‘You remember how we learned – or thought – that Doyle was still in Louisiana?’
‘Yes.Doyle’s sister told us.’
‘Right.And Doyle’s sister – Tracy Doyle – isn’tjusther sister.’
Ella raised an eyebrow.‘Then what is she?Her wife too?’
‘No, she’s hertwinsister.’
Ella sat back in her chair and pressed her fingertips to her eyes.She sighed heavily out of her nose, then clasped her hands together and stared at the ceiling for a moment.‘Tell me you’re messing with me.Tell me this is one big April Fool’s joke.’
‘April Fools was yesterday,’ said Vernon.‘This is real, but even so, I think Doyle is just trying to do whatever she can to get out of this.This bizarre situation is her last ditch effort, but it’s only a matter of time before we confirm who she really is.And yes, we’ve tried to locate her sister, but she’s not home, nor has she been since we apprehended Doyle.’
Ella stared at the wall behind Dever’s desk and tried to make sense of what she’d just heard.
Twin sister.
Tracy Doyle.
‘And these two sisters are… identical?’
‘Close enough,’ Dever said.
Two women who looked identical.One of them a corrections officer.One of them – what?An accomplice?A patsy?
‘So let me get this straight,’ Ella said slowly.‘Lindsey Doyle has a twin sister named Tracy.Tracy told us Lindsey was still in Louisiana when she clearly wasn’t.And now the woman we arrested eitherisLindsey, or she’s Tracy pretending to be Lindsey.Is there a way to confirm it’s Tracy in that cell and not Lindsey?’
Dever said, ‘We’re working on that too, but it’s hard to confirm that too.It’s not like Tracy is on any database we can match her to.You see why we wanted you in there so badly?You’re the only person that’s seen Lindsey Doyle in the flesh before.’
Ella shook her head and said, ‘No, I might not have.If these two women look identical, how am I supposed to know which one was next to me in that courtroom and in the prison?My rational mind says Lindsey is doing all of this and her sister has gone missing on purpose so they can pull this little scheme.They probably had it planned out in case Lindsey got caught.’
‘You can see why we’re struggling here,’ Vernon said, ‘but we’re trying to stay level-headed.’
‘There’s nothing level-headed about this.We’ve got a woman in custody who might be Lindsey Doyle or might be Tracy Doyle, and the other one is out there somewhere, and we don’t know which is which.’
Vernon shifted against the door.‘We’re working on it.’
‘Working on it?Rick, one of these women killed three people and tried to kill two more.The other one covered for her.Either way, they’re both guilty of something.’
‘Agreed.’
‘So what’s the plan?’Ella looked between Dever and Vernon.‘Please tell me that in the past few days, you’ve thought of how to approach this.’
Vernon strode across the room and perched himself on the edge of Dever’s desk.‘Yes, we have a plan, and it’s already in motion.’
‘Oh really?’
‘Really.We’ve taken pictures of Doyle and sent them to people she worked with, and they’ve all confirmed it’s her, but…’
‘Butconfirmedis doing a lot of heavy lifting there,’ Dever said.‘Because none of them have seen her sister before.But there is, however, one person who can confirm if the woman in that cell is Lindsey Doyle or not.’
Ella gave it a moment of thought, and one name sprang to mind.‘Austin Creed.’
‘Yes,’ said Vernon.‘You know why.’
‘Yes I do.Creed and Doyle were close.If anyone can identify if it’s her, it’s him.’
Dever added, ‘Right, but he can’t confirm it directly, because he’s never seen Doyle’s sister either.However, Creed knows things about Doyle.If we put them together in the same room and we have behavioral profilers watching Doyle’s reactions, we should be able to get a pretty solid answer, right?’
