Page 67 of Girl, Haunted

Gary caught her eye and asked, ‘Christ, you don’t thinkIhad anything to do with this?’

‘Look, Gary,’ she sighed, ‘I'm not saying you carved up your wife. But you gotta give me more to work with. Any idea where Amanda might have run to? Friends, family, a battered women's shelter maybe?’

Gary blinked at her slowly, like her words were taking the scenic route to his brain. He shook his head. ‘No, I... Amanda didn't have many friends. Not in town, anyway. Her folks are out in Pittsburgh, been there for years now.’

‘No one? No sympathetic ear she might have ran to after your altercation?’ Ella kept her tone mild, but she watched Gary flinch all the same.

‘No. No, Amanda... she wasn't close with many people. Kept to herself mostly.’

Ella had heard this tale before. Controlling husbands ensuring their wives didn’t get too pally with other women in case they found out that installing a tracker app on their phone wasn’t a normal request from a stable partner.

‘What about workmates?’

‘Amanda was a nursery nurse. Only worked with a few other people. Never mentioned anyone as far as I can remember. I mean, there’s that writing group, I guess.’

Ella’s ears perked up. ‘Writing group?’

‘Yeah, some artsy circle jerk thing. Said it helped her 'process' or whatever.’ Krafton sketched sarcastic air quotes, his grief briefly eclipsed by masculine disdain.

A tingle shot down Ella's spine. Cassius Auctor. Auctor, author. Could it be a link? She tamped down on the surge of adrenaline and kept her expression schooled.

‘This group got a name?’

‘Nah, it was all hush-hush. Invitation only, real snooty shit.’

‘Anything else you can tell me about this group? Where they met, who ran it?’

Gary's mouth opened, but no words came. He squinted, head tilting like a dog hearing a far-off whistle. 'Nah, never got a name. Like I said, real hush hush. Amanda was cagey about it, didn't want me knowing too much.' A shadow crossed his face, there and gone. Regret or recrimination, Ella couldn't tell.

‘Think harder, Gary. What else do you know about this class? How often did Amanda go? Did she mention any names or where it was?’

Gary gripped his skull with both hands. 'It was in the back of some shop in the town square. But I can't remember the name of it. I didn't want to get involved.'

But Gary was already retreating into the shell of his grief. Ella knew she wouldn't get anything else out of him, not tonight.

Dead end. But not a total wash. She had something now, more than she’d walked in with. The shape of this thing was forming, piece by bloody piece.

Ella scraped her chair back and stood. Gary startled at the suddenness of it, shrinking into his seat like he thought she might take a swing. She swallowed back the reflexive flare of pity and jerked her chin towards the door.

‘The good news, Mr. Krafton, is that you’re no killer, and I don’t have it in my heart to slap a DV charge on a man who just lost his wife.’

Gary pushed his palms against his eyes. The display of emotion must be killing him, Ella thought. ‘Thank you.’

‘An officer will come along to take your statement, and I need you to mentioneverything, okay?’

Gary nodded.

‘And if you think ofanythingrelating to this writing group, I want you to call me immediately.’ Ella threw her card on the table. ‘I’m sorry this happened to Amanda, and if you need anything, we’ll look out for you.’

Then she was out the door, leaving Gary Krafton to steep in his misery. Luca straightened up from the wall as Ella emerged.

Luca asked, ‘What’s the verdict?’

‘What do you think?’

‘Well, nine times out of ten, the husband did it.’

‘Unless this guy was married to the other victims too, then he’s in the clear. Did you notice anything off about him?’

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