Page 115 of The Secrets We Hide
Jude unfolded a piece of paper, held it at arm’s length so she could read. “Lesley Geitner, Bradley Charron, Nancy Hardage, and Shane Russell.”
Emmy shook her head. None of them were familiar. “Louis said the Pushy Juror was a man. That narrows it down to Bradley Charron and Shane Russell.”
“Any money the Pushy Juror was paid will be long gone. He’ll have a lengthy arrest record. Probably started with domestic violence and moved his way up to assault, then murder. I imagine there are drug charges because there’s always drug charges. He’ll have spent some hard time in prison. Probably got out in the last few months.”
Emmy noticed a change in Jude’s voice again. She was always more comfortable giving a lecture. “What are you basing this on?”
“He was so pushy that Louis Singh almost reported him to the bailiff. That tells me he’s aggressive and impulsive. If he murdered Ruel Clifton, that tells me he’s violent. If he kidnapped Mitch Bellingham’s wife, that tells me he’s cruel. He’s been part of a conspiracy for twenty-four years, but all of this is coming to a head now, which implies he was forced into time-out, which tells me that he was in prison. I’m assuming he got out in the last few months because Allison was desperate enough to go to the FBI two months ago. As for the domestic violence, they all start with domestic violence. Hating women is not a bug. It’s a feature.”
Emmy didn’t need a profiler to tell her that last part. “If the Pushy Juror just got out of prison, he could be looking for payback against the other jurors.”
“Revenge is generally a motive of desperation. In my experience, men who’ve done that kind of hard time want a big truck, a big woman, and a big payday.”
“Dad loved a money motive.” Emmy watched Jude’s slow nod of agreement. She felt herself being pulled back into Jude’s strange affect again, but she forced herself to concentrate on the case. “It seems like every juror but Mitch Bellingham got paid. If our suspect is broke, he could be blackmailing the other jurors. Maybe Allison found out. She was going to expose the Pushy Juror, and he murdered her.”
“Or, Allison was using her research to blackmail them herself.” Emmy shook her head again. “Allison was complicated in a lot of ways, but one thing she was clear on was being a good cop. She could’ve twisted the law against Bill for years, but she never even considered it.”
“The FBI wouldn’t help her even though she had Reggie and the drug squad dead to rights. She was desperate to start over. She tried to do it the right way. It makes sense that she would resort to the wrong way eventually.”
Emmy didn’t want to admit it, but she had to get another detail out there before Jude did. “Allison had three hundred grand in cash in her attic that dated back to the time of the trial. She and Reggie were both rookies. She could’ve been paid to look the other way. Maybe that’s why she never spent the cash. She felt guilty.”
Jude said, “If I was going to blackmail someone, I wouldn’t nickel-and-dime with the jurors. I’d go straight to Ezekial Gilchrist. He’s the one with the money. He’s also got a lot more to lose.”
“What if—” Emmy had to think how to phrase this. “Woody’s off the table, right? He was seen harassing Mandy, but we don’t think he’s wrapped up in the shooting, right?”
“Right.”
“You know how tiny North Falls is. We’ve got reports of an UnSub hanging around Mandy and now we’ve got the Pushy Juror. What are the odds that they’re the same guy?”
Jude started to nod again. “The Pushy Juror gets out of prison. He’s spent years inside banking on his blackmail plan to givehim a big payday once he’s out. Then he’s finally released and he realizes that Allison beat him to it. He starts grooming Mandy either to get information, or to intimidate Allison, or because he’s a pedophile, or all three.”
Emmy saw a giant hole in the scheme. “The statute of limitations on jury tampering ran out years ago. I don’t know that Gilchrist would feel threatened. Maneuvering to put away the guy who killed your wife sounds like the kind of scandal a man can survive these days.”
“It wasn’t just tampering. Ruel Clifton was murdered.”
“Tell me how to prove it.”
“Taybee—”
“If Taybee had evidence that her father was murdered, the killer would already be on death row. Three times.”
Jude’s laughter sounded forced. “You’re probably right.”
Emmy’s ears held on to the echo of the fake laugh. She couldn’t keep playing this game of chicken. “Are you going to tell me what’s really going on?”
“Nothing’s going on.” The flippant shrug made another appearance. “I’m just tired.”
Emmy mulled over her words. Jude never said she was tired. She made it clear when she was being evasive. She hesitated sometimes, but only in a way that told you exactly how she was feeling.
Jude smiled. “Okay?”
Emmy heard a kind of finality in her tone. She didn’t have a translation for this newokay. It wasn’tif that’s the lie you want to tell yourselforI know there’s more to the story.
Jude clasped together her hands the same way she’d accused Emmy of doing. “You’ve got this, sweetheart. Well done. I’m going back to the house.”
“What?” Emmy sounded as stupid as Brett. “Why?” Jude hesitated, but didn’t answer.
Emmy asked, “What do they call this in therapy—prevaricating? Eluding?”
