CHAPTER SEVEN
‘What’s her name again?’ Ripley asked.
'Rose Murphy. Lived with Julia for seven years, according to her records.'
Ella raised her hand to knock, then stopped.
This part never got easier. She'd done it a hundred times by now, but it still felt like swallowing glass.
She was about to walk into someone's terrible Monday morning and make it a million times worse.
With a heavy breath, she finally let her knuckles rap gently against the door.
Ella stopped and listened for signs of life from beyond the door, and her mind briefly wandered to Julia, the victim who should have walked along this broken pathway last night but never did.
Who was she beyond the case file? Who were the people she left behind?
Ella pondered the questions before the red door creaked open and a face appeared in the crack.
Latina features, early forties, dark hair pulled back.
Her eyes were red-rimmed. She'd been crying already.
‘Police?’ the woman asked.
Ella's throat felt dry, but her training kicked in. 'Sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but are you Rose Murphy? Julia Dawson's roommate?'
'Yes, I am.'
‘We apologize for the abrupt meeting, but I'm Agent Dark, and this is Agent Ripley. We need to talk about Julia. May we come in?’
The woman at the door nodded, her eyes brimming with tears that hadn't yet fallen.
It was as if she already knew, as if the mere mention of Julia's name had been enough to confirm her worst fears.
She stepped back and opened the door wider to let them in.
Her movements were robotic, as if she were detached from her own body.
Ella stepped forward, but Rose cut her off.
‘Please tell me. Is Julia okay?’
Ella had learned over the years that there were no magic words to make it hurt less. You could be gentle or you could be direct, but the result was the same. Someone's world ended either way.
'I'm sorry,' Ella said. 'Julia was found this morning. She didn't survive.'
The sound Rose made wasn't quite a scream, but like all the air leaving her body at once. She stumbled backward. Ella moved forward, caught her before she fell. Rose collapsed against her, sobbing, her fingers clutching at Ella's jacket like she was drowning.
Ella held her and let her cry. This was part of the job too; holding a stranger while their grief poured out.
She let her keep going until her tears ran dry, all while Ripley stood respectfully in the doorway.
Rose pulled away and wiped her face with her hands.
Her eyes were swollen, nose running. Ripley handed her a tissue from her pocket.
‘I’m sorry,’ Rose began as she dabbed her eyes, ‘it’s just… she was doing so well.’
‘I know it’s difficult, but we could talk to you about Julia? Anything you can tell us will help.’
Rose nodded and made a fragile attempt at composure. ‘Okay. I’ll try. Come on through.’
The roommate led Ella and Ripley into the kitchen; a small but neat space bathed in the warm light of the morning sun.
The room, like the rest of the house, was modest, and the countertops were cluttered with the everyday artifacts of shared living.
Coffee maker, a stack of dishes drying beside the sink, a magnetic board covered in notes and grocery lists.
It was a snapshot of normal life, now fractured by tragedy.
As they sat down at the kitchen table, a pervasive aroma of garlic lingered in the air. Ripley seemed to notice it too. ‘Did we interrupt you cooking?’ Ella asked.
Rose glanced toward the window. ‘Oh, no, it's not that. Julia had this... quirk. She used to put peppermint and garlic near the front door and windows. Said it helped keep the vermin away. They would crawl in from the lake.’
Ella found herself momentarily distracted by this peculiar detail. Such idiosyncrasies often painted a more vivid picture of a person than any formal interview could. ‘Did she have many quirks like that?’
‘Not really. Just that one. She was a pretty normal woman, all things considered.’
‘Can you tell us about her?’ asked Ella. ‘Her life, routines, friends, partners, hobbies. That kind of thing.’
Rose's gaze drifted to the refrigerator. A photo was stuck there with a magnet: Julia and Rose, younger, smiling, arms around each other at what looked like a concert or festival. ‘We met in college. Became roommates after graduation. She's... she was my best friend.’
Ella noted the subtle shift in tense. It was Rose’s painful adjustment to a new reality without Julia. ‘What did Julia do day to day?’
‘She worked at a production plant, in the offices. Nothing extravagant. She’d get home about six o’clock and stay here most nights.’
‘What about her social life?’
‘Never had much of one. She had a boyfriend until recently. Real piece of work…’ Rose trailed off.
Ella shot Ripley a knowing look. When a dead body showed up, partners were first on the suspect list.
‘Name?’ asked Ripley.
‘Jason White. Lives in West Bend.’
‘Where’s that?’
’20 minutes north.’
Ella made a mental note. ‘What was it about him that stood out?’
‘I only met him a few times, and Julia never said much, but I could tell she was unhappy towards the end. They fought a lot. He was controlling, always wanted to know where she was, who she was with.’
‘How long ago did they split up?’
‘Must be nearly six months now. He got violent one night. Julia left his place and never looked back.’
'She file a report?' Ripley asked.
'No. She just wanted it over. Didn't want to deal with him anymore.'
