The Dollmake (The Forgotten Files 2)

“I can promise you, she’d not have wanted this for you. She adored you.”

“I can’t make any promises about our future until I catch this killer. I understand myself well enough to know I won’t be much better of a person than I was a year ago.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

God, but she loved this man. She’d told him often enough when they’d first married, but he’d seemed to brush her words aside. Leaving for Southeast Asia had been a last-ditch effort to get him to react, and when he hadn’t, she left. Now Tessa was back, trying to hold them together.

“God hates quitters, Agent Sharp.”

That prompted a half smile.

She took his hands in hers, half expecting him to pull away, but he did not. “You’ve taken a lot of bad people off the streets. You’ve given so many families closure.”

“What’s the saying? The cobbler’s wife has no shoes. He can do for others, but he can’t do for himself or his family.”

“You’re getting closer to this killer, Dakota. You’ll catch him.”

“It’s not coming together fast enough. Especially if you’re next on his list.”

“What about the boy who delivered the drugs? You’re nearly certain the drugs came from Dr. Bailey’s office.” The clean scent of soap mingled with his scent, and for the first time in a while, no traces of cigarette smoke.

“The office manager is still not talking, but I’m going to press her hard today. She’s coming back to the station with her attorney.”

“You can be a pretty scary guy.”

He traced his thumb over the back of her hand. His touch was so soft and gentle, it would be easy to convince herself he’d not touched her. “I don’t want you to ever be scared of me.”

She smiled. “I’m not.”

“Good.”

She squeezed his hand. “What about Veronica Hayes?”

“Veronica is working with the sketch artist, and we’re expecting an image soon.”

“Let’s hope she remembers enough for a good sketch.”

“Yeah.”

Her office phone rang and she glanced at the display, annoyed. She pressed the speakerphone. “Dr. McGowan.”

“Carol Knox is returning your call. Line two.”

She glanced up at Dakota. “Thanks, Sarah.” She ended that call and explained to him, “Carol Knox is the chief’s daughter. His ex-wife died six years ago.”

His demeanor chilled in a blink. “I’d like to talk to her.”

“Sure.” She picked up line two. “Ms. Knox, this is Dr. Tessa McGowan, with the Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office.”

“It’s about my father, isn’t it?” Her voice sounded sad, resigned.

“Yes, it is. I’m sorry to say he passed away yesterday.”

“How?”

“We’re still trying to determine that. Do you mind if I put you on speakerphone, Ms. Knox? I have Agent Dakota Sharp with the Virginia State Police with me, and he’d like to ask you some questions.”

She hesitated. “Virginia police? Yeah, sure.”

Tessa pressed the speakerphone. “Ms. Knox, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you.”

“Ms. Knox. Agent Sharp.”

“Yes, Agent Sharp,” Ms. Knox said.

“Can you tell me about your late brother, Robert Knox?”

The line crackled with silence for a moment. “I don’t understand. My brother, Robbie, died twenty years ago. He drowned.”

“What can you tell me about Robbie?” Dakota asked. “I understand he was arrested on arson charges.”

More heavy silence. “I don’t see why you would care. But yes, Robbie was in trouble more than he wasn’t. As he grew older, he became harder to handle. And when he set that shed on fire with the dog inside, it devastated my mother. She and Dad both tried to get him help, but they couldn’t seem to reach him.”

“How did he drown?”

“Dad took him out on a fishing trip. It was a rainy, cold day. About halfway through the day, Robbie fell overboard. Dad said the current caught him and pulled him under. They never found his body.”

“Was there any kind of inquiry into the boy’s death?”

“I suppose. I was about fifteen at the time, and my parents kept most of the details to themselves. I do know in the end it was ruled an accident. I remember there was an insurance payout, which Dad gave to Mom.”

“And then your father moved east.”

“I think the strain of losing a child was too much. They split up right after Robbie died.” She sighed. “Dad was different after Robbie died. He withdrew from us completely.”

“What was it like for you, losing your brother?” Dakota asked.

“Honestly, my sister and I were relieved. Toward the end with him around, we slept with our door locked. He scared us.”

Dakota looked up at Tessa. “What did he do that was so frightening?”

“I’d wake up at night and he’d be standing over my bed.” She went silent. “He would tell me I looked so peaceful when I was sleeping. I looked like a perfect little doll.”

“A doll?”

“Mom tried to tell Dad that Robbie had problems, but Dad insisted he could control Robbie. That he would grow out of his fantasies. My parents fought a lot toward the end of their marriage.” Again she grew silent. “Look, this isn’t a subject I like talking about. Robbie tore our family apart.”

“Do you have a picture of your brother?” Dakota pressed.

“I do somewhere. I would have to dig it out of storage.”

“It’s important I see it as soon as possible. Can you take a picture of it and text it to me?”

“Why do you care about my brother?”

“I have a theory that might be way off base, but I need to check it out. I’d like to see a picture of him. When I do, I’ll let you know what I’m thinking.”

A heavy silence drifted between them. “You think he’s alive, don’t you?”

“Why would you say that?”

Her breath hitched as she spoke, and she had to stop a moment before saying, “Mom thought she saw him once about eight years ago. She swore she saw him standing on a street corner.”

“Did she speak to this person?”

“She called out to him, but then he turned and vanished into a crowd. She was troubled for days. We all were. I even went back to locking my bedroom door. But she never saw this guy again, and we figured it

was just a guy who looked like him.”

“I need that picture,” Dakota said.

“I’ll look for it right now,” Ms. Knox said.

“Thank you.”

“Carol,” Tessa said. “Call me back later and we can discuss your father’s remains.”

“Right. Sure. Thanks.” The line went dead.

“You really don’t think that Robbie Knox is responsible for these deaths?” Tessa asked.

“I don’t know.”

Her phone buzzed again. Jerry was summoning her to the autopsy suite for the Elena Hayes case. “I need to go.”

“Right.”

Tessa hurried along the hallway, focused on Dakota’s deliberate footsteps behind her. In the autopsy room, Jerry pulled the sheet from Elena’s body as Dr. Kincaid watched. The outside world faded away.

Elena’s face was red and bruised from extensive tattooing. Clearly, the Dollmaker had not finished his work when she’d escaped. Tessa glanced again at the thumb that was still swollen. “Jerry, what do the X-rays of her hand look like?”

He turned and flipped on the light of the X-ray board, which illuminated an image of Elena’s right hand. “She’s double-jointed. It would have hurt like hell for her to distort it like this, but my bet is she did it as a kid.”

Tessa stared at the X-ray. “It was one of her party tricks. Used to creep everyone out.”

Dr. Kincaid studied the top of the patient’s head, which had been waxed bare. Her gaze roamed over the red skin on the face and then to the neck and the bruising there. “X-rays show a fractured windpipe and hyoid bone in her neck. Strangulation killed her.” She examined the injection site on the patient’s forearm. “There’s no other blemish on her body, but we’ll test for drugs and signs of sexual abuse. She doesn’t appear as malnourished as the other one. He couldn’t have held her longer than a few days maybe.”

“He’s not wasting any time getting to work,” Dakota said.

Dakota’s phone buzzed with a text. Frowning as he read, he said, “Andrews ran the DNA samples found on Kara, Dillon, and Richardson in his lab. The DNA found on all three victims matches. He’s now trying to see if DNA was collected from the three murdered prostitutes.”

“There are other victims?” Dr. Kincaid asked.

“Across the country. This guy hasn’t been dormant the last twelve years. He’s been honing his craft.”