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my grandmother she died. I identified the body. I attended the funeral. I’ve had way too much to do with her death , Lauren thought. “No.”
    â€œDo you know who killed her?”
    Lauren’s mind raced. I don’t know. Do I? Once I find out who did it, I might know that person. “No.”
    After waiting for the examiner to review the yards and yards of polygraph data, he told her the results were inconclusive. Lauren knew this stupid test wasn’t valid. Mr. Brown asked her if she would submit to the test a second time.
    The cold instruments were re-affixed to her body. Again, she was asked the intrusive, offensive, ambiguous questions.
    After taking an eternity to review the results, he finally spoke. “I’ll turn the findings over to the detectives. You may discuss it with them. But there is one more thing we’d like to ask of you before you leave the station today.”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œWould you be willing to leave hair and blood samples with us for DNA analysis?
    â€œSure. DNA analysis. That’s a verifiable science.”
    â€œYes, Dr. Rose, I believe you’ve made your opposition to the polygraph crystal clear.” His tone was caustic.
    As she left, Lauren said, “I’m sorry I frustrated you, Mr. Brown, I genuinely appreciate your efforts on this case.”
    He gave her a sour look, “My name is Baxter, not Brown.”
    Lauren had accidentally referred to him by the name she had secretly assigned him. Thank goodness it was not something worse like “Bully.”
    ***
    â€œThose are some serious scratches you have on your arm,” the phlebotomist commented as he drew Lauren’s blood in the police station laboratory.
    â€œYeah,” Lauren agreed, looking at the fading scratches she had all but forgotten about.
    â€œMaybe we should take some pictures of those,” he suggested.
    â€œYeah, you probably should.”

Chapter Thirteen
    (Tuesday, August 16)
    The next day at the hospital, Dr. Stone tracked Lauren down accompanied by an unfamiliar man in civilian clothing.
    â€œDon’t freak out,” Stone said, “but this gentleman is here to serve you with a subpoena. We get these often. It’s usually some patient haggling with their insurance company over payment.” Lauren accepted the white envelope handed to her and Stone directed her to the office of Mr. Lawrence, the hospital attorney. She handed the subpoena to Mr. Lawrence for routine legal review. There, she learned she was not being subpoenaed regarding a medical case, but with a court order to report to the Scottsdale Police Department within twenty-four hours.
    â€œIt requires you to submit to photography of your person,” Mr. Lawrence advised after a quick review of the document. “Any idea why?”
    â€œI got scratched a couple weeks ago by a patient. The police asked me about the scratches yesterday when I was having my blood drawn.”
    â€œSeems like they’re looking at you pretty hard in your sister’s murder. I can’t represent you because this doesn’t involve a hospital matter, but I can recommend a good criminal defense attorney. Sounds to me like you need one.”
    Lauren felt as if she had the wind knocked out of her. She had never had so much as a traffic ticket before. Now, she needed a defense attorney for the murder of her own sister.
    Lauren had few people in whom she could confide. She did talk to Rose-ma on the phone every day. But as much as Lauren adored Rose-ma, she was tired of hearing Liz’s murder attributed to God’s will. Additionally, Lauren felt she had to protect Rose-ma from some of the things that were bothering her most, such as her own treatment as a possible suspect.
    Her fellow interns had been amazing. In a field renowned for vicious competition, their intern class had managed to foster a spirit of cooperation. Lauren could share any work-related concern with the