Marnie just sat there, hands folded in her lap, looking lost.
Wilde turned to Jenn and said, “Peter told you he was adopted.”
The change of subject threw Jenn. It took her a second, but then she said, “Yeah, so? What does that have to do with this? For that matter, no offense, but what do you have to do with any of this?”
“Do you know Peter put his DNA into a genealogy website?”
“What does that…？ Yes, I knew. When he found out he was adopted, he naturally wanted to learn about his birth family. He signed up for a bunch of those DNA sites, but I thought he deleted them all once he found out the truth.”
Wilde glanced at Hester. Hester gestured for him to ask the obvious. “Are you saying Peter found his birth family?”
“Yes.”
“Who were they?”
“He never told me.”
“But he found them? You’re certain?”
Jenn nodded. “He found the truth. That’s what he said. And that was enough for him, I guess. Once he found the truth about his family, he didn’t want anything to do with them.”
Chapter
Thirty-One
Hester had been called back into court. There were rumors of a decision in the Richard Levine murder trial. Wilde headed back to New Jersey. As he passed the Sheridan Avenue exit on Route 17, his mobile rang. The caller ID told him it was Matthew.
“Holy shit,” Matthew said.
“What?”
“You didn’t hear about Jenn Cassidy’s post? Sutton is freaking out. Did Marnie just make up all that stuff about Peter Bennett?”
Wilde sighed. “What does Jenn’s post say?”
“Just something about the Peter stuff not being true and asking everyone to bring him home. Dude, the whole world is looking for Peter now. Did you have something to do with this?”
“Tangentially, I guess.”
“I knew it! Sutton is going crazy. The Battler boards are blowing up. Your name hasn’t gotten out yet.”
“Good. Where are you?”
“Hanging at the house.”
Wilde had an idea. “Do you mind if I come over and use the computer?”
“Sure. We got my laptop or the Mac in the family room—”
“Both if you can.”
“No worries. Sutton isn’t coming over until later.”
“What about your mom?”
“Why don’t you ask her, Wilde?” When Wilde didn’t reply, Matthew sighed and said, “I’m not sure when she’ll be home. Why? You avoiding her?”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Can I ask you to do me a favor in the meantime?”
“What?”
“Search for DNA database websites.”
“You mean like 23andMe?”
“Exactly. Find as many of the top ones as you can.”
Fifteen minutes later, Matthew met Wilde at the door and led him to the Mac in the family room. He’d set up his own laptop on the other side of the table. Wilde sat in front of the Mac, Matthew in front of the laptop.
“Okay,” Matthew said, “what are we doing?”
“You got the list of the DNA databases?”
“Yep.”
“We need to try to sign in to all of them.”
Wilde gave him Peter’s email address and the LoveJenn447 password he’d picked up from his first visit to Vicky Chiba’s.
Matthew tried the first. “Can’t get in. It says incorrect password.” He tried another. “Same. Are you sure about the password?”
“No.” Wilde remembered how he’d gotten into the Instagram account via Peter Bennett’s email address. “Here, let’s try this. Hit the forgot password link so we can reset it.”
While Matthew did that, Wilde signed in to Peter Bennett’s email. He checked through it and saw nothing new. He moved from the tab labeled “Primary” to the one called “Promotions.” As soon as he did, a new message popped up from MeetYourFamily with instructions on how to get a new password if you’d forgotten your current one. Wilde followed the directions. Matthew kept working. Another email popped up in Peter’s inbox from yet another DNA database site with instructions on how to get a new password. Wilde again clicked the link.
When they tried to log in with the new passwords, an even bigger issue arose. The DNA site BloodTies23 sent them to a page that read:
ERROR: You confirmed your request to permanently delete your data. Once confirmed, per our policy, this process cannot be undone, canceled, reversed, or withdrawn. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you wish, you can sign up again and send us another DNA sample.