Readers Guide for The Secrets We Hide

Check out my Readers Guide to We Are All Guilty Here for a full recap

• Emmy’s father was shot and her mother has Alzheimer’s
•  When they were teenagers, Jude and her brother Henry snuck up to the falls to drink and do coke. Henry either went for a swim or fell in the water and drowned. 
• Martha went completely off the rails after Henry died, drinking and taking drugs. She hit Leroy “Bubba” Rawley with a car, then fled town. Her parents told everyone she died in a car accident. 
• Jude was sexually assaulted at age 15.
• At the end of book one, we learn that Emmy is actually Jude’s daughter, raised by her parents as their own. Only a few people know that Jude is Emmy’s mother. Emmy does not.

Plot Summary for We Are All Guilty Here

Prologue: Allison Vickery gets ready to flee town with her daughter, Mandy. Someone she loves shoots her with her own gun.

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46 Minutes Before the Shooting

Emmy is at her mother’s funeral. She, Jude and Cole are driving away from the service when they hear a gunshot. They spring into action. Emmy finds Allison dead. The body of Mandy, Allison’s daughter, falls through the attic ceiling. 

Someone shot Mandy in the head, but she’s alive.  Why was she hiding in the attic? It seemed that she hid there often. 

Allison’s life is complicated.

A neighbor told Emmy that Allison and Mandy had been fighting. Reggie Wilder, the Clayville Police Chief and Alliuson’s former lover, arrives and starts an altercation.

Cole has located Bill, Allison’s husband, at the town baseball park. Bill acknowledges that he and Allison had a huge fight the night before. He’s living in a motel. Allison filed both a restraining order and a divorce. Emmy wants Bill to come into the station, but he insists on going to the hospital. 

Emmy calls Taybee (a divorce lawyer) who admits that Allison hired her only a few months after she and Bill got married.

Suspects:

Bill, the husband; Reggie, the former lover, or maybe someone Allison arrested as part of the narcotics squad.

Emmy returns to the crime scene, where  Sherry says she found the murder weapon. Allison also had $300,000 in cash. hidden in her attic  

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Someone aslo ransacked Allison’s house: files everywhere, computer smashed. Emmy finds a key to open a safe, but no safe. 

Sherry and Emmy discuss Allison’s work. Because Allison sued the department, she was assigned to cold cases. She was also doing freelance PI work. 

The theory of the crime:

The killer entered through the back door and came up from Allison from behind. She tried to take the assailant’s gun and got shot in the hand. Allison then ran into the kitchen, looking for a weapon, and was shot in the chest. 

Questions:

No one saw Bill’s car. Where did Allison get the money hidden in the attic? Where is the shell casing from Mandy’s injury?

Their potential witness, Drake, suggests that Mandy had an older boyfriend: Woody Woodrow. Allison had gone to the Dew Drop Inn to threaten Woody a few days before the murder.

Emmy talks to Allisojn’s neighbor Coach Bell, who confirms that Woody was hanging around Allison’s house. 

She then heads to speak to Talia, Mandy’s close friend., who reveals that Allison told Mandy she was leaving Bill. Talia knew Mandy was seeing an older guy but his identity was a secret. She also insists that the guy wasn’t Woody.

Sherry tells Emmy that Allison had fake IDs for herself and Mandy. Emmy asks Sherry to check Mandy for signs of abuse.

The mayor and Reggie want to butt into the investigation. Emmy asks them about Allison’s lawsuit, which alleged the police brass forced her to retire after her relationship with Reggie.

After the mayor leaves, Reggie gives Emmy his alibi: pancakes with his family, then a visit to his mistress. 

Reggie has lots of revelations:

• Allison got a 100k payoff from the lawsuit. 
• That Allison filed for divorce after Bill gave her an STD.  
• The drug squad stopped trusting Allison after she dropped a case against Jonah Lang for buying fentanyl from Woody. Gerald asked Reggie to make the case go away.
• Woody was Gerald’s confidential informant

Emmy’s shocked that her father kept this from her. She goes into Gerald’s office to snoop around but Jude shows up. They argue about Jude helping Cole. 

Emmy goes outside to cool down and calls Hannah. She confesses that that Jonah used to slap her.

Emmy goes inside, apologizes, and tells Jude she’s worried their father was dirty. Jude suggests it could be a diversion by Reggie. Emmy asks Jude if she knew their dad’s informant was Woody. 

Jude points out that Reggie is the one who destroyed evidence and let Woody go, and they only have his word for it. Sherry calls Emmy to come to the hospital.

Thirty Two Minutes After the Shooting: Jude POV

Jude watches Reggie shove Emmy. She helps Cole get the lead on Bill’s location. Then she shadows Sherry, noticing 1) a missing piece of chalk from a boxed set and 2) photos Allison had taken of couples going in and out of the Dew Drop inn.

Four Hours After the Shooting: Jude POV

Jude sneaks off to Virginia to talk to an old lover who’s high up at the US Marshals.She shows him a photo of one of his agents in North Falls, taken by Allison. Allison was an informant for the FBI, who received a tip two months ago about corruption in Clifton County. 

