Page 71 of Girl, Fractured

‘Never seen one in his house,’ added Robert.He turned back to Sarah.‘Tom was pretty old-school, right?’

‘Very.’

The synchronized denial raised every flag in Ella’s considerable arsenal.Synchronized lies were rehearsed lies.But why lie about something so mundane?Something that would be immediately disproven by the dust patterns Ripley had just shown her?

‘Why?’asked Robert

‘Because Ripley here thinks there used to be one on his desk.’

‘Ripley?’Robert’s voice curled around the name like it was something fragile he’d just found in a box of memories.Not a question about who she was, but recognition.

‘Yes?’

For three excruciating seconds, Ripley and Robert locked eyes.It was that clear that Robert knew her from somewhere, or at least her name.The question was how, and why neither acknowledged it.Ella cataloged the moment and filed it away beneath the growing stack of discrepancies that this case was accumulating.

Robert broke first.‘Thomas might have had a computer and got rid of it recently.I don’t know.Does it matter?’

‘No,’ Ripley said.‘Of course not.’

‘Do either of you know if Thomas Webb was still working on a cold case?His murder is a replica of an unsolved murder from the eighties.’

Sarah’s head came up.Tears welled in her eyes.‘Is it?’

‘Yes.A very obscure one.Not the kind you’d stumble upon without special knowledge.And given that our other victims were obsessed with particular unsolved cases, I’m wondering if your dad fits the same pattern.’

Sarah took a deep breath.‘No.Dad didn’t do things like that.’

‘She’s right,’ Robert added.‘Tom once told me that thinking about old cases was like drinking poison and hoping the other guy dies.He just wanted a normal life.’

Just then, Sheriff Bauer appeared at the doorway.He ambled over to Ella and Ripley.‘Agents, forensics found traces of something in the vic’s office.Something odd.’

‘What is it?’Ella asked.

‘Sand,’ Bauer said, confusion evident.‘Not much of it, but definitely present.’

The change in Sarah was instant and profound.Her body went rigid.The blood drained from her face so rapidly that for a moment, Ella thought she might faint.

‘I need to get out of here,’ Sarah cried as she jumped to her feet.‘I can’t hear this.Rob, can you take me home?’

‘No chance,’ Ripley said before Robert could speak.

‘What?Why?’

‘Because this case involves you, somehow.We’re not letting that go.’

Robert put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder.‘They’re right.You should go with them.’

‘I don’t want to!’

‘Tough,’ Ella said.‘You’re with us until this ends.Sheriff, can you take Sarah to the precinct?Make sure someone looks after her.Me and Ripley just need to finish some things up here.’

The scene moved in bursts, like a film reel with missing frames.One moment, Sarah was collapsing into herself in the back of the police cruiser; the next, Bauer was guiding her into his SUV.Robert was waving goodbye, then he was back in his car and speeding off without a goodbye.

And then it was just the two of them.

Ella said, ‘We should get someone to keep an eye on him tonight.He’s connected to Sarah.’

Ripley watched the phantom space where Robert’s car had been.She seemed a million miles away.‘Yeah.’