Kidnapped

“Okay, so this is why Vince and Reed were joking around about the tooth fairy.”

“Yes. These teeth fall out and then the permanent teeth emerge. Except these two aren’t from the same child, because they are from exactly the same position in the mouth-left front teeth. They could not be from the same child, because every child has only one such tooth in his or her mouth.”

“Could one of them be from Luke Serre?”

“He disappeared two years ago, at the age of three. If he lost one of his front teeth then, it would most likely have occurred through trauma. That doesn’t seem to be the case here. Some children lose their baby teeth by natural means as early as five-so if he is alive, it is possible, yes, that out of all the children on Earth, he is one of the two who once owned these teeth. But it seems unlikely to me that two years after he went missing, five-year-old Luke would take his tooth and another child’s tooth, then make a trek some distance behind the fences surrounding the Sheffield Estate, to the place where his father’s dismembered remains were buried, and leave those teeth in that place before hiking out again.”

“I see what you mean. Until recently, the only person who knew where the remains were buried was Gerry Serre’s killer, and the killer really would have no reason to take them there, either.”

“I agree. Not impossible, but unlikely.”

“Any chance of finding out who those teeth belonged to?”

“I don’t know if they’ll be able to run DNA on them or not. I strongly suspect Sheila got these teeth from a dentist.”

“Why would a dentist give them to her?”

“Training.”

“You mean for dogs?”

“Yes. Teeth are among the least objectionable materials to train with. Cadaver dog and search dog trainers often have a network of doctors, dentists, pathologists, and others who understand that the handlers need human biological materials for training purposes. It’s completely understandable, but not always done on a strictly legal basis, so most SAR dog owners would prefer not to talk to anyone about what’s in their freezers.”

“Remind me to be careful about what I defrost out of yours.”

He laughed. “You mean di

“No, strictly our treat.”

N OT long after we hung up, the security desk downstairs contacted me. I had a visitor: Ben’s now ex-girlfriend, A

Stover.

CHAPTER 22

Tuesday, April 25

11:05 A.M.

HOME OF GRAYDON FLETCHER

GENIE wasn’t sure why the thought surprised her, but it did: Grandfather’s house was made for children. All the other times she had been here, she had been so happy to see her cousins and to play with them, she never noticed how different his house was from that of most grown-ups.

Now, as she walked with Carrie down a pathway through the children’s garden, she thought about all the ways in which Grandfather’s house was unlike any other she had ever visited, even big houses. Most of the houses she had visited belonged to other members of their family, and they were houses with big yards and any number of rooms given over to the children of the house-the Fletcher family believed strongly in home schooling, so if you weren’t lucky enough to go to Fletcher Academy, your house probably had a playroom and a room that was used as a schoolroom. But none of the homes of her dozens of cousins were as close to being a children’s castle as was Grandfather’s house.

The big house had multiple playrooms, each filled with toys, games, and puzzles in seemingly endless supply. If there was an emphasis on educational toys, no one minded much. There were dolls and stuffed animals and toy soldiers to play with, too.

In the art room, you could work with clay, Play-Doh, papier-mâché, or finger paints-that was Genie’s favorite room. It even had digital cameras and a sca

Carrie liked the music rooms. One music room was for playing music, the other for listening. The listening room was filled with beanbag chairs, and if you wanted to just sit quietly and listen through headphones, you could do so. You didn’t have to listen to the same music everyone else was listening to-you could choose your own. It was also a nice place to take a nap.

You could always go into one of the spare bedrooms, of course-some rooms were for girls and some rooms were for boys. Genie didn’t like them so much if she was really tired, because the girls were always gossiping and giggling and keeping her awake. Sometimes, though, overnight parties were held here for groups of girl cousins near the same age-she didn’t mind staying up all night then! The only bad part was coming home and answering all of Mom’s questions. Mom didn’t like them to go to slumber parties. Or be away from her much for any reason.

When Mom acted like that, it just made Genie feel restless. She had even thought of ru

Still, she thought that if she learned more about computers, she might be able to do it one day. People couldn’t tell how old you are on the computer. She knew this because of something her dad had said about weird men who posed as children on the Internet, men who then stole children and did terrible things to them. Genie believed him, but she also figured that if a man could pretend to be a kid, a kid could pretend to be an adult. It might work.

Her dad helped other people in the family with their computer problems, so people expected his kids to know about them, but this was not the case. They weren’t allowed to use computers very often. There was a great computer room here. The computers at Grandfather’s house weren’t hooked up to the Internet, but there were hundreds of games and a huge amount of learning software on them. Most of her cousins were allowed to get on the Internet when they were at their own houses, at least sometimes. The fact that she and her siblings were not allowed on it at all frustrated Genie. She tried to learn what she could about it from her cousins, but one day Mom overheard her talking about it and she got in trouble. Dad said they would learn about it when they were a little older.

It didn’t make any sense to her. Dad made some of his money by working on the Internet. Genie once got into a lot of trouble by trying to sneak onto his work computer in his office. She had guessed two of his passwords, but not the one that made the browser work. Somehow Dad was able to figure out that she was the one who had used it. Probably because none of the other kids would have dared to try it.

Maybe she would go up to the computer room while they were here, but she would probably spend most of her time outside. There was a swimming pool and a fully equipped playground at Grandfather’s house. No one fussed at you here if you got dirt or grass stains on your clothes, or spilled something on your T-shirt. This house always had spare clothes you could change into while yours were cleaned or mended. And if you were the one who needed mending, you would be all right, too-many of the staff had first-aid training. Besides, Uncle Roger and Aunt Susan were doctors and they lived in the house next door. If they weren’t home, you could get help at the office of their pediatrics practice, which was less than a mile away.

The staff members weren’t strangers. Some of Grandfather’s adopted children still lived with him, helping him with his businesses and the school, or helping him with the house and property itself. Other aunts and uncles lived in nearby houses.

Fletcher children and grandchildren lived in other parts of the country and in Europe, Dad had once told Genie, but he also said that most of them liked to be close to home. The uncles Genie knew best were the ones who were closest to her dad, Roy Fletcher.