Forensic Heiress, Evidence Doesn’t Lie, But You Do

On the day the Vance family brings Valerie home, their other daughter Chloe throws herself down the grand staircase and accuses Valerie of pushing her. The security cameras have just stopped working. Valerie, raised by a homicide detective and a forensic pathologist, pulls on nitrile gloves and reads the scene: the wound is too clean, the blood too bright, and it smells of poultry. She is top of her class in Forensic Science and Criminalistics at the Police Academy.

Twenty-two years ago Valerie was stolen from her bassinet and left near a bus terminal. Now her biological mother Eleanor wants her back, while her brother Ethan warns her not to take what isn't hers. Chloe stages a second fall, and Ethan swings at Valerie, who restrains him and keeps examining the evidence.

Wounds preserve the shape of the weapon, and blood never lies. The people around her do.