Forget to Remember

them in several large databases containing mtDNA, which is the DNA passed down by women. I think we can safely say that Carol’s female line comes from Europe—probably northern Europe.”
    “What about Cynthia’s grandmother? Did you get her DNA yet?” Rigo wanted to make sure the possibility Carol might be Cynthia was a closed issue.
    “No. Mrs. Horton’s DNA hasn’t been received.” Frances turned to Carol. “Did you talk to her about it?”
    Carol shook her head. “We didn’t discuss DNA. Once we determined I wasn’t Cynthia, it didn’t seem important.”
    “I have other news. We have a match on your mtDNA. I didn’t want to make a big deal of it, because the woman you matched only had a partial test done. I talked to her on the phone. She lives near Fresno. She told me she had a daughter—in 1986, I think she said—but had to give her up for adoption. She’s trying to reconnect with her. That’s why she had the DNA test done.”
    “Fresno?” Carol looked puzzled. “Is that in California?”
    “Yes, in the Central Valley. She’s in her forties and lives on a farm. She raises calves—for veal, I believe. She’s very excited. Excited enough that she agreed to have her test upgraded to a full genome at her expense.”
    Rigo asked, “What’s her heritage?”
    “She said her ancestors are English and German. Her name is Victoria Brody. I told her about Carol’s coloring. She said the father was Hispanic.”
    Ernie grinned. “You might be one of us.”
    “That would be nice.” Carol scratched her head. “I don’t picture myself as a farm girl, and it took me a few seconds to remember where Fresno is. As far as I’m concerned, eggs come in cartons at the supermarket, not from chickens. It’s funny Mrs. Horton also lives on a farm, but, of course, she doesn’t have any animals or grow any crops except a few vegetables.”
    Frances said, “If it’s you, since you were adopted you might have grown up in a city. You might not have much connection with Fresno. She hasn’t seen her daughter since she was born.”
    “If she’s my real mother I’d love to meet her.”
    “We’ll see how the additional test comes out. If your complete mtDNA genome matches, it will definitely be worth pursuing. Meanwhile, Rigo has come up with something. He used his vast computer skills to find what might be a video of Carol. Tell them about it, Rigo.”
    Rigo hadn’t told anybody except Frances about what he had found a couple of days ago, partly because he didn’t want to get Carol’s hopes up, and partly because it might embarrass her.
    “I was checking YouTube for videos. Since there are millions of videos on YouTube, I had to narrow it down. I tried lots of combinations without success. Cynthia’s father was Japanese, so I started trying combinations with ‘Japanese’ or ‘Asian’ in them. I found a number of videos of girls who look something like Carol, but this one zooms in and shows a close-up of her face. I swear she has Carol’s eyes.”
    Frances said, “Don’t be coy, Rigo. Tell us the combination you used to find the video.”
    “It was ‘Japanese bikini.’ He looked at Carol who was sitting beside him and was relieved to see she was smiling. “It’s a really nice video—not too…”
    “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.” Carol seemed to be laughing at him. “I’m flattered you think I’d look good in a bikini. Is there a name with it?”
    “The name on the video is Aiko Murakawa. I Googled the name and didn’t come up with any other reference to it that would fit. Frances contacted the man who posted the video.”
    Frances nodded. “We exchanged e-mails. He said the video is at least five years old. He doesn’t remember where he got it and thinks the name may be a stage name. However, I agree with Rigo. I think it’s a younger version of Carol. That means her father may be Japanese, since her mother isn’t. Her mtDNA isn’t Japanese.”
    “Sounds like a dead end.” Ernie frowned. “I’d like to see it, however.”
    Tina looked at her husband with amusement. “We knew you would. We’d all like to see it. And we will, right after dessert. How long is her hair in the video?”
    “Fairly long.” Rigo placed his hand on Carol’s back below her shoulder blades to demonstrate.”
    Carol shook her head. “The name ‘Aiko whatever’ doesn’t ring a bell.”
    Frances spoke energetically. “Every piece of information is a clue. We may come upon