“Looks like she was married to a Douglas McDonald and divorced ten years ago. No information regarding any contact after that.”
Katie stood up; her muscles were tight and a numbing headache pushed against her sinuses as she tried to see a way through all this partial information. “We need to have Denise run a report for those requests for police assistance at the house, and… can you find out the social worker, or social workers, who placed girls at that home?”
“On it.”
“If you can, we also need to find out who worked at Elm Hill Mansion. There had to be a cook, maid, groundskeeper, or someone besides the manager. They could be listed as county employees.”
“I’ll get on this right away, but it might be a bit of a waiting game for responses.”
“Maybe Denise can help?” she suggested.
“Denise is awesome,” he said as he sent an email to request information.
Katie turned to him and smiled. “She definitely is…”
“I ran background on Candace Harlan, but there’s nothing after the time she stayed at Elm Hill.”
Katie frowned, looking at her notepad. “Well, let’s go see what Crossroads Plaza Dental has to say.”
Looking up, he said, “Road trip?”
“You bet, let’s go.”
Katie drove with McGaven straight to the local dentist, not bothering to call ahead of time. She knew that Candace Harlan was a patient there from the x-rays forwarded to the medical examiner’s office, and she wanted to acquire as much information as she could on Candace’s last known whereabouts while she waited on other leads.
Pulling into the Crossroads Plaza shopping area, Katie easily found a parking place. There were three cars around back, probably employees, and two customer cars in front.
The building was large, square, one-story, and had many windows. It was a pretty structure with low-lying shrubs and a few late-blooming flowers hanging in baskets near the entrance. Two benches faced each other where patients could wait, and stenciled on gold strips by the door were the names Dr. Thomas Elgin, DDS and Dr. Francis E. McAlister, DDS.
“Dr. Elgin is Candace’s dentist,” she said and opened the wide glass door.
Inside, the air conditioner was on full force, which seemed strange since it was fall and the weather wasn’t at all hot. She caught the immediate smell of a disinfectant and other chemicals. The large waiting room had several couches with big pillows and a dozen chairs in rows. There was one man sitting in the corner waiting. He looked up from his magazine and gave Katie a once-over—it wasn’t clear if it was because she was a woman, or the fact that she had her badge and gun visible.
Behind a plexiglass barrier was a young woman with short brown hair, oversized glasses, and a neat blue uniform. Pinned to her top was a smiling bear face with the name Cara beneath.
The woman looked up and saw Katie and McGaven. “Hi… Can I help you?” she said, forcing a smile though her eyes were glued to McGaven’s gun.
“Hi,” McGaven said, taking the lead and looking at her name tag, “Cara.”
She smiled.
“I’m Deputy McGaven and this is my partner Detective Scott. We’re from the Pine Valley Sheriff’s Department. We’re here following up on an investigation. I wonder if you could help us?” he said with a smile.
“Sure,” she replied enthusiastically.
“Is Dr. Elgin here?”
“Yes, he is, but he’s in surgery at the moment.”
“I see. Well, I’m sure you can help us.”
“I’ll try,” she said and nervously laughed, glancing at Katie for the first time.
McGaven leaned against the counter like he was going to tell her a secret. “Our medical examiner just requested some x-rays for a Candace Harlan. And we need a little more information. Can you do that for us?”
“Well… I don’t know…” she stammered.
“We can get a warrant, but who wants to go through all that?” he said. “We just want to know when her last visit here was.”
“Well… okay…” she said and keyed up the computer. “You said Candace Harlan?”
“Yes.”
Cara clicked through several screens until she found what she was looking for. “Okay, yes, I see where her dental records were requested for ID.” She gasped. “Is she…?”
“We don’t know. That’s why we need more information. You are really helping us by doing this.”
Katie hoped that McGaven wasn’t laying the charm on too thick.
The doors opened and a woman with two little girls entered. They found a place to sit down and wait after finding some toys in a basket in the corner.
The receptionist left the desk and went to the files.
One of the little girls approached Katie. “Excuse me.”
“Yes?” she said, bending down to the little girl’s level.
“Are you a policeman?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Where’s your uniform?”
“I’m actually a detective. We don’t wear uniforms like the police officers on the streets.”
“Oh,” she said. “Is it scary?” She watched Katie with large blue eyes and an innocent expression.
“Well, sometimes. But that’s why I have a partner. We take care of each other.”
“Oh. Okay, thank you,” she said and then skipped back over to her mom and sister.
Katie smiled and moved her focus back to McGaven and the receptionist.
“Okay, here’s her file,” she said, opening it. “Ms. Harlan was here at the beginning of the year in February. She had a crown fixed and complained of teeth sensitivity.”
“I see,” said McGaven. “Do you remember her?”
“No, I’m afraid I don’t. She came in on a Thursday and that’s my day off.”
“What’s her address? We need to double check that we have the right one,” he said and smiled.
“Oh, uh, it looks like 1457 Green Street.”
“Darn. That’s the address we have. Did she happen to leave an emergency contact?”
Cara scanned the paperwork and said, “Yes, she listed Amy Striker. The phone number is 555-2711 and the address is the same.”
“Thank you, Cara. You’ve been very helpful.”
“Thank you, Deputy,” she said, eyeing him. “I hope you solve your case.”
Katie and McGaven turned to leave and that’s when she saw the two little girls sitting side by side, each with a book. They had slightly different hair styles, but they were twins. It suddenly hit her. Katie touched McGaven’s arm before they exited the dental office. “Twins,” she said. “What if Candace Harlan has a twin?”
He shrugged. “I guess it’s possible. But how?”
“Don’t you see? That’s why the victim looks so much like Candace. Ask the receptionist if there is another patient, a family member by the name of Harlan. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s the only thing that makes sense. A doppelganger, a twin, maybe a cousin, but I think the victim might be related to her.”
Katie went outside and waited for McGaven. She paced the pavement, running everything through her mind. It was a long shot, but a sister, or a twin, was a possibility, even if there was no mention at Elm Hill Mansion about a sibling.