Page 48 of Girl, Fractured

‘What do you think?’Sarah asked.‘Anything stick out to you?’

‘Not really.Some of these cases I’ve never even heard of, and I thought I’d heard them all.’

‘Yeah.These are the obscurest of the obscure.Most of our members are either current or ex-law enforcement, so some of the details never left the precinct’s drawers.You know how it is.’

‘Sure do.Who’s the Jack of Hearts?’

‘Killed a woman by sawing her in half.’

‘Christ.’

‘Yeah.My theory is that it was a failed illusionist who took out his frustrations on a woman that resembled a magician’s assistant.’

Ella made a note to look further into it.She had to admit that the case had a hook.‘Was there any evidence for that?’

‘No,’ Sarah said.‘But when the details are sparse, sometimes you have to fill in the details yourself.’

Ella glanced to make sure Ripley wasn’t eavesdropping.If she’d have heard that, Sarah might have a few less teeth right now.‘You ever do that with your books?Make stuff up?’

‘No.I maintain journalistic integrity when it matters, plus my publisher is pretty strict.’

‘Who’s your publisher?One of the big five?’

‘It’s the big four now, but no.It’s an independent pub called Scarecrow Press.My boyfriend runs it.My books are the only thing keeping his business afloat.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah.Indie publishers are struggling.’

‘Why did you go with them and not one of the big ones?’

Sarah cocked a brow, like Ella had just asked her to explain quantum physics.‘The big pubs get thousands of submissions a day, and true crime books aren’t all that anymore.Especially ones that don’t have endings.’

Ella pondered that for a second.Stories without endings.Ella shook the thought off before it consumed her and turned her attention back to the whiteboard.

‘So, everyone in your group knows everything about each other’s cases?’

‘Close enough.We try not to send sensitive documents to each other like police reports, but the details are usually extracted and discussed, so it wouldn’t take a genius to piece entire stories together from our email exchanges.’

‘And do any of your group members creep you out?’

‘Far from it.You’re profiling this killer as a male, correct?’

‘Correct.The direction of the bullet that hit Frank had a downward slant, meaning the unsub was taller than him.And I’m not saying a woman couldn’t decapitate someone, but she’d need to be freakishly strong.’

‘Noted.Well, that gives us,’ – Sarah counted the names on the board – ‘six suspects, right?’

‘Right.Gus, Michael, Elliott, Harold, Jeremy and Gareth.We need to interview all of them before the day is out, because our unsub’s killed twice in two days.Even if he’s mimicking other people’s M.O.s, he’s probably already developed a taste for murder.He’ll be itching to do it again.’

The door banged open hard enough to rattle the table.Ripley stood there clutching a manila folder like she wished it was someone’s throat.Her eyes swept the room in that cop way that cataloged threats, then bypassed Sarah entirely and locked onto Ella.

‘Tech boys finished their first pass.’Ripley kept one foot in the hallway as if the office might be contagious.‘Most of it checks out.Real people, real addresses, real digital footprints.Except one.’

‘Who?’

‘Michael Brooks.’

Ella turned back to the whiteboard.

---