He grinned. “True. I’m sure the kids had fun with you.”
“Actually”—she frowned—“could I take Aeneas with me next time I visit a classroom? I’m not sure they had fun. They looked confused most of the time, and their teacher had to interpret my words for them.”
“Yes, you can take the dog next time.”
That would be a relief. “I’ve learned that children like animals and warm to the person with them instantly.”
“Which is why many predators have animals,” Huck said, somberly.
“Yeah, I thought of that, too,” Laurel said. “I wouldn’t use Aeneas in a predatory manner, of course.”
Huck chuckled. “Of course. For now, why don’t we bug Dr. Ortega again?”
“We shouldn’t,” she said. “I just spoke to his assistant this morning. Is there any chance Pastor John has returned from his snowmobile trip?”
“No. He probably won’t return until Sunday night, from what we’ve been told. Unfortunately, nobody knows the route they took since it was some sort of unstructured ride.”
How unfortunate. She aspired to expedite the work on this case. Had Pastor John truly engaged in an adulterous affair with Mrs. Bearing? Laurel walked past Huck and turned toward her office. “We need to speak with him.”
“True. I also want to interview the Bearing family, but they’re off grieving somewhere unknown. I called the sheriff again, and he claims he doesn’t know where they are, but I’m not sure I believe him. The BOLO hasn’t helped any.”
“That’s unfortunate,” Laurel noted. The mayor had two sons: one an adult attorney and the other a teenager still living at home.
Huck scrubbed both hands down his face. “I know the mayor identified the vic as his wife, but I saw the face of that victim. There was a lot of ice and damage, and even the bones seemed crushed—is there a chance it wasn’t her?”
“That’s unlikely. I didn’t recognize the wool coat, not that I know Mrs. Bearing very well. But my first thought when they turned over the body was that it was her, and I believe her wedding ring looked familiar.” Laurel crossed around her desk and lifted the phone to dial the ME’s office.
“Dr. Ortega,” he answered.
Laurel blinked. “Oh. Hi, Dr. Ortega. I’m surprised to have reached you personally.”
“Oh, Snow. Yes. Agent Snow, I was just going to call you.”
She put him on speakerphone. “I’m here with Captain Huck Rivers. Do you have any news for us?”
“I wanted to let you know that I will be performing autopsies on both bodies you sent to me later today.”
“Oh, good,” she said.
He sneezed. “I have positively identified both victims. The second one is, not surprisingly, Teri Bearing. We had her prints on file. Also, we managed to run the DNA of the first victim, even though I haven’t completed the autopsy yet.”
Huck straightened in the doorway. “What did you find?”
“I found a match to you, Captain Rivers,” Dr. Ortega said.
Laurel stiffened. “Please extrapolate.”
“I analyzed the DNA samples from the victim and Captain Rivers using short tandem repeat markers across numerous loci, including analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences.”
That made sense. “Those are passed from mother to offspring, correct?” Laurel confirmed.
“Correct,” Dr. Ortega affirmed.
“What is your conclusion?” She wanted to hold her breath.
The sound of papers rustling came over the line. “The DNA analysis conclusively supports the assertion that Captain Rivers is the biological son of the first victim. The probability of maternity is 99.99 percent.”
Huck didn’t move. He didn’t even shift his weight.
