I got into the forensic field by accident.

I was working in the toxicology lab at the medical school in Portland, and the state police crime lab was upstairs. They’d come down and ask for assistance with blood alcohol or toxicity, so I got to know them.

When they got a grant to expand the lab, I decided I’d just as soon not be a medical tech the rest of my life. After that it was on-the-job training. I went to the FBI academy for training in hairs and fibers, instrumental analysis for paint chips—all that trace evidence.