“I’ve spent those years looking.”

I stared at him.

He explained only enough for that moment: an infant reported missing, a long search, records that had failed to connect a lost baby with the child later placed under another identity.

He had spent about $10 million pursuing leads over the years.

None of that spending had given him certainty until the match appeared.

The history would need its own careful examination.

A DNA result could identify a relationship; it could not solve every question about the disappearance.