Page 19 of Girl, Undone
‘We saw animal droppings at the scene, remember?’
‘Yeah, but who knows if they were from rats or not?And rats don’t attack humans like that.They’re terrified of us.’
‘That's true under normal circumstances, but rats were used in medieval times for torture.They'd put a rat in a cage against someone's stomach, heat the cage, and the rat would burrow itself to safety via the victim’s stomach.’
Ripley went quiet for a moment.'Julia was studying medieval history.'
'Exactly.'
‘So what, the killer used rats as a torture method?Deliberately?’
'It fits.She dies of cardiac arrest from extreme stress, then the rats do the rest.The killer doesn't have to touch her.'Ella braked hard at a red light and felt the seatbelt catch.'We're dealing with someone who plans.Someone who researches their victims.'
Ripley’s lips parted in response, but then her phone buzzed with an incoming text.She checked it, then clenched her teeth.Ella knew it was bad news.
‘Jason White,’ Ripley said.‘Julia’s ex.’
‘We got something on him?’
‘The opposite.He’s been overseas for months.Currently in Germany.’
Ella slammed her palm on the steering wheel, an inch away from blaring the horn.‘Damn it.So he’s out of the picture.
‘No traces on Julia’s car either.She didn’t use it all weekend.’
'So we've got no ex-boyfriend, no vehicle movement, and a theory about rats.'Ella accelerated through the intersection.The precinct was four blocks away.'We need to get forensics back to that cabin.Check the surrounding areas for discarded cages or anything that could have held rodents.Those impressions we saw in the dust were probably from whatever heating element he used.'
‘The sheriff might still have people on site.I’ll get him to take a second look around.’
‘Good idea.Tell him exactly what we’re looking for.Hell, even clumps of fur.Anything that proves rats were there.’
‘On it.’
‘And I need to look into Julia’s life more closely.If the killer was using her research against her, there might be clues in her studies.We need to devour all of Julia Dawson’s social media profiles when we get back.With any luck, we can get into her laptop without too much trouble.And let’s not rule out the medieval torture theory, because if we’ve got a killer obsessed with medieval torture, that’s…’
‘The media’s wet dream.’
‘Yeah.Either way, we're dealing with someone who knows how to cover their tracks.’
‘Let’s say our unsubdiduse rats – then how did he get access to them?No one has piles of rats lying around, unless they live in a swamp.’
Ella considered the implications.She knew this homicide had been planned well in advance, but only now realized the true extent.The questions plagued her; why Julia?Was her rat theory correct?If so, was it part of the killer's ritual, or was it a byproduct of being dead in the woods?
‘Pet stores.Snake breeders.You can probably buy rats in bulk these days.’
‘Leave that part to me.You do the tech stuff.I’ll search for rats.’
She knew that to catch this killer, she had to think like him, anticipate his moves, and uncover his connection to Julia.
When she got to her office, she had a lot of digging to do.
***
Ella had been rummaging through Julia Dawson’s laptop for thirty minutes.Julia’s roommate had handed it over, and getting clearance to the laptop had taken another hour of paperwork and phone calls, but Director Vernon's office had fast-tracked the approval.Bureaucracy moved quicker when an eviscerated body was involved.
The laptop itself was unremarkable.It was a ten-year-old Dell with a cracked screen protector and a keyboard worn smooth at the home row keys.Julia's digital life, preserved in folders and browser history, and a half-finished essay about Alexander the Great.
However, Ella discovered messaging apps on the home screen that must have been connected to Julia’s cell.Since Julia’s phone was no longer active, presumably destroyed by her killer, Ella could only access Julia’s past conversation history, but it was as good a starting point as any.
