“You’re a whiz, Ryan. Occasional y, something goes awry in the formation of an egg or sperm, and an individual is born with one chromosome too many or one chromosome too few.”

“Down’s syndrome.”

“Exactly. People with mongolism, or Down’s syndrome, have an extra chromosome in the twenty-first pair of autosomes. The condition is also cal ed trisomy 21.”

“I think we’re getting to Mr. Klinefelter.”

“Sometimes the abnormality involves a missing or an extra sex chromosome. XO women have a condition cal ed Turner’s syndrome. XXY men have Klinefelter’s syndrome.”

“What about YO men?”

“Not possible. No X, no survival.”

“Tel me about Klinefelter’s.”

“Since there’s a Y chromosome in the genome, XXY, Klinefelter’s syndrome individuals are male. But they have smal testes, and suffer from testosterone deficiency and infertility.”

“Are they physical y distinct?”

“KS men tend to be tal , with disproportionately long legs and little body or facial hair. Some are pear-shaped. Some exhibit breast development.”

“How common is the condition?”

“I’ve read figures ranging from one in five hundred to one in eight hundred male conceptions. That makes KS the most common of the sex chromosome abnormalities.”

“Any behavioral implications?”

“KS individuals have a high incidence of learning disabilities, sometimes decreased verbal IQ, but usual y normal intel igence. Some studies report increased levels of aggression or antisocial behavior.”

“I don’t imagine these kids feel real y good about themselves growing up.”

“No,” I agreed.

“Why are we interested in Klinefelter’s syndrome?”

I told him about Brian Aiker, and recounted my conversations with Springer and Zamzow. Then I shared my boxless idea.

“So you think the privy skul goes with the Lancaster skeleton, and that the person could be Charlotte Grant Cobb.”

“Yes.” I told him why. “It’s a long shot.”

“Zamzow told you Cobb wasn’t that tal ,” Ryan said.

“He said she wasn’t an Amazon; if the leg bones were disproportionately long, that would have skewed the height estimate.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“Track down Cobb’s family, ask a few questions.”

“Can’t hurt,” Ryan said.

I updated him on what I’d learned from Slidel and Woolsey.

“Curiouser and curiouser.” Ryan liked saying that.

I hesitated.

What the hel .

“See you soon?” I asked.

“Sooner than you think,” he said.

Yes!

After checking a map on Yahoo! I crawled into bed.

Can’t hurt, I thought, echoing Ryan.

How wrong we both were.

33

NEXT MORNING, IWAS UP AT SEVEN-THIRTY. SILENCE IN THE DENsuggested Geneva and Tamela were stil dead to the world. After spinning Boyd around the block, I fil ed pet bowls, set cornflakes and raisin bran on the kitchen table, jotted a note, and hopped into the car.