The bedroom door locks with a quiet click.
Daniel crosses the dark room, sets his phone facedown, and kneels in front of the porcelain doll. Moonlight catches the familiar curls and painted blue eyes. The planchette beside it is still moving from the last question.
S—O—P—H—I—E.
Daniel's breath catches, but he does not waste another second doubting it. He lifts the doll with both hands, careful of every porcelain finger.
"If that's really you, listen to me."
Footsteps pass in the corridor. Daniel lowers his voice.
"Lucy says you jumped. I found your broken bracelet beneath the balcony, and Bentley has been paying someone from my company account. They both think I'm too wrecked to notice."
He places the doll on the bed, then opens the bedside drawer. Inside are a spare phone, the bracelet, and a miniature microphone.
"Lucy's coming back in ten minutes. I told her I found something in your room."
His gaze fixes on the doll's painted face.
"I can make her talk—but I need to know what you can control. The board? The phone? The doll itself?"
A car door closes outside. Daniel slides the microphone beneath the doll's lace collar and cups its face.
"Give me anything, Sophie. One sign. Then I bring you home and I don't let either of them touch you again."