Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 Read online

  “You told your mother you were meeting with me and she told you about animal sex?” he asked.

  “No!” Ava glared at him. “You don’t understand.”

  “I don’t,” he said.

  He got out of the pool. Knowing she loved the hot tub, he turned on the bubbles, stepped in and gestured for her to join him. She crossed her arms and shifted her hip at his manipulation. He gestured again. Too tired and emotional to put up a fight, she got in the hot tub and sat across from him.

  “Are you saying that you’d like to have animal sex?” he joked.

  She glared at him. Shrugging, he smiled. They rested in the warm bubbling water for a few minutes.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked.

  “Good,” Seth said. “Ready. Sandy gets to come home from the hospital today.”

  “Will you have time to see Rachel?” Ava asked.

  “I’m not missing my Rachel time. No way, no how,” Seth said. “I’ve been there every day at two o’clock since she was born. I won’t miss it today either.”

  Even upset, Ava had to smile at his dedication to the tiny baby.

  “What’s really going on?” Seth asked.

  “I don’t like it that my mother knows more about you than I do,” Ava said. “My mother and Francine!”

  “I’ve been around a lot of blocks. People think they know things about me.”

  “I don’t like it,” Ava said. “Makes me feel stupid and small.”

  “What matters is what happens, right here and right now,” Seth said. “I want to sit in this hot tub with you… spend my morning with you.”

  “But these people know you,” Ava said. “I don’t know you.”

  “I don’t think we ever know another person,” Seth said. “Not really. People who think they know other people are fooling themselves. We can only know this moment and ourselves. Even then…”

  Ava nodded when Seth shrugged.

  “Let’s enjoy today… tonight… together,” Seth said. “We’ll see what tomorrow looks like. You’re off tomorrow?”

  Ava nodded.

  “Would you like to spend tomorrow with me?” Seth asked.

  “Did you really go to college twice?” Ava asked.

  Seth raised his eyebrows at her. Shaking his head, he got out of the hot tub. He grabbed a towel and left the pool room. He walked across the yard and opened the sliding door to the kitchen where he turned on the coffee pot. He went upstairs to shower. He had finished his shower when Ava appeared in the bathroom. He wrapped the towel around his midsection and continued getting ready.

  “I want to know you,” Ava said.

  “Then know me,” he said. “I’m not my history. I’m me, here and now. Anything else is just a resume that strangers use to evaluate your value.”

  “But…” Ava shook her head at the stubborn look on his face.

  “Are you happy? Right now. Right this moment,” he said.

  “I’m confused.”

  “Are you enjoying our time together?” Seth asked.

  Ava nodded. Seth started shaving.

  “That’s all you need.” He looked at her in the mirror. “When you stop enjoying our time together, you’ll let me know?”

  Ava nodded. Seth washed the shaving cream from his face. His face was in a hand towel when she said, “But…”

  He turned to look at her.

  “What if it’s not enough for me?” Ava said.

  “Is it enough for you?” Seth asked. “For you – not your mother, not your friends, not Francine, not the man on the moon.”

  Ava thought for a moment then nodded.

  “It’s a big day,” Seth said. “Your first meeting with a lead detective. Your first designer gown. Your first music auction. Your first animal sex…”

  Ava burst out laughing. Seth smiled. He touched her face and went into the bedroom to get dressed. She took a fast shower. Wrapped in a towel, she joined him in the bedroom.

  “I was thinking of leaving a few of my things here,” Ava said.

  “There’s plenty of space,” Seth said.

  “I’ve been here every night since the mansion,” she said. “It would be nice to have a few of my things.”

  “Do you want your own room?”

  Ava nodded.

  “Let’s look at rooms tomorrow when we have time,” Seth said. “Right now, I need to get to a work breakfast with the investigative team.”

  He kissed her and left the room. Ava sat down on the bed. For a moment, she wanted to cry her eyes out. She had no idea why she was so confused and weird this morning.

  She just…

  ...wanted Seth.

