admit that he wasn’t quite comfortable with either last name.
Still, as Thomas, his oldest son, had pointed out to him the first time they’d discussed this unexpected twist in their lives, he was still the same person he’d been before the discovery had been unceremoniously dropped on all of them. He still had the same abilities and insights, still had the background and training for the profession he both loved and did so well. Just because the letters of his last name had changed—and not even his initials, he thought, amused—that didn’t diminish his previous accomplishments or minimize anything he would do from here on in.
He was still the same person, and whether that person was Italian or Scottish or some other ethnic nationality would not ultimately change anything.
Sean carefully separated the fragments of a shredded garment he’d been given to work with this morning in the hopes that he would be able to extract some DNA from the fibers. He worked slowly, methodically, the way he always did.
Sometimes wisdom didn’t come with age, he thought with a smile. Sometimes it was there all along, as in Thomas’s case. Unlike some of the others, this revelation about the hospital’s mix-up didn’t seem to faze his oldest son in the least.
“Speak of the devil,” Sean said as he looked up and saw his son and a woman he didn’t recognize walking into the lab.
Tom looked around. For once the lab appeared to be empty, except for his father, who headed up the crime-scene-investigation day unit. It had been his father’s recent transfer from a neighboring forensic lab that had started the whole identity-discovery process in the first place.
“There’s no one here. Just who were you speaking of the devil to?” Tom asked, amused.
“Just thinking out loud,” Sean answered dismissively. “Never mind that, what did you bring me?” As he asked, Sean looked at the attractive, very serious-looking redhead behind his firstborn.
Tom stepped to the side and gestured toward the detective with him. “This is Detective Kaitlyn Two Feathers. The case she was working on in New Mexico led her to Aurora, so here she is.” He held up the copy of the driver’s license photo they’d lifted out of the rental car agency’s files. “Do you think you can run this photograph through the facial-recognition program and find a name for us?”
Sean looked at the reproduced photograph dubiously. He noticed that, as with all state licenses, there was a name and address next to the photograph. “The one on here isn’t good enough?” he asked.
“It’s a fake,” Tom told him. “And so is the address.”
“And he has such an honest face, too,” Sean bemoaned wryly. He studied the reproduction and frowned. The picture was fuzzy at best. “This is the clearest photo you have of him?”
“It’s the only one we have of him,” Kait answered before Tom could. Sean gathered that the detective from New Mexico was not happy about that.
Sean took the information in stride. In general, he tended to be optimistic, even when the outlook was bleak. “Well, something is always better than nothing. I’ll see what I can do with this and give you a call later. Sooner if something comes up,” he promised. He began to put the sheet at the bottom of his considerable pile of work. “What’s he done?” he asked, mildly curious about a case that would have a detective crossing state lines.
There was restrained anger in Kait’s voice as she answered. “He abducted a little girl from in front of her house while she was playing with her friends.”
Sean didn’t comment on the information. He pulled the copy back out from the bottom of the pile and then placed it on top. Cases involving children always got his immediate attention. Someone had to champion the innocent.
“I’ll be in touch,” he promised with feeling.
“You’ve got all the numbers,” Tom replied as he turned away and left the lab.
“Think he’ll
Still, as Thomas, his oldest son, had pointed out to him the first time they’d discussed this unexpected twist in their lives, he was still the same person he’d been before the discovery had been unceremoniously dropped on all of them. He still had the same abilities and insights, still had the background and training for the profession he both loved and did so well. Just because the letters of his last name had changed—and not even his initials, he thought, amused—that didn’t diminish his previous accomplishments or minimize anything he would do from here on in.
He was still the same person, and whether that person was Italian or Scottish or some other ethnic nationality would not ultimately change anything.
Sean carefully separated the fragments of a shredded garment he’d been given to work with this morning in the hopes that he would be able to extract some DNA from the fibers. He worked slowly, methodically, the way he always did.
Sometimes wisdom didn’t come with age, he thought with a smile. Sometimes it was there all along, as in Thomas’s case. Unlike some of the others, this revelation about the hospital’s mix-up didn’t seem to faze his oldest son in the least.
“Speak of the devil,” Sean said as he looked up and saw his son and a woman he didn’t recognize walking into the lab.
Tom looked around. For once the lab appeared to be empty, except for his father, who headed up the crime-scene-investigation day unit. It had been his father’s recent transfer from a neighboring forensic lab that had started the whole identity-discovery process in the first place.
“There’s no one here. Just who were you speaking of the devil to?” Tom asked, amused.
“Just thinking out loud,” Sean answered dismissively. “Never mind that, what did you bring me?” As he asked, Sean looked at the attractive, very serious-looking redhead behind his firstborn.
Tom stepped to the side and gestured toward the detective with him. “This is Detective Kaitlyn Two Feathers. The case she was working on in New Mexico led her to Aurora, so here she is.” He held up the copy of the driver’s license photo they’d lifted out of the rental car agency’s files. “Do you think you can run this photograph through the facial-recognition program and find a name for us?”
Sean looked at the reproduced photograph dubiously. He noticed that, as with all state licenses, there was a name and address next to the photograph. “The one on here isn’t good enough?” he asked.
“It’s a fake,” Tom told him. “And so is the address.”
“And he has such an honest face, too,” Sean bemoaned wryly. He studied the reproduction and frowned. The picture was fuzzy at best. “This is the clearest photo you have of him?”
“It’s the only one we have of him,” Kait answered before Tom could. Sean gathered that the detective from New Mexico was not happy about that.
Sean took the information in stride. In general, he tended to be optimistic, even when the outlook was bleak. “Well, something is always better than nothing. I’ll see what I can do with this and give you a call later. Sooner if something comes up,” he promised. He began to put the sheet at the bottom of his considerable pile of work. “What’s he done?” he asked, mildly curious about a case that would have a detective crossing state lines.
There was restrained anger in Kait’s voice as she answered. “He abducted a little girl from in front of her house while she was playing with her friends.”
Sean didn’t comment on the information. He pulled the copy back out from the bottom of the pile and then placed it on top. Cases involving children always got his immediate attention. Someone had to champion the innocent.
“I’ll be in touch,” he promised with feeling.
“You’ve got all the numbers,” Tom replied as he turned away and left the lab.
“Think he’ll
Similar Books
