Page 2 of Justice for JoElla

Because in her previous life, JoEllaTompkins had been a cop.

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As soon asthe cruiser had pulled up, JoElla headed back to her apartment, closed and locked the door, drew the blinds, and pulled the curtains. Being out there with all the first responders was something she did not want. Because of their presence, she couldn’t leave for work. It wasn’t just about not wanting to be around them. They were blocking her car with all the vehicles.

Worse yet, they were going to want to talk to her. She knew it. As soon as those women told them she’d been the one who’d opened the door, there would be a knock. It was coming. There was no way around it and, to compound her impending sense of dread, there was no back door to the unit. She was stuck there, closed in and praying they’d just forget about her.

Not a chance in hell. About the time she’d decided that maybe she was off the hook, the knock sounded. It took everything she had to open the steel-clad door just enough to peer out with one eye. Rather than say anything, she just waited. After what seemed like an eternity, the officer finally said, “Ma’am, could you come out and give me a statement? About your neighbor? We know you’re the one who opened the door for the other women. I’d really like to talk to you.”

It was JoeyFarley. She’d known him for years, but she knew he hadn’t figured out who she was. Hiding it had just become impossible. If she didn’t speak to him, didn’t come out, he could compel her to, so she made the decision to get it over with. With the door open just enough that her whole face was exposed, she nodded to him. “Okay. Ask what you’ve gotta.”

Sure enough, his jaw dropped. “JoElla?”

Holding back her sigh was something she just couldn’t do. “Yeah. It’s me.”

“Holy shit. I had no idea… These ladies said you opened the door for them. I just wanted to talk to you about what happened, see if you could tell us anything.” His eyes were as round as a grapefruit, and JoElla could feel herself shrinking. “You want to come out here? Or want me to come in there?”

“I don’t know why you can’t ask me questions from right here.”

He seemed taken aback by her answer, then pulled out a quick recovery. “Um, okay. They said you unlocked the door. With a piece of metal and a screwdriver?”

“Yeah. Not very secure around here.”

“Okay. And what did they tell you? About why they were here?”

“Said she was a coworker who hadn’t made it to work and they were worried. Her car was here, so I figured she was here too. Then I remembered the boy.” Joey’s eyebrows popped up. “He always got on the bus. It didn’t even slow down this morning. I knew that meant he hadn’t gone, and that was weird. And then when I saw her car and knew she was probably there, but they couldn’t get her to come to the door… Everything just felt wrong.”

He nodded and wrote something on his tablet with a graphics pencil. “Gotcha. Touch anything in there?”

“Nope. I knew better.”

“Right. So you saw him.” She nodded. “And you immediately left.”

“Backed out of the room, didn’t touch a thing except to check him for a pulse.”

“Okay. And had you heard anything that made you suspicious that something was going on?”

She sighed again?loudly. “Aww, hell, they fought constantly. Banging on the walls, screaming and yelling.”

“The woman and the kid?”

“No, no. The woman and her boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? So there was a man there?”

JoElla nodded. “Most of the time. Gave me the creeps. They were the two fighting, not the kid. He seemed like a polite, thoughtful young man.”

“And did you hear anything this morning?”

“Yeah. While I was in the shower, I heard two bangs. At first, I thought somebody had broken in. Then I thought they’d hit the wall hard enough to knock something off on my side, but there was nothing. Everything was fine. Until that woman knocked on my door.”Now it’s my turn to ask the questions, she heard a voice say in her head. “So, about the mother. Her name’s maybe Josie? Was her manner of death the same as her son’s?”

“Yeah, JosieWiseman. She’s not dead. At least not there.”

JoElla was confused. “I didn’t go into the bedroom. I just figured?”

“You figured wrong. She’s not there.” Joey didn’t even look up as he wrote on the tablet.

“What? So are you saying she’s the one who killed her son?” That didn’t make sense.

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