  Smiling at her own childishness, she wrapped the towel around her wet hair and lay down. She grabbed Seth’s pillow and fell sound asleep.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday morning — 10:30 A.M.

  Seeing her Dad’s car pull into the Castle driveway, Noelle ran all the way down Race Street and into the Castle. She’d taken Buster on a walk to kill time until her mom, Sandy, came home from the hospital. Everybody was off school and work today to celebrate Sandy’s arrival. With Buster on her tail, Noelle ran up the Castle stairs and into the apartment.

  No one was there!

  “Hello?” Noelle asked.

  “We’re in here,” her Dad’s voice came from the back.

  Noelle ran toward his voice. Nash, Teddy, Charlie, Sissy, and Dad were standing in the hall. She skidded to a halt. She didn’t want to appear hasty or stupid or…

  “Noelle!” Sandy exclaimed. “There you are!”

  Noelle threw herself into Sandy’s open arms. The sheer bliss of being loved and loving overwhelmed the girl. Her eyes dripped tears.

  “You’re finally home,” she whispered.

  “I’m finally home,” Sandy said.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Monday mid-day — 11:00 A.M.

  “Detective O’Malley?” the lead forensics officer asked. “Have you met the junior Forensics team?”

  Seth held his hand out and was introduced to Ava and her lab technicians. Ava was so nervous she felt like she was shaking. Her lab technicians sat down around her. They were as ready and prepared as they possibly could be.

  “They’re young,” the lead forensics officer said. “But good. Technician Alvin, let’s start with the good news and move to the interesting.”

  Ava cleared her throat.

  “With the DNA from the blood collected by my team after the Sand Creek incident, we’ve been able to match alien DNA found on the Saint Jude necklace worn by the boy Jeffy as well as DNA from two of the trophies.”

  Nervous, Ava cleared her throat again.

  “Technician Alvin and her team collected blood from the platform at Sand Creek and off the motor bike. They were able to match the blood samples to other samples collected by CSU,” the lead forensics officer said. “They have the clearest chain of custody on the samples Technician Alvin and her team collected.”

  “You have the killer’s DNA,” Seth said. “Fantastic.”

  “We believe so, Detective O’Malley,” Ava said. “We haven’t yet found a match in the Federal or Colorado DNA databank. We have, however, connected this particular DNA to at least one other crime scene.”

  “What crime scene?” Seth said.

  “We cannot determine what the perpetrator was doing at the other crime scene or when he was there,” the lead forensics officer said. “We can only say that he was there.”

  “Where?”

  “His DNA was found in the vehicle Bonita O’Malley was driving when she and her children died,” the lead forensics officer said.

  “His DNA…” Seth said. “Where?”

  “We were able to find the vehicle in a salvage yard,” the lead forensics officer said. “According to the owner of the yard, the vehicle has been in his possession since the accident. Technician Alvin and her team have collected a variety of forensics material from the car including the Sand Creek perpetrator’s DNA.”<
br />
  “Where?” Seth repeated.

  Technician Alvin has created this schematic,” the lead forensics officer said.

  Ava pushed a cartoon drawing of the car across the table. They found the killer’s DNA on the seat between the car seats as well as on the steering wheel. Ava’s eyes furtively scanned Seth for his reaction. He seemed blank and emotionless.

  “But you can’t confirm chain of custody,” Seth said.

  “Or when he was there,” the lead forensics officer said.

  “It’s something,” Seth said. “We haven’t found any more bodies. Based on the trophies, we’re missing at least twelve.”

  “Yes sir,” the lead forensics officer said. “Our senior team has been working overtime to process all of the forensics gathered at the Sand Creek site, the barn and the mansion’s chapel. We’re optimistic that we will find something that will allow us to find the remaining bodies.”

  “Thank you for your time and hard work,” Seth said. “The family and I are meeting with the Coroner to go over what they learned from exhuming my… Bonita O’Malley and her children’s bodies. I’ll share this information.”

  Seth moved to get up.

