Still, Ellie didn’t like unsolved cases, especially if a minor was involved. Or crimes that occurred in the same town, especially a town already mired in the deaths of multiple victims from the fire, and the disappearance of a teenager that had drawn national attention fifteen years ago and put Brambletown on the murder tourism map.
TWENTY-ONE
Daisy’s Diner, Brambletown
Ellie’s phone buzzed as she parked at Daisy’s Diner with its yellow striped awning, checked curtains and tablecloths, which were visible through the front window. Seeing the ME’s number, she quickly connected.
“Laney.”
“I know I said it would be a while, but I requested records for the two girls you called me about and one of them was a match. The girl we recovered is Bonnie Sylvester.”
Ellie closed her eyes on a sigh. Poor girl. She’d been abandoned by her family, ended up in foster care and now dead. She’d never had a chance at life.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. Her DNA and prints were already in the system. And I obtained her medical and dental records to confirm. Sending you a current pic, one that was posted on the news when she first went missing.”
“Thanks. I’ll pass it to Sheriff Waters and let him handle Angelica and the news report.”
“You planning to set up a tip line?” Laney asked.
“Yes. it’s protocol.” Ellie watched people exit and enter the diner. Sheriff Clint Wallace stepped inside with a pretty brunette. “What else can you tell me?” she asked, turning her mind back to the case. “Cause and time of death?”
“COD appears to be strangulation. TOD is not precise, but my best estimate is that she’s been dead at least a couple of weeks, maybe longer.”
Ellie considered the timing of the girl’s disappearance. She was reported missing three months ago. So where had she been during the time between her disappearance and her death?
“Laney, can you tell if she was held hostage? Did she sustain other injuries?”
A tense silence fell between them for a long minute.
“Laney?”
“Again, it’s difficult to say for certain, but I reviewed her medical records. She sustained injuries that were old, a broken arm at one point and a broken finger, but the doctor’s report stated that she’d fallen down a flight of stairs in her previous foster home. The incident was reported to DFACS. Therefore, she was transferred to another home.”
“We need to question that family,” Ellie said.
“There’s something else, Ellie. We found a shoe deep in the grave but only one. About the strangulation—the red scarf in the grave was the murder weapon.”
Ellie struggled to block the image of a man strangling the girl to death from her mind. “DNA or prints?”
“Sorry. No.”
Meaning he’d worn gloves. “I’m in Brambletown now and will show Bonnie’s photo around. See if anyone saw her.”
Anger sparked Ellie’s determination. That girl had no one advocating for her. No one posting a reward. No one who seemed to care if she lived or died.
Ellie’s chest squeezed with emotions.Shecared.
I’ll find out who did this to you, Bonnie. I promise. And I’ll make them pay.
TWENTY-TWO
Daisy’s Diner
Ellie phoned the sheriff in Crooked Creek, Sheriff Bryce Waters, and filled him in on the identity of the girl.
“All right, I’ll give a press conference, circulate her pic to all law enforcement agencies across the state and set up the tip line,” he agreed.