Allison claimed that Clifton County had an eleven-name Giglio list (a list that contains the names of law enforcement officers who have have engaged in incidents of untruthfulness, have criminal convictions, or credibility issues.)

One of the names Allison revealed was Gerald Clifton’s. Allison supposed to meet with FBI Agent Foley but never showed, as she was dead.

Jude offers to run an investigation and is hoping to protect her daughter, Emmy.

Jude fills Emmy in about some of her conversation with Samuel Callaghan. She tells Emmy she still doesn’t believe Gerald was dirty, or that he had a list of dirty cops. If you are on the Giglio list, you receive a “Death Letter,” meaning that your career is over. Jude suggests they could ask the Clayville DA about the list.

Jude and Emmy discuss another suspect

Woody: he evidence suggests groomed Mandy and had been threatened by Allison. But Allison’s camera was also missing, so maybe the killer was looking for a photo. Emmy doesn’t believe it was a professional hit: it took two shots to hit Allison in the chest. Mandy’s head wound is shallow. Shooting Jude was reckless.

They arrive at the hospital.  Mandy seems confused, but doesn’t seem afraid of her father or Woody. She mentions drivers licenses and something lost. 

They talk to Sherry, who says that someone beat Mandy. And that someone put a GPS tracker in her shoe. Emmy suggested that the killer might’ve been there for Mandy.

Jude POV

Celia shows up at the house. She knows Jude’s secret because Myrna (who had dementia) was talking about it. Jude tells Celia that Emmy‘s father was a guitar player with a pill habit.

Celia says that Emmy will figure it out and Jude needs to tell her before that happens.

Jude and Emmy talk through the case:

If Mandy was the target, who gave her the bruises? Bill, Reggie, Woody? Who hid the tracker in her show?

If the target was Allison, does it have to do with Jonah’s drug arrest, her lawsuit, her work for the FBI, or her PI work?

They agree the crime scene gave them “doesn’t feel right” vibes so they agree to start there. 

Jude tells Emmy she needs to delegate. They walk the scene and agree that Allison was in some kind of controlling relationship.

They find a numerical code written on the back of a piece of art on the wall. Emmy is still confused by Allison’s spare keys: a dimple key for a high security lock, and a barrel key for a safe. She also thinks it’s strange that Allison, who liked reading romance, checked out a book on physics.

Emmy and Jude drive to Skylar Guthrie’s house. Sky was mad at Mandy. She’d noticed Mandy’s bruises but Mandy wouldn’t tell anyone. 

Me: Who is Mandy’s father? Also, who is Emmy’s father???

Leroy “Bubba/Lee” Rawley shows up and tells Jude and Emmy that Woody wasn’t involved in the murder. Bill owed money. Woody has an alibi. Both Jude and Emmy are shaken up by this. Jude tells Emmy she caused Bubba’s arm injury, then left town to outrun a manslaughter charge.

Jude’s POV

Jude tells Emmy that when she was a teenager she’d drink, do coke and drag race. Her car t-boned Lee’s and he nearly lost his arm. 

All signs are pointing to Bill as they killer, but they need proof. Emmy wonders about the number on the back of the painting and the physisc book.

She and Jude head to the library. Emmy is convinced, based on Allison’s voicemail, that she left clues for Emmy. Jude finds another physics book with the number 2002, What happened that year?

They learn that the keys at Allison’s were for the library microfiche room. What happened in 2002? In a locked drawer that they access with Allison’s key, they find a burner phone. They redial the only number the phone called, and Special Agent Foley answers. 

Foley says that Allison gave her names of eleven police officers on a Giglio list. The first was her father, as he quashed Jonah’s arrest. Foley said that Reggie and the drug squad were robbing dealers. Allison was upset that they weren’t offering her witness protection. 

Jude and Emmy decide that something important happened in North Falls in 2002

Fortunately, Aunt Millie wrote the police blotter.

Gregg found key card evidence that Bill lied about being at the hotel at the time of the murder.

Sherry calls to say that Allison’s $300,000 dated back to the early 2000s. They are still searching for the bullet from Mandy’s exit wound.

Emmy is shocked because Allison was always broke. Was she holding the money for someone else?

They head to Millie’s. Cole is there with Allison’s camera. It was pawned by Bill Garrison with a fake ID.

Emmy gets a call that Mandy was looking directly at the shooter when he shot her. 

They ask Millie What Happened in 2002

Taybee’s father Ruel Clifton died in a drowning accident.

That same year, Evelyn Gilchrist, the current DA’s grandmother, was shot by a robber and died on the way to the hospital.

Gerald refused to arrest Neil Delano, the main suspect in Evelyn’s murder, so the suspect was arrested by the Clayville police. Ruel Clifton, Taybee’s father, was a juror who died during the trial. Millie is cagey about who else was on the jury.

