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‘We thought he’d be fine!’ Lauren said. ‘But when we came to open it… we couldn’t.’
‘You couldn’t?’
‘It was this industrial fridge, this heavy thing, the door weighed a ton. We couldn’t unlock it, it was like…’
Ella grinned in disbelief. ‘Vacuum sealed,’ she said.
‘Yeah. Like it had been locked by magic.’
‘It’s not magic, it’s science you idiot,’ Ella snapped. ‘The seal creates a vacuum that stops you opening it for a few minutes. Why didn’t you go back later? Why didn’t you help him?’
Lauren flinched at the comment. Ripley stepped forward, one hand on Ella’s shoulder. ‘Dark, calm down.’
Ella pushed her partner’s arm away. ‘No, this woman created a serial killer, and for what? A laugh? Well, not laughing anymore, are you? Now you’re crying for help.’
‘We panicked,’ Lauren admitted, her voice breaking. ‘We ran, we left him there. We thought... we thought he'd find a way out.’
‘He found a way out, alright,’ Ella said, turning away and gazing off into the distance. A part of her wanted to pack up, get back to D.C. and leave this case unresolved. She glanced again down at the note, the scrambled word still unreadable.
IULHQGV?
One word.
Seven letters.
A message from a broken mind to those who’d sent him on his path of destruction. What did he want to say to them after all these years?
‘Regardless,’ Ripley began, ‘we need to know who else might be in trouble. Who else was there on the night you… left this kid for dead?’
‘Me, Demi, Mark, Miles, James, and….’ Lauren trailed off.
Ella spun on her heels, moved closer and tapped her knuckles on her skull. ‘For God’s sake, think,’ Ella shouted. ‘You can’t even remember who was there the night you nearly killed someone? What about this poor guy’s name, huh? That eluding you too?’
Ripley gave her partner a look of disapproval, but Ella was past caring. This whole case had been a crash course in birthing monsters, from brutal childhoods to homicidal revenge.
‘Yes,’ Lauren cried. ‘Believe me, I’m ashamed. Not a day goes by I don’t think of that kid, especially as we never saw him again.’
‘That’s not true, is it? You saw him an hour ago. He was about to choke you out, just like he did with all your other pals.’
Ripley jumped in again. ‘Dark, leave it. That’ll get us nowhere. Lauren, who was the last person there that night?’
‘A woman. It was Miles’ girlfriend at the time, but he had a lot of them. Laura, Becky, Jade, Harmony, one girl named Trin… something. I’m sorry, I can’t remember, but they must all be…’
Ella heard the names, none of them immediately familiar.
Then she looked back down at the cipher in her hands.
IULHQGV?
In that moment, a spark ignited in Ella's mind, a connection so sudden and so clear it was as if a light had been switched on in a dark room. The names swirled in her mind, but it was the incomplete, uncertain name that snagged her thoughts. As she mulled over the name, her eyes flicked back to the cipher, her brain working furiously to piece together the puzzle.
Suddenly, the letters rearranged themselves in her mind, forming a word that was so obvious, so undeniable, that Ella couldn't believe she hadn't seen it earlier. It was as if the killer had left this clue just for her, a breadcrumb on a path that led straight to his next move.
‘Ripley,’ Ella said. ‘I know who our final victim is.’ This time, there was no uncertainty. The revelation was so profound, so incisive, that the chill of the night dissolved from her bones. All that remained was adrenaline, warmth and determination.
‘Who?’
Ella had no time to explain. She had somewhere she needed to be.
