The Admirer: The Doll Collector Sequel

Chapter 19: Kristopher

My mind was racing. Everything from what Maria had just said, to Adrian's call... it was all crashing down on me. Taylor was The Admirer, and Barbara's body had turned up.

I couldn't remember if I had cleaned my fingerprints off of her before I buried her. What if one of my hairs was on her? It would be just like Barbara to screw me one more time. It obviously wasn't enough sewing her mouth shut. I should have drowned her in acid.

The moment I turned onto the road leading to the park she'd been found in, every emotion vanished. I was a serial killer who walked the halls of a police station undetected. Who was I to be afraid of a child, who was playing games? Barbara had been a problem, and I took care of that problem. She was being a problem now, and I would take care of it again.

Crowds of reporters were gathering behind the yellow crime scene tape and a wall of officers that were holding them back. I passed right through them and met Adrian's stooping figure.

He was crouched over Barbara's dirt covered body. Leaves were mixed into her hair and bugs had taken to crawling over her once beautiful skin. Such a shame. Adrian glanced over his shoulder as I drew nearer.

"Marner, maybe you shouldn't see this." he said, giving me a sorry expression.

I deflected the pity and shook my head.

"I'm a homicide detective," and a serial killer, "And there is nothing I can't handle."

I stepped closer to the body, feeling emptiness flood my system. She had decomposed a lot since I'd last seen her. Oh Barbara, you've always been such a problem, and now look at you. You could have been a good girl. Jim poked her arm with a pencil and furrowed his brows.

"I don't think this is a body." he said.

"What do you mean?" Adrian asked.

"I mean, I'm not a medical examiner, but she's been missing for over 6 months, and she's not liquified or at the stage of decomposition that she should be. She's been preserved, and very well from the looks of it."

Thank you.

Adrian glanced at me, but I only shrugged. I wasn't about to reveal myself as the perpetrator of such excellent preservation.

"So this is what he did... he turned them into real dolls. My god... this is what Maria saw when she was texting Jenny. She had to live in a room with them for 6 months." Adrian said.

"It makes sense, he put out mannequins, so why wouldn't he do this to the bodies?" I chimed in.

"Maria's a psychologist, right?"

"Psychiatrist, yeah."

"Maybe she can explain what's going through his head. She spent a considerable amount of time with him."

How about we don't?

"I don't think it's a good idea." I told him.

"Yeah, well I do."

My blood curdled at the sound of that feminine voice.

"Ah, Elaine, how nice to see you." I said.

"That's Agent Backstrom to you." she snapped.

"What are you doing here? Did someone make a sacrifice to summon you?"

Backstrom glared at me with pure hatred simmering in her eyes. She was such a stickler, she couldn't have possibly changed the sketch. Maybe Maria just got it wrong.

"No. I smelled a rat, and it led me straight to you." She said.

"All dogs do have good noses." I shot.