Page 8 of Girl, Unmasked (Ella Dark #28)

Someone's daughter was dead in this apartment building, and it seemed that some people wanted the footage.

The parking lot of the Libra apartment complex was awash with police cruisers – six of them at least – plus a forensic van with its doors open to the February breeze.

Yellow tape encircled the perimeter, but it did nothing to keep the gawping public at bay.

Ella walked to the uniformed cop at the gate and showed her badge. He grabbed his radio without looking at her credentials.

‘Detective Blythe, the feds are here.’

Static answered back: ‘Copy that. On my way.’

The cop nodded them through, and Ella and Ripley waited outside the building. The door had been propped open with a ceramic lighthouse, and through the glass, Ella could see cracked tile, metal mailboxes, and a plastic plant. 'Cold, isn't it?' she said.

‘What are you, ninety? This would be a heatwave in the north.’

‘We’re not in the north. This is prime east coast.’ Ella looked up at the apartment complex. ‘Not exactly isolated, is it?’

‘Nope. Which means our guy targeted this place for a reason.’

‘Targeted Sophie Draper for a reason.’

A gentleman emerged from the building, mid-forties with the face of someone who'd been awake since yesterday. He had an ex-linebacker's frame. Used to be big. Still was, but gravity had renegotiated the terms. 'Agents?' he asked.

‘That’s us.’

‘Shawn Blythe, lead detective.’ He stuck out his hand. ‘Norwalk PD.’

‘Agent Dark.’ His palm felt cold and wet against hers. ‘This is Agent Ripley.’

Ripley shook hands with her usual efficiency. 'Sorry, we have to meet under such circumstances.'

‘Likewise. I called you in because, well… you’ve seen the photos.

This isn’t something for city cops, you know?

We’re up to our necks in gang violence these days, but we can keep those crimes under wraps.

Something like this? It’s going to be national news, and that’s when it really hits the fan. Sorry, I’m babbling.’

‘We understand. Can you talk us through what happened?’

Blythe looked back at the building. The wind picked up and sent garbage dancing between the police cars. Ella watched a plastic bag wrap itself around a cruiser's antenna while she waited for him to continue.

‘We got the call around seven-thirty this morning. Welfare check. The victim's mother couldn't reach her daughter all night. Said it wasn't like Sophie to ignore her calls.’

‘Mother has a key?’ Ripley asked.

‘No. Lives about an hour west of here. She just had a feeling something was wrong.’ Blythe pulled out a notebook that looked like it had been through a paper shredder. ‘We got here around eight. Knocked. No answer. The building supervisor let us in with the master.’

‘The door was locked?’

‘Yeah. I assume the perp took the vic’s key and locked it on his way out, because there’s no other way he can get in there, not unless he can scale walls.’

‘Got it. What did you find in there?’

Blythe's mouth opened and closed twice before words came out. ‘We found her. Exactly how the killer left her.’

Ella studied his face. The man had walked into someone else's fever dream and couldn't find the exit.

‘Any witnesses? Anyone hear anything?’

‘We're canvassing but so far not much. Thin walls in that building, but nobody reported screaming or fighting. Neighbor heard a cat scuttling about 10 PM, but that was apparently normal.’

Ripley asked, ‘Security cameras?’

‘One on the parking lot. One in the front lobby.

The back entrance leads to the alley, and that camera's been broken for months.

Building supervisor says the lock on that door's busted too.’ Blythe pointed to a narrow passage between buildings.

‘Perp could've come and gone without being recorded.

I've got a tech pulling what footage we have, but I'm not holding my breath.’

Ella processed the details. Organized offender. Planned entry and exit. The broken door was homework, not luck.

‘We got a time of death?’

'Not sure until the autopsy. Between 8 PM last night and 7:30 AM this morning is all we know for sure. You want to head inside?'

‘Have forensics swept the place?’

‘Not yet. I wanted you to see it in situ first. Only me and two other guys have been on the scene, and believe me, they didn’t want to stay in there long.’

‘Good call.’ Ella glanced at Ripley and got a small nod back. ‘We’re ready to go in.’

Blythe turned towards the building, then stopped. He held his arm out as a barrier and said, 'Listen, I've seen some things. Barely a day goes by that I don't see a dead body. But that thing up there. That's like nothing I've ever seen. I can't even describe it.'