Monday Mourning [Temperance Brennan 7] by Kathy Reichs

Author:Kathy Reichs
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Montreal (Quebec), Mystery & Detective, Montréal (Québec), Political, American, Women Forensic Anthropologists, Fiction, Pizza Industry, Detective and Mystery Stories, Mystery Fiction, Women Sleuths, Brennan, Thrillers, Suspense, General, Temperance (Fictitious Character), Restaurants
ISBN: 9781416514725
Publisher: Pocket Star
Published: 2005-05-23T05:00:00+00:00

Bone values suggest place of residence during the last years of life."

A thought stopped me in midscribble.

"Doesn't our food come through national and international networks these days?"

"We drink local water, at least most of the time."

"True. Tel me what you did with my specimens."

"After removing al extraneous materials, we ground them. Then we separated out the Sr by ion-exchange chromatography, analyzed the purified Sr using thermal ionization mass spectrometry, and col ected the Sr ratios by multicol ector dynamic analys--"

"Art."

"Yes?"

"What did you find?"

"One of your three saw a bit of the world."

« 156 »

'G,

I O ON.

"First, let's talk teeth. Two of your individuals overlap in their dental Sr values."

"Which two?"

Paper rustling.

"Let's see . . . 38426 and 38427. For them I'd expect a childhood diet with an average Sr value of plus ninety to plus one hundred five.

But 38428 is statistical y distinct. The Sr isotope composition of that individual's dental sample suggests a childhood diet with an average Sr value of plus fifty to plus sixty."

"Meaning 38428 was not born in the same region as the other two?"

"Correct."

"Can you tel where she's from?"

"That's where it gets interesting. Last year we had a case of jumbled remains from a barrel found in some hophead's basement in Detroit.

Police knew the victims were business associates of the drug dealer who owned the house, but wanted the bones sorted into individuals.

None had dental work, al were black, in their mid-twenties, and about the same size. One of the three was born in north-central California, one was from Kansas, and the other was local Michigan talent.

"We didn't have control groups from the three areas in question, so we had to infer the isotope composition of the dietary Sr from the

« 157 »

bedrock geology in each region, then work back to the various bones in the barrel. You stil there?"

"I'm here."

"Someone who spent their childhood in north-central California should have Sr values in the range of plus thirty to plus sixty." Rustle.

"That's exactly where 38428 fal s."

For a moment I was taken aback.

"Meaning my girl's from California?"

"Meaning she could be. If you have no other ideas, it's as good a starting point as any. Of course, she could be from another region with similar bedrock geology."

"And my other unknowns?"

"A couple of years back we had a case involving commingled remains recovered from a common grave in Vietnam. The army had IDs for the two soldiers, but wanted the bones separated into individuals.

One soldier had grown up in northeastern Vermont. The other was from Utah."

Art gave me no chance to interrupt.

"A study of the Sr isotope composition of the groundwater near St. Johnsbury in Vermont suggested values in the range of plus eighty-four to plus ninety-four. The teeth from one of the soldiers produced Sr values smack-dab in that range."

"The Vermonter."

"Yes. The teeth of 38426 and 38427 produced identical values."

"Meaning these girls were from Vermont?"

"Not so fast. The same rock formations extend across the border into Quebec. What I'm suggesting is that the Sr values of

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