Kateri nods encouragingly and hands the baggie back to Elise Diaz, who pulls out a larger bag.

It contains the suede boot, caked with mud along the bottom from the woods and stained on the top with blood spatter.

“That’s my mom’s,” he says. Then, “You don’t have both.”

“Only one was uncovered,” Kateri says.

“It’s from Walmart,” Shannon offers, and Elise checks inside to confirm.

“Thank you,” Dr. Diaz tells him.

“That’s it?” he says. “Those are just things.” He looks at Kateri. “I thought you said there was an adult female.”

“What we have,” Diaz says, “is not fit for public viewing.” She tilts her head down, knowing, but still gentle with him. “I can show you a photograph if you’d like, but I don’t recommend it.”

“What is it?” Shannon says, suddenly shrill.

Kateri presses her lips together. “It’s bones.”

“Bones,” he repeats. “What happened to her?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Kateri says. “It’ll help if you submit a DNA sample. It’s not mandatory, but”—she nods at Elise—“it will help Dr. Diaz make a definite match. Your mother doesn’t have any DNA already on file, so the best we can do is match her to next of kin.”

The shadow underneath his cheekbone is deep and greenish. He looks gaunt in the light of the office.

“What kind of bones?” Shannon asks.

Kateri looks at Elise Diaz. A sort of heavy resignation has settled over Shannon’s face, his lips sinking, his eyes hooded.

“What kind of bones?” he asks again.

Elise folds her hands on the desk. “There’s an intact pelvic bone,” she says. “And most of a spine.”

“That’s it?” Shannon says.

“That is all that has been recovered to date,” Kateri says. “Forensics are still digging.”

“Where would the rest of it be?” he asks.

She’s alarmed by his seemingly matter-of-fact questions. He hasn’t broken down. He has shut down, weighted, lingering in a dark logic.

“In the woods?” Kateri says. “Animals do the most damage.”

He swallows.

“I mean,” he says, “what makes you think she’s dead?”

Elise raises her eyebrows at Kateri.

“Shannon,” she says, “when is the last time you were home? At the house on Hidden Drive.”

He shrugs. “A few days, I guess,” he says. “A week?”

“Where have you been staying?” Kateri asks.

“With my friends,” he says.

“Around here?” Kateri asks, and he nods, but offers nothing else. “When is the last time you spoke to your mother?”

“When I was home,” he says. “She doesn’t have a phone.”

Kateri straightens and drums her fingers on the file folder she has brought with her.

“Just tell me,” Shannon says.

“There’s a significant amount of blood inside the house,” Kateri says. “That indicates an attack, with blunt force. The remains we found, however, were yards away from the house,” she says. “And near these other items that belonged to your mother.”

She watches him breathe through his teeth, biting down on his tongue.

“Are you okay with giving a DNA sample?” Kateri asks.