Rick took out his phone and scrolled through the documents on it until he came to the one on the medallion he had copied onto his phone. He didn't know if this was the true description of the medallion or not but it was what he had available at the moment. The document said the medallion was about four inches in diameter and attached to a chain about two feet long and made out of some type of bronze which fit what he had in his hand. "If this is real then I do have one of the Medallions of Zulo," he muttered in awe. He continued reading and found out that it was able to heal all but the deadliest of wounds. "I guess that means I can't bring Molly back," he said frowning. "I don't think it will even be able to transform her. According to this though the medallions will confer the skills and even personality of the person who had worn the garment if it's held after the physical transformation. Does that mean the medallion or the clothing though?" With the way it was worded he thought that it would be the clothing that would need to be held. Well he would need Molly's skills since she had taken up ballet and was pretty good at it according to her parents.
Rick went back to his car and called the Chief Horn and asked him to meet him at the Hatton's. He knew that what he was planning could end up with him being killed but he felt that he needed to do it.
"Why did you have me meet you here instead of you coming down to the station?" Chief Horn asked as Rick got out of his car.
"Have you told them about Molly yet?" Rick asked avoiding the question.
"There hasn't been a positive ID yet," Chief Horn said.
"I think we both know that it's Molly," Rick said with a frown.
"You're right," Chief Horn sighed. "Even if the body you found isn't Molly's there's little doubt that she's dead. I was going to come tell them the news when you called. Why did you come anyway?"
"I have an idea that I'll tell you along with the Hatton's," Rick said and started for the door.
Rick knocked on the door and Elizabeth Hatton answered with, "Oh hello Rick, Chief Horn. Have you found Molly yet? I heard that there was a body found. Please tell me it wasn't Molly."
"May we come in Elizabeth?" Chief Horn asked.
"Of course," Elizabeth said standing aside. Once they were seated she asked, "Have you found Molly?"
"We're not one hundred percent positive but we think so," Chief Horn said.
Elizabeth broke down sobbing and her husband David held her asking, "How bad is she?"
Rick and Chief Horn looked at each other and then Chief Horn said, "There won't be a viewing."
Elizabeth cried harder and David asked, "Do you know if she was alive while whatever was done to her was done to her?"
"I'll let Rick answer that one since he found her," Chief Horn said.
Rick took a deep breath to calm himself as David turned his attention to him and said, "There were pictures that show she was alive while being burned."
"Oh my God," David said in shock. "What kind of monster would do that to a little girl?"
"We hope to answer that," Chief Horn said.
"I hope you put them where they belong so they don't do this to another little girl," David said anger lacing the words to leave no doubt where they belonged was.
"Well when we catch them we can charge them with two counts of murder," Chief Horn said. "Rick brought a similar case that happened 32 years ago to our attention when Molly disappeared."
"You knew what would happen to her?" David asked.
"Why do you think I was getting so frantic?" Rick asked. "I knew time was running out. I didn't want Molly suffering the same fate that I did." He buried his head in his hands.
"What?" was all David could get out in his confusion at Rick's words.
"Rick believes that in his past life he was Karen Hays and that he was the first victim," Chief Horn said. "I don't know if it's true or not but this case has clearly affected him to a great extent."
Rick looked up and said in a quavering voice, "I think I know how to find Molly's killer."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Chief Horn asked looking at Rick.
Rick took the medallion out of his pocket and said, "I found this at the side of a road. It's called the Medallion of Zulo and it's supposed to be able to transform nearly anyone into someone else with an article of their clothing."
"But that's impossible," David said. "Even if it were true how does that help us? Can it bring Molly back?"
"Well it can't really bring Molly back," Rick said. "What I want to do is change myself into Molly and hopefully the one that killed her will slip up and reveal himself."
"So you'll be our daughter?" David asked.
"As much as I can be," Rick said. "I'll be Molly physically and I'll have her skills and her personality. I won't have her memories though."
"You'll be our daughter?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes," Rick said, "I don't have any family so I don't have to worry about leaving them."
"I'll get you her favorite dress," Elizabeth said disengaging herself from her husband and going to Molly's room. She soon returned and held up a dress saying, "I hope this works."
Rick nodded and put the chain around his neck and held it there since there wasn't any other way to keep it there. He took the dress from Elizabeth and touched it to the medallion. A tingling sensation swept through his body and he started shrinking. He felt his genitals shrink and change into their female counterparts as all his body hair retracted into his body. He felt his hair tickle his neck as it got longer and saw his clothes get loose on him as he got younger. After a couple of minutes he was done changing and some new knowledge of ballet worked it's way into his mind.
"It worked," Elizabeth said. "You even have pierced ears just like Molly did."
"Now what?" David asked.