Page 6 of Girl, Sought

On her screen, Jenna's contact info stared back at her. Last message sent: October 12th. Two months ago. Maybe she'd changed her number. People did that, didn’t they? Changed numbers, moved cities, ghosted their friends without warning.

Maybe they’d both conspired against her, Ella wondered. Julianne might have given Ella’s half of the deposit to Jenna too, then Jenna had done a runner. It seemed unlikely, but stranger things had happened.

A string of curses erupted from Luca's direction. ‘Come on, you piece of... ah, there we go.’

Director William Edis's face appeared on screen, pixelated and too close to his webcam. Half his forehead was cut off. ‘Agent Hawkins? Can you hear me?’

‘Loud and clear, sir. Though we're only seeing about sixty percent of your face.’

‘What? Hold on.’ Shuffling sounds. The laptop shifted. Now they could see Edis's entire face, plus an impressive collection of ceiling tiles. ‘Better?’

‘Perfect, sir.’

Ella kept her distance, staying just out of frame while pretending to scroll through her phone. But her attention locked onto the screen as Edis spoke.

‘Sorry for the abrupt summons, Agent Hawkins, but we’ve got something unusual in Chesapeake. Something that’s not in our usual remit. Email coming your way now.’

‘Oh? What’s unusual about it?’

‘You’ll see.’

Luca navigated to his email client then clicked the unread email at the top of the pile. Compared to Ella’s inbox, Luca’s had a lot less bold text.

A row of PNG attachments sat just below the(no subject)title. Luca clicked the first.

Then, a full-color crime scene photo filled the screen.

One unlike Ella had seen before.

Not just a body, but a parody of life.

The victim – a brunette woman – sat propped in a high-backed chair with her limbs arranged with unnatural precision. Someone had painted her face like a porcelain doll, complete with rosy circles on each cheek and lips sculpted into a perfect crimson bow. The frilly dress belonged in a Victorian dollhouse, not on a dead woman.

But it was the eyes that sucker-punched Ella's gut. Whoever killed her had glued them wide open, coating the lids with something that sparkled under the camera flash. They stared straight ahead, glass-bright and empty, like the dozens of antique dolls arranged in perfect circles around her chair. It was a macabre tea party with their new human companion as the guest of honor.

‘Jesus Christ,’ Luca said.

‘Victim’s name is Eleanor Calloway. Local PD found her this morning when she didn’t show up for work. Haven't seen anything quite like it in my thirty years.’

‘You’re not kidding. Do we know anything else about her?’

’42 years old. Widow. Lived alone. Worked as a librarian.’

Luca clicked through a few more crime scene photos. Ella watched from afar.

‘She’s the only victim?’ Luca asked.

‘Like I said, this is unusual. It’s not a serial, but given the premeditated nature, they can label it an ultra-violent crime. We’re not obliged to help, but me and the Mayor of Virginia go a long way back. I promised him I’d send someone to take a look.’

Not a serial yet, Ella thought. Give it time. The positioning of the body sent fresh anger through her veins - hands folded in the lap like some demented Victorian portrait. The kind of obsessive detail that meant a mind gone wrong. Someone who got off on control, on turning living flesh into dead props for their private collection.

Ella shifted in the shadows behind Luca's chair. She knew she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but the profile of this offender was already taking shape in her head. This wasn't about art or beauty or any of that pretentious crap. This was about power. About taking something alive and making it just another piece of property. Another toy in the toy box.

‘Alright, sir. I can check this out. Have you briefed Nigel already?’

Since Ella and Luca had ended their field partnership, Luca had taken the rookie position alongside senior agent Nigel Byford. Ella hadn’t been assigned a new partner yet.

‘I’m afraid Nigel is tied up in Baltimore until at least the New Year. You’re going to have to fly solo here.’

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