Page 73 of Girl, Unmasked
LaChance’s head nodded like it was on a string.‘It’s just a… story.Not a very good one.’
Ella had to prod a finger in her ear and root around for any wax.In her experience, wannabe-artists never shut the hell up about their creations, and none of them ever admitted they sucked.
‘Not a very good one, huh?’
LaChance rubbed his skinny arms and shrugged.‘Not really.I’m not a writer.I know I’ll never have adoring fans.’
‘So, why did you feel the need to makeHalo of Blooda reality?’
LaChance scratched his scalp in a gesture that would suggest confusion, under any other circumstances.‘I don’t know,’ he said.‘I only wrote the thing to get over my ex dying.Her name was Becky.Cancer.She was my real angel.’
That explained the hoarding, Ella thought.
‘Jeez, whatdoyou know?’she asked.‘I’m sorry about your ex, but you’re telling me you don’t knowwhyyou tracked down three old foes and carved them up?Nobody wakes up and decides to rip out a woman’s eyes on a whim.’
‘That’s the thing.I don’t even remember doing it.’
Classic excuse.Diminished responsibility.‘Are you sure about that?’
LaChance clenched his hand popped a river of veins in his forearm.The man looked like he hadn’t eaten a carbohydrate in years.‘Very sure.I have these… blackouts.I pass out and wake up in different rooms.’
‘Drugs will do that to you.You said you took pictures.’
‘I did.Apparently.But I don’t remember taking them.They just appeared.’
Unbelievable.Ella had heard some doozies in her day, from ‘the devil made me do it’ to ‘aliens beamed instructions into my fillings’, but she’d never heard ‘those photos of dead women just appeared on my phone’ before.
‘How did you do it?Your approach?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Did you stalk these women, slip in through their windows, what?’
LaChance looked like Ella had asked him to explain particle physics.He looked at her, then across to the cell door, still open.But then he instantly sank back to his question-mark position.
Strange.Perps usually at least entertained the idea of making a break for it.LaChance, on the other hand, seemed content to be in this cage.
‘I couldn’t tell you how I did it.It all happened during one of my fugue states.It’s like another person takes the wheel.’
It was clear she wasn’t going to get many details out him.Maybe save the real probing questions for the official interrogation when she could record everything in full.
‘Alright, LaChance, stay put.Chances are you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.’
Ella aimed for the cell door.She needed time and distance to process all this.She’d had perps shout their actions from the rooftops and she’d had perps claim innocence right up to the execution chamber.But she’d never had one confess to three murders but say they don’t remember the details.
And while she hated to admit it, something wasn't adding up.LaChance's story had the ring of truth to it, but it was a truth wrapped in a lie.Or maybe a lie wrapped in truth.Either way, Ella's gut was screaming that there was more going on here than met the eye.
Just before leaving, she turned back and asked, ‘What’s your real name, by the way?’
‘Huh?’
‘Your real name.We searched Drago LaChance to the hills, couldn’t find you anywhere.’
‘It’s Drogo Lachowski.Polish.’
Ella tried not to roll her eyes.All this time, and all she needed to find him was a few more letters.
‘I’ll be back,’ Ella said.
