Page 86 of We Are All Guilty Here

Jude leaned her back against the door. She studied his face again. The color had drained, leaving a stark white. His eyes shifted as he tried to figure a way out of this. Emmy was right that Elijah Walker was someone who felt the need to control. Jude had pulled the world out from under him by taking away his power. Now, it was time to give him some of it back. Shelooked at his hands. His left index finger was calloused at the bend of the first knuckle.

She asked, “Are you a fly fisherman?”

He was clearly thrown by the question. “What?”

“The callus on your finger looks like it’s from line burn. My brother used to get cut in the exact same spot when he was float fishing downriver on the Flint.” Again, Jude repeated herself. “Are you a fly fisherman?”

Elijah looked at his index finger as if he’d never seen it before. “Yes.”

“Then you know what it’s like to cast a hundred different times into a hundred different spots hoping to catch something.” Jude crossed her arms. “That’s what we do when a child is abducted, Mr. Walker. We cast hundreds of lines in hundreds of directions, and we hope we catch something. These photos on your phone. They could be a fish or they could be some trash caught on the line. You can either waste my time tracking it down or you can tell me the truth.”

“They’re trash,” he said. “That’s all it is.”

“You’re having an affair.”

He shook his head. “It’s not an affair.”

“Is she a sex worker? Are you paying her?”

He leaned his head into his hand, his fingers shielding his eyes.

Jude silently waited for him either to give another excuse or give up a name. Elijah dragged out the time. She listened to the muffled ringing of the phones in the squad room. The clock on the wall was coming up on three-forty in the morning. Jude knew the statistics on child abductions, the difference in odds of survival if a parent was involved versus a stranger. This wasn’t the first time she’d been alone in a room with a possible predator, but it was one of those rare moments when her gut wasn’t giving her the answer.

She silently reviewed the facts of the case so far. Jude’s instinct wasn’t clouded by being back in North Falls. It had nothing to do with Tommy or Emmy or even her parents. Adam Huntsinger’s release changed the equation. The abandoned bike on the backroads. The bent rear tire. Chain hanging off. Blood at the scene.Jude wasn’t one to believe that there were no coincidences in policing, but she knew damn well that there were no coincidences in North Falls.

Elijah drew in a sharp breath. “I haven’t seen her in months, okay? I stopped. The guilt was too much.”

“How did you meet her?”

“Online,” he said. “We were both on a dating site. I can’t remember the name of it.”

Jude nodded. “Okay.”

“I was clear up front that I was married. That I would never leave my wife.” He started to shake his head. “I thought she was interested in me, but then she started talking about money. Her first name is Trixie. I never got her last name. It was just a few times.”

“How did you arrange to meet?”

“She had me download WhatsApp. That’s how we communicated. We sent pictures at first, then we met in person.” He heaved out a breath, as if the admission was tearing him apart. “I promise, it was only a few times. I stopped seeing her three or four months ago. It’s like I told you. Like I told her. I would never leave my wife. I love Carol. I love my family.”

“Where did you meet to have sex?”

“A hotel in Clayville. The Dew Drop Inn.”

Jude knew the place from her misspent youth. Elijah Walker must’ve stood out like a Mormon missionary. “That’s a shifty part of town for someone like you to be in. Do you enjoy taking risks?”

“It wasn’t—” He wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Carol isn’t adventurous. We’ve been married a long time.”

“What was Trixie giving you? Are we talking kink? Bondage?”

“No, always vanilla.”

“How much did she charge?”

“Four-fifty for two hours, plus the cost of the room.”

Jude shifted tenses to the present. “Do you give the money to her directly, or is there an intermediary?”

“I leave cash on the dresser, then I take a shower, then when I come out of the bathroom, she starts the clock.” He sat up in his chair, straightening his shoulders. “The last time was months ago. I haven’t had any contact with her since.”

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