Page 55 of The Fragile Ones
“Actually, it’s not fabric. It’s a heavier material that’s consistent with something like a tarp—industrial strength. Sometimes you can find this type of fabric on all-weather gear made for skiing or extreme snow sports. Pricey stuff.”
Katie’s mind ran through a few different scenarios of tarps for cars, boats, the back of a flatbed truck, or pick-up trucks. Then an idea struck her on how the girls could have been transported.
“So you’re saying it has more plastic qualities than regular fabrics, such as upholstery or faux leathers?”
John nodded.
“Would the plastic of a body bag fit that description?”
“It’s possible, but the density is different.”
“But it’s possible?” she asked.
He nodded. “Definitely.”
John quickly searched through his computer file folders and opened one with several chemical compounds. He enlarged the specimens. “From the fingernail scrapings from both girls, Tessa was the only one that had anything that could be studied.” He angled the computer screen towards Katie and McGaven.
“What is it?” said Katie, scrutinizing the image.
“Dirt.”
“Dirt?”
John laughed. “I’m sorry, that’s a forensic joke.”
Katie stared at him blankly. He wasn’t usually one for witticisms.
“The local soil broke down into three major categories of pine trees: gray pine, foothill pine, and ponderosa pine.”
“We’re loaded with pine trees up around here,” she said.
“True, but the gray and foothill pine trees are thirty-six to forty-five feet high and are located in the eastern part of the mountains. And the standard ponderosa pines are huge. They grow over a hundred feet, sometimes two hundred feet tall, and spread out significantly.”
Katie thought about the trees and wasn’t sure if it was significant. The dirt and debris could have been embedded underneath Tessa’s fingernails from when she was at the swing, or even before. “Was there anything else on the girls, fluids, DNA, or anything that would guide us in the right direction?”
“Just the remnant of the pine trees, I’m afraid. I know you were hoping for more. Sorry.”
“What about Tessa’s identity through her DNA? We know that she wasn’t Megan’s biological sister.”
“It’s been difficult to track down—I’ve even made calls as well as emails. What we know is that she was reported missing when she was barely six months old. But since it was more than ten years ago, the information is vague. Jenni and Brad Homestead were the parents that filed the report from Austin, Texas from the First Memorial Hospital and Austin PD. But…”
“I knew there would be a but…”
“After a child stays missing for so long, the information goes into a larger database and updates the missing and abducted children computer catalog as well. And sometimes these large databanks don’t get updated properly, which is why we weren’t able to find any information until now.”
“Okay,” she said.
“The record for the parents, and the actual report, is missing.”
“What do you mean, missing?” Katie couldn’t believe it.
“Missing…gone…nowhere to be found.”
“What about Austin Police Department, or the hospital?”
“They have no record. Austin PD said they would continue to look through their files, but the hospital had some issues with their computer systems around that time.”
“Wait,” she said. “This is like running in circles and never finding a way out. How can this be? How can we have information from a DNA databank, and not the PD and hospital?”
