Page 49 of Girl, Fractured

MICHAEL BROOKS, ??, MALE, BLACK CANDLE MURDERS.

‘Ah, Mr.Question Mark.’

‘You’ve got everyone’s ages except his.Why?’

‘Because the database spat out loads of people named Michael Brooks.We couldn’t work out which one he was.’

Ripley gestured to Sarah.‘What about you, Ann Rule?You can’t help us narrow it down?’

‘No.I’ve never met Michael.’

‘What?Never?’

‘No.He didn’t come to the meetings.He only ever emailed.Diana might have met him, but I don’t know.’

‘I doubt she did, because according to the IP address these emails came from,’ – Ripley brandished a few crumpled pieces of paper – ‘Michael Brooks did all of his communication from Palm Harbor Library.’

The hairs on Ella’s neck did their warning dance.She grabbed Michael Brooks’ file and spread the contents across a clean section of table.There wasn’t much.Just a cell number, email address and printouts of the few messages he’d sent.

‘The library?’Sarah scrunched her face.‘Who uses the library to send emails these days?’

‘Michael Brooks, apparently.Do we have any pictures of this guy?’Ripley asked.

‘No.I don’t know what he looks like.’

‘Check the social media machine,’ Ripley said.

Ella spun back to her laptop and typed in Michael Brooks’ email address.One result came up.

‘Got him.’

Ripley moved closer.‘What’s he look like?A creep?’

The profile picture screamed stock photo.It showed a young man with artfully disheveled hair and glasses that probably didn’t have lenses.The kind of generic handsome that came free with picture frames.

‘He doesn’t look like anything.This is a stock photo.’

‘What’s his profile say?’

Ella began scrolling.The profile was created 18 months ago.No location, interests or employment listed.All of his posts were private too.There were three visible pictures, all glossy stock photographs of landscapes.

‘It doesn’t say anything.This is what my friend Roadrunner would call a digital Halloween costume.’

‘A what?’

‘Just enough to give the illusion of a real person.’Ella spun to Sarah.‘Maybe to infiltrate a secret group without giving away their identity.’

Ella felt the familiar burn of recognition light up her synapses.She jumped back to the printouts in front of her and began dissecting Brooks’ messages:

M.Brooks – July 14 @ 16:22:Gus, read your notes on the Tampa Ripper victimology again.The geographical clustering is tight, but did anyone map potential exit routes based on tide times for the bay?Just a thought.

M.Brooks –August 22 @ 16:59: Frank, incredible dedication on the Marlowe case.That eyewitness account of the car seen leaving Dolphin Lane – was the make/model ever definitively confirmed, or just ‘dark sedan’?Records from ‘76 must be patchy.

Ripley moved closer.‘What are you looking at, Dark?’

‘My brain is doing that thing where it knows something before I do.Look, Brooks directly asked Frank about the case.’

‘He asked a lot of questions,’ Sarah added.‘Always probing.’

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