Page 83 of Guess Again

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Monday, August 4, 2025

ETHAN PULLED HIS JEEP WRANGLER TO THE CURB OUTSIDE THE Lower East Side home that belonged to Dr.

Lindsay Larkin.

He shut off his lights and waited.

Within ten minutes two other cars had arrived—those belonging to Pete Kramer and Maddie Jacobson.

Pete was in his unmarked DCI car; Maddie was in her Milwaukee PD squad car. Two other marked cars followed behind, filled with the four officers assigned to protect Maddie Jacobson—the only surviving victim of the Lake Michigan killings—until Francis Bernard was apprehended. Ethan had requested Milwaukee Police Department presence to take Lindsay Larkin into custody.

Ethan wanted to question Lindsay about how she had pulled it all off.

How she had brought Francis Bernard into the picture, and what role she might have played in his escape.

He also wanted to learn her motive for killing her best friend, and why she had chosen Blake Cordis to pin the blame on.

The woman was a treasure trove of information, but not until they safely had Dr.

Larkin in custody.

Ethan knew that everything he did from this moment forward would be scrutinized by law enforcement, district attorneys, and Lindsay Larkin’s powerful defense attorneys, so he planned to make no mistakes.

It was why he had called Maddie to make the formal arrest.

There was a level of clandestine fogginess to his agreement with the Department of Criminal Investigation, and Ethan wanted to avoid a breach in procedural protocol.

It was also why he left his gun in the glove box.

The three of them met on the street outside Lindsay’s house.

“You take the lead,”

Ethan said to Maddie.

“Everything’s got to be by the book on this.”

“Got it,”

Maddie said.

She turned and walked up the driveway with Ethan and Pete following.

She started to knock on the front door, but the first knuckle-to-wood connection sent the door slowly gliding open.

Maddie looked at Ethan and Pete.

The Lower East Side was an affluent neighborhood.

Residents were known to leave their doors unlocked, but they did not leave them open.

She removed her sidearm.

Pete did the same.

Maddie led the way into the home with Ethan and Pete close behind.

Maddie pushed open the door and yelled into the darkened house.

“Dr.

Larkin? Milwaukee PD.

Are you in the home?”

No answer.

The entrance foyer was dark, but the light in the kitchen down the hall was on.

“Dr. Larkin!”

Maddie yelled again.

When no answer came, they headed toward the kitchen, clearing the rooms to the left and right as they went.

As they approached the kitchen, Ethan heard Maddie gasp.

“Oh my God.”

Ethan hurried past her.

Lindsay Larkin sat at the kitchen table with a garrote tight around her neck, her face bloated and her skin the color of white marble.

Blood streamed down her neck from where the cord had been cinched into her skin.

As Ethan approached, he saw that Dr.

Larkin’s blood had been smeared onto the white maple wood of the kitchen table.

Close Ethan, So Close