  “There’s something else,” the lead forensics officer said. “Technician Alvin and her team have found something of interest.”

  Seth sat back in his chair.

  “They have DNA evidence that links the victims,” the lead forensics officer said.

  “That’s not correct,” Seth said. “There is no DNA link between the victims. We also haven’t found any alternative evidence that links the victims.”

  “Technician Alvin and her team have discovered evidence of a link, sir,” the lead forensics officer said.

  Seth raised his eyebrows. His demeanor was somewhere between ‘prove it’ and what are you talking about. Ava decided to dive right in.

  “Sir, you know that there are two kinds of DNA,” Ava said.

  “Sperm and egg?” Seth asked.

  “Sort of,” Ava’s mouth was dry. She looked over at the lead forensics officer. He gave her an encouraging nod. “There’s DNA that defines the cell’s function and DNA that helps run the cell. The DNA for the cell can only come from the egg because the egg is the original cell.”

  “Okay,” Seth said.

  “Why don’t you draw it?” the lead forensics officer said.

  Ava nodded to one of her lab technicians. The woman jumped to her feet and ran to the white board. She drew a large circle with a smaller circle and a kidney bean shaped object inside.

  “The DNA we usually track, what’s in the database, is from the nucleus,” Ava said.

  The lab technician drew a bunch of squiggly lines in the smaller circle inside the circle.

  “The cell needs power to function,” Ava said. “Every cell needs energy. That energy is created in the mitochondria.”

  The lab technician pointed to the kidney bean shape inside the circle.

  “The mitochondria have their own DNA,” Ava said.

  The scientists all looked at Seth to see if he understood. The lab technician drew squiggly lines inside the kidney bean shape. Seth nodded.

  “Because it’s handed intact from mother to child, in an egg, this mitochondrial DNA changes very little, if at all, over time,” Ava said. “We were looking at the DNA from the victims and… well… The victims’ mitochondrial DNA are identical within a ninety-five percent margin of error. All but one.”

  “The victims have the same mother?” Seth asked.

  “The same maternal line,” the lead forensics officer said. “They have a common female ancestor.”

  “Really?” Seth asked.

  “Yes sir,” Ava said. “We were so surprised that we tested each other to make sure the test worked like we thought it did. I have the same mitochondrial DNA as the victims but these guys don’t share it. You don’t have it, Detective O’Malley, nor does the Coroner or any of her staff including the other forensic officers. Bonita O’Malley and her children all have the same mitochondrial DNA.”

  “Which victim doesn’t have this DNA?”

  “The male skeleton identified as Mark Gilmore,” Ava said.

  “You’re sure?” Seth asked.

  “Yes. You asked us to test the children, Katherine Roper Marlowe and Patrick Hargreaves? We did a variety of blood tests and a DNA test,” Ava said. “Patrick has the mitochondrial DNA but Katherine does not.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “We believe most of the victims, and Patrick Hargreaves, are from families that have lived in the Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico region for a long time,” the lead forensics officer said. “For example, Bonita O’Malley’s mother’s family has lived in the front range for over a hundred years. The child, Patrick Hargreaves? His mother’s family moved here when Denver was a fort.”

  “Razor?” Seth asked.

  “Roger Hampden has identical mitochondrial DNA,” the lead forensic officer said. “Your Charlie does not.”

  “But Charlie’s Dad’s family is from Denver,” Seth said.

  “Doesn’t matter, sir,” Ava said. “This DNA can only come from his mother. Charlie’s mother is from Cleveland.”

  “Seriously?” Seth couldn’t get over his surprise. “And you came up with this yourself?”

  “Technician Alvin and her team did sir,” lead forensics officer said. “She thought it was worth testing. Since the lead forensic team is overloaded, they encouraged her team to pursue this line of inquiry.”

  “We were struggling to find a reason why some victims were picked over others,” Ava said. “Now we know.”

  “Does the killer have this mito-whatever?” Seth asked.

  “No,” Ava said.

