Oh, and female. They had to be female.

Female-like the dead girls. I shook my head and stared down at the folder. Putting the deaths to the back of my mind wasn’t going to be easy, but somehow I had to-interviewing artists was as good a way as any. Resolved to the necessity, I heaved out a breath and flipped open the folder to see what my day had in store.

There were four applications inside, each with a time noted in the margin. My first was in ten minutes, a recent high school graduate with nothing more exciting to offer than a couple of art classes-and he was male. I shuffled his application to the side. I hadn’t told Mandy about my gender preference for employees. I could do what I wanted, but I couldn’t be obvious about it, which meant I’d have to interview any men who looked qualified. And while I didn’t have to give them serious consideration, it had to look as if I did.

The next two were also male. One had twenty years of experience in one of the top shops in Miami. I frowned. Not hiring him would be hard to justify. Tapping my pencil against the table, I said a silent prayer to Artemis that he arrived reeking of booze.

Number three had only a couple years of tattoo experience. The woman could surely beat that.

Thankfully, she did-ten years of experience, numerous awards, and recommendations out of this world. Ding, ding, ding. We had a winner; now all I had to do was get through the other interviews as quickly as possible, making note of all the men’s failings, and I’d be suitably protected from any potential legal problems.

At twelve thirty on the nose, my first interview arrived. He looked around nervously, obviously taking note when Mother stopped behind the reception desk dressed in Lycra shorts and a snug-fitting sport top. The old school’s full-size gym was in a second building next door, but Mother had claimed a room in the basement for her weights. She was down there more often than not and had a better body than most twenty-year-old human aerobics instructors. The artist I was interviewing noticed. He was also young, cute, and easy to mark off my list without a trace of guilt.