The Life We Bury

Joe wakes up—with Lila in his arms—to a call from Boady. He has the DNA results, sooner than expected. The DNA is not Carl’s. All they need now is a swab of Douglas’ DNA. This would offer a definitive push in favor of Carl’s innocence. However, Douglas has disappeared and burned his house down to destroy any DNA inside, so obtaining a sample seems impossible. 

Lila and Joe visit Carl to update him. Joe doesn’t tell Carl about his run-in with Douglas. Although Carl told Joe he didn’t care about clearing his name, when he realizes there’s hope, he’s pleased: “Clearing his name mattered more to him than he had allowed anyone to see, maybe even more than he himself understood” (246). As Lila and Joe leave, they tell Mary about the latest break in the case. She suggests that, since Douglas is not to be found, they get a DNA sample from his son, Daniel. The father will have passed on his genetic code to his son. If they get a sample of Daniel’s DNA, that will exclude any man (like Carl) who isn’t a direct male relative of his. Joe and Lila find Daniel via social media. They decide to go visit him.