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Ella thought Ripley might be going in a little too hard here. These two innocent folks had only found out their daughter was dead a few minutes ago, and Ella didn’t even know how much they knew about the murder. Were they privy to finer details through town gossip, or did they just know that she’d been killed? Should she tell them the full details if they asked? It would probably be for the best since they’d find out the truth eventually.
“None that I know of. She had a few close friends and that was it. Not exactly a party girl. Liza would go to work, come home, and hang out. She was saving for a house so she barely spent a dime,” Rhonda said.
“Boyfriend?” Ripley asked. The all-important question.
“No. Eliza wasn’t interested in that.”
Ella kept a close eye on the parents’ non-verbals. So far, they’d shown nothing but genuine emotion, but Tad detached himself from his wife at her mention of a lack of boyfriends. Their invisible string of grief that kept them connected became unglued.
“Never? No partners at all?” Ella asked.
“Not that we know of,” said Tad, “but she was 22. I’m not gonna pretend we knew everything she got up to.”
Rhonda seemed to balk at this idea. She excused herself, ran into the kitchen, and shut the door.
“Our apologies,” Ripley said. “We have to ask the uncomfortable questions at times.”
“I get it. My wife likes to think Eliza was an angel, and she was for the most part. But I’m not gonna believe she didn’t have a second life.”
“What about unsavory friends? Did she hang around with anyone sketchy?”
Tad shook his head. “No. We didn’t really see her friend circle very much. She kept it to herself.”
“Understood. So Eliza left for work, presumably to do some personal training sessions, then came back home and went out again about eight or nine pm?”
“Yeah, from what I remember,” said Tad.
Ella had all she needed from the parents: information, theories, and of course, suspicion.
“Do you know if she had a friend name Cheryl? Or Cherry?” she asked.
Tad wiped a few fresh tears away. He looked into the kitchen to check on his wife. “Cheryl? No, sorry. Don’t know anyone by that name.”
Ripley gave Ella the we’re done here nod. They rose to their feet, but Ella couldn’t rightly leave while an interviewee was in such a state of distress. Ripley would probably frown on it, but she was her own special agent with her own way of doing things. If she could introduce a little more compassion to the proceedings then what was the harm? She started towards the kitchen door but Ripley grabbed her shoulder.
“Leave it, Dark. Let her grieve.”
“Probably for the best,” said Tad.
Ella couldn’t let it slide so easily. In her future world, consideration was as important as the detective work. “Ripley, what if it was your kid who we were dealing with? You’d want the police to just question you and walk out, no reassurance? I can’t work like that.”
“This isn’t about you. It’s about what the interviewee wants.”
“And you don’t think she wants comfort, now of all times?”
Ella glanced back at Tad who’d clearly heard every word.
“Twenty years of marriage is telling me otherwise, but go ahead.” He moved out of the way of the kitchen door and let Ella past. Ripley then gave her a reluctant affirmation.
“Rhonda?” Ella asked. “We’ll leave you alone now. We’re going to catch whoever did this to your daughter. Mark our words.”
The mother was sitting at the table, both hands gripping the neck of a whiskey bottle. “Did he really… cut her in half?” she asked. “That’s what I heard. Is it true?”
Ella considered her response carefully, but there were no combinations of words that could cushion the fact that someone’s daughter had been severed in two.
“I’m afraid so.”
Rhonda pulled the bottle closer. It clinked against the kitchen table in the wake of her trembling hands. Ella moved closer and took a seat next to her. She put her hand on Rhonda’s shoulder.
