So that was Julia’s story. Val had never thought someone else’s problems could be as bad as her own. Hell, Julia’s problem was even worse. She felt sorry for Julia. And then realized that perhaps Julia had felt sorry for her as well. But it was more than that.

  Everyone had sympathized with Val, but no one saw her as anything other than a victim. Therefore, no one ever gave her a chance to be anything other than that, until Julia hired her. Val never wanted sympathy. She wanted an opportunity, and Julia had finally given her that opportunity.