Page 107 of The Dollmaker

He followed the carpeted hallway to the placard marked “Office.” He knocked and found Norman DeLuca in a dark suit standing behind the receptionist desk, arranging name cards.

DeLuca looked up. “Agent Sharp. Good to see you. Still working on the Terrance Dillon case?”

“I’m looking into another case.”

“How may I help you, Agent Sharp?”

He fished around for the right words. “I came about my sister, Kara.”

“Kara Benson? She’s not been with us for a long time.”

Not with us.It sounded too polite. “I want to know about the final moments before her casket was sealed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Who was there? Did anyone put any item in the casket with her?” He thought about the dolls left at Diane’s and Elena’s homes.

“It’s been twelve years. I would have to check our files for any items inventoried.”

“Can you do that now?”

DeLuca glanced at his watch. “I’ve new clients arriving soon, but I think I can do this.” He motioned Sharp toward a computer, and he pressed a few keys before the nameBensoncame on the screen. “Her final clothing selection was a white lace dress. She wore a heart-shaped necklace and a bracelet with her name on it.”

Both pieces were favorites of hers. He’d given Kara both the necklace and bracelet. “Anything else in the casket?”

“There was a doll.”

“A doll?”

“Yes. I personally placed it beside her just before her funeral.”

“Who gave it to you?”

“After your parents left, a young girl came into the viewing room and gave it to me. She said your mother wanted it left with your sister. The doll apparently had been Kara’s.”

No. That wasn’t right. His sister wouldn’t have wanted anything like that. “Who was the girl?”

“A friend of the family, I suppose. I didn’t recognize her. I didn’t question the girl. I hope I didn’t offend your family,” Mr.DeLuca said.

It was the killer’s signature. He was likely at the funeral. “Do you have a list of the people who signed the guest book?”

“I have a scan of it in our computer files. Would you like a printout?”

“Yes.”

More keys tapped. The printer hummed.

DeLuca inspected the pages, then handed them to Sharp.

“Never pleasant when a young one leaves us. We try to help, but it’s never easy.”

“Thank you.”

“You didn’t say why the doll mattered.”

Because the fucking killer wanted it there. “I’m not sure it really does. Just struck me as odd.”

“Why?”

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