“Fast and efficient, and hunting knives are a dime a dozen in these parts,” Ellie murmured. She even had one. “And the bramble around her neck. That has to mean something.”
“That was postmortem, so he didn’t strangle her with it.” Laney angled the woman’s head to the side. “There’s also a deeper line of bruising around her throat, as if he put something around her neck.”
Ellie leaned closer to examine it. “It’s wide, almost like a band.”
“Possible asphyxiation sex gone bad,” Laney suggested. “Although there were no signs of sexual activity or abuse. But he did beat her.” As Laney lowered the sheet, Ellie saw black and purple bruises on the victim’s arms and legs. Then she tilted her sideways to reveal deep slash marks.
A sick feeling washed over Ellie. “He whipped her.”
Her thoughts took a twisted turn as she struggled to understand the evidence. “That bruising… It could have been a choker of some kind. Like one used in S and M, or a dog collar.”
Laney pressed the back of her hand over her forehead and exhaled. “You’d think we’d become immune to this stuff,” she said. “But the depravity still gets to me.”
Ellie simply nodded agreement. When the cruelty of what one human could inflict on another stopped bothering them, it would be time to quit. “Time of death?”
“Monday, sometime between four p.m. and six p.m.” Laney lifted a small scrap of paper. “This was in her mouth.”
Ellie clenched her teeth and read the message which appeared to have been written on an old typewriter. Monday’s child is fair of face.
“She hadn’t been dead long when I found her.”
Yet she’d missed him, and the killer could have been close by, hiding in the woods, watching…
Sixteen
Rocky Forge, Georgia
Mid-morning sunshine slanted golden rays across the mountains as Ellie parked at Renee Wooten’s clapboard house. Courtney’s sister lived in a small, older neighborhood called Rocky Forge where the houses had been built in the fifties and looked as if they were stacked on the rising hills like stair steps.
According to Heath’s last text, Renee cleaned rooms at a local motel, but today was her day off. The photograph he sent made it hard to believe Courtney and Renee were sisters. Where Courtney was five-ten, thin, blonde and model-pretty, Renee was barely five feet, slightly chubby, and had muddy brown hair.
A green Chevy sat in the drive, and the front door was open as if to let fresh air into the house. A tabby cat lay curled on a tattered straight chair by the door.
Ellie’s stomach knotted as she got out of the vehicle. Notifying family of a loved one’s death was never easy or pleasant, but it had to be done.
Gravel crunched beneath her feet as she walked to the stoop and climbed the two steps, knocking on the screen door, and tapping her foot as she waited. After a few minutes, she knocked again and called out Renee’s name. But there was nothing. Maybe she wasn’t home after all.
A noise from the rear caught her attention, and Ellie went down the steps, walking around the side of the house. A clothesline was strung between two trees, and she spotted a young brunette hanging sheets on the line, her ponytail swinging as she worked.
A stiff breeze caught the material and sent it flapping, the woman struggling to untangle it.
Ellie called her name and Renee turned with a surprised look. “Yes. Who are you?”
“Detective Ellie Reeves,” Ellie said, gesturing to the shield attached to her belt. “Crooked Creek Police Department.”
The woman’s face suddenly paled. “Oh, my word. You’re that detective who solved the Ghost case?”
Ellie nodded. “Yes, I am. But I’m not here about that.” She hesitated, waiting to see if Renee made the connection from the morning news. A second later, the woman swayed slightly, indicating she had.
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this, Renee. But yesterday we found a body we believe to be your sister in the woods not far from here.” Ellie showed Renee a picture of the woman’s face. “This is your sister Courtney, correct?”
“Yes.” Dropping the fitted sheet she’d been hanging, Renee staggered over to a metal chair beside a fire pit made from an old metal tire rim.
Ellie hurried to her, bending down beside her. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Renee.”
Tears pooled in the woman’s brown eyes, her hand trembling as she wiped at them. “Wh-what happened?” she asked in a whisper.
Ellie didn’t intend to share the details. “I’m afraid she was murdered. At the moment, her body is at the morgue, but I can let you know when she’s ready to be released so you can make arrangements.”
Renee nodded, her lip quivering.
“Is there anyone I can call for you?” Ellie asked.
The woman gave her a blank look, denial and shock glazing her eyes. “You said she was found near here, not in Atlanta.”
Ellie nodded. “Was she coming to see you?”
Surprise flashed in Renee’s eyes. “If she was, I didn’t know anything about it.”
“I understand you need time,” Ellie said softly. “But I have to ask you some questions…”
Nodding again, Renee blinked as if to clear her mind. “What can I do?”
“Tell me about Courtney,” Ellie said. “Were you two close?”
Renee shrugged. “Not really. Courtney was gorgeous and cared more about her looks and her business than her own family.”
Ellie’s heart clenched. “I’m sure she cared about you,” she said.
Renee lifted her head, and Ellie noticed the woman’s skin was pockmarked, as if she’d suffered badly with acne. “She was embarrassed by me.”
“That must have hurt.” Ellie knew all about family dysfunction. After wanting a sibling all her life, she finally had one. One who’d wanted her dead.
“I accepted how she was a long time ago,” Renee said with a shrug.
Ellie hesitated at the resignation in the woman’s voice. An image of the way Courtney had been dressed––in a plain dress and shoes, even plain underwear––taunted Ellie. The killer had chosen those garments for a reason.
“Did Courtney have a boyfriend or girlfriend? Anyone special in her life?” Ellie asked.
“Not that I know of.” Renee shrugged again. “She changed guys like she changed her shoes, always looking for a new style or prettier one.”
“How about enemies? Maybe a jilted lover?”
“Like I said, I don’t know about her personal life. We haven’t talked in months.” Renee stood, wiping her hands down her sides. “Although she did make a few enemies with her business.”
Ellie raised a brow, her interest piqued. “Tell me about that.”
With a sigh, Renee walked back to the laundry basket, picked up the fitted sheet and stretched it out to hang on the line. “Courtney’s makeup line made her wealthy,” she said, her tone tinged with disapproval. “Some people loved her products, but at least a couple of women had adverse reactions to some chemical in the foundation.”