Page 116 of The Bone Code
“What are you, twelve?”
“Tell me about Lena?”
“The kid had a tough go of it.”
“Start at the beginning.”
“I don’t know the beginning.”
“Ryan, it’s too early—”
“There’s no birth certificate for a Lena Chalamet in Quebec or in any other province, at least none that I’ve been able to locate. I suspect she may not have been born in Canada.”
“Any immigration record?”
“No.”
“What about Mélanie and Ella?”
“Same for them. No paper trail at all.”
“That’s weird.”
“It is.”
“So, whatdoyou know?”
“In 2002, a Lena Chalamet went under the care of Direction de la Protection de la Jeunesse.”
“Child protective services.”
“Oui. She was placed in thefamille de accueilsystem.”
“Foster care.”
“Oui, again.”
“How old was she?”
“Two.”
Born in 1999. That tracked with my estimated age for the older vic in Charleston.
“A quick scan of Lena’s DPJ file—”
“How did you get access without a warrant?”
“My charm and boyish good looks.”
Again, my eyes rolled.
“Seems the kid was a chronic runaway, bounced from family to family, eventually dropped off the radar.”
“When?”
“Around 2015.”
“DPJ just quit checking on her?”
