of bones that were collected in adjacent grid units and laid them out on the table to see if she could make any matches. Most were skull fragments, probably belonging to the bodies that had already been processed by the MEs. She moved her sandbox to the table and began piecing bones together, wondering if any of the bones she touched belonged to Izzy Wallace’s son.
By the end of the day, she had parts of three skulls glued together and had matched several long bones that articulated together. In two of the partial skulls she had enough of the maxilla to compare with dental x-rays. She boxed them up and took them down one floor and over to the east wing to use the x-ray machine in the conservation lab. The x-rays didn’t take long.
Back in her lab she compared the film she took with the dental x-rays of possible victims. The first one she looked at was Daniel Wallace. It was a match. She felt heartsick. Even though she was fairly sure, based on the broken wrist bones, that Daniel Wallace was among the victims, she realized she had been holding a glimmer of hope that he had just run off and didn’t tell his parents. It’s a horrible thing when the best hope for your child is that he ran away. Diane wrote her reports and faxed them to the police unit in charge of coordinating the identifications.
Diane went into her office and sat down behind her desk. On it lay the report Neva had made after processing her car. She picked it up and started to thumb through it, then set it back down. She was tired of forensics for the day. She turned out the light and went home.
She sat in her car and looked at the front of her apartment building for several minutes. She scanned the street for cars she didn’t recognize. None. She walked down the sidewalk and up the steps. They were clean of snow and ice, but all the ground around was covered in about a foot of the white stuff. It was still sparkling white and pretty. She was almost to the door when someone stepped out and put a hand on her arm. She jumped back, ready to fight.
“Dr. Fallon, I’m sorry.”
It was Shawn Keith, her neighbor in the basement apartment. He was wrapped up in a brown sweater and muffler and was shivering.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you. I saw you drive up and I was waiting for you to come in. I wanted to apologize. I . . . you see . . . I had my mother with me.”
Diane stared at him a moment. What is he talking about? Then she realized—the carjacking, Blake Stanton.
“You mean that kid trying to take your car?”
He nodded. “I saw him walking to your car when I took off.”
“It’s all right, Professor Keith. You did the right thing. You called the police. They came and everything was fine.”
“I’ve been worried about it ever since it happened. I should have . . .”
“Done just what you did,” said Diane. “Really, you did the right thing.”
“That’s kind of you to say,” he said.
“It’s true. It looks like you need to get inside. You’re turning blue.”
“It is freezing out here. Thanks, Dr. Fallon.” He nodded his head up and down. “Thanks.”
Diane climbed the stairs to her apartment and unlocked the door, glad to be home. Just as she walked in, her telephone rang.
“Don’t let it be a murder,” she said to herself as she grabbed the phone and dropped to the couch.
“Diane, it’s Frank.”
Diane grinned to herself. She’d take Frank over a murder any day.
“Hello, Frank. It’s good to hear your voice. How are you?”
“I’m OK. I heard about Izzy Wallace’s son. I know Daniel. Is it true?”
“Yes. I’m afraid it is. I matched his dental records this evening. That, with the x-ray of his wrist, cinches it. But the family hasn’t been officially notified.”
Frank was silent a moment. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve been so grateful for finding Star. . . .”
“I know. I’ve had those same emotions. How is Star? How did her test go?”
“She said she thought she did well. She thinks she’s going to make above a three-point this semester.”
“Wow, good for her. When can I see you?” Diane hadn’t meant to say that. She was just feeling very lonely.
“How about tomorrow night?”
“I’d like that.”
“You sound beat.”
“It’s just all the bodies from the explosion and everything that goes