Victoria turned to see her neighbor, Jeremy. He held a small umbrella over his gray head. He wore a brightly colored housecoat and rubber boots. The sight of the man gave her heart a much-needed happy jump.

“Seth, this is my neighbor, Jeremy. No one was home, thank goodness.”

The men shook hands.

“Seth Rutledge. I work with Victoria,” Seth added.

“You the new medical examiner?”

“Not yet. I’m currently in the middle of a working interview for the position.”

Sharp eyes studied Seth as he placed his arm back around Victoria’s shoulders. She tried not to cringe. Jeremy was always threatening to introduce her to the straight men he knew, but she always declined. “Soooo, I guess I missed quite a bit while I was laid up with that bug.”

Seth gave his slow half smile. “Don’t tell me you’re the person to ask about the latest goings-on in Tori’s life.”

Jeremy’s eyes narrowed. “Tori, eh? Sounds like you and I need to have a glass of wine and a long talk, Dr. Rutledge.”

“Deal.”

“Not tonight, we won’t,” Victoria quickly added. “You’re not a hundred percent yet, Jeremy. And I don’t like you running around in the middle of the night in the cold.”

“Heck. I don’t sleep anymore at my age, anyway.” He met Seth’s gaze. “See how she mothers me? Doesn’t let a man have any fun.”

“Did you see the fire before the fire department got here?” Victoria asked, shifting his focus away from herself. “Hear or see anyone around?”

Jeremy shook his head. “Nothing. I was watching TV and didn’t know anything was up until the trucks came screeching up the street. Who called it in?”

“We did. Seth was driving me home when I spotted it.”

“Home, eh?” The old man’s eyes sparkled in the dim light.

“Stop that,” Victoria ordered. She felt a laugh rumble through Seth’s chest.

“Victoria, I think we’re ready to go,” Katy said as she and Trinity approached. Trinity looked exhausted and half-dead on her feet.

“I’ll be there as soon as they let me grab a few things,” Victoria said.

Trinity seemed deflated, like half the oxygen had been sucked out of her cells. The girl was in desperate need of sleep. Victoria moved out from under Seth’s arm, feeling the cold air wash over the spots he’d warmed. She touched Trinity’s arm. The girl met her gaze and gave a wan smile. “You two head to the house. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Wait a minute, Ms. Peres?” One of the firemen stepped up to their circle.

“Yes?” Victoria said.

The fireman glanced at the group. “I need to ask you about something we found inside. We’re wondering if it belongs to you.”

“What’s that?”

“Maybe you could step aside with me for a minute?”

Victoria looked at her neighbors and Seth. “There’s no one here to hide anything from. What did you find?”

“We think the window was broken with a large rock we found inside. Then they threw in an accelerant in some sort of lit glass bottle.”

“Right. They told me this already,” Victoria said impatiently.

“Did you have any bones in that front room?” the fireman asked.

“Bones? No. You found bones? Like someone was in there?” Victoria’s brain shot into high alert.

Trinity gasped.

“No, not a body. Just a skull. Looks real, but I’m no expert.”

“I am,” said Victoria firmly. “Let me see it.”

The fireman raised an eyebrow at her. “This skull was on the floor close to where the fire started. If it didn’t belong to you, it was probably thrown in with the accelerant. Now it’s evidence.”

“Dr. Peres is the forensic anthropologist for the medical examiner’s office,” Seth interjected before Victoria could speak. “The skull will probably end up in her hands for confirmation anyway. Let her save you some time and tell you if they’re human or fake.”

The fireman studied Victoria for a long moment. “Okay. One look. No touching.” He turned and raised a hand to another fireman by the truck, gesturing for him to bring something over. The second man walked over with a large paper bag and handed it to the first. He opened it for Victoria to peer inside. Her heart speeding up, she peeked in the bag. Too dark. She smelled a familiar scent. Burned bone. Seth held up his cell phone and shone its light in the bag.

A woman’s skull glowed. Its lack of brow ridges and small size stated its sex. Its fused seams and teeth stated its maturity.

I knew it.

A small part of her knew it would turn out to be one of her skulls.

Whoever had burned her house had stolen her bones. But why?

“It’s human. Female,” she reported. “And please contact Detective Callahan at OSP, because I suspect it’s related to a case he’s working on.”

“What?” The fireman and Katy spoke at the same time. Jeremy took a step closer to look in the bag, shaking his head. Victoria noticed Seth was silent and knew he’d had the same suspicions as she.

“Just one skull? That was all?” Seth asked.

The fireman nodded, an odd look on his face. “You expected more?”

Seth shrugged.

“It was stolen from your lab?” Katy asked Victoria. She looked stricken. “Why was it thrown in your house along with starting a fire?”