Page 106 of Guess Again

Madison, Wisconsin Saturday, August 9, 2025

LAKESIDE STORAGE WAS LOCATED OFF LAKE MENDOTA IN A MADISON suburb.

Ethan and Maddie had spent two hours at the lagoon after they’d called in the location of Callie’s body.

Ethan answered questions from responding officers, waited to speak with detectives, and spent thirty minutes talking with Mark Jones when the governor showed up at 11:00 p.m.

It was approaching midnight when he and Maddie pulled into the storage facility and found unit 223.

He parked the Wrangler in front of the bay door, keeping the engine running and the headlights on.

He took his Beretta from the glove box, and Maddie climbed behind the wheel just in case a speedy exit was necessary.

“Keep your phone on,”

Ethan said, standing outside the driver’s window.

Maddie held up her cell. “Check.”

“And stay locked and loaded.”

Maddie held up her Smith & Wesson SW1911 semi-automatic handgun.

Her Glock 45 was in evidence.

The Smith & Wesson was from her private stash.

“Check.”

“Let me see what’s inside,”

Ethan said.

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

Ethan turned from the Jeep and approached the door to the storage unit.

His clothes were still wet from his trip into the lagoon, his shoulder was aching, and he had yet to put his sling back on.

He inserted the lone key that had arrived in the mail and unlocked the door.

It creaked when he pushed it open.

He found a light switch on the wall and clicked it on, bringing the space to life. In the middle of the 20x20 storage unit was a table with a cardboard box resting on it. He walked slowly toward it, fighting against some invisible force that told him to stay far, far away from what waited on the table. As he inched closer he saw dozens of photos laid out on the surface and positioned neatly around the box.

The first image he saw brought Ethan to his knees—a glossy 8x10 that stole the air from his lungs.

Ethan tried to stand, but his legs would not hold his weight.

He fell to the ground, twisting as he landed on the seat of his pants.

He pulled the cardboard box with him in the process, and its contents spilled onto the floor of the storage unit.

Dozens of old-fashioned audio and videocassette tapes clattered on the concrete around him, in addition to scores of photos that rained down.

The photo that had started the chain reaction landed in his lap.

Ethan lifted the 8x10 to his face.

It depicted a sixteen-year-old Maddie Jacobson, unconscious and bound to a chair.

On Maddie’s chest, carved into her left breast, was a black heart.

And standing on either side of her, smiling at their prize, was a young Francis Bernard and Ethan’s father. Detective Henry Hall.

Summer 2026

Lake Morikawa, Wisconsin