Part 1 - "Honey Doe"

Honey Doe appeared to be without a past, but Dana Carson knew better. No child the age of six found in the back seat of a car with a dead woman lying half in and half out of the driver’s seat could be a clean slate.1

The child’s file read like a selection from “Believe it or Not.”  2

Name: Honey Doe, true identify – Unknown.
Parents: Unknown.
Social History: Unknown.
Family History: Unknown.
Medical History: Unknown.
Psychiatric History: Unknown.3

The box holding the life and times of “Honey Doe” contained her clothes from the “day of” but nothing else. The child had not spoken one word in the three months she had been a ward of the state. According to the processors at the time, she did not have the traumatized haunted look of the abused, but appeared vacant. According to one observer “like nobody is home” thus Honey had not engendered compassion in the state caseworkers and simply had been domiciled and more “worthy” cases took precedence.4

Dana laid the file down on her desk and picked up the check. 5

She played the CD again. The person or persons retaining her services preferred to remain anonymous but were desirous of Dana’s services. No expense need be spared. There was whatever was needed beyond the $10,000 if Dana should decide to accept the case. She was assured that CPS and any other government agency she deemed she would need the services of would be fully cooperative. That piece, if true, put Honey Doe’s benefactor into the “Whose Who” category. Upon the CD’s final narrative, Dana half expected to hear: "Your mission, should you decide to accept it…” and then CD self-destruct in five seconds.6

Dana was a child finder. Her reputation for such was well known in the circles that mattered. But in this case, where the child was the known, it was finding the child’s past that was the object. Dana was not sure her particular skill set would be useful. Cy knocked briefly and stuck his head in the doorway, a quizzical look in his eyes.7

“Not sure yet. This is not our usual expertise. I will decide after I meet and greet Honey Doe.”8

Cy said not a word but winked and withdrew.
**
Dana had made arrangements to observe Honey Doe prior to the interview. She had been amazed. She had not had to wheedle or threaten, she simply made the request and within the hour the details were ironed out and she was on the schedule to see the child. There was definitely power at play behind the scenes. Oddly this did not make her uneasy but more intrigued and curious. Her instincts told here that no matter what she saw or heard during this visit, she was going to accept the case.
**
As requested Honey Doe was in an observation room. There was an expanse of one-way glass. Dana on walking into the room held her hand up to the person within, effectively stopping them from speaking. Dana stood without movement before the glass and observed Honey Doe.9

The child sat at the table brushing the hair of her doll and humming. For fifteen minutes Dana watched. Honey doe never stopped brushing or humming. Dana spoke to the person in the room with her.10

“What’s the tune.”11

“What?”12

“The tune she’s humming.”13

“I don’t know.”14

“Is it a new behavior?”15

“No. What you see is pretty much how she spends her days: humming and combing the doll’s hair.”16

“No one has been curious enough to find out about the tune?”17

“No.”18

“The doll -- acquired here or did she have it in her possession when found?”19

“She had nothing save the clothes she wore on the day she was found. The doll was given to her by the initial caseworker, Sandra Doyle.”20

Suddenly Honey Doe stood up and very precisely and deliberately pushed her chair under the table. She laid the doll on the table’s top along with the brush, but her humming never stopped as she slowly walked toward Dana coming to stand directly in front of the glass. She raised her eyes and gazed directly into Dana’s as if she could see through the glass. The caseworker took an audible indrawn breath at this turn of events. Dana decided then and there to accept the case of one “Honey Doe.”21

She turned to the caseworker.22

“I would like all of the agency files on this case and the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all people who have been in contact with or worked with any facet of Honey Doe’s case.”23

“Yes ma’am. Would you like to go in and speak with her now?”24

“No. I am going to hold off on that for now. I’ll let you know.”25

Dana took one last look at Honey Doe. During her exchange with the caseworker, the child had returned to her place at the table and very deliberately and precisely had reversed her actions. She was now reseated, still humming, and had returned to brushing the doll’s hair. 26

Dana was perplexed by Honey Doe’s eyes. Vacant was an apt description. Dana immediately decided her approach to this riddle needed a course correction. 27

She flipped open her phone and called Cy. 28

“There’s nothing here Cy, nothing. We need to start with the dead woman.”29

“Dana that’s not what we do.”30

“Cy…the dead woman – She’s where we need to go.31

“I’m on it, Dana.”