Mariah Stewart - Cry Mercy

“I guess that will take a while to generate any activity. Let's move on to the next item on the agenda.” She picked up her list. “Aaron. First thing this morning, I reread the article about him in a magazine. I printed it out-it's here somewhere…” She thumbed through a folder that had been sitting to her left. “Here it is. Take a look at this. The kid's a genius. How he figured this out step-by-step and made it all work out is just beyond me.”

Nick took the file and began to read to himself.

“I'm running downstairs for coffee.” Emme stood and stretched. “Can I bring you a refill?”

“That would be great, thanks.” Engrossed in his reading, Nick handed her his mug without looking up. “You're right, this kid is really sharp.”

She returned some minutes later, a mug in each hand.

“Trula is feeling philosophical today,” she said as she placed both mugs on the table.

“What do you mean?” Nick asked.

Emme pointed to his mug. “‘Define the moment or the moment will define you,’” she read. “Walt Whitman.”

She turned hers around. “ ‘Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.’ John Lennon. Trula has a penchant for coffee mugs that have messages printed on them. She has dozens of them.”

“They all have famous quotes on them?”

“Some do. Those run from Nietzsche to quotes like, ‘Talk is cheap because the supply exceeds the demand.’ Others are just plain silly. Like, ‘I see dumb people.’ Or, ‘You say bitch like it's a bad thing.’ That sort of thing.” Emme smiled. “You just never know what you're going to get.”

He took a sip and sighed. “Who cares what the coffee's in when it's this good?”

“That's pretty much my feeling, too.” She sat down. “Did you finish the article?”

“I did. You're right. This kid is beyond clever. Swabs his own DNA, sends it off to have it tested at one of those online genealogy DNA-testing services, has it matched up to anyone in the same paternal line whose DNA is on file. Apparently, there are a hell of a lot of people who have supplied their DNA to these genealogy websites. There's a place called ShakeYour-FamilyTree.com that has been running a project to collect DNA samples for the past three years, and now has a huge database available, and they're not the only place on the Internet you can go to find DNA registries. For less than three hundred dollars, you can find out if anyone matching your DNA is on record there. Anyway, this kid gets a couple of names back-their Y chromosomes were close enough to suggest they had the same very close male relative.”

“Well, father, grandfather, great-grandfather. A brother or a cousin wouldn't have done it.”

“Right. So he gets four names back, all with the same last name. So he takes that name, and the information his mother got from the clinic where she purchased the sperm, and he puts two and two and two together and gets his donor.”

“Just by knowing his donor's place and date of birth and what degree he earned in college, he found the guy. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack. He goes to one of those online search sites, buys the names of every man who was born on that day in that place, and bingo-there's one with the name he's looking for.”

“It sounds as if his donor wasn't too upset about being found. More like he was as impressed as we are by this kid's smarts. Enough that he and Aaron have actually been able to develop a real relationship.” Nick handed the article back to Emme. “Nice to see there was a happy ending there.”

“It makes me wonder how far Belle really got with this. I'd love to know if she was successful in getting a name,” Emme said. “And if she did, did she tell any of the other kids?”

“You think they'd admit it to you, if she did?”

“I like to think someone would.”

“Maybe they're afraid you'll hassle the guy if you know who he is. Or maybe they want to contact this guy themselves and are afraid you'll scare him off. Or there could be reasons only a kid would think up.”

“So if no one admits to knowing, it could be that she didn't tell anyone. Or it could be that she didn't find him.” Emme took another sip of coffee, and found it had cooled. She drank it absently. “Supposing she did find him, but he was one of the donors who really didn't want to be found.”

“I've thought about that.” Nick leaned an elbow on the table and rubbed his chin. “Of course, that would mean that this kid at the museum was just a coincidence, right? Just some kid who thought she was cute and wanted to get a little closer. That sort of thing happens all the time.”

“I don't know how he fits in,” she admitted, “or, as you suggest, if he fits in to the rest of this at all. Generally speaking, I don't like coincidences-most cops don't-but that doesn't mean they don't occur.”

They heard a clicking sound coming from her computer.

She turned the screen slightly to eliminate the glare. “A message from Will and Wayne.”

She read it aloud.

“Belle is really missing? Are you sure? This isn't a joke?”

Her fingers flew across the keyboard.

No joke, guys. She's really missing. When did you last hear from her?

A minute later, the reply.

We think probably around Christmas?

We never got to go to the get-togethers because they were too far away. We only met her one time, she came to see us last fall. She's really pretty. All our sisters are pretty-Ali sent us some pictures from a get-together they had. We wish we had something to tell you but we don't.

Emme turned to Nick. “That's pretty much what I expected from those two. Ali said they weren't real active on the message board and they didn't even have cell phones.”

Another click. Another message, this one a private email.

Miss Caldwell-Lori and I are shocked to learn that Belle has been missing all this time! We have both been away at school and haven't been on the board too much recently because of exams. We both are willing to meet with you whenever, wherever you want. Are you near CT? If you're close by, maybe we can meet partway? Henry Carroll-Wilson

“His name is Henry Carroll-Wilson?” Nick frowned. “For real? Wasn't Henry Wilson the name of Dennis the Menace's cranky old neighbor?”

Emme laughed. “Could be.”

She typed a reply email and hit send. “Just to let him know where we are and that we can meet him halfway or drive up there, whatever it takes. Every one of these kids we talk to could conceivably bring us one step closer to finding out what happened that day.”

Henry's reply was immediate.

Lori and I can drive to Philadelphia this weekend and meet you there. Is tomorrow okay with you?

When Emme hesitated, Nick asked, “Something wrong?”

“I'm kind of tied up this weekend.”

“Heavy date?”

“Yeah. With a Realtor and a four-year-old. We're still looking for a house to rent.” She thought for a moment. “Even if I schedule the Realtor for one day instead of both, I still have Chloe. I don't really have anyone to watch her, except Trula, and I don't want her to think I'm taking advantage of her. It's enough she has her company after school until I finish up in my office.”

“Why don't you bring her along?”

“I don't want her hearing the kind of stuff we'll be talking about.”

“We can all meet at the zoo, then I can take Chloe to see some of the animals while you talk to Lori and Henry.”

“I can't impose on you like that. She's a great kid, don't get me wrong, but she'll talk your ears off. You'll be deaf for a week.”

“She's that loud?”

“Not loud, just constant.”

“It's okay. I won't mind. My life's been kind of quiet for a while now.” He smiled weakly. “It's been a really long time since I've been to a zoo.”