Paige took it on board. She had to do something to prove she wasn’t a weak-stomached coward, she told herself. Luckily, interviewing had always been one of her strengths.
The front door burst open. A brunette in a white robe stood in the doorway, eyes swollen like two walnuts. “Yes?” she asked.
“Mrs. Sullivan, my name’s Agent Dark and this is Agent Ellis. Please accept our sympathies for what happened. Could you give us ten minutes to talk about your daughter?”
The woman shut her eyes, like she’d been dreading this moment for a while. She forcefully rubbed the trauma off her face. “Fine, but you can’t come in. Place is a mess. And call me Vanessa.”
“Of course,” said Ella.
“Can you talk us through what Cassie was like?” Paige chimed in. “How she spent her time, her daily life. That kind of thing.”
Vanessa gripped the door so hard Paige thought she was about to slam it in their faces. “Look, I’m going to save you some time here,” Vanessa said, one volume bar below a shout. “I know who did this to my girl. Well, not exactly who, but I know what it’s about.”
Paige stepped back, sensing Vanessa’s frustration was only going to mount further. “You have a suspect in mind?” Paige asked.
“You not hear me? Here’s the story. Up until two years ago, Cassie was a real good girl. On her way to a college degree. Had some great pals. Then she fell into all that… business. The devil’s business.”
Paige didn’t follow. “Religion?” she asked.
“Drugs,” Ella said. “Cassie was a user?”
“User, abuser. Started off smoking pot, ended up living in a dive with that good-for-nothing Roxy. That’s when everything went to shit.”
Paige checked the stats of the autopsy report in her notebook. No mention of drugs in her system. That meant she hadn’t used for at least ten days, probably longer.
“Roxy?” Ella asked. “I believe police have already spoken to her and found nothing suspicious.”
“Yeah, those types are good at covering their tracks. But ever since Cassie met that wench, her life went down the tubes. This has something to do with it. I’m sure of it.” Vanessa suppressed a new wave of tears with two fingertips. Paige wanted to get closer to her, tell her that they’d find the psycho that did this and put him behind bars. She didn’t know if protocol allowed it, but what were they supposed to do? Just let this woman revel in her trauma?
She reached out and gently held Vanessa’s hand. “We’re really sorry to have asked you these questions Miss Sullivan but you’ve been-,”
Vanessa jerked her hand away and stepped back. “I don’t want your sorries,” she said. “I’ve done your work for you. If you want to know who did this, ask Roxy. Telling you about Cassie’s life won’t help you.”
Vanessa might have a point, Paige conceded. She gave the grieving mother a little space, deciding now wasn’t the time for affection.
“What do you think Roxy did, exactly?” Ella asked.
Vanessa threw up her arms. “God knows. But she got Cassie into money problems. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cass owed a ton of money to the wrong people.”
“Do you know this for sure?” Paige asked. “Or is it an assumption?”
Vanessa grit her teeth and dug her fingers into the doorframe. “You think I don’t know my own kid, lady? I know she was struggling, but Little Miss Independent was too busy getting high to call her ma.”
Paige had a feeling they weren’t going to get much more information out of this woman. It was understandable. Her daughter had been brutally slain. It made sense she’d look for reason where reason might not exist.
“Thank you, Vanessa,” said Ella. “If you think of anything that could help us, please don’t hesitate to call us.”
Vanessa waited in the doorway, barely moving a muscle.
“Her leg,” Vanessa cried. “If you find it, will you let me know? Please?”
The two agents swapped a look of apprehension. Paige read Ella’s expression and took the reins.
“We found it. It appeared at a second crime scene today,” said Paige.
Vanessa’s tears gushed forth. She wiped her face with her sleeve as she caught her breath.
“You’re gonna think I’m being real weird here, but could I see a picture of it?”