The Murder of Janessa Hennley Read Online Free Page B

He—and everything here told Mickey it was a “he”—had come for Janessa.
    When the police arrived, she was on the kitchen floor, eviscerated, with severe trauma to the mouth, vaginal cavity, and anus. Several of her teeth and fingers were missing, as was much of her face. A photo of the scene showed a young girl with parts taken out of her, like a butchered cow with the prime pieces of meat cut off. But the edges of the wounds appeared ragged, not smooth as they would have been with a sharp instrument. They were more akin to teeth having torn the flesh away. It almost looked like someone had tried to eat her.
    T he detective’s exposition revealed that he thought Janessa had run through the house for some time as the intruder cut up her back. Her ankle was broken, and a blood trail in the backyard told them she had made it out but was dragged back inside.
    There was nothing else of note. No wonder they didn’t have any suspects, Mickey thought.
    The toxicology came back negative for the entire family except for Janessa. She tested positive for Viibryd. Mickey knew about Viibryd from an article in the Journal of Forensic Psychiatry he’d read some months ago. It was the most powerful anti-depressant available with minimal side effects.
    A wave of pity surged through him.
    He closed the PDF, sat back in his chair a while, then walked down the hall for a cup of coffee. The break room was empty. He made a fresh pot and sat at the lunch table, staring out the windows at the lawn outside. Workers were tearing it up to insert artificial grass, and nothing but dirt surrounded the building.
    A janitor came in and nodded to him as he emptied the trash bins and wiped down the counters. Mickey finished his coffee and went back to his office , then pulled up his email and wrote to the ASAC in charge of the Violent Criminal Apprehension Unit. His office phone rang.
    “This is Parsons,” he said.
    “Hi, Agent Parsons. This is Sheriff Clay, how are ya?”
    He paused. “I’m good. What can I do for you, Sheriff?”
    “I just wanted to make sure you got that email I sent.”
    “Yeah, I’ve got it right here.”
    “Good. So?”
    “So, what?”
    “So, what do you think? Can you help us?”
    “I think we will be able to.”
    She yelped with excitement. “I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. The Hennleys, the grandparents, have been on me nonstop since this happened, and I promised them I would get the FBI involved. How long until you get here?”
    “Well, not every case requires us to be there. We can work in conjunction with your detectives and just make our labs available. But they’ll probably send someone out on this case. There isn’t much to work with.”
    “You’re tellin’ me. I swear I interviewed every one of the family’s friends. They all said they had no idea who would want to hurt them. That they were the nicest folks you’d ever meet.”
    “Whoever did this spent the most time with Janessa. She’s likely the reason he was there.”
    “She was a sweetheart. Kinda threw our little town for a loop.”
    “I’m sure. But I’ll send out the email , and someone will get back to you.”
    “Great. Thanks, Mickey.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    Mickey hung up and then checked out the sheriff and the town online. He read a few news articles about the killing, then finished the email he was drafting, letting the ViCAP Unit know that it was a verified case.
    He sent the email and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. His head throbbed, and he felt short of breath from just the brief walk to and from the break room. The day had just started, and he was already spent. He emailed his secretary on the floor above and asked that she forward any calls to his cell phone. Then he left for the day.
     
     
    The morning coolness had faded, replaced by the afternoon heat when Mickey woke up. His mouth felt like he had been chewing cotton, another side effect of the medication. He rolled to the side and