Page 47 of Forged in Steele

“Lots of people wear them, and I thought she was just nervous or shy.” Mary clutched her hands together. “Do you think she’s the woman who took Luna?”

“Do you remember her well enough that you could give a sketch artist a description?” Jared asked, ignoring her question.

Mary bit her lip and gnawed off more of her pink lipstick that was almost gone. “Maybe. I can try anyway.”

“We’ll get someone here and arrange for you to have the time to do it, okay?” Bristol asked.

“Sure.” She cast a nervous glance at Jared. “If I can help find Luna, I’ll do whatever you need.”

“You’re free to go back to work.” Jared forced a smile for the nurse. “We’ll contact you as soon as we have a sketch artist.”

A tight smile crossed Mary’s face and then she spun, her soft-soled shoes squealing as she pivoted.

Bristol looked at Jared. “We don’t have a sketch artist on staff. We use the state if one is needed, but they usually have to send someone from Salem.”

Jared considered the possibilities. “We have a guy who does electronic sketches, but we should have a professional for this.”

“I’ve heard Kelsey Dunbar, the forensic anthropologist at Veritas, is quite good. She recently had her second child. I know she’ll want to help if she can.”

“Then get on the phone to her and let’s get this sketch made.”

Bristol didn’t know Kelsey Dunbar very well, but Bristoldidknow the woman was kind and generous and had a heart of gold. She was super feminine. Bristol’s opposite. She usually wore dresses like the flowery one she had on now and sky-high heels. She looked nothing like Bristol would expect a woman who dug in dirt to recover skeletonized bodies would look.

She set her tool kit on the small conference table and sat across from Nurse Raney. She smiled but it faded fast.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Kelsey asked.

“Drink?” Mary repeated back. “Please. I missed my break, and I’d kill for a Diet Coke.”

“You got it.” Kelsey got up and crossed over to Bristol. “Can we get a Diet Coke for the nurse?”

“Sure,” Bristol said but didn’t understand why this was a priority for starting the session.

“She’s jittery and giving her something to do with her hands will help calm her down.” Kelsey lowered her voice, as if she could read the question in Bristol’s mind. More likely she saw it on Bristol’s face.

“I’ll get one delivered.” Bristol didn’t want to leave in case Mary said something important that she’d failed to mention in the interview, so Bristol texted Teagan and asked her to bring the soda from the refreshment stash in the command center.

Kelsey sat and seemed to take her time getting out a drawing board and pencils, setting them just so on the table. Then she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs, looking relaxed and casual. “I know you didn’t spend much time with the suspect. If you can’t remember anything as we work just tell me, and I’ll move on.”

“Oh, good.” Mary let out a relieved breath. “I hoped you’d understand.”

Kelsey smiled and brushed her fingers over black curly hair that she’d pulled back in a clip. “Just relax. Maybe close your eyes. Form a vision of the woman’s face and tell me whatever you see first.”

Mary leaned back and closed her eyes. “Her face is round. Not fat but round. And her skin was pale. I remember thinking she didn’t get much sun or maybe wore a hat all the time outside. I dunno. Something like that.”

Kelsey got out a catalog, flipped through the pages, then handed it to Mary. “This is a facial identification catalog with pictures of basic features. Can you look at the round faces and point to any that remind you of the suspect?”

Mary studied the pages. Her eyes widened, and she pointed at a photo. “This one.”

Kelsey took the catalog back. “Good. Good. What else comes to mind about this suspect? Maybe her eye shape or nose.”

“She had a huge nose that had like a blob on the end.” Mary smiled. “I almost laughed as it reminded me of Nanny McPhee.”

“That movie was great.” Kelsey grinned and flipped through her catalog again.

Bristol had seen the movie where the nanny arrived at the children’s house with a bulbous nose, a facial mole, and a snaggletooth. Each time the children learned their lessons the features disappeared, and Nanny McPhee took on a more normal appearance.

Kelsey held out the catalog. “While I sketch the basic shape of her face, go ahead and look at noses.”

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