XO

places that are important to him, other residences he might have.”

“Oh, I don’t know anywhere like that.” Her eyes whipped to the computer screen.

A baseline variation. It confirmed that she did have some ideas. But dislodging this nugget would take some work.

“Well, you might know more than you think, Sally.”

“But I haven’t heard from him for a long time.”

Nonresponsive. And the vague adjective didn’t mask the fact that this was probably a lie but Dance let it go for now. “Well, not necessarily someplace he wanted to move to. Just someplace he mentioned when you were together.”

“No.”

“No?”

Sally was thinking quickly. “I mean, he was pretty much into Seattle. He didn’t travel much. He was, like, a homebody kind of guy.”

“Never mentioned anything, really?” A glance at the sheet in front of her.

Sally caught the glance.

As long as you tell the truth…

“I mean, he talked about going on vacations some. You know. But I didn’t think that’s what you meant.”

“Where did he want to go?”

“Nashville was one place. The Grand Ole Opry. And then maybe New York, so he could go to some concerts.”

Edwin Sharp probably did say that but he was not going to run off to Nashville or Manhattan with Kayleigh Towne and set up housekeeping, however skewed his sense of reality.

But Dance said, “Good, Sally. That’s just the sort of thing we’re looking for. Can you think of any other places? Maybe you were watching a TV show and he said, ‘Hey, that looks neat.’ Something like that?”

“No, really.” Eyes on the web camera.

Lie.

Dance grimaced. “Well, I appreciate you trying. I don’t know what I’m going to do. You were really the only person we can turn to.”

“Me? I broke up with him a while ago. Uhm, nine months. About that.”

“I just mean you had a very different relationship with Edwin than some people. You won’t believe it but he can be very abusive and obsessive.”

“No, really?”

Dance’s heart tapped faster. She was on the trail of her prey and closing in. Still, easy as could be, she continued, “That’s right. When people reject him, that pushes a button. Edwin has issues about abandonment and rejection. He clings to people. Since he broke up with you, you’re not a negative in his life. In fact, he told me he still feels bad about the breakup.”

“You were talking about me with Edwin? Like, recently?” Delivered fast, like spilled water.

“That’s right. Funny, you could get the impression, from what he said, that he kind of misses you.” Dance crafted her sentences very carefully. She never intentionally deceived her subjects but sometimes let them do it for her. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was curious what you’re up to.”

Sally swallowed and, with tentative fingers tipped in blue polish, she brushed at her long hair-an echo of Kayleigh’s, though not as long, not as fine. When she tilted her head Dance noticed the roots; she was not a natural blonde. The young woman asked in a slightly higher pitch-a stress tone: “What did he want to know?”

“Just general things.” Intentionally evasive.

She swallowed again.

Dance glanced down at a blank sheet of paper then up once more. She noted a faint glistening of sweat on Sally’s forehead as she strained to see it.

The FBI has some really good equipment.

Dance again glanced down at the sheet and Sally’s eyes dropped toward the desk in front of her as if the paper were two feet from her. Dance asked, “Your brother in Spokane? And your mother in Tacoma?”

“I just… my brother, my mother?”

“Edwin was close to them?”

The stalker had not said more than one or two sentences about Sally Docking and nothing at all about her family. Dance had looked up the details through Washington state and federal records, after she suspected the true relationship between the two.

“Did he say anything about them?” Sally asked.

“They were friendly, weren’t they? Close?”

“I…”

“What, Sally? Would you be concerned if Edwin showed some interest in your family?”

Ah, the power of the hypothetical.

Some interest in…

“What did he say?” she blurted. “Please tell me!”

“What’s the matter, Sally?” Dance tried to appear perplexed.

“I…” The tears began. “What did he say?” Behind her, one FBI agent shifted, perhaps sensing the edge of hysteria, as was Dance. “Edwin? What did he say about my family?”

Dance said evenly, “Why are you troubled? Tell me.” Her brow furrowed.

“He’s going to hurt them! He won’t understand that I did what he wanted. If he mentioned them to you it means he’s going to hurt them to get back at me. Please, you have to do something!”

“Wait.” Dance looked troubled. “I hope you’re not telling me that you’re the one who wanted to break up.”

“I-”

“Oh, no. That changes everything… I mean, what I told Edwin…” She stopped speaking and peered at Sally uneasily.

“Please! No! What did you tell him? Where is he? Is Edwin going to Tacoma, Spokane?”

“We don’t know where he is, Sally, I told you that… Let me think. Okay, this is a problem.”

“Don’t let him hurt my mama!” She was sobbing now. “Please! And my brother’s got two babies!”

The scenario was playing out just as Kathryn Dance had planned. The agent had needed to plant the seeds of fear within the woman to get her to open up and had formed her questions to give the impression that Edwin was practically en route to kill her family… and possibly then her.

Breathless with tears: “I did what he wanted. Why is he going to hurt us?”

Dance said sympathetically, “We can help you, Sally. But we can’t do anything for you or your mother or brother if you’re not honest.”

In fact, she’d already talked to the local authorities and made sure that both Sally’s mother’s and brother’s houses were being guarded, though the family members didn’t know it at this point.

Sally struggled for breath. “Please. I’m sorry. I lied. He told me I had to. He told me if anybody asked, I was supposed to tell them that he was the greatest guy and never stalked me or anybody and he broke up with me, not the other way around. I’m sorry but I was scared. Send the police to my mother’s. And my brother. He’s got the babies! Please! I’ll give you the addresses.”

“First, tell me the truth, Sally. Then we’ll see about the police. What’s the real story between Edwin and you?”

“Okay,” the woman said, wiping her face with tissues one of the agents behind her provided. “Last year Edwin was a security guard in the mall where I was working and he saw me and it was like, bang, he got totally obsessed with me.”

Because she looked like Kayleigh Towne.

“He started this campaign to win me over. And one thing led to another and we started going out. Only he got weird. I wasn’t allowed to do this, couldn’t do that… Sometimes he just wanted to sit and look at me. He’d just stare or lie in bed and stroke my hair. It was so fucking creepy! He’d tell me how beautiful I was, over and over. The fact is he thought I looked like this singer-the one he liked. I think I mentioned her before. Kayleigh