Jude corners Millie, who admits that one of the jurors was Louis Singh, a man who had an affair with Myra. Emmy tells Jude she already knew that. 

Singh says the jury was going to acquit Delano until Ruel Clifton died, then a “Pushy Juror” turned the tide to conviction. Gerald was convinced that Chief Kitteridge framed Delano.

Then Delano’s fingerprint was suddenly found on the Gilchrist’s refrigerator handle, by brand new officer Reggie Wilder. And Bernadette Grayson was also on the jury. She got close to a juror named Mitch Bellingham.

Emmy reflects: Ezekiel Gilchrist was rich. When it seemed like the main suspect in his wife’s murder was about to be acquitted, he must have bought the verdict. 

He had Bellingham’s wife kidnapped. Ruel Clifton was rich and not susceptible to bribery. Emmy looks into al the jurors, and Gilchrist donated a lot of money to Bernadette Grayson.

Emmy calls Grayson to rattle her. She and Jude decide the Pushy Juror must be newly out of prison and seeking a payoff.

Jude, who fears telling Emmy the truth, says she’s headed back to San Fransisco

Julian zones in on a juror’s name: Shane Marcus Russell. Jude realizes she’s seen him before, at the library and the hardware store. In 2010, he’d been arrested by Emmy for drug possession on a tip from Allison. Allison recently visited him in prison.

Talia and her mother show up. Mandy was desperate to get away from Bill.

Emmy mobilizes every onto look for Shane Russell. She gets a call from Cole. He’s at the nursing home and found something.

As Emmy heads to Cole, Jude decides to find Shane on her own

Taybee shows up and Jude asks what she knows about her father’s death. Taybee knows that Ruel and Jude slept together. She also says that she talked to Gerald about her father’s death and that he told her if someone killed her father, it was Ezekiel Gilchrist. 

Emmy calls and can’t speak. Jude rushes to the nursing home. Emmy is having a panic attack. Cole tells them Allison Vickery had been visiting Mitch Bellingham. A nurse says he left her a large plastic bin.

Jude and Emmy guess that Shane was Mandy’s real father. Allison gave Emmy the tip so he’d be arrested.

Cole finds a video of Mitch with a stack of CD ROMs.

Talia confirms that Mandy said Russell was her father. Jude looks at the CDs. One of them is a video of Mitch Bellingham, Shane Russell, Ezekiel Gilchrist, and Bernadette Grayson. Russell is threatening Mitch. Who was filming this???

Emmy wants to walk through the crime scene again

Someone is at the house. It’s Bill, and Emmy arrests him. He admits to owing money. Allison knew Russell was getting out of prison and was worried about Mandy. So she went to the FBI with the Giglio list, hoping to get witness protection. But they turned her down.

Then Shane showed up and wanted Allison to help him blackmail Gilchrist for framing Delano. So Allison started visiting Mitch Bellingham, who convinced her to divorce Bill. 

Bill thinks that Mitch played Allison, but Emmy knows that Mitch actually left Allison evidence and money. Where was the money from???

Then Bill says Allison saw the bruises on Mandy. Shane Russell beat her up. Allison was going to take Bill with them, but then she and Mandy got into a huge fight. 

Emmy tells Bill that Mitch gave Allison blackmail money from Gilchrist and a CD with the blackmail evidence.

Emmy tells Jude that Bill admitted everything but the shooting. He also obviously didn’t know about Mitch’s money.

Sherry calls and says that they looked at doorbell cam footage and think that the casing of the bullet that shot Mandy went out the window and into the yard. Emmy goes up into the attic and finds the missing casing. 

Mandy shot Allison

Then she hid in the attic. After that, Allison shot herself, but the bullet went through the side of her head, through the bedroom ceiling, and grazed Jude.

Mandy’s feeling of abandonment triggers Emmy, who yells at Jude for abandoning the family. 

Jude is ready to tell Emmy the truth, but Shane Russell shows up with a pistol. He wants the video, and makes Emmy give him her Glock.

Jude and Emmy take him to the safe, where Gerald’s gun is.  Jude taunts Russell and he pistol whips her.

Cole shows up.  Emmy starts to open the safe, but Russell seems to realize that’s a bad idea. Cole comes in, gun drawn. As Russell shoots, Emmy throws herself in front of Cole Jude grabs Emmy’s gun out of Russel’s waistband. and shoots him dead. 

Emmy is shot in the abdomen. Cole and Jude drive her to the hospital

It’s the day of the debate. Mandy hasn’t been charged yet. Bill and Reggie are fine. Bernadette had to resign. Taybee washing Ezekiel for her father’s wrongful death. Emmy scraps her speech and says vote for me or don’t.

Five days Later

Jude is at a truck stop. Reid Foley walks in. Jude gives him evidence against Jonah, who’s doing bad stuff out of his bar. Reid leaves and Lee comes up to Jude. They are setting up the entire men’s poker night: Bill, Reggie, Allison’s drug squad

Jude tells him that she will do anything to protect her daughter. He says he will too.

Q and A