The Admirer: The Doll Collector Sequel

Chapter 5: Detective DeWitt

News that a body had been delivered to the station had broken to the media outlets. Reporters had been shoving their microphones and cameras in our faces for two days straight. Nothing was ever secret in this goddamn city. Lieutenant Carter had us tight lipped about the whole thing, but by now, the city was in a full-on panic. With little facts being put out, there was plenty of room for misinformation. Rumors were running about regarding a citywide curfew being enacted, and police patrols being doubled. They knew that we still hadn't caught The Doll Collector, and now they knew that a new serial killer was stalking the streets. For people that were riddled with misinformation they still managed to get some of it straight.

Some of our officers had finished clearing out the reporters for the 5th time today, and we finally had some peace at the station.

Silence other than our own typing and breathing was rare, since Jenny and Maria's parents were here often. Jenny was here more often than that, and Marner had been given the task to keep her occupied. Her mind went a mile a minute and yet somehow Marner was the only one who could handle her.

Her parents, they were easier to handle, as they were generally much calmer than most of the grieving parents. It was evident in their eyes that they had experienced much pain in their lives before, so they somehow knew how to handle it. I didn't have the mental capacity to try to figure that out, and it also wasn't relevant to the case.

But, after DNA testing came back negative, they decided to take the day off.

The whole experience had drained them, and they just couldn't bear to come in. I didn't blame them. Maria wasn't my daughter, but she was another victim under my care, and her absence was weighing on me like a boulder.

The results were sitting on my desk, staring me in the face. Negative, the woman in the box was not Maria, and she was not the work of the Doll Collector We had yet another serial killer on our streets and more missing girls turning up.

When the body was removed from the box, Jim had found a note attached to the body that read, "The rules have changed detectives, and don't worry DeWitt, your present is coming soon. Love, The Admirer"

Great, I hated being left out.

I reached over and opened the results again. Our own lab was handling all testing now, and none went to Audrey anymore. After the scare The Doll Collector had put me through, I forced Cheryl to talk to me. She yelled more than she talked, however, in the end we managed to find some common ground. I apologized profusely, throwing myself at her mercy. I wanted to come home, I needed to protect her and Adriana. She allowed me to return home under the condition that I never see Audrey again. So, I hadn't seen her in 6 months and word through the station was that she had found a new marriage to mess with. I guess I wasn't that special after all.

I shrugged it off when I heard. She was not of my concern anymore.

In light of the new circumstances, Lieutenant Carter had Marner and I juggling The Doll Collector and The Admirer. He was adamant about handling this in-house, otherwise we would have the feds breathing down our neck if we couldn't take care of this.

Damn serial killers, what happened to just stealing from people on the street, or breaking into cars?

I mean, we had to wonder why Maria's mannequin hadn't turned up. There had been pure silence from The Doll Collector. I didn't think he was dormant. This wasn't close to over, but he had chosen to hide. Her mannequin had not turned up, and he usually put out his mannequins within a few days.

He was keeping her, and the question that stood was why? Perhaps he and The Admirer were related in some way, because the note was correct, the rules were changing.