Page 100 of The Dollmaker

“Tell me about that.”

“I was a junior in high school and had joined the cross-country team. I needed to get my run in, and Elena said she’d go with me. We were about two miles from the cottage when we saw a shoe in the road. We stopped, and there was a smell.” She inhaled as if remembering the scent. “We never went into the woods, but we could see her clearly from the road.”

His gut twisted. “Where was she?”

“She was leaning against a tree. We knew Kara’s parents were worried and had been searching for her. My sister recognized Kara’s outfit. She was still wearing her red Halloween dress. We called the police right away.”

“Do you remember who responded to the call?” Sharp asked.

“The police chief himself. He tried to look in control, like he could handle it, but when he came back out of the woods, he was pale and his hands were shaking.”

“You’ve a good memory,” Vargas said.

“One of those moments in life when time stops and the details sharpen,” Veronica said.

“The police chief called for backup?” Sharp asked.

“I suppose. He was on the phone with someone, and he looked like he was arguing.”

“Did you catch what he said?”

“No. Sorry. After he got off the phone, he told us to go home and he would talk to us later.”

“Did he talk to you later?”

“Yeah. But it was after the funeral.”

“Was that conversation two or three days after the funeral?”

“Three days.”

“Did you notice any other details about the body?” Sharp asked.

“Yeah. She looked like a monster out of a horror show. Elena really freaked out. I guess it was the weird makeup. Why all the questions about that case?”

Sharp kept his voice calm. “She was wearing makeup?”

“Yeah. A lot of it. Very weird.”

“What was weird about it?”

“She was made up like a doll. Elena said it didn’t make sense. Kara had not looked like that when they were at the Halloween party.”

Sharp pulled out the picture taken of the four girls. “Two of these girls are now dead. Kara and Diane.”

“Diane Emery is dead?”

“Yes. And now we can’t find Elena.”

Veronica’s face paled. “I’ll drive up to the lake house and tell Elena myself to call you.”

“Give me the address,” Sharp said. “I’ll go up there.”

Veronica shook her head. “You’re scaring me.”

“You should be scared,” Sharp said. “We need to find your sister.”

After Veronica wrote down the address, Sharp left the house, needing to get outside and breathe fresh air.A monster out of a horror show. The words sucker-punched him.

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