Page 39 of The Last Close Call

“Because. Well, we don’t for sure. But it’s not hers. Or her ex-husband’s or any of the other prints we took for exclusion purposes. I really think it’s him.”

He leaned forward, watching Jack, who remained unnaturally calm.

“Jack? Are you getting what this means? If we ever get a suspect, we can put him inside her house.”

“We’ve got one.”

“What?”

“The UNSUB. I have a name.”

Bryan stared at him. “Bullshit.”

Jack finally made eye contact, and Bryan could see it wasn’t bullshit at all.

“Rowan came through.”

“Rowan?”

“Rowan Healy. The genealogist.” Jack pivoted in his chair. “She was right, the guy’s adopted. So, I tracked down the birth mother, and she gave me his name.”

“When?”

Jack checked his watch. “Three hours ago.”

“Who is he?”

Bryan’s pulse picked up as he watched Jack’s face. Something was wrong, he could tell.

“Guy’s name is William John Anderson.” Jack handed him a spiral notebook. “Twenty-eight years old.”

Bryan looked at the name scrawled across the page and underlined. Then he looked at Jack. “This is great. What’s the problem?”

“He’s not in the system.”

“Which one?”

“All of them. No address, no phone number, no current driver’s license—here or out of state. No passport, no military record. I can’t even find a fucking water bill for this guy.”

“Okay. But that’s got to be a common name.”

“It is.” Jack raked a hand through his hair. “That’s part of the problem. I found 116 William John Andersons in Texas alone. Three of them in Beaumont.”

“Why Beaumont?”

“That’s where he was born.”

“What about the adoptive parents?”

Jack nodded. “Gale and Philip Anderson of Round Rock, both deceased.”

“Round Rock?”

“Yep. Interesting connection, I know—a suburb of Austin. But I couldn’t find him there, either. There are eleven William John Andersons here in Travis County, but they’re all completely the wrong age.”

Bryan glanced down at the notebook page where the name APD had been after for years was written in Jack’s handwriting.

“And are you sure this is legit?” Bryan asked.

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