Page 87 of The Bone Code
“Not too bad.”
“No. Why am I here, detective?”
“The storm tossed a container ashore down by the battery.”
“Storms do that.” Smile holding but a little less warm. “They’re famous for it.”
“The container held two bodies.”
I watched Huger for signs of agitation. Muscle tensing. Flushing. A twitching lower lid. Saw nothing beyond the normal repugnance one would expect when faced with such news.
“Two kids,” Vislosky continued, giving minimal detail. “Both murdered.”
The balletic hand rose to Huger’s throat. “Sweet baby Jesus in heaven. What brand of monster kills children?”
Vislosky opened the folder. Took a moment to read something. Or to pretend to do so.
“I’m sure you’ve heard of forensic genealogy.”
Huger nodded, expression now somber and serious.
“We did that, sir. It turns out one of the victims is related to you.”
“What? That’s impossible! How?” Huger looked and sounded genuinely appalled.
“You know how it works, you being fluent in double helixes and all.”
“That wasn’t my meaning.”
“We extracted DNA from the victims’ bones—”
“Bones?”
“Yes.”
“How long were they dead?”
“I can’t reveal details of the investigation.”
“How did they die?”
“Same answer.”
“What can I do?” Huger’s aquamarine frown level on Vislosky.
“A critical first step in any homicide investigation is to ID the victims.”
“I have no idea who these poor dead children might be.” Huger looked and sounded sincerely mystified. If he was faking it, his performance was Oscar-level.
“Your DNA was in GEDmatch. Why?”
The manicured brows arced up, puzzled. “I had myself sequenced years ago. Of course. It’s what I do. I must have authorized use of my profile by that database.”
“Let’s talk family.”
“I’ll be honest with you, detective. It may seem cold, but family has never been important in my life.”
“You didn’t hatch from an egg.”
