Page 76 of The Secrets We Hide
“All right. Let’s keep moving forward.”
Jude went into the right bay of the garage, so Emmy took the left. All of the houses in the neighborhood had been built with single-space carports, most of which had been expanded and converted into garages over the years. The second bay was usually wider than the original to accommodate the expanding girth of newer cars.
Allison and Bill’s garage looked like an advertisement from a magazine. Emmy didn’t see any cobwebs in the rafters of the low ceiling. The epoxied floor was cleaner than the tiles in her kitchen. Likewise with the wooden shelves lining the walls. No dust. No debris. Nothing was left out in the open. Plastic storage bins were stacked top to bottom. There was a workbench with a peg board. All the tools were outlined in black tape. Extension cords were bungeed. Battery chargers were mounted to the wall.Three stairs led to the door that opened into the kitchen. A green City of North Falls trashcan and a blue North Falls recycling bin were tucked into the corner. She used her elbow to open each one. If there had been bags inside, Sherry had already taken them into evidence.
Jude asked, “What’s your gut telling you?”
Emmy said the first thing that came out of her mouth. “That domestic violence is at the heart of this, whether it’s from Reggie or Bill or somebody else. You said it before—if a woman is with one abuser, she’ll probably be with another one.”
“Did Bill give Allison an allowance, or did she control her own money?”
“No idea, and we’re weeks away from the bank complying with our subpoenas.” Emmy checked the drawers in the work-bench. Nothing was loose. Everything was in a plastic container or small bag. “I can ask Taybee. Allison let her hire a forensic accountant to look into Bill’s finances last year.”
“Who needs a subpoena when you’ve got a Clifton.” Jude seemed content to watch Emmy search. “How did Bill take Allison’s affair with Reggie?”
“I imagine he beat the hell out of her.” Emmy tried another drawer. “Reggie told me it made the poker game uncomfortable.”
“Reggie plays poker with Bill even though Reggie slept with Bill’s wife?”
“It’s a big deal to be invited to the game. It’s mostly cops from Allison’s old drug squad and a few North Falls people who have more money than sense. Happens once a month. No girls allowed. Except prostitutes, apparently. One of them gave Bill the clap. He passed it on to Allison. At least that’s what Reggie told me.”
“Did Allison know that Bill was seeing prostitutes before he infected her?”
“I don’t know,” Emmy admitted. “I was tied up with Mom this whole last year. I should’ve called her more. Maybe she would’ve confided in me.”
“You can only do what you can do in the moment.”
Emmy worked to keep her mouth shut. It was like talking to a fortune cookie.
“You’ve had interactions with Bill before. Did he ever show you his real side?”
“If he’d tried to hit me, he’d be under the prison right now. If Dad hadn’t killed him first.”
“No, Bill would never be stupid enough to go after you. Abusers have incredibly low self-esteem. The criticisms they direct at their victims are the same sorts of criticisms they level at themselves. They often rely on drugs and alcohol to quiet the self-doubt. And before you make the joke, no, I didn’t become an alcoholic because I was an abuser.”
Emmy felt her lips part. She had no idea why she kept giving Jude shit for being a recovering alcoholic, but maybe it was time to stop. “I know Bill likes a drink, but I’ve never seen him intoxicated, and he’s never come across as insecure. He’s actually incredibly arrogant considering he’s forty pounds overweight and losing his hair.”
“Tell me how he behaved when you told him that Allison had been murdered.”
Emmy had to think back. Yesterday at the ballpark felt like two hundred years ago. “I didn’t tell him immediately. He started talking as soon as I pulled him aside. I guess he thought I was there to give him another warning. He told me that he got drunk with Allison the night before at the motel. That she gave as good as she got.”
“And?”
“He accused me of police harassment. Said that Reggie had already threatened him to stay away from Allison.”
“What was his response when you told him that Allison had been murdered?”
“The first thing out of his mouth was a line about Reggie having a temper. Then I told him that Mandy was shot, too. He seemed genuinely upset about that. Even started crying. Then he told me that he’d never formally adopted Mandy, but he loved her like she was his own daughter. Then he said that Allison had pissed off a lot of people on the job.”
“Okay, let me get this straight,” Jude said. “You pull Bill aside, and immediately, he tells you Reggie threatened him. Then he volunteers an explanation for any bruises or defensive woundson either him or Allison. Then he reminds you that Reggie is a bad guy. Then he tells you he’s a good guy because he loves Mandy, but not enough to adopt her. Then he blames Allison for getting herself murdered and Mandy being shot.”
Emmy chewed her lip. She guessed she was some kind of idiot who had a blind spot where abusive men were concerned. “No, Bill never showed me his real side. He was controlling the narrative the whole time.”
Jude must’ve sensed her self-disgust. “This doesn’t change anything. It just tells us that we need to keep Bill on the list. Abusers are shapeshifters. They know how to show you the person you’re expecting to see.”
Emmy didn’t remind her that cops were supposed to be immune to liars. At least the good ones were. She looked around the garage, wondering what else she was missing. The space felt compact. The garage had been built for narrow, shorter cars. Not an SUV like Allison drove. Even if Bill took the larger bay, his Chevy Silverado probably extended past the door.
As if by magic, the layout of the house suddenly appeared in Emmy’s head. She silently mapped out various routes, then told Jude, “If I lived here and I needed to pack my car, I’d take my suitcase from the bedroom, down the back staircase, through the den, into the kitchen, then bring it out through the garage door, then put it in the back of my car.”
