Page 7 of Little Hidden Fears

He ran a hand along his forehead, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. “I need your advice, Gigi. Do you think I should ... you know, reach out to her in some way? Or should I wait?”

“How about doing a subtle check-in?”

“Not sure what you mean.”

“Start off easy. Send her a text message. Keep it brief, let her know you’re thinking of her. Tell her you hope she’s doing all right, or you hope she’s having a good day ... something like that.”

He wagged a finger at me, “Good idea. Should I do it now or ...?”

“Now’s good.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “You don’t mind?”

“Not at all.”

I waited while he typed out his message one finger at a time, deleted it, typed it again, deleted it and then nodded, satisfied on his third try.

“And ... sent,” he said. “I’m all yours. Figure you’re here for a reason. What’s up?”

“Maybe my reason for stopping by is to check in and see how you’ve been.”

“As much as I appreciate that, we check in every Friday at the coffee shop. You get a new case, or something?”

“I did. I’ve just been hired to investigate the death of Noelle Winters.”

“Ahh, I wondered if you’d wind up getting involved. Her friend came here. Pushy little lass. She was asking all kinds of questions about the autopsy. I wanted to help her, but I, you know ... I can’t.”

“When Zoey came to see me this morning, she said Noelle was strangled.”

“Yep.”

“Manual or ligature?”

“Manual.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard the electricity at Noelle’s house went out on the night she was murdered. It was out for five minutes or so. She was alive before the electricity went out, and dead when it came back on. Is five minutes enough time to strangle someone to death?”

“You betcha. When a person is being strangled, they lose consciousness within seconds. The pressure alone blocks the veins and arteries in the neck, stopping the flow of oxygenated blood to the brain.”

“I knew it happened fast, but not that fast.”

“A mere eleven pounds of pressure is all that’s needed to cut off blood flow.”

“Leaving the victim with permanent brain damage.”

“You’re right. Brain damage within thirty seconds, and death shortly thereafter.”

In the past, I’d only had one case involving strangulation, and it taught me a lot. Based on statistics in strangulation cases over the years, women were strangled six times more often than men, and often because the assailant was experiencing intense emotion and rage. I’d always found murder by way of strangulation different than the other ways one could kill a person. The interaction was far more intimate. It wasn’t always about the murder itself. It was about the need to exercise power and control over the victim’s next breath.

“Strangulation is an awful way for anyone to go, even if death comes quicker sometimes,” I said. “It’s just as terrifying.”

“Yep, I agree.”

“Is there anything else I should know as I get going on this case?” I asked.

“Still early days. If something comes up, I’ll give you a holler.”

I nodded. “All right, see you on Friday.”

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