By the time I was back out in the lobby, I felt like I was batting a thousand. But there, directly in front of me across the lobby, was that other office—the County Recorder’s Office. I checked my watch. I had at least twenty minutes before my meet-up with Dr. Roz. So, since one good turn deserves another, instead of heading straight for the elevator I went to the Recorder’s Office. Linda Collins wasn’t out front at the counter, but someone there went back to get her.
“How’s it going, Mr. Beaumont?” she asked when she turned up a couple of minutes later. “What can I do for you?”
“I was wondering where Corky’s staying these days,” I told her. “Even if he doesn’t know me, I thought it might be nice if I dropped by, just to pay my respects.”
“He’s at a place called Holman House up in Phinney Ridge,” she told me. “It’s only a few blocks from their house. That way Gran can walk over to see him whenever she wants without having to wait for someone to drive her.”
“Great,” I said, making a note. “I don’t know when I’ll get around to it, but I’ll make it a point to do it soon. He was a big help to me when I was new in homicide. It’s the least I can do.”
“That’s wonderful,” Linda said. “And how’s that other thing going?”
“Making progress,” I told her. “In this business it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Chapter 16
HOSPITAL CAFETERIAS ARE NOT KNOWN FOR THEIR FINE dining, but if you need to eat and dash, they work. Dr. Roz was already at a table with a loaded tray in front of her by the time I arrived. I went through the line and grabbed a piece of pizza and a cup of coffee.
“Hey,” I said, taking a seat. “I thought I was supposed to buy.”
“You’re late,” she told me, pointing at her watch.
I had missed the target by only a couple of minutes, but she was right. “Sorry,” I muttered.
“It’s okay,” she replied with a smile. “I’ll catch you next time. What’s the story?”
“I need to create a DNA profile,” I said. “In actual fact I need three DNA profiles—in something of a hurry.”
“Rumor has it you’re a PI now,” she said. “Are you working a case?”
“Yup.”
“I just got promoted to be chief M.E.,” she said. “There are a number of old-timers around here who aren’t exactly thrilled at the idea.”
“Congrats on that promotion, by the way, but what are you saying?” I asked.
“As of this minute, I’m operating under a microscope. If I tried doing something off the books and it got back to the powers-that-be in county government, I’d be up the proverbial shit creek. So what’s going on?”
I told her. I had passed the story along often enough by now that I’d learned to boil it down to reasonable proportions. As per usual, in talking about Naomi and Athena’s situation, I left my own possible parental involvement out of the discussion.
“So I’ve got two cheek swabs along with the hairbrush, comb, and toothbrush I removed from Agnes Mayfield’s bathroom. With profiles on all of those in hand, I should be able to prove that Athena is Agnes’s biological granddaughter. As such, she could be in line to receive a portion of Agnes’s estate. So where can I go to get a deal on quick-and-dirty DNA profiling?”
“I might have an answer for you,” Dr. Roz said. “How do you feel about making charitable contributions?”
“Depends on the charity,” I said. “Why?”
“Have you ever heard of the Sholeetsa Project?”
That one stumped me. “The what?” I asked.
“You’re from around here, right?” Dr. Roz asked.
I nodded. “Seattle born and bred.”
“So you know about Chief Sealth?”
“Of course, I know Chief Sealth, aka Chief Seattle—the city’s Native American forefather. Why?”
“Sholeetsa was Chief Sealth’s mother. I guess that makes her Seattle’s foregrandmother.”
“Presumably the project you mentioned is named after her, but what is it?”
“As a cop, you surely know that crimes against Native Americans in general and Native American women in particular are vastly underreported and often go unsolved. One of the primary reasons for that is a lack of DNA profiles inside the Native American population. Even with DNA found at crime scenes, both victims and perpetrators often end up going unidentified.
“The Sholeetsa Project is a nonprofit, headquartered here in Seattle, that is trying to rectify that situation, and not just here in the Pacific Northwest either. They’re going