Ella took it all in. Jason White was now a person of interest. ‘Did Julia have any contact with Jason recently? Any encounters you know of?’
‘No. I never saw him again. After that, Julia started focusing on herself. I know she started online classes recently. Something to do with medieval times. Ancient history and all that.’
Another unexpected detail. ‘Did she meet anyone through these classes? Any new friends or acquaintances?’
Rose shook her head. Her tears had now dried to her cheeks ‘Not that I know of. She mostly kept to herself about it. Just seemed happy to be learning something new, something she was passionate about.’
Ella considered everything Rose had told her, then had to ask the burning question. ‘Rose, you say that Julia didn’t have much of a social life. If so, where was she last night?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘She never mentioned anything? Or anyone?’
‘There was something else going on with her, but she didn't share it with me.’
Ella’s interest piqued. ‘How do you know?’
‘Once a week or so, Julia would disappear for a few hours each evening. She never told me where she was going. I didn't press her. I thought she might be studying with someone, or dating. I don’t know.’
Ripley pressed, ‘Did she have a regular night for these disappearances? A pattern?’
‘No particular day, but at least once a week she’d leave the house about six and get back about eleven.’
'And last night was the same?’
Rose nodded, tears starting again. 'Yes. I was watching TV. Julia came out of her room, said she was going out, and she'd be back later. That was it. That was the last time I saw her. I should've asked where she was going. I should've-'
'This isn't your fault,' Ella said firmly. 'You had no way of knowing.'
'But if I'd asked, if I'd made her tell me…’
‘She still wouldn’t have come home. Whoever did this was waiting for the right moment. Nothing you did or didn't do would've stopped that.’
Rose covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders shook.
Ella gave her a moment, then asked, 'Did Julia seem worried lately? Scared? Like someone might be following her?'
'No. She seemed good, actually. Better than she'd been in a long time. More like herself.'
'Any unusual phone calls? Strange people showing up? Enemies?'
'Nothing like that.'
Ella glanced at Ripley. They'd gotten what they needed for now. Where had Julia been going on those nights? Who was she meeting? Could this activity be related to her death? Ella felt they had enough to go on, and didn’t want to prolong Rose’s grief much longer.
She signaled to Ripley that it was time to leave.
'Thank you. I know this is difficult. If you think of anything else, anything at all, no matter how small, call us immediately.'
‘Here, take this.’ Rose went over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a purple laptop. She passed it to Ella. ‘This was Julia’s. I know she used it for her studies. Might be something on there, maybe.’
‘Thank you. We’ll check it out.’
***
They got back in the car. Ella started the engine and let it idle while her mind worked through what they'd just learned. She turned to Ripley in the passenger seat and said, ‘First, we need to find out about Julia’s ex-boyfriend. Next, we need to explore her mysterious evenings out. We need to track her movements on those nights and see if we can piece together where she was going, who she might have been meeting.’
‘Right,’ Ripley agreed. ‘I’ll get a background check on Julia’s ex, see if I can trace his whereabouts the last few days.’
‘See if his vehicle matches the tire prints from the crime scene.’
‘Got it.’
‘I’ll do the same for Julia’s car, but given that it was on her driveway, I guess she walked her final route.’
‘We might be thinking a little too hard here, Dark,’ Ripley said. ‘You get that hint of garlic in that kitchen?’
‘What, you think Julia was an alcoholic?’ asked Ella. According to some, the taste and smell of garlic thwarted alcohol cravings. Ella doubted its scientific accuracy, but debunking beliefs in the modern age was akin to pushing water up a hill.
‘It would explain her secret outings.’
‘Alcoholics Anonymous?’
‘Yeah. That’s something you might even keep from your best pal. Some people might be ashamed of it.’
The idea had briefly crossed Ella’s mind, but nothing Ella had seen so far suggested Julia might have struggled with alcohol.
There’d been rows of booze bottles in her kitchen, and if Julia was recovering, she’d have shifted the bottles immediately.
More so, Rose would have picked up on it.
Addictions were difficult to hide, especially from a best friend turned housemate.
‘You not catch the liquor bottles back there? First AA step is to remove temptations.’
‘That’s true. How’d you know that?’
‘You never known an alcoholic?’
‘No. You?’
‘I’m looking at one.’ Ella’s phone pinged with a text from Sheriff Bartram. She read it, then showed it to Ripley.
Body's available for inspection at County Morgue. 2847 Freemantle Road. Coroner's ready when you are.
'That was fast.'
'Small town. Probably doesn't get many homicides. We're the main event.'
Ella pulled up the GPS, plugged in the address.
Fourteen minutes away, assuming the roads cooperated.
She spun the car around and began following the directions as she sifted through the possible revelations the coroner might have in store.
All it took was a fingerprint, a hair strand, a minor trace of DNA to bring a case to an abrupt close, and whatever monster was capable of burrowing into a person’s stomach without wincing was someone Ella needed to meet.