The Dollmaker(The Forgotten Files #2)(90)

“Do you think she was his first?”

“I would say so. I would guess seeing Kara with friends dressed up as dolls flipped a switch in the killer. Many aspects of her death suggest a lack of planning. But whatever payoff he got when he killed her has spurred him to kill more.”

“He’s a professional now,” Bowman said. “He won’t stop.”

“He doesn’t want to be caught,” Sharp said. He thought about Madison’s tears and shaky hands when he’d pressed him at the studio. Some killers were eaten up with remorse and left clues for the police, subconsciously hoping they’d be stopped. Not this guy. “But if this is the same killer, he’s now choosing women who are going to be missed. Why the switch?”

“I’d say confidence,” Bowman said. “A bigger stage for his exhibit.”

“I believe this guy is local,” Andrews said. “He thought he could make a drug buy in the city that would remain anonymous. Dumb luck lands him face-to-face with a local kid. Just as I believe dumb luck put your sister in his path twelve years ago.”

Bowman cleared his throat. “What do you know about your sister’s last days?”

“We spoke on the phone a couple of weeks before she went missing. It was during the first days of her freshman year. She talked a lot, but I only processed about a quarter of what she said. She was like that. Talked a mile a minute.” How many times had he replayed that last conversation?

Andrews rolled a pencil over his fingers like a majorette would a baton. “Let’s get back to the boy who was stabbed to death. Assuming he knew the killer and recognized him, who could he have seen? Did he know Stanford Madison?”

“I haven’t come up with a connection yet,” Sharp said. “I should have his DNA back tomorrow and will know if he’s our guy or not.”

“Riley Tatum dropped off the twelve-year-old arson file,” Andrews said. “In it was a note indicating there were three DNA samples in the county’s climate-controlled storage attached to the Kara Benson file. I’d like to test those.”

Sharp considered what Andrews was suggesting. “Knox hid the DNA from Kara’s case in the arson file. For whatever reason, he didn’t destroy it.”

“That’s my theory. That’s why the arson case report was mingled in with her case. Why Knox mentioned the case to you.” Andrews folded his arms. “As I said, Knox’s trail of bread crumbs could lead to the truth. Knox didn’t want the killer revealed, but he wanted to hang on to the evidence just in case.”

“Leverage. He wanted leverage against the killer,” Sharp said.

“Knox made a point of giving you these files, which tells me he wanted the killer found,” Bowman said.

“The timing explains the motive for killing himself,” Andrews said. “The truth is coming out.”

The words I’m sorry scrawled in Knox’s final note rattled in Sharp’s head.

“Who would he want to protect so badly?” Bowman asked.

“When Kara died, the man had no family in the area. His son was dead. Roger said Knox was isolated the last dozen years.” Sharp shook his head. “Roger thought Knox’s withdrawal from the world indicated he was troubled by Kara’s death. Roger saw Knox as a kindred spirit.”

“The Knox boy’s case is bothering me,” Andrews said. “I dug further. The boy’s body was never found. A funeral was held for him, and there’s a grave marker in Denver, but there’s no body in the coffin.”

“You think the kid is alive?” Sharp asked.

Andrews nodded. “It’s a working theory at this point.”

“So he creates a new identity for the kid.”

“A man like him would know how to do it,” Andrews said.

“All these years, that bastard was Roger’s friend,” Sharp growled.

“What better way to control any subsequent investigations into Kara’s case than to do it yourself,” Bowman said.

“Tessa is retesting the sample located in the official Kara Benson file,” Sharp said.

“I’d wager the results won’t be different from the last time,” Andrews said. “It’s the new samples that matter. The ones filed with the arson case.”

“Get the sample to us,” Bowman said. “We can move faster than the state, and we’ll have an answer by the end of tomorrow.”

Likely a court would not accept a DNA sample misfiled over a dozen years ago, but it could help to zero in on the target. Sharp would worry about making his case stick later. “Right. Thank you.”

“If your sister’s case and this new case are connected by DNA, then this would be the one place where the Dollmaker has repeated his kills,” Andrews said. “By the way, those numbers you sent me for Terrance Dillon. Neither the burner or his personal cell is online, but if and when either does show up, I’ll pinpoint it within minutes.”

What had Knox said? Keep an open mind.




The registered letter was waiting for Sharp when he arrived home. It was from Roger’s attorney. Tearing it open with his thumb, he unlocked the front door and nudged it open with his foot. He flipped on lights, dropped his keys on the kitchen counter, and shrugged off his coat. The letter was simple, direct. He was Roger’s sole heir. What remained of the estate, namely the lake house, was his. “Shit. I don’t want this.”