was inside. “Jesus, Patrick, where did you get this?”
Noah took the box and stared at the bone-colored, French style hair comb inside of it.
Patrick grinned. “It’s not real, you guys, but from your reaction, I can tell you thought it was. Sorry, I know I should have told you first, but I had to see your authentic reaction. If you guys thought it was real in person, then the Bone Artist will think it’s real on television.”
Noah passed the box around and they each took a look inside.
Shannon’s hand shook as she handed the box off to Drake. “Pat, where did you get that thing?”
“I made it,” he said proudly.
Josie thought she might be sick. “You… made that?”
When he realized the entire room was looking at him in horror, Patrick threw his hands up in the air. “I made it with a 3D printer!” he exclaimed. “Here, I’ll show you.” He took out his phone and brought up a video he had made. Josie could see that he had edited it to show them the highlights. It showed him at his computer, using some kind of software to virtually design the comb. “The software I used for design is called Maya,” he explained. “There are a few other steps to get it to go to the printer, but you can see here, the printer uses plastic filament to create my design.”
On the screen, a time lapse showed a machine printing the comb in layers. It started with just a few lines of filament and slowly filled in and built up until the comb appeared. “That’s why I’m late,” Patrick explained. “It takes hours for the printer to actually print it out. Then I had to get a buddy of mine to paint it so it would look real and not like plastic. Then it had to dry.”
At the end of the video, another college student appeared with the plastic comb in one hand and a paintbrush in the other. Another time lapse video showed him using various brushes and paints to make the comb look like real bone.
Josie threw her arms around him. “Patrick, this is brilliant!”
She released him and took the box back from Mettner, who now held it, taking the comb out and admiring it. “I’ll use it on my right side to hold my hair back. My scar will be visible that way. It’s another way of mirroring this guy.”
She looked up to see Christian staring at his son in what could only be described as awe. In a husky voice, he said, “Good job, son.”
A teary-eyed Shannon took Patrick in her arms. Gretchen helped Josie fix the comb in her hair so that her scar was visible. At three p.m. sharp, they all shuffled outside, assembling behind the podium just as Mettner and Josie had directed, all lined up, a wall of support for Trinity. A handful of uniformed officers followed them and flanked them, adding to the display. Family, colleagues, and law enforcement. Only Monica Webb and Bobbi Ingram were out of place, but Monica’s presence would soon be explained, and Bobbi, in her tasteful coffee-colored pants suit, merely looked like a producer from the network. They had placed her beside Hayden for that reason. She could also pass as a public relations liaison for one of the branches of law enforcement or even some kind of intern. Josie was quite certain that no one in the press was going to care all that much about who stood behind Josie. Not once they heard what she had to say. A national network news anchor abducted by a serial killer? It didn’t get more ratings-worthy than that.
Josie stepped up to the thin podium and leaned into the bank of microphones the various members of the press had set up. Immediately, she began to sweat under the glare of the camera lights. Reporters shouted questions before she even began, but she cleared her throat and waited for complete silence.
“My name is Detective Josie Quinn,” she announced. “I’m a member of the Denton Police Department. Earlier this week, the remains of forty-five-year-old Keller Hollow schoolteacher, Nicci Webb were found in Denton. Specifically, they were found near a cabin which my twin sister, Trinity Payne—who most of you know as the co-host of a major network morning show and a colleague—was renting. At or around the time that Mrs. Webb’s remains were found, my sister was discovered to have disappeared. As was reported initially, her vehicle, purse, and phone