AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How do we know that it is the doll that was going to be left with her?”
“The scars on her neck match the markings on the doll,” Allina explained.
Jonathon couldn’t help but flinch at that, remembering how sensitive Clara was about her scars. If—when—he got her back, what other scars would she bear? He was trying to remain positive, refusing to accept Clara’s death as a possibility, but doubt was starting to creep into his mind. What possible reason could the doll killers have for keeping her alive? To them, she couldn’t be more than a loose end that needed to be tied up.
“The original killers would be old now. Are we sure they would be up to doing all of this?”
“They’re going after children,” Allina reminded their boss, “and according to Clara, they drug the children. Even in their late sixties or early seventies that should be fairly easily accomplished.”
“But they went after Clara,” Heidi pointed out. “And she’s not a small child; she’s a healthy, strong adult.”
“That was definitely a risk. And I don’t think they anticipated anyone else being there with her. But Naomi said that it was an old woman who stabbed her,” Allina replied.
“How is Naomi Candella?”
“Jonathon?” Allina prompted.
“Apparently, it was touch and go for a while, but she’s stable now, and she should make a full recovery, with extensive physical therapy. Clara’s brothers are still with her, and she’s already driving them crazy insisting that she’s ready to go home. She was very lucky to survive the attack.” Now if Clara could be just as lucky, everything would be okay.
“She wasn't lucky,” Allina contradicted. “You saved her life. If you hadn’t gotten there when you did, then she would have bled out, and we wouldn’t have known what she’d heard.”
“What she heard?” Heidi paused in her frenetic pacing and raised a hopeful eyebrow.
“She told Jonathon that before she was knocked unconscious, she heard the man call the woman Ruth,” Allina answered.
“So we have a name,” Heidi looked delighted. “That should help narrow things down.”
“We’ve been working through what Clara told us under hypnosis,” Allina explained. “She said that the man of the couple was sick. She also told us that when she and Thomas were escaping, they were in a toy shop. We started going through toy shops from thirty years ago, searching for any that were owned by a couple, one of whom was ill enough that a child would notice. We didn’t find any. Until Naomi gave us the name.”
“And now?” Heidi prompted.
“And now I think I might have identified them,” Allina smiled brightly, her blue eyes sparkling.
“Ruth Lincoln, aged seventy-two, married to Job Lincoln. When the killings began thirty-three years ago, Job was suffering from bone cancer; he ended up losing one of his legs to the disease. Then apparently ten years later he went into remission. His cancer was just gone,” Jonathon explained.
“We’re assuming that’s why the murders stopped,” Allina added. “I guess Ruth and Job associated the murders with his cancer, and once the cancer was gone, there was no need to keep abducting and murdering children.”
“And then six months ago, his cancer returned,” he continued.
“So they started up the crimes again,” Heidi mused.
“Seems like a logical conclusion,” Jonathon nodded.
“So, the Lincolns owned a toy shop thirty years ago?” Heidi finally took a seat at the table.
“No,” Allina replied.
“Then why are we looking at them as suspects?” their boss looked confused.
“Theydidn’t own a toy shop, but Ruth’s parents did,” his partner smiled. “In fact, they didn’t just own a toy shop; they owned the shop and museum that the original investigators on the case consulted with.”
Heidi was surprised. “So they were involved in the original case?”
“No, neither Ruth nor Job ever talked with the police. Being experts in toys, including antique dolls, the parents were checked into—but there was no apparent need to look into the family. Especially since Ruth and Job weren’t involved in any aspect of the business, and were supposedly occupied dealing with Job’s health issues.”
“They had access to the toy shop, though,” Jonathon took over his partner’s narrative. “And it was a big building, lots of the rooms weren’t used because the parents wanted to expand the museum side of the business, but they’d had health issues of their own and hadn’t gotten around to it.”
“Have you checked out the attic? Was it as Clara described it?”
