“What house?” Emilia pleaded. She sounded entirely confused by what Buie was saying. “I was home that night.”
“Listen! Listen!” Buie said sharply. “See there,” he added, playing the tape and stopping it after Josh mentioned Emilia by name.
Emilia looked at him quizzically. She was puzzled by the detective’s sudden change of demeanor.
What in the world?
“I was at home at my momma’s,” Emilia explained.
“Your heart is about to jump out of your chest,” Buie said, trying to perhaps put a jolt into Emilia to scare her.
“That pisses me off,” Emilia said.
“Don’t do this to yourself.”
“What?” Emilia asked, confused. What is this detective talking about?
“Don’t do this to yourself,” Buie said again.
“Ask my momma,” Emilia insisted. “I was home that night.”
“Don’t. Do. This. To. Yourself.” Buie said it slowly. It was clear, in the cryptic way the detective was explaining things, beating around some bush Emilia had no idea existed, that maybe Buie was hoping to get Emilia to say something to bury Josh. Was Buie playing Emilia? Trying to make her think that the MCSO had more on her and Josh than it did?
“What is he saying I did?” Emilia wanted to know. She couldn’t explain herself if she didn’t know what the hell this detective was referencing.
“That you set it up!” Buie finally said.
“Set what up, though?”
According to what Buie now told Emilia, Josh had told them that “you told him you guys took care of Heather, and for him not to worry about her anymore.”
“You guys”? Who else is he referring to?
Emilia was no dense, stupid woman, unaware of what cops were legally entitled to do within the scope of an interview. Cops could completely lie to a suspect or a witness. Cops used this tactic all the time. They said things with the hope of getting a suspect or a witness to admit to something he or she did or didn’t do. As far as Emilia could tell, Josh never said any such thing on the tape she was listening to. Where was this coming from?
Thinking more about it, Emilia indicated that she had no idea what Buie was talking about. She encouraged the detective to clarify exactly what Josh was saying if the cop wanted to have a conversation with her she could follow.
“Who’s ‘you guys’?” Emilia asked. If Emilia had helped Josh, as Buie seemed to be suggesting, where did the “you guys” portion of this come into play? The way Buie worded things, it didn’t make sense.
“You,” Buie said, further confusing the situation.
“But how, if I was at home?” Emilia asked.
“He told me about the incident of you grabbing Heather at the house when you were supposed to be babysitting . . .,” Buie said, explaining in a bit more detail what Josh had allegedly said happened on a night back in January when Emilia and Heather had supposedly gotten into an altercation. There was much more to it than a simple argument between two women, Buie suggested, as Emilia had told them recently.
Emilia looked down and started shaking her head side to side.
“He was in jail [then],” Emilia finally said, responding to that argument incident between her and Heather.
They went back and forth a bit more and Buie said, “Listen, listen . . .” He held up his hands for Emilia to stop talking. She was becoming somewhat impatient. They were dancing around the issue. Then Buie got a little aggravated. He said, “Listen . . . I’m telling you right now, he’s admitted to his stuff. He lawyered up, but he chose . . .”
Buie stopped, then thought for a moment.
Then he continued, “You know what? I think I need to tell you all the truth. That’s why you are back in here.”
This got Emilia’s full attention. What was Josh doing? What had he said? Emilia and Josh had been fighting lately. Ever since Josh had married Heather back in December 2008, this after making a promise to Emilia (not to mention getting her pregnant), she’d had reservations about the two of them and a future together, child or no child. Emilia knew Josh was pissed off at her lately—but what had he gone and done now? Had he made up stories about her, implicating her in Heather’s disappearance? Had he told the MCSO things that were untrue in order to get back at her? She wouldn’t put it past him to set her up.
I need to find out what they know, Emilia thought.
Emilia explained to Buie that the MCSO could ask her mother about her whereabouts on “that night” and her mother would confirm that Emilia was at home. Even her sister would vouch for Emilia being there. There was a family friend over at the house who would also verify Emilia’s presence.
“Emilia, what night?” Buie said. He had never mentioned a date.
“February fifteenth, the day after Valentine’s Day that she supposedly left . . .”
Detective Buie now took on a sarcastic tone. He said, “Let me explain something to you, sweetheart . . . okay!”
“Uh-huh,” Emilia said.
“You had been soliciting people to do something to [Heather].”
Emilia wanted to laugh. “That’s hearsay,” she said.
Who is the MCSO’s source for this nonsense? Emilia wondered. Josh? Huh! He’s a violent person with a criminal record and a penchant for telling lies. Why believe him?
“You call it what you want,” Buie responded.
Emilia laughed again.
Buie got a little perturbed. “We ain’t down here,” he said sternly, “to have a picnic.”
