Read Online The Doll Maker by Richard Montanari - Free Book Online Page B

he continued. ‘Have you noticed any change in Nicole’s behavior over the last few days or weeks?’
    In Jessica’s experience parents usually thought about this question for a few moments. Not so with David Solomon.
    ‘She was just fine,’ the man said, perhaps a little more loudly than he wanted. ‘Just fine .’
    ‘Did she have any problems with drugs or alcohol?’
    At this question David Solomon seemed to sag, to become physically smaller. Perhaps these were issues he had chosen to ignore.
    ‘I don’t know,’ he said.
    Jessica glanced at Adinah Solomon. Although Jessica was somewhat ashamed of herself for thinking so, she wondered if the woman was better off not knowing what was taking place in the next room.
    ‘When was the last time you saw Nicole?’ Byrne asked.
    ‘Yesterday morning. We had breakfast.’
    ‘Here at home?’
    The man shook his head. ‘No, not here. We had breakfast at the McDonald’s. On Christian Street.’
    Jessica made a note to contact the store’s manager. If there was one thing McDonald’s did well, at least in the big American cities, it was make surveillance recordings. There had been a rash of robberies, nationwide, in the past five years.
    Solomon looked out the window, continued. ‘She always ordered the Egg McMuffins. Never any hash browns, nothing else. Nicole didn’t drink coffee, you see. She would open both McMuffins, take off two of the muffins, and make one big sandwich.’ Solomon looked at Jessica. ‘She always gave me the muffins, even though she knew that I never ate breakfast. I would eat one of them just to be kind.’
    Jessica thought at that moment about having breakfast with Sophie and Carlos. She made a mental note to pay closer attention to their habits and affectations. This man would never again have breakfast with his daughter.
    ‘Did you often go to this McDonald’s?’ Jessica asked.
    ‘Once in a while. Perhaps once a month.’
    ‘Were you and Nicole considered regulars there?’ she asked. ‘By that I mean, were you known to the cashiers and employees by name?’
    ‘No, nothing like that,’ he said. ‘It’s a busy place, especially at that time of the morning. I don’t know the name of anyone who works there, and I seriously doubt they know my name, or Nicole’s.’
    Jessica made a few notes. ‘Do you remember anything out of the ordinary happening at McDonald’s yesterday morning?’
    ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
    ‘I mean, did anything happen between you and another customer, or Nicole and another customer?’ Jessica asked. ‘Anything confrontational?’
    ‘Confrontational?’
    ‘Did anything happen, such as someone bumping into you, something that another person might have taken as a sign of disrespect?’
    ‘I don’t think so,’ Solomon said. ‘Nothing I can remember. Certainly nothing that I saw.’
    ‘Can you recall if anyone was paying particularly close attention to Nicole?’ Jessica asked. ‘Perhaps a young man, someone Nicole’s age? Or maybe an older man?’
    Solomon thought for a few moments, dabbed at his eyes. ‘Young men are always looking at Nicole. She is very beautiful.’
    ‘Yes, she was,’ Jessica said, conscious suddenly of the fact that she was using past tense. She moved quickly on. ‘What I’m getting at is whether or not someone yesterday morning may have paid attention to Nicole in a way that seemed out of place, or a little excessive, or inappropriate.’
    ‘No,’ he said. ‘Or maybe it’s just that I didn’t notice. I didn’t think I would be asked about it. I didn’t think that it would be our last moment together.’
    ‘I understand, sir,’ Jessica said. ‘Where and when did you part company with your daughter yesterday?’
    ‘In front of the McDonald’s. She had a school outing at the Franklin Institute.’
    ‘How did she get there?’
    ‘I put her in a cab.’
    ‘To the Institute?’
    He shook his head. ‘To her school. They took a bus from there.’
    ‘Do you