P. Parrish - Heart of Ice

“Yes,” Chapman said. “They use blood or tissue to identify bodies.”

“Bones can also be used,” Louis said.

“How does it work?” Chapman asked.

“We would need some DNA that we were positive belonged to your sister for comparison, like hair from her brush,” Louis said. “That’s impossible in this situation.”

“But you said-”

“We can test the bones for what is called mitochondrial DNA,” Louis went on. “That is DNA passed on to children by their mothers. It’s exactly the same for each child. We can take DNA from you, and if it matches the DNA in the bones, we know the remains belong to your sister.”

Chapman stared at him. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you just tell me this when I walked in?”

Rafsky took the question. “It’s not as easy as Mr. Kincaid makes it out to be. The genetic material could be too degraded or contaminated. Also, testing takes a long time, and it is extremely expensive. With all due respect, Mr. Chapman, this is not something the state is prepared to do at this time.”

“You’re telling me I can’t bury my sister because the state is too damn cheap to do a test? You expect me to go back and tell my father that?”

“Mr. Chapman-”

Chapman cut Rafsky off with a raised hand, then looked at Flowers. “I want you to make this DNA test happen. I want to know for sure it’s Julie. I will pay for it. I don’t care what it costs.”

Flowers made it a point not to look at Rafsky before he spoke. “Yes, sir. I will get things in motion immediately.”

“What about the fetal bones?” Louis asked.

Chapman’s eyes swung to Louis.

“Do you also want to pay for testing the fetal bones?”

“Why? We know it’s Julie’s baby,” Chapman said.

“We should test for paternity,” Louis said.

“I’m confused,” Chapman said. “I thought you said you can only test for matches between siblings?”

“Paternity is different,” Louis said. “The fetal bones contain the DNA of Julie and of the baby’s father. And the father of that baby is our best suspect right now.”

Chapman hesitated. “I understand,” he said softly. “I know that you want to find the man who killed my sister. But you don’t understand what the last twenty years have done to us. All we wanted to do was find Julie. And now all we want to do is take her home.”

“Mr. Chapman-” Rafsky interrupted.

“You have to understand, Julie was my father’s. . everything, she was his princess,” Chapman said. “If he found out she had gotten pregnant, it would kill him.” He hesitated. “Maybe later.”

Louis knew Chapman meant after his father had died.

The room was silent for a long time. Then Flowers cleared his throat.

“Mr. Chapman, we appreciate your situation,” Flowers said. He picked up the Lansing State Journal. “The news about the bones has already gotten out. But you have my word that we will do everything we can to keep the pregnancy quiet.”

Chapman considered this for a moment, then nodded. “Thank you. Now, what do I need to do for this DNA test to identify my sister?”

“You can go to the clinic here on the island and give a sample,” Flowers said. “I’ll have one of my officers take you over now if you like.”

Chapman shook his head. “I really need to see to my father right now,” he said. “I’ll go tomorrow.” He started for the door, then turned back. “Thank you again for your discretion.”

With a quick look at Rafsky and Louis, he left.

Rafsky waited until the door had closed, then turned to Louis. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” he said. “You’ve hung that man’s hopes of identifying his sister on a one-in-a-million chance.”

Rafsky swung to Flowers. “And if you knew what the hell you were doing, you wouldn’t be taking advice from this loser.”

Louis straightened from his position leaning against the wall. “Wait a minute-”

“He lost his badge in this state,” Rafsky said. “You want to know why? He killed his own chief.”

Flowers’s eyes shot to Louis.

Rafsky picked up his files and started to the door. “You want to keep him here, fine. Just don’t turn your back on him.”

Rafsky left, leaving the door open. Louis shoved it closed.

Damn it. He was tired of having to defend himself every time he came back to this state. He was tired of feeling like an outcast in the place where his dream of being a cop had been born. And now that son of a bitch Rafsky. .

Flowers was staring at him, waiting.

“It was a complicated case,” Louis said.

“I’m listening,” Flowers said.

“We were after a cop killer. My chief was corrupt and out of control. I did what I had to do to save a boy’s life.”

Flowers dropped back into his chair and picked up the Lansing State Journal. Louis wondered if he was thinking about the shit-storm that lay ahead-or about what kind of man he had teamed up with.

“You’re leaving tomorrow, right?” Flowers asked, tossing the paper aside.

“Unless you want me gone now.”

Flowers leaned back in his chair. “I’ll take your word you did what you had to do with your chief,” he said.

Louis nodded. “I appreciate that.”

“So can you give me a few more days?”

Before Louis could answer, the phone rang. Flowers picked it up, grunted a few words, and hung up. “I have to go take care of something,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Flowers left, leaving the door open.

Louis sat down in the chair Chapman had been using. From the outer office came the sounds of radio traffic and the laughter of two officers sharing a joke. He started to reach for one of the Chapman folders but pulled over the Kingswood yearbook instead.

He opened it and began to look for her. So many pretty young faces, smiling into the camera and ready to get on with their lives. And then, there she was.

The black-and-white missing persons flyer that he had shown to the ferry employees and Edna Coffee hadn’t really registered in his consciousness.

But the photograph of Julie Chapman in front of him now did. The angles and symmetry that gave Ross Chapman his handsomeness were visible here but softened to beauty. Where Ross Chapman’s hazel eyes telegraphed strength, his sister’s darker ones conveyed vulnerability.

He hadn’t noticed before, but unlike the other girls Julie wasn’t looking into the camera. It was as if she was afraid the photographer was thinking she wasn’t as pretty as the others.

A few more days. .

Louis looked back up at the map of Michigan on the wall behind Flowers’s desk, focusing on the little dot of Echo Bay. He had promised Joe he would be in Echo Bay tomorrow. It was only a three-hour drive. Would Joe be willing to come to him?

But what about Rafsky? He didn’t want their past infecting his future with her. He’d have to tell her Rafsky was here, and he’d have to trust her.

He picked up the phone and dialed Echo Bay.

The front page of the St. Ignace News was spread out on the table before him. He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. When he opened his eyes the newspaper was still there. So was she.

Cooper Lange stared at the black-and-white photograph that dominated the top half of the front page.

Julie.

The headline above her photograph was big and black and ugly.

BONES FOUND IN ISLAND LODGE

He had been so shocked to see her picture when he opened the paper this morning that he hadn’t even read the story. He read it now, trying to go slow so his reeling mind could absorb the details.

There weren’t that many. A tourist had found bones in the Twin Pines lodge. Police were calling it a possible homicide. The lodge had been abandoned and boarded up for decades. .