(15)

In that same moment, I realized something else as well. That wasn’t my seahorse blanket. At first, I had seen what I wanted to see. Chief Dudley had described the blanket as having a pattern, and I had filled in the rest for myself because it all seemed to fit, and I guess when I thought of my mother and home, I thought of that blanket, though the blanket had been far warmer to me than she had.

Looking at it now, though, I realized the designs on this blanket were different. They might have been drooping white flowers, though I couldn’t be certain. But I was positive that the designs weren’t seahorses. At one time, it could have been any color. Now it was mud brown and delicate with decay.

“I know it’s a shock,” Jay said.

“No. It isn’t my mother.”

“You can tell from the bones?” Jay said.

“The skull. My mother had a cosmetic addition to her teeth. My father always hated it. She had a little silver star in the center of one of her front teeth. She was hippie-stylish in an expensive kind of way. You know, hoop earrings, miniskirts, all that. One of those stylish things she had was that silver star. It wasn’t a surface thing either. It was in the tooth. I guarantee you, this isn’t her. Also, when I heard about the blanket, I was certain that was my childhood blanket, but that’s not it.”

“It’s been a long time since you’ve seen it,” Ronnie said.

“That’s not it. I used to look at the seahorses on my blanket and pretend I was Aquaman, swimming between starfish while I roamed the seven seas. I loved that blanket, and this is not it. Those aren’t seahorses. Another thing, that jewelry, those shoes—that wasn’t her style.”

“It could be another blanket from home,” Jay said.

“Maybe. I don’t remember it, though.”

“She could have gone to a dentist, changed her style, and the blanket might be one you don’t remember. It’s been a long time.”

I felt relief, but it was an uneasy kind of relief, as if a shark had eaten only my foot, not my leg. A body had been in the trunk of my father’s car, so he still might have been a murderer, just not my mother’s murderer. And in the long run, if he could murder anyone, he could also have killed my mother. It was hard to find a place in my brain to rest a decision.

If he didn’t kill her, she would be in her late forties. Could she have stayed hidden that long?

The morgue drawers were pushed in, and we left out of there, went back to the main office, stood in front of the desk, and talked, Shirley listening. She went to the coffeepot in the corner and poured coffee for all of us. I guess that was part of her job, being an old-fashioned Girl Friday, knowing when someone needed something, and maybe that was just her personality.

We decided to sit in the chairs near the coffeepot and drink our coffee.

“That was a surprise,” Ronnie said.

“You’re sure about the star?” Jay said.

“It’s not her,” I said.

Ronnie touched my arm. “I don’t know if I should say sorry or congratulations on it not being your mom.”

“I don’t know the answer to that either.”

“Got a thing now, new thing, called DNA testing,” Jay said. “It’s not what it’s going to be, but it’s pretty amazing. Maybe we could have the doctor draw some blood from you to match against the bones if they still contain DNA. I don’t know much about it, but it might be more help in a few years than it is now. We could have it on record.”

“It’s not her.”

“It’s okay. You’re not obligated.”

“It’s not her.”

I filled out some papers that said I didn’t have reason to doubt that one set of bones was my father’s, but as for the bones in the car trunk, I was certain they weren’t my mother’s, and I wrote down why I felt that way. I didn’t refuse the DNA testing, but I didn’t agree to it either. I knew the bones in the box that were supposed to be my father were his, due to his ring, and I knew the other box contained the bones of someone who was not my mother. Could she have fixed the tooth? Okay. She had been gone a while, so that was possible. But she always seemed proud of it, possibly because Dad hated it.

Ronnie drove me back to the police station and my car. We sat out front of the station for a moment, listening to the car’s air conditioner hum.

“I don’t think Jay believed me.”

“His job is to be skeptical. Mine too, Danny. Ask the questions, and question the answers. In our line of work, we have to do that.”

“I know.”

“What will you do?”

“Think I’m going to stick around. Thought at first I’d come to check off some boxes. Father dead—check. Mother dead—check. Father a murderer—check. Then I’d go home. To a home I plan to sell. Now all I know is I’m going to stay for a time.”

“I like that idea.”

“Do you?”

“Sure. I mean, you’d like to see my parents if you’re staying, or even if you decide to leave, right? You didn’t plan to come here and not say hey to us.”

“That was next on my list.”

“I’ll give you my phone number. We’ll set something up that will suit all of us. Maybe a meal at their house.”

“Live in the same place?”

“They do. It’s a little more crowded than it used to be. They have taken in a lot of items over the years, and they’re beginning to accumulate.”

“Still a boxing ring in the garage?”

“It’s smaller than before. Like I said, they have more junk.”

“Do you still live there?”

“With Mom and Dad? Oh, heavens no. I’m all grown up, Danny.”

She took a pad and pen from her shirt pocket, leaned the pad against the dash, wrote down her number, and gave it to me.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’ll call, right?”

“Absolutely.”