She was standing in the foyer of a laboratory that handled all forensic investigations for Santa Fe’s law enforcement agencies, and had been responsible for the investigation of the morgue from which Hiram Conley’s apparently mummified remains had vanished. ‘Any ideas of who might have had a motive for abducting Lillian Cruz?’ The lab technician, an elderly guy by the name of Rodriguez, shook his head. ‘I worked with her a few times out Albuquerque way when she ran the morgue there. She was the best, no doubt about it, been working in the department for as long as I can remember. What she couldn’t tell you about rates of decay and infestation wasn’t worth knowing. Point is, everyone liked her, never heard a bad word said.’ ‘And she never had any contact with Tyler Willis?’ ‘The Tyler Willis?’ Rodriguez repeated. ‘No way, that guy is stellar, something to do with genetics out Los Alamos way. I’ve read a few of his papers.
