Page 59 of Girl, Fractured

‘Don’t worry about that, but on an unrelated note, Brooks probably needs a tetanus shot.’Ripley turned to Sarah.‘Hey Webb, does he look like what you imagined?’

‘No.He told us he was older.’

‘So he’s definitely a liar.That’s gospel.’

It was odd, seeing Ripley willingly converse with Sarah, at least without throwing in the odd jibe.Well, maybe there was still one or two, but Ella guessed a punch was all it took for two opposite sides of the crime writing spectrum to become friends.

Footsteps sounded nearby, and Sheriff Bauer materialized beside them.He’d lost his uniform jacket somewhere in the last hour, and sweat rings darkened the underarms of his shirt.The precinct was still maddeningly hot, but Ella had tuned out the discomfort now.

‘Ladies.We’ve scoured that coffee shop and found your suspect’s goodies.Cell, keys, the lot.Get a load of this.’He passed a plastic bag to Ella.Inside, splayed open like butterfly wings was a wallet.Ella studied the driver’s license displayed behind the cracked plastic window.

Same face as their stone-silent suspect, but with a different name emblazoned beneath it.

‘Josiah Nicholls,’ she said.‘That’s his real name.’

‘Got you, you bastard,’ Ripley said.

‘Jesus, he’s only twenty-nine.’

‘That’s about the average age a serial killer emerges,’ Sarah said.‘This Brooks guy – sorry, Nicholls – ticks all the boxes.’

‘She’s right,’ Bauer said.‘He’s got the connections.If I was heading this thing up, I’d slap a charge on him today.’

‘Don’t cream your pants yet,’ Ripley said.‘I don’t know about you, but if this Josiah Nicholls guy is our unsub, I want a mountain of evidence against him.’

Ella added, ‘Everything we’ve got is circumstantial.We need something hard.What do we know about him?’

‘Nothing,’ said Bauer.‘No criminal record.All I can find is that he’s a manager at that café.Never even missed a tax return.’

‘Right, and he’s probably not going to talk.Not unless we make him.’

Sarah asked, ‘Torture him?I suppose that could work.’

Ripley shot a stern look in her direction.‘What?No.I mean we put some hard evidence in front of him and make him explain it.’

Ella’s ears pricked up at the speed at which Sarah Webb jumped to the torture option.She guessed the woman was used to living vicariously through stories, not actually being a part of them.‘Mia, you want to take a crack at him?’

Her partner inspected Josiah Nicholls through the glass.‘He’s too scared to talk.It’s a waste of time, at least right now.Plus, my head is still throbbing where that asshole kicked me.If it flares up when I’m in there, I can’t promise I won’t slap him.’

‘Let him stew?’

‘Yeah.Give it an hour.’

Ripley had the magic touch when it came to breaking suspects, and if she thought interrogating Josiah Nicholls was a lost cause, then Ella accepted it.She stared down at the wallet in her hands.The driver’s license showed an address; Apartment 21B, 1422 Palmetto Drive.

‘Got his address.We should check it out.Sheriff, you found Josiah’s house keys?’

‘We foundsomekeys.Not sure if they fit his front door.’

‘Well, we need something concrete to shake him loose.’Ella tapped the license against her palm.‘His place might give us what we need.Mia, you in?’

Ripley massaged the bruise on her forehead.‘Not right now.I’m pretty sure that son of a bitch concussed me.I’ll stay here.’

‘You sure?’

‘Yeah.Maybe when the room stops spinning, I’ll see if I can make our friend more talkative.’

‘Can I come?’Sarah asked.