Victim of Addiction
Lilly and Scotty investigate a cold case involving the death of a fanfiction author.
The Mother
Lilly read more of the reviews. It went on about how Victim of Addiction had stolen the reviewers ideas. Flicking frantically through the pages, every highlighted section was the same. They all were signed by the same person. Originally an anonymous going by 'Suspect', then moving to a 'Suspect' with an account.
"Sh-she b-blocked anonymous um, reviews when sh-she kept getting flamed." Grace explained when Lilly pointed it out.
"So how do you know that she blocked anonymous reviews if you didn't know she was getting the threats?" Scotty jumped in.
"I knew sh-she was getting the threats originally, b-but she s-stopped telling me when I-I told her to block him. I-I thought they'd stopped."
Lilly nodded. "Okay, thanks for your information, Grace, we'll get back to you."
Grace nodded and stuttered a goodbye.
"It doesn't look promising," Lilly said to Scotty, looking over the file. "We have no body, a previously assumed simple missing persons case has become a murder, and our only suspect we only know by the name 'Suspect'. There was no evidence of a struggle at the home or any of the places that Hannah frequented. We can talk to the brother, see if he knew about the threats his sister was getting, or the parents."
Scotty agreed with her. "Do we have an address?"
Lilly nodded. "Right here. 143 Hillview Avenue."
They drove to Hillview Avenue, and found 143.
"Mrs Erin Underwood?" Lilly asked, peering into the darkened house at the slightly plump woman. She had wiry red hair that resembled that in the photo of Hannah that was on file. Her blue eyes blinked curiously at the two detectives.
"Yes, that's me? How may I help you…" she trailed off, grappling for a name.
"Detectives Rush and Valens, Homicide." Lilly said quickly. "Can-,"
Lilly was cut off mid sentence by the woman. "Joey?" she asked, her tan face draining of colour. "No, not Joey too. I lost Hannah when she was Joey's age too you know," Mrs Underwood pressed her hands together in prayer, pursing her lips together and looking up at Lilly in hope.
"It's not Joey, Mrs Underwood."
"No? What is it then?" Mrs Underwood asked, recomposing herself, assured that Joey was fine.
"We've reopened Hannah's case. New evidence that has been presented by a friend of Hannah's reveals that we may be looking at a murder."
Mrs Underwood frowned. "I see. You would think that I would have adjusted to the idea by now. But these are not things to be spoken of in the open. You should probably come in," she gestured, and Lilly and Scotty walked past her. Once they were all seated around the dining room table, Mrs Underwood spoke. "May I ask which of Hannah's friends had the new evidence? Because none of them seemed to be able to give any of the detectives any help."
Lilly brought out the copy of the profile and placed it on the table. "Did you know that your daughter wrote fanfiction?"
Mrs Underwood nodded. "How could I not? She spent hours on that thing – I was never too sure about it. I don't like the internet, I never did, everyone knows what happens to people who talk to others on the internet."
"But you let Hannah continue anyway?"
Mrs Underwood nodded her affirmation. "Of course. John had me convinced that my worrying was pointless, all the kids use the internet these days he told me. And besides, it was harmless. Hannah wouldn't let us read her work, but it wasn't as if she was talking to strangers, or giving out her real name. Do you think it had something to do with her disappearance?"
Lilly and Scotty both nodded. "Were you aware that Hannah had a best net friend called Grace?" Scotty asked.
Mrs Underwood shook her head. "No. This Grace – she gave you the new evidence?"
"Yes," Scotty replied. "She only recently found out that Hannah hadn't died of natural causes. If we could speak to Joseph, he might be able to tell us a few things."
"Joey? What would Joey know. Joey was only eleven – why would he know anything about his sister's murder? I don't think he had any idea about her life at all, let alone that. We told Joey that Hannah was missing, then dead, but we never told him anything about what the detectives uncovered."
Lilly nodded, bushing her hair behind her ear. "But Joey was the one who told Grace that Hannah was dead. He knew Hannah's passwords, told Grace to tell everyone that she was dead. I really think we need to talk to him, find out how much he really knew – he might have seen something that could be vital evidence."
Mrs Underwood nodded slowly. "Well, you can't speak to Joey today. He's on camp with his school – they're in Miami, they won't be back until Friday."
Lilly and Scotty talked with Mrs Underwood for a short while longer, before deciding that they'd got all they could out of Mrs Underwood, and heading back to the office.