Absolution by Ellen J. Green

Author:Ellen J. Green [Green, Ellen J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503904125
Published: 2019-01-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 32

RUSSELL

The circling would begin, he knew it. That was the way it worked. They’d interviewed him after Juliette was found. They’d interviewed him again, asking harder questions. Now concrete evidence seemed to link him to her murder. Next they’d be digging into his relationship with Juliette, every fight, questioning friends and family. He knew he had maybe two or three days tops to figure out where Ava was, to prove she’d been in his house that day. Or he was going to be arrested, and he might not be released. It would be up to Joanne, and he wasn’t sure she could do it on her own. She’d need help—but there was no one left who could help.

Juliette’s autopsy had come back. She had a slightly elevated level of potassium, which wasn’t unusual, as the cells released potassium upon death. The alcohol in her blood at the time of death was negligible. Her liver had cleaned it all up. They did find an antidepressant, Lexapro, and traces of Xanax. Russell was flabbergasted. He’d essentially lived with this woman for almost two years, and though she’d retained her own apartment for much of that time, they’d been together almost every night. She’d never told him she was depressed. She’d never said she was taking antidepressants or antianxiety medication.

The needle mark on her arm was clear. She’d been injected with something on the day she died, but the findings were inconclusive. The coroner had determined no definitive cause of death. But Juliette was dead, and Russell’s prints were on the hypodermic pouch. He stared at the reports, his energy drained. He was in his office with the door shut and had only ventured out twice, to use the bathroom. The room next door contained the remnants of Juliette’s death, the soiled mattress, the bottle of water, and he didn’t want to look at it or be anywhere near it, but there was nowhere else he could go.

His family had come around, his brothers, his parents. They were horrified, empathetic, concerned. They wanted to consume him, take him in, erase all of this for him, almost encapsulate him within the family fold, but he couldn’t let them. He needed to keep everyone at a distance until he could reconcile this in his brain. His mother had stopped by with a container of food earlier, but he had kept her at the door and wouldn’t let her in.

“We loved Juliette,” she’d said, standing on the top step. “This is so hard for us. Leave this house, come and stay with us, please?” Her eyes were warm and watery, and she reached out to hug him, because she didn’t know what else to do. There was going to be no closure for his family. “It isn’t healthy to be here alone.”

He shook his head. “My things are here. I’m going to just stay in my office. Not my bedroom, sleep on the sofa in there until I can sort this out.” He caught sight of himself in the mirror as he shut the door on his mother.

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