The Sleeping Doll

up—O’Neil headed for the hospital to check on Juan Millar, TJ to find a temporary office for the FBI agent.
    Dance pulled out her mobile and found Linda Whitfield’s phone number in the recent-calls log. She hit redial.
    “Oh, Agent Dance. Have you heard anything new?”
    “No, I’m afraid not.”
    “We’ve been listening to the radio. . . . I heard you almost caught him yesterday.”
    “That’s right.”
    More muttering. Prayer again, Dance assumed.
    “Ms. Whitfield?”
    “I’m here.”
    “I’m going to ask you something and I’d like you to think about it before you answer.”
    “Go on.”
    “We’d like you to come here and help us.”
    “What?” she whispered.
    “Daniel Pell is a mystery to us. We’re pretty sure he’s staying on the Peninsula. But we can’t figure out why. Nobody knows him better than you, Samantha and Rebecca. We’re hoping you can help us figure it out.”
    “Are they coming?”
    “You’re the first one I’ve called.”
    A pause. “But what could I possibly do?”
    “I want to talk to you about him, see if you can think of anything that suggests what his plans might be, where he might be going.”
    “But I haven’t heard from him in seven or eight years.”
    “There could be something he said or did back then that’ll give us a clue. He’s taking a big risk staying here. I’m sure he has a reason.”
    “Well . . .”
    Dance was familiar with how mental defense processes work. She could imagine the woman’s brain frantically looking for—and rejecting or holding on to—reasons why she couldn’t do what the agent asked. She wasn’t surprised when she heard, “The problem is I’m helping my brother and sister-in-law with their foster children. I can’t just up and leave.”
    Dance remembered that she lived with the couple. She asked if they could handle the children for a day or two. “It won’t be any longer than that.”
    “I don’t think they could, no.”
    The verb “think” has great significance to interrogators. It’s a denial flag expression—like “I don’t remember” or “probably not.” Its meaning: I’m hedging but not flatly saying no. The message to Dance was that the couple could easily handle the children.
    “I know it’s a lot to ask. But we need your help.”
    After a pause the woman offered excuse two: “And even if I could get away I don’t have any money to travel.”
    “We’ll fly you in a private jet.”
    “Private?”
    “An FBI jet.”
    “Oh, my.”
    Dance dealt with excuse three before it was raised: “And you’ll be under very tight security. No one will know you’re here, and you’ll be guarded twenty-four hours a day. Please. Will you help us?”
    More silence.
    “I’ll have to ask.”
    “Your brother, your supervisor at work? I can give them a call and—”
    “No, no, not them. I mean Jesus.”
    Oh . . . “Well, okay.” After a pause Dance asked, “Could you check with Him pretty soon?”
    “I’ll call you back, Agent Dance.”
    They hung up. Dance called Winston Kellogg and let him know they were awaiting divine intervention regarding Whitfield. He seemed amused. “That’s one long-distance call.” Dance decided she definitely wouldn’t let Charles Overby know whose permission was required.
    Was this whole thing such a great idea, after all?
    She then called Women’s Initiatives in San Diego. When Rebecca Sheffield answered, she said, “Hi. It’s Kathryn Dance again, in Monterey. I was—”
    Rebecca interrupted. “I’ve been watching the news for the past twenty-four hours. What happened? You almost had him and he got away?”
    “I’m afraid so.”
    Rebecca gave a harsh sigh. “Well, are you catching on now?”
    “Catching on?”
    “The fire at the courthouse. The fire at the power plant. Twice, arson. See the pattern? He found something that worked. And he did it again.”
    Exactly what Dance had thought. She didn’t defend herself, though, but merely said, “He’s not quite like any escapee we’ve ever seen.”
    “Well, yeah.”
    “Ms. Sheffield, there’s something—”
    “Hold on. First, there’s one thing I want to say.”
    “Go ahead,” Dance said uneasily.
    “Forgive me, but you people don’t have a clue what you’re up against. You need to do what I tell people in my seminars. They’re about empowerment in business. A lot of women think they can get together with their friends for drinks and dump on their idiotic bosses or their exes or