Acknowledgments

I can’t express strongly enough my appreciation to Dr. O.C. Smith, Assistant Medical Examiner for Shelby County, Tennessee, who invariably points me in productive directions and keeps me on track. I’ve also benefited greatly from the counsel of Dr. Jerry Francisco, Medical Examiner for Shelby County, and Drs. Hugh Berryman and Steve Symes, anthropologists with the Shelby County Regional Forensic Center. Much of my knowledge about hair was obtained during a pleasant chat with Dr. Walter Birkby, anthropologist at the University of Arizona Human Identification Laboratory, as we sat in the New Orleans Hyatt Regency’s Mint Julep Lounge during a recent forensic sciences meeting. The kindness shown me by the Memphis Police Department’s homicide division made the writing of this story considerably easier than it might otherwise have been. I’m particularly grateful to Sgt. Jack Ruby for allowing me to accompany him to a prospective homicide scene one morning well before dawn, and to Sgt. Paul Sheffield, whose enthusiasm, encyclopedic knowledge, and knack for giving me exactly what I need are a writer’s dream. Thanks also to Dr. Frank Minyard, Orleans Parish Coroner, and his secretary, Ann Black; Capt. James Rondell, New Orleans Harbor Police; Dr. Jim Mahan; Dr. Randy Nelson; Dr. Jack Enter; Dr. William Battle; Dr. Bob Burns; Mary Lindsey; Ellen Karle; Les Seago; Lori Krueger, Evelyn Brown; Sal Balsamo; and Nancy Burris. Any mistakes are mine.