Page 59 of Girl, Unmasked
‘An accident?Did you accidentally just run away?Come on, Roger.Do better.’
Blackwood seemed to deflate.He had the look of a man who knew his time was up, which meant it now became a waiting game.On a long enough timeline, guilty people with nothing left to lose ended up confessing every little detail.And if Blackwood was her man – which was becoming more likely with every minute – he wouldn’t be able to stop himself spilling the whole grim truth.
Once Ella could establish a link between Blackwood and Sophie Draper, the higher-ups would be itching to charge him.
‘It looks bad.I know.’
Ella stood up, planting her palms on the table as she loomed over Blackwood.‘Let me lay it out for you, professor.I’m looking for someone who’s committed multiple homicides, someone who’s targeting people in the literature world, someone who has a thing for religious imagery.Sound like anyone you know?’
Blackwood's face crumpled like wet paper.He raised his cuffed hands in a gesture of surrender.‘Fine.Look.I know about Martina.It’s been all over the news, and when I saw those pictures, I was sick to my stomach.But I swear, I didn’t kill her.’
‘That all you got?I’m gonna need more than that.’
‘What else do you want?I did nothing wrong.’
Ella pressed her palm to the side of her skull.‘I’ve got a concussion that says otherwise.If you’re so innocent, why’d you try and escape?’
Blackwood took a shuddering breath.‘Okay, I’m going to start from the beginning, okay?But you have to trust me on this.’
She didn’t know whether to laugh or punch him again.‘Trust is earned, so earn it.’
‘Right.Martina and I… we had a thing.Or I thought we did.’
‘A thing?’
‘Yes.I just couldn’t help myself.Martina was beautiful, passionate.She had this way of looking at the world that just… lit me up inside.’
For the first time since laying eyes on him, Ella saw something in Blackwood that looked like real emotion.But his talk of a lack of impulse control gave Ella more fuel for the fire.
‘You were into her.’
‘Yes.But that attraction only went one way.I came onto her, got a little too friendly.’
‘How friendly?’
‘Physically friendly.’
‘We talking a hand on the knee in the break room?Or another kind of physical?’
Blackwood’s head hung low.‘I grabbed her.Tried to kiss her.She shoved me off.But I… persisted.’
Ella felt her lip curl in disgust.Guys like Blackwood, they never could take a hint.Always had to push and prod andtakewhat they wanted regardless of the consequences.
‘Right.And then?’
‘Martina went to the principal, told him I’d assaulted her.Groped her, propositioned her.’Blackwood’s voice was thick with self-pity.The kind of wounded male pride that made Ella wish she’d punched him twice as hard.
‘Were the police involved?’
‘No.The principal was on my side, because she didn’t want to lose me.If I ended up with a criminal record, I couldn’t work in a school.So we solved the whole thing out of court.’
‘My heart bleeds for you.’
‘Look, I’ve seen how these things go.Mud gets slung, reputations get ruined.Even if I'm innocent, even if I didn't lay a finger on Martina beyond what she claimed, it wouldn't matter.I'd be tagged as a predator forever.’
‘So your plan was to assault me, run away and then… what?’
‘I panicked, alright?Is that what you want to hear?I ran because I knew how it would look.The cops come knocking, asking about a dead woman who just happens to be the same one who accused me of touching her.For whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.James, two-ten’
