Page 55 of Guess Again
Cherryview, Wisconsin Wednesday, July 30, 2025
IT WAS CLOSE TO 10:00 P.M.
WHEN ETHAN PULLED UP TO THE MANSION that sat on the shores of Lake Okoboji.
He rang the doorbell, which Ethan knew sent a soft tone through each room of the house.
A moment later, Christian Malone answered the door.
“Sorry to call so late.
But I’m in a bind and need some help.”
“I’m still on Cali time.
Ten o’clock is not late.
What’s going on?”
“I’ve got something else that’s come up that I could use your help with.”
“Come on in.”
Ethan followed Christian through the enormous house and into the kitchen, where they sat at the island.
Christian opened two New Glarus Spotted Cows and handed one to Ethan.
“Thanks,”
Ethan said.
“I’m still working on recovering the text threads from the girl’s SIM card.
I found the footprints, but the actual texts are still garbled with an old, first-generation type encryption.
Looks like she used a text encrypting application to send and receive texts from the prepaid Samsung, and then deleted the texts afterward.
The app used a time stamp that permanently erased the threads after seven days, so the likelihood that I’ll recover all the texts are slim.
The best I can do is try to pull the last few text threads that were sent before the phone’s battery powered down, which would have stopped the time stamp. Should be a few days’ worth if I can navigate through the encryption.”
“Appreciate your efforts, Christian.
I’m looking for a text thread from the Saturday she disappeared.
That was July 18, 2015.”
“The only way that will happen is if the phone’s battery died down without being charged.
If that happened within, let’s say twenty-four hours of the girl going missing, then the encryption app wouldn’t have been able to erase the last few texts she sent.
I’ll keep working on it.
Something else came up, too?”
Ethan nodded.
“Ever heard of The Anonymous Client?”
Christian shook his head as he took a sip of beer. “No.”
“It’s an online counseling platform based out of Milwaukee that offers psych consults and sessions from the comfort of your home.”
“So you talk to your shrink over a Zoom call?”
“Sort of.”
“You want me to talk to someone about my PTSD from passing my kidney stone?”
Ethan smiled.
“One of the features of the platform, and what’s made it so popular, is that patients can choose to speak to their doctor anonymously.
The concept has eliminated the stigma that prevents most people from seeing a shrink.”
“How does one go about staying anonymous?”
“Through an encrypted filter that hides their face and disguises their voice.
I spoke with the founder of the company, and she told me that everything is handled through a third party.
Payments, registration, everything.
So if someone wants to stay anonymous, she claims they’re able to.”
“Interesting concept.
Why are you telling me about it?”
“It has to do with the case I’m working on.
The founder of The Anonymous Client was a friend of the victim back in high school.
Her name is Lindsay Larkin and I’ve been working with her on the Callie Jones case.
Earlier today, a new patient registered and logged into Dr.
Larkin’s online portal for a session with her using the encrypted filter.”
“Okay?”
“During the session, this client confessed to killing Callie Jones.”
Christian raised his eyebrows.
“There are some pretty strong laws pertaining to doctor-patient confidentiality.
But if a patient confesses to a crime, those are thrown out the window.
I could go through the proper channels and get a warrant.
And then have the DCI tech guys try to get through the encryption.”
“But?”
“But Lindsay Larkin is worried about her business, which prides itself on securing the privacy of those who login anonymously.
If word got out that the DCI hacked into her counseling portal to find this client’s identity, her business model would crumble.”
“And? I highly doubt your main concern is some shrink’s business model.”
“No, my main concern is that I’m up against the clock.
I’ve got a hard deadline on Monday, and, quite frankly, I’m not sure the guys at the DCI can get it done that quickly.
But I thought if you took a look, maybe you could get through the encryption before then to learn this client’s identity?”
Christian smiled and swiped a strand of blond hair out of his eyes.
“Encryption, you say? So, what? You want me to hack her company’s online program?”
“Is it possible?”
“To hack into this company’s system? Of course it’s possible.”
“So will you do it? Can you do it?”
“Those are two different questions.
Can I do it?”
Christian made an ugly face.
“Please.
I wrote the encryption code for CramCase, and we’ve never been hacked.
I know more about cyber security than the dorks who do it for a living.
Of course I can do it.
Will I do it? That depends.”
“On what?”
“You promising me in some formal way that I won’t eat shit for it.
Listen, Doc, I don’t mind digging through a dead girl’s phone for you.
But I came to Cherryview to get away from shit storms, not bathe in them.
I’m enjoying my anonymity.
No one knows me here except a few pickleball pals, and the last thing I need is a fat, ugly lawsuit shining a bright light at the shadow I’m hiding in. And that’s what’s waiting for me if I get caught hacking a nationwide company’s online portal.”
“You’ve got the CEO and founder’s approval.”
“I’ll need that in writing and something from the higher ups.
And this is nothing personal, Doc.
I’m just telling you what my lawyers are going to tell me.”
Ethan nodded.
“So you want some real protection?”
“I want some sort of formal immunity that whatever I find won’t blow back on me.”
Ethan grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialed, putting the phone on speaker while it rang.
“Hello?”
came the voice from the other line.
“Governor Jones, it’s Ethan Hall.
I think I’m close on Callie’s case, but I need a favor.”