Page 51 of The Hanging Dolls

Scott growled. “This is embarrassing.”

She ripped open the bag and grabbed a fistful of the candy. “Okay, so I called the coroner this morning. He’ll send his report this afternoon. Let’s look at our suspects.”

He exhaled and leaned against the table, next to her. “Okay, so we got Bella Baker. Could she fit the profile?”

“She’s a messed-up teenager on drugs with some deep-rooted parental issues,” Aiden said, sighing. “But she’s not a killer.”

“That would explain why Lily was cared for and well fed before she was killed.” Scott raised an eyebrow. “What if she has some split personality or psychosis type of issue?”

“There would have been signs both during the interrogation and from her medical history, and I checked…” Aiden said. “Plus, the shoe print you found outside Tara’s bedroom? Bella’s feet are much smaller.”

Zoe rubbed her temples. The connections were noodling with no starting point to entangle them. “We should look into Bella’s associates. Maybe she has a boyfriend.”

“I’ll ask uniform to follow up on that. What else do we got?” Scott asked.

“The problem is the connection between Lily and Tara.” Frustration clawed at her. “Lily is seven years old and Tara eight. They don’t have any mutual friends; their paths didn’t cross at school according to teachers and friends. Their families don’t know each other.”

“It is premeditated, but is our killer selecting girls randomly?”

She glanced at the two pictures pinned to the top of the whiteboard. They looked so different from each other—their skin and hair were different. “Usually, there’s a type. Something more than just prepubescent ages appealing to the killer. Something simple like hair color. Or even glasses.”

“Glasses?”

“The first case Aiden and I worked on was a killer who targeted people with bad eyesight.” She cracked her knuckles. “Remember that one?”

“He was popping eyeballs with ice picks,” Aiden said, his voice devoid of emotion. “There is something linking the two.”

“Did your tech guy get back to you with the video tape?” Scott asked.

“Not yet. I think I’m going to have to take a crack at it myself. Access the software and learn how to use it.” A thought was simmering inside Zoe’s mind. “Are the woods being searched?”

“As we speak.”

She marked the two spots where Lily’s and Tara’s bodies were found. The locations were far from each other, at least a fifteen-minute drive. And the woods were dense and removed from any trails. Whoever the killer was, they carried their bodies deep into the woods. Probably for privacy while they set up the stage.

“You’d almost think that this killer has some kind of experience,” Zoe said. “The murders are too cleanly orchestrated.”

“Every Tom, Dick, and Harry watching cop shows and accessing the Internet knows everything they need to know about this,” Aiden pointed out.

A sharp knock on the door interrupted them. Terri, an officer, walked in and handed a report to Scott, muttering something in his ear before leaving.

Scott flicked through the pages, a frown marring his face.

“What is it?” Zoe asked.

“When Tara went missing, I asked to pull Logan Bennett’s financials like with the Bakers. You know, to check if he owed anyone any money.”

“Does he?” she asked hopefully.

“The opposite. He’s flush with cash. For the last three years, every month five grand is deposited into his bank account. But it’s not his salary.” He showed them the report.

It was a wire transfer from a company called Global Holdings Inc. “That’s a good chunk of money. Does he have a side hustle?”

“Nope. No sources of passive income. I looked up the company online but I can’t find anything on it.”

“It’s a generic name. Who are they and why are they paying him?” Zoe said.

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