Ellie got up from the sofa, plucked a tissue box from the table near the entryway, and handed it to Brianna. Sitting back down, she patiently waited for the woman to compose herself. Her grief was genuine. It was clear that she had cared deeply for Anderson.
“Thank you,” Brianna said with a final sniff, gesturing to the box of tissues.
“No problem.”
Brianna collected the used tissues, dropping them in a small wastebasket between her chair and the wall. Frowning, she picked up the wastebasket and left the room, returning a moment later with it empty, an apologetic smile on her face. “I’ve never been able to leave trash in the small bins. I don’t know why I keep them around the house. I just empty them into the kitchen trash as soon as I use them.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me.”
“Thank you.” She placed the trash can on the floor, moving it until it was parallel to the wall.
When Brianna glanced up and noticed Ellie watching her, Ellie offered a kind smile. “If you’re ready to continue, I’d like to go back to what you said earlier. Are you sure he said, ‘help me?’ No one else reported that.”
“Everyone was yelling and trying to get through the door. I don’t know how they could have heard him.”
Ellie flipped through her notes, skimming through Fortis’s neat handwriting to no avail. “I don’t see those words anywhere in the detective’s notes.” Ellie perched on the edge of the sofa, body thrumming with excitement. Passing a single sheet of copied paper to Brianna, she waited for the woman to read it before she continued. “You never said this in your interview. Is there a reason you’re just mentioning it now?”
Brianna pursed her lips, nodding. “I thought I imagined it. Like I said, it all happened so fast. Derek was on the phone with 9-1-1 as soon as Anderson dragged her out on the balcony. The paramedics responded within five minutes of the call, but they were both already dead.” Her throat caught, and she choked on a sudden sob.
Ellie scribbled down Brianna’s words on her notepad.
“I can still hear her screaming, then that horrible silence.” She covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes taking on a faraway look.
Ellie waited for her to continue, sensing she was reliving the scene.
“The bodies were still in the courtyard when the detective questioned me, and we’d been there for more than an hour at that point. I was so freaked out, I wasn’t sure Anderson had even said it. ‘Help me.’ Why would he say that?”
Ellie lifted a shoulder, still writing. “I’m not sure.”
“I just answered the detective’s questions and didn’t add anything. I wanted to get out of there, and I was so shaken, I could barely talk about what had happened.” She swallowed hard, forcing herself to take a few slow, deep breaths until she could speak again. “I didn’t think the media would paint him as some kind of monster. I avoided the news as long as I could, and I took a leave of absence from work.”
“Did you go back?”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t do it. No matter how much they scrubbed the concrete, I could still see the blood. Once, I made it as far as the courtyard, and I turned around and went home. By the time I was able to read the article the media put out, the case was already closed, and Anderson was labeled a murderer.”
“He killed Ellora, Brianna. No matter how she treated him, it doesn’t change that fact.”
Brianna lifted her chin, her gaze intent and clearly focused on Ellie’s. “Ellora was murdered, but not by Anderson. It was his body, but I’m telling you, as crazy as I always thought my mother was, I learned that demons are real that day.”
Ellie opened her mouth but couldn’t decide on an appropriate answer to that. Being on the force had taught her that, yes, demons could be real, but she didn’t think spirits were what Brianna was talking about.
“Anderson didn’t want to kill Ellora.” Brianna’s eyes met Ellie’s again, her gaze unflinching. When she spoke, her conviction was unwavering. “I know what I saw. He was possessed. There’s nothing you or anyone else can say to change my mind.”
* * *
Jillian met Ellie at the door when she returned, her hazel eyes sparkling with barely contained excitement.
Setting her heavy bag on her desk, Ellie plopped down in the chair with a sigh. “I’m guessing you found something?”
“I did.”
Jillian produced an index-card-sized paper with notes scrawled over every square inch.
Ellie flipped it over, not at all surprised that the back was also completely covered. She frowned, turning the paper over again and scanning the seemingly disjointed words. “I don’t know what I’m looking at.”
“I was thinking about it, and Jones had complete control over anything logged into your personal case file here, but there’s no way he could’ve stopped the media from reporting what they knew. So I decided to look up every article on your kidnapping that was available online.”
“How much could they have gotten? Jones stonewalled the reporters every chance he had. He made sure any evidence available was destroyed. My clothes, witness names, all of it.”
Jillian pursed her red-painted lips. “You’re right about that.”
“I know my case isn’t the only one where evidence disappeared, and witnesses were ignored, but…” She shook her head, gaze going to the
