Page 24 of Girl, Fractured

‘Life got in the way.’

‘Didn’t it just.I’ll go stock up on drinks.You start making some headway with… whatever we’ve got.’

‘The Jennifer Marlowe file.There’s a reason he had this report in a safe with his badge number as the combination.There’s a reason this file predicted his murder.’

***

One hour later, Ella had lost herself to the rhythm of a dead man’s 50-year-old investigation.The coffee Ripley had brought before disappearing to ‘follow up on something’ sat half-empty beside her, and the heat in the room had only worsened.But Ella didn’t care, because she was too lost in 1976.

The official report laid out the skeleton:

VICTIM: Jennifer Marlowe, white female, 26 years of age.

ADDRESS: 214 Dolphin Lane, Palm Harbor, FL.

OCCUPATION: Real estate agent, Coastal Properties.

TOD: Between 8PM and 12AM, January 14, 1976.

COD: Single gunshot wound to abdomen.

RESPONDING OFFICER: Det.Frank Sullivan, Palm Harbor PD.

Then came the photos.Grainy, third-generation copies.They somehow made the horror more vivid than modern HD shots ever could.The human brain filled in the blanks, colored the wounds, imagined the smell.Jennifer Marlowe sat unnaturally upright on her floral-patterned sofa, blonde hair perfectly styled, wearing a modest blue dress.Blood had soaked through the fabric across her stomach.Those white stones stared out from her face like alien eggs.

Ella then checked the address online.Jennifer Marlowe’s house was only ten miles from Frank Sullivan’s retirement pad.Which meant that even after working and presumably living in Washington D.C.for the better part of thirty years, Frank still couldn’t resist the gravitational pull of this unsolved case.

Even these initial pages radiated Frank’s fixation.This wasn’t standard procedure, keeping a decades-old file locked away like this.Cops sometimes kept souvenirs of things that were important to them, but given Frank’s desecration of this police report – words circled, things underlined, notes written in the margins – this was far from a souvenir.

Ella turned the page.The official typewritten text continued, detailing the scene, the initial canvass, the ME’s preliminary findings.But Frank’s presence asserted itself.

Entry point: Rear kitchen door.Lock picked.

Beside this, Frank had drawn a crude diagram of a tumbler lock, then scrawled:Simple pin & tumbler.Too easy.Why no deadbolt?Single woman??

The double question marks felt less like inquiry, more like accusation.

Further down:No signs of struggle in kitchen or hallway.Victim likely surprised in living room.Frank’s pen had circled the word ‘surprised’ multiple times, then added:Or knew him?Let him in?Walked him to living room?Then why pick lock?CONTRADICTION.

Then came the description of the body’s state:Victim seated upright on sofa.Post-mortem lividity suggests repositioning after death.Below this, a heavily underlined sentence from Frank: Staged.Why?For who?

Post-mortem enucleation performed.Orbital sockets filled with smooth, white stones (alabaster?).Frank had drawn an arrow pointing to this section and written: WHERE did he get stones?Carry them?Find them nearby?Garden??Check neighbors’ yards AGAIN.

Another note, clearly added later, in different ink:Checked.Nothing.Hardware store?Craft shop?Premeditated.

Ella found herself navigating a map of Frank Sullivan’s mind.Judging by the shift in handwriting, Frank had been stabbing at this case for decades.This was what an unanswered question could do to a man, she thought.

Where the official police documentation ended, Frank Sullivan’s personal investigation began.Page after page of yellow legal paper followed, filled edge to edge with Frank Sullivan’s handwriting.First was a behavioral profile of the unsub.

Subject Profile (Initial Thoughts):Male.Likely White.Age 25-40?Organized offender.Brings own materials (stones).Comfortable in residential setting – suggests prior B&E or similar skill set.Not impulsive; staging indicates planning, control.Motivation?Sexual element unclear.No overt assault per ME.Mutilation focused solely on eyes.Why?Symbolic.Sight = witness?Or sight = judgment?Does killer feel watched?Judged?By her?By God?

Ella paused.Quite fascinating.Frank was thinking like a profiler before profilers were even a thing.He was trying to crawl inside the killer’s head via the limited tools and understanding of the mid-seventies.

Another page detailed dead ends:Checked missing persons reports tri-county area 6 months prior.No obvious links.Canvassed local hardware stores, garden centers re: alabaster stones.No leads.Staff turnover, poor record keeping.Transient killer?Passing through?Doesn’t feel right.Staging feels localized.Or killer IS local, but lives carefully.Blends in.No priors?

One page contained only a series of questions:

Who benefits?

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