Page 15 of Girl, Undone
'Nothing like that.'
Ella glanced at Ripley.They'd gotten what they needed for now.Where had Julia been going on those nights?Who was she meeting?Could this activity be related to her death?Ella felt they had enough to go on, and didn’t want to prolong Rose’s grief much longer.She signaled to Ripley that it was time to leave.
'Thank you.I know this is difficult.If you think of anything else, anything at all, no matter how small, call us immediately.'
‘Here, take this.’Rose went over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a purple laptop.She passed it to Ella.‘This was Julia’s.I know she used it for her studies.Might be something on there, maybe.’
‘Thank you.We’ll check it out.’
***
They got back in the car.Ella started the engine and let it idle while her mind worked through what they'd just learned.She turned to Ripley in the passenger seat and said, ‘First, we need to find out about Julia’s ex-boyfriend.Next, we need to explore her mysterious evenings out.We need to track her movements on those nights and see if we can piece together where she was going, who she might have been meeting.’
‘Right,’ Ripley agreed.‘I’ll get a background check on Julia’s ex, see if I can trace his whereabouts the last few days.’
‘See if his vehicle matches the tire prints from the crime scene.’
‘Got it.’
‘I’ll do the same for Julia’s car, but given that it was on her driveway, I guess she walked her final route.’
‘We might be thinking a little too hard here, Dark,’ Ripley said.‘You get that hint of garlic in that kitchen?’
‘What, you think Julia was an alcoholic?’asked Ella.According to some, the taste and smell of garlic thwarted alcohol cravings.Ella doubted its scientific accuracy, but debunking beliefs in the modern age was akin to pushing water up a hill.
‘It would explain her secret outings.’
‘Alcoholics Anonymous?’
‘Yeah.That’s something you might even keep from your best pal.Some people might be ashamed of it.’
The idea had briefly crossed Ella’s mind, but nothing Ella had seen so far suggested Julia might have struggled with alcohol.There’d been rows of booze bottles in her kitchen, and if Julia was recovering, she’d have shifted the bottles immediately.More so, Rose would have picked up on it.Addictions were difficult to hide, especially from a best friend turned housemate.‘You not catch the liquor bottles back there?First AA step is to remove temptations.’
‘That’s true.How’d you know that?’
‘You never known an alcoholic?’
‘No.You?’
‘I’m looking at one.’Ella’s phone pinged with a text from Sheriff Bartram.She read it, then showed it to Ripley.
Body's available for inspection at County Morgue.2847 Freemantle Road.Coroner's ready when you are.
'That was fast.'
'Small town.Probably doesn't get many homicides.We're the main event.'
Ella pulled up the GPS, plugged in the address.Fourteen minutes away, assuming the roads cooperated.She spun the car around and began following the directions as she sifted through the possible revelations the coroner might have in store.All it took was a fingerprint, a hair strand, a minor trace of DNA to bring a case to an abrupt close, and whatever monster was capable of burrowing into a person’s stomach without wincing was someone Ella needed to meet.
CHAPTER EIGHT
If there was one constant in Ella’s life, it was that coroner’s offices were the same in every town in the country.The colors sometimes changed, but the rest was copy and paste.Walking towards the autopsy room of the Ozaukee County Medical Examiners Office, Ella felt, once again, like she’d been here before.
Ripley knocked on the door twice, and a pathologist opened up like they’d been waiting on the other side.They took their mask off, and a young woman stared back at them.‘Hello, friends.You must be here about the body.’
‘That we are,’ said Ella.‘Agents Dark and Ripley.’
‘I’m Doctor Sanchez.Come in.’
