A lawyer with Gavin asked my attorney, who had returned to the table, whether she could speak with us privately.

She carried a leather folder with a gold-lettered label.

SERENA ROCHESTER — DNA VERIFICATION REPORT.

Beneath it was the figure that made Patrick take a step back.

99.9%.

It referred to the laboratory’s assessed probability supporting a parent-child relationship, not a claim that two people had identical DNA.

I did not understand that distinction until later.

At that moment, I understood only the words parent and child.