People tend to think that scientists are experts in all things, when in fact we can be so specialized we know less than a layperson about many scientific topics—like bear behavior.
In the file I also find a photo of Ripper when he was tranquilized for the GPS collar. He looks a lot like how I saw him when he was lying dead on the blue tarp. Ferocious and peaceful at the same time. Here he’s missing a claw on his left front paw.
Claws are basically sharp toenails and grow back after time. I think he had a full set when I saw him. Do they grow back annually?
Still, I’d like to compare. Even though they haven’t done a press conference yet, there has to be a photo online.
Sure enough, a few searches later, I find that the Bozeman Chronicle has an article. It’s a menacing shot of Ripper, his snout facing the camera with his canines bared.
Suspected Killer Grizzly Caught by Fish and Wildlife BOZEMAN, Mont. Off-the-record sources have confirmed that a tracker with Fish and Wildlife has positively identified and killed the grizzly bear believed to be responsible for the death of a scientist who was doing research near Filmount County. A contact at Wildlife Genetics International said the grizzly has been DNA matched to a bear known as UA.223.334.
The press is going to go nuts over the bear’s nickname when that gets out.
I check Ripper’s file again to see if anyone at Ursa Major has updated his file since the capture.
The most recent entry was last year. I guess the grad student in charge of it is a bit overburdened.
As I close the browser window and the case on Ripper, something catches my eye.
I reload the page to see what it was.
This is odd.
UA.221.999 / “Ripper”
This index number is different from the one in the article.
Do bears have multiple entries?
I type UA.223.334 into the database to see if they’re cross-referenced.
A new file appears on the screen.
UA.223.334 / “Bart”
It’s a description of a totally different bear.
This one has hair-trap samples much closer to here. I pull up a photo. It’s a long-distance shot of him walking across a meadow.
Bart looks an awful lot like Ripper, but even to my untrained eye, they appear to be different bears.
Though I know a bear can put on several hundred pounds before winter and I’m not sure how you tell them apart, to be honest.
I download Bart’s DNA file and load it into a viewer.
This is curious. He and Ripper are related, but there are lots of different gene sequences. About what you’d expect from distant cousins. But not what you’d get from the same animal.
I check the article and the database again just to be certain.
Yep, these are two different DNA samples.
Somebody made a mistake somewhere.
I’m on the Wildlife Genetics International website as fast as I can type. There’s a number. I dial it, at even more of a loss as to what I’m going to say than when I called Ursa Major.
“WGI, to whom may I direct your call?” a woman answers.
“Hello, can you connect me with the laboratory supervisor for sequencing?”
“That would be Dr. Whitcomb. One second.”
“This is Travis,” says a man with a youthful voice.
“Dr. Whitcomb, sorry to bother you. I’m in the field and can’t reach anyone back at the medical examiner’s lab. Um, could you resend me the file for the bear they killed yesterday?”
“Resend?” He sounds annoyed. “I haven’t even sent it out yet.”
Damn. I think of a cover. “Sorry. Someone misinformed me.”
“No problem. I got it right here. Where should I send it?”
In my haste, I give him my university e-mail. I’ll think of a reason later for plausible deniability if someone asks.
I thank him. “Quick question, how did they know it was UA.223.334 without the DNA?”
“How’d they know it was that bear? Beats me. They all look alike to me. I’d ask your tracker.”
I hang up and take a deep breath. I’m a horrible liar and can’t handle the stress.
Worse, I’ve crossed an ethical line here. I’m not sure if I broke a law, but this could bite me in the ass.
Travis’s file comes through my e-mail. I load it into the DNA viewer software.
The sample they say came from the bear I saw on the tarp is Bart’s DNA.
The most likely explanation is that Julian’s lab made a mistake. I frantically dial his number.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“Your lab. Did they mix up the hair sample by chance?”
“I doubt it.”
“Are you positive?”
“I can promise you two things: first, that lab probably never even touched bear DNA before this, and second, if we made those kinds of mistakes, wars could get started. What’s the problem?”
“Nothing. Nothing. I’m sure you’re correct.” Somebody fucked up, big time. “I got to run.” I hastily hang up.
The article mentioned a press conference was going to be held in a couple of hours.
They’re about to say they caught Juniper’s killer.
They didn’t.
The DNA in the hair in Juniper’s wound came from a different bear than the one they killed.
That means her killer is still out there.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
ALL CLEAR
I introduce myself as Dr. Theo Cray at the front desk of the sheriff’s office and get directed to a conference room. I pretend I’m supposed to be there and a deputy obligingly escorts me to where Detective Glenn, Sheriff Tyson—the wide-shouldered woman I first saw in the motel parking lot—and several others are gathered.
Richards, the Fish and Wildlife tracker, and Glenn stop their conversation and look up as I enter.
“Dr. Cray?” says Glenn. “I’m sorry, did someone ask you to come down here?”
In a situation like this it’s better to just jump in instead of trying to explain yourself, so I direct my blunt question to Richards. “How did you know that Bart was the bear that killed Juniper?”
He searches Glenn and Tyson for an explanation to my intrusion. They shrug, so he obliges me. “We found the victim’s blood on its fur, and DNA matched the bear we were looking for.”
“Yes. But how did you know to shoot Bart? How did you know he was the right bear before you killed him?”
Glenn interrupts. “I’m sorry, Dr. Cray, why are you here?”
“I’m here because the hair in Juniper’s wounds doesn’t match Bart’s DNA.”
There’s a silent pause in the room. After a tense moment, Sheriff Tyson speaks up. Her voice is low and measured. “How did you get Juniper Parsons’s blood?”
I give her the matter-of-fact answer. “One of your deputies gave it to me by accident. I decided to have it analyzed.”
“You decided to have it analyzed?” she asks. “That’s called stealing evidence.”
I don’t like the menace in her tone. “Let’s deal with that later. What’s important right now is that the bear that killed Juniper isn’t the same bear that you killed.” I turn to Richards. “No offense.”
Red-faced from the accusation, he slams his hand onto the table. “We found her blood on the bear!”
I don’t mean to insult the man, but facts are facts. “Yet DNA found within Juniper’s blood sample connects to a different bear. Maybe Bart stumbled across her body?” I face Glenn. “Hell, I stumbled into her blood. I got it all over me. You saw.”
This gets him a sideways glance from Tyson.
Glenn sighs and explains to the room. “The curious Dr. Cray decided to visit the murder scene.”
“And who told him where it was?” Tyson asks, her voice rising.
“I found it on my own,” I interject. “The little flags on the highway aren’t exactly inconspicuous if you’re looking for them.”
“And why were you looking for them?”
I give her all my reasons at once. “Because one of my students was killed. Probably because I’m a horrible teacher. I felt like shit about it. I wanted to give her mother answers. I don’t know. I just went there.”
A redheaded woman on the other side of the table speaks up. “How did you get bear DNA from Juniper’s blood?” She’s maybe in her early thirties. Pretty face, not much makeup.
“The sample I was given came from a wound on Juniper. There was a hair sample in it.”
“With a follicle?” She turns toward a man to her left. I recognize him as the coroner.