“I know that,” Emilia responded. “. . . but this is why I’m upset—”
The detective interrupted her. “You can be upset all you want to. I’m telling you right now that your boyfriend has thrown you under a bus. He’s admitted to lying. He’s admitted that he is involved in this and knows about it, okay?” Buie got himself going. He continued, telling Emilia that she “could sit there and play this game” all she wanted, but it wasn’t going to do anybody any good—to which Emilia laughed again as Buie continued: “I told you the first time when I held your hand and I looked you square in the eye and I told you this is your opportunity to come clean and be straight ... but I’m going to walk right out of this room if you lie to me.”
Emilia kept saying she was home on that night. She didn’t say it, but she thought, Go ahead, Detective, walk out of the room. I could not care less. From Emilia’s viewpoint, she hadn’t done anything wrong. She couldn’t understand how they could take the word of a guy like Josh Fulgham against hers.
Bottom line here was that if they had anything solid, Emilia would be wearing metal bracelets and sitting in a holding tank, facing charges, same as Josh.
But she wasn’t.
Buie hinted at what they had, adding, “You can listen to every jail phone call.”
What did that mean? Emilia knew she had spoken to Josh when he was in jail—but did those conversations amount to anything?
They went back and forth, and Buie was then called out of the room.
Inside that interview suite just next door, Josh Fulgham was talking. Buie later explained how they had Josh situated in what Major Crimes called a “hard room,” a square box with a few chairs, devoid of anything interactive, like photos or pictures or even color. It was just a room—small and serious.
Next door, however, where they had Emilia, was considered the “soft room.” Part of her being interviewed there was because Emilia was eight months pregnant. Inside the soft room was a leather couch and carpeting. It had a much homier, comforting feel. The only thing that separated Josh from Emilia was a wall.
Buie was trying his best to turn one against the other—and he was getting somewhere.
It wasn’t a “good cop/bad cop” plan, Buie clarified. “We just wanted Emilia to feel comfortable so she could open up.”
Major Crimes understood that the key to getting Josh to admit his role in whatever had happened to Heather was making Emilia feel as though she held the cards. Josh was clearly giv
ing them an indication that he’d had something more to do with Heather’s disappearance, but at the same time minimizing his role in any of it.
“Where is Heather Strong, Mr. Fulgham?” Buie asked Josh after walking into the hard room, pacing a bit and approaching his suspect.
Josh was sweating. He was tired. It was late, somewhere near four in the morning now, and everyone had been up all night. Josh was also hungry. He said he wanted this over with so he could get out of there, get into a cell, eat, and get some sleep.
“She is probably with this guy Wayne . . . ,” Josh said again.
“Wayne?”
Buie and Josh talked some more. Buie said he would be right back.
The detective opened the door, turned, and walked into the soft room.
“Emilia, listen, who is Wayne? Can you tell me about Wayne?”
“Heather could be with Wayne, sure,” Emilia said, and even gave Wayne’s cell phone number to Buie.
Buie explained later that Wayne was a guy Josh knew Heather would get with at times and have some fun. Wayne was a Santa Claus–looking truck-driver type that came around once in a while. He was old and fat and smelly. He liked Heather. He spent money on her.
Buie left the room. He called Wayne.
Wayne actually answered and gave his full name after having no trouble admitting he knew Heather. “I have no idea where Heather is,” Wayne said. “She’s not with me.”
“When was the last time you saw her?” Buie asked.
“Probably like the middle of January. She was working at Petro. I stopped in.”
“Do you know the whereabouts of Heather Strong?” Buie asked again, more professionally.
“No, man. I have no idea.”
It seemed to Buie that the MCSO was getting the runaround from Josh Fulgham, the husband of a missing wife. He was tossing information out and hoping something stuck. Was Josh’s story about Emilia part of his plan to drag her into whatever game he was playing with cops?
Buie didn’t care at this point. He was tired of the nonsense.
He wanted answers.
CHAPTER 19
DETECTIVE DONALD BUIE went back to the soft room, where Emilia was waiting, after going over several pieces of evidence he had developed overnight in the case. It was 5:31 A.M., on March 19, when Buie entered the soft interview suite for what was, officially speaking, his fourth interview with Emilia.
The first thing out of Emilia’s mouth gave the increasingly impatient detective an indication that maybe Emilia was ready to share some of her secrets.
“Where is he?” Emilia asked. She was referring to Josh.
“He’s . . . out there,” Buie said.
“Out there?” Emilia was taken aback by how close Josh was to where she sat with Buie. “Can you make sure nothing happens to me?” Emilia said next. She was obviously scared of Josh, shaken by the idea of him being just outside the door.
“Okay.” Buie wanted her to get on with what she had to say. There wasn’t a chance Josh could get to her. Enough with the drama!
“I’m serious,” Emilia said. She looked toward the door. She gave the impression that she was terrified of this man. There was no telling what he could do to her. If Josh had taken it upon himself to implicate Emilia, she believed he was prepared to do anything at this point.
Buie told Emilia