Oh, shit, he whispered.
Eve nodded. Yes.
He took the skull from her and put it on his desk. Its no joke?
Would I be on the run if it was a joke?
He stared at the face. My God. Chadbourne. He looked at her. If it is Chadbourne. Did you know who you were working on?
She shook her head. I went at it blind. I had no idea until I finished.
And what do you want from me?
Proof.
DNA. He frowned. And what have I got to work on? I suppose you worked on the actual skull again? Why cant you make casts? Theres no telling what you destroyed.
It was already clean. The body had been through a fire.
His gaze narrowed. Then what do you think Im supposed to do?
I thoughthellip; the teeth. The DNA would have been protected by the enamel. You could split a tooth and extract the DNA. Is that possible?
Possible. Its been done before. Kessler added, But its not a sure thing.
Will you try?
Why should I? This isnt any of my concern, and it could be big trouble.
Joe spoke up. Ill be here to guard you while youre working. He glanced at Logan. And Im sure Mr. Logan would be glad to make it worth your while.
Within boundaries, Logan said.
They were going about this all wrong, Eve thought impatiently. Theyd had Gary from the mo-ment hed seen the face. He just needed a little push over the line. Dont you want to know if its really Chadbourne, Gary? Dont you want to be the one to prove it?
Kessler was silent a moment. Maybe.
He wanted it all right. She could see the excite-ment he was trying to hide.
It would be megadifficult, she said. Hell, youll probably have enough for a book.
Not so difficult. He scowled. Unless you screwed up the teeth too.
I didnt touch them any more than I could help. She smiled. And you know my work doesnt interfere with yours. Its all there, waiting for you.
He glanced up from the skull. I know exactly what youre doing, you know.
Of course you do. Now, are you going to do it, or do we take the skull to Crawford at Duke?
Appealing to my competitiveness wont work ei-ther. I know Im the best in the business. He sat back down in the chair. But I may do you the favor. Ive always liked you, Duncan.
Youd do it even if you hated my guts. Her smile faded. But Im not going to lie. The situation is more dangerous than getting in trouble with the law.
I gathered that. He shrugged. Im an old man. I need a little something to keep the adrenaline pumping. Can I use my own lab?
Wed rather you dont. We think were safe, but we dont want to take any chances. Is there someplace else you can work?
You do make things hard for me. He thought for a minute. My lab at home?
She shook her head.
Ive a friend whos a professor at Kennesaw State, which is about forty minutes from here. Hell let me use his lab.
Fine.
What about my assistant?
She shook her head. Let him take over your classes. Ill help you.
I probably wont need it. He added testily, But you can clean off all this damned clay. I want a nice, clean surface.
Okay. She braced herself. But I need to do a superimposition first.
And Im supposed to twiddle my thumbs and wait?
Ill hurry. We need it, Gary. You know the teeth are important with superimposition and we dont know how many teeth youre going to have to take. We cant verify the dental records, so we need every bit of evidence we can get our hands on.
Maybe, he granted reluctantly. But my DNA will carry the day.
I know. But will you use your pull to borrow video equipment from the audio-visual department? I already have the mixer.
You dont want much, Gary said sourly. Tak-ing valuable equipment off campus? Theyll yell bloody murder.