  “No?” Seth shook his head. “How would he know about the mito-whatever?”

  “That’s the million dollar question,” Ava said.

  “Wow,” Seth said. “This is… brilliant. I’ll share this with the investigative team. And… Thanks.”

  Ava and her lab technicians stood while Seth and the lead forensics officer left the room. When the door closed, they cheered. Ava looked at her watch.

  “I have to run,” Ava said.

  She hugged each member of her team and raced out of the building. She had a full afternoon of waxing, hair appointments, and nails to get ready for tonight. She was all the way to her car before she let out her own little cheer.

  Score one for Technician Alvin!

  CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & THIRTY-TWO

  Probed

  Monday afternoon – 2:30 P.M.

  “Where's Mommy?” Katy asked as she climbed into the Lexus SUV. “Monday Mommy. That's how it always, always goes.”

  “You and I need to talk,” Jacob said.

  “About what?” Katy blinked her big dark eyes at her father. Jacob snapped the safety belt to her car seat and closed her door.

  “Very funny,” Jacob said as he got into the driver's seat. “Did you think I wouldn't notice that you were avoiding me?”

  “You've been working, working, working.” Katy demonstrated his life with a flail of her arms. “Granddaddy said you were making up for some people who went away. It doesn't make any sense to me but that's what he said.”

  “I've been covering two sites for some jerks who quit,” Jacob said.

  “Good riddance. That's what Granddaddy said,” Katy said. “They were mean to Noelle so I hate them.”

  “Their daughters were mean to Noelle,” Jacob said.

  Jacob started the car and drove away from the Marlowe school. Katy waved to Paddie as they left the parking lot.

  “Where are we going?” Katy asked.

  “To the shop,” Jacob said. “So we can talk.”

  “Oh,” Katy said.

  Ever dramatic, Katy’s face became the mask of a trapped prisoner. Jacob laughed and Katy laughed at her joke. They drove to Detroit Street and into the driveway of Jacob's wood shop. Jacob pulled the SUV into a bay and closed the do
or. He helped Katy out of her car seat and took her back to the office he used for his building rehab business. He got out some milk and a tray of warm brownies. Katy clapped her hands.

  “Are you avoiding me because of the dragon and snakes?” Jacob asked. “It’s pretty scary for a little girl.”

  “No Daddy,” Katy said. “You don't scare me. Ever. Paddie either.”

  “You don't want to talk about moving objects?” Jacob asked.

  Katy gave him a solemn nod.

  “Why?” Jacob asked. “I'm the one person in the world who could understand.”

  “Girls aren't supposed to move things,” Katy said.

  “They haven't,” Jacob said.

  “Auntie Valerie can,” Katy said.

  “What do you mean?” Jacob asked.

  “She can make things come to her,” Katy said.

  “What things?”

  “Anything she wants. Movie jobs, Mike, pretty dresses, whatever,” Katy said. “That's what Naomi says anyway. Naomi says that her sister was the same way and that they never thought about it as like their dad or you. But it's the same.”

  Jacob squinted at his mother's wisdom coming through his daughter.

  “When did you start...?” Jacob wasn't sure how to ask the question.

  “I used to hide my old Daddy's keys. He was mean and it made him crazy not to find his keys,” Katy said. “Always, always. But he started to hurt Mommy because he couldn’t find his keys so I stopped. For a long time, I stopped. Then I saw you do it and I thought maybe it was okay if I did it for big things.”

  “Like dragons?” Jacob asked.

  “And sand castle tunnels,” Katy said.

  “That's how Paddie knows you can do it,” Jacob said.

  Katy nodded.

  “But it's a secret,” Katy said. “He will never ever tell anyone, ever.”

  “You don't move things in pubic?” Jacob asked.

  “Never.” Katy's tiny hands went around her belly. “I don't want to be probed.”

  “Probed?”

  “By government people,” Katy said. “Paddie saw a show about being probed and told me that I might be probed by government people.”

  Katy nodded.