The Doll Man

Prologue

It was late, and Dr Pater Chester was locking up the clinic for the night.

His stomach growled and he couldn't wait to get home to eat whatever his wife had cooked for dinner. The chicken sandwich she had made him for lunch saw him through lunchtime to the last hour when he became hungry.

He locked the clinic doors and turned to the parking lot, he reached inside the pocket for his car keys and pressed the unlock button.

The blinkers on the Mercedes GLC SUV flashed, indicating that the car was unlocking.

The doctor thought he heard something behind him, he turned around but there was nothing or nobody there.

He thought it was probably just the wind, but it was a warm September evening. The doctor ignored it and proceeded to the car.

He heard a noise again, he turned around, expecting there to be nothing there, but he was startled to find someone standing there.

He couldn't see who it was as he was dressed in black and the hood of his coat covered his face.

'If you need to see a doctor, you'll have to wait until tomorrow.' Chester said shortly.

But there was no response.

Chester rolled his eyes and reached for the door handle, but the man grabbed his hand, stopping him.

'Excuse me!' Chester exclaimed, 'It's been a long day and I would like to go home.'

He looked at the man, still unable to see his face, but he saw his free hand moving down to his pocket and he pulled out a knife.

The Mercedes GLC locked itself when nobody opened the door.

Chapter 1

Daphne took a sip of her coffee, it was not going to be strong enough to last her through the day, she would probably have another one before she and Fred left for work.

Fred put a plate of waffles in front of her and he smiled sweetly, 'Come on, eat up.'

'Thanks.' Daphne smiled as she took a bite out of a waffle.

Yesterday had been a long day, and it resulted in a long night. They learned of the verdict that was given to Luca Pablo, a serial killer from Idaho who had killed his 9-year-old brother, then nearly 40 years later killed 8 teenagers. Guilty on all charges and he was sentenced to life in prison.

They had been on the phone with Commissioner Fischer for a few hours as she explained what had happened in court after Daphne and Fred testified a few months ago.

Daphne and Fred had laid in bed all night talking about the case, it was about 2 AM when they fell asleep, and now they were eating breakfast at 7:30 AM.

'How much syrup did you put on these?' Daphne asked.

Fred chuckled, 'Enough to keep us going.'

Daphne picked up a strawberry which was covered in syrup and popped it not her mouth, it was so sweet it made her cringe and Fred laughed.

Daphne's phone rang on the table, it was Captain Silverman.

'Morning Captain.' Daphne answered the phone.

'Blake, you and Jones need to get down to the clinic ASAP.' He spoke.

'The clinic why?' Daphne asked.

'One of the doctors was killed in the parking lot last night.'

'What?' Daphne asked.

'Just get down here now.' And he hung up.

Daphne sighed, 'What's up?' Fred asked.

'There's been a murder at the clinic.' Daphne replied, 'Let's go.' She said before she took a huge bite out of a waffle.


They arrived at the clinic and it was a circus.

Reporters and nosy civilians were trying to get a good look from behind the police line, which was protected by several officers.

Luckily for the detectives, though, the murder had taken place inside a parking lot, which had a tall metal fence running around it and the clinic. The parking lot also had two huge metal gates which the doctor probably would have locked when he left last night…had he not been murdered.

'Blake, Jones, there you are!' Captain Silverman exclaimed. He was a man of average height, though he was a bit chubby. He had salt and pepper hair and had a thick moustache and a stubbly beard. He was as tough and as fair as Captain Williams though he was much younger than the former captain.

'What happened Captain?' Fred asked.

Silverman pointed behind him, where the coroner stood next to a big black Mercedes and a body was lying under a white sheet on the floor. But the Captain was pointing further back to where Detective Garrett sat with a young woman on a bench outside the clinic.

'Jessica Hancock – the receptionist – turned up to work this morning to find Doctor Chester dead in the car park.' Silverman explained, 'She called 911 immediately and she's pretty shaken.'

Daphne and Fred went over to the body, 'Morning.' The coroner spoke, Leo Green is his name, he was a young man and he had been working with the police department for as long as Daphne and Fred both have.

'Morning Leo.' Fred said.

He and Daphne knelt next to Green, over the body. They both pulled on their gloves before Daphne pulled back the white sheet.

'This what killed him?' She asked looking down at the open wound on his neck.

'I'll have a proper look when I get him to the morgue. It's either that or this one.' Green explained as he pulled back the sheet some more revealing a large wound on the doctor's abdomen.

'He's lost a lot of blood, but it's seeped into his clothes.' Green said, hinting at the lack of blood surrounding the victim.

'The killer isn't likely to have killed and then cleaned up the crime scene since the murder took place outside.' Fred commented, Green nodded and said, 'So we're guessing for now that this is the one that killed him.' He pointed to the doctor's neck.

Daphne caught the sight of a ring on the doctor's finger, 'He's married.' She commented.

'Nothing was taken. His phone, watch, wallet and car keys are all present.'

'His wife hasn't reported him missing.' Silverman spoke, he stood behind them looking down at the body.

Daphne looked over to Garrett and the receptionist. She rose to her feet and walked over to them.

Fred watched her go, he stayed with Green and Silverman.

'There's something you should know about Chester.' Silverman began.

'What's that?' Fred asked, watching as Green pulled the sheet over Chester's body.

'According to Mrs Hancock, there had been some…complaints.' Silverman spoke.

'Complaints?' Fred asked as he got to his feet. Green signalled for another coroner to help move the body to the coroner's van.

Fred and Silverman stepped aside to allow the coroners to do their job, 'There have been some complaints.' Silverman repeated, 'From some of his patients.'

'Go on.' Fred said curiously.

Silverman exhaled heavily, 'Some of his female patients have made complaints about him.'

Fred narrowed his eyes.

'Morning detective.' Garrett spoke as Daphne approached him.

'Morning detective.' She smiled at him before she turned to the woman who sat next to him, 'You must be Jessica Hancock?'

The woman nodded, 'Yes, call me Jessie.'

Jessie's dark hair had been tied up neatly for work. Her face – which she had lightly covered in make-up – was wet from her tears, and mascara smudged under her eyes. She was dressed smartly for her workday.

Daphne looked at the woman and decided to herself that it was unlikely she had anything to do with the crime. What would she have gained from it?

'You found the body this morning?' Daphne asked.

Jessie nodded.

Garrett stood up and took Daphne aside, 'She arrived this morning and found the body. She called 911 as soon as she found it, but she said somethings about the doctor.'

'What kind of things?' Daphne asked.

'She said that some of the patients would cancel their appointments if they were to be seen by Chester, they would in fact have preferred to be seen by the other doctors.' Garrett explained.

'Why?' Daphne asked, raising her eyebrow.

'Chester was apparently…disrespectful to the female patients.'

Daphne narrowed her eyes.

'She didn't specify what the patients came in for, but she said a couple of them made complaints to her, but Chester told her to drop it.' Garrett continued.

'It's Chester's clinic.' Daphne replied and Garrett nodded, 'That's probably the reason for the reports not going anywhere.'

'Why didn't they report it to the police?' Daphne asked. Garrett shrugged, 'Maybe they were scared it wouldn't go anywhere, or Chester would say they were lying, I don't know but he was bad to them and now he's dead.'

'Is there someone who can come and get you?' Garrett asked Jessie, 'My husband, he's off today.'

Garrett nodded and he pulled a card out of his pocket, 'We'll be in touch with you soon.' He smiled giving Jessie the card with his number on it.

'Silverman told me something about the doctor.' Fred said as he came over to Daphne and Garrett, 'I know.' Daphne replied.

'I think we should look into the patients he saw and began to look for our suspect.' Fred spoke, 'After we speak to the doctor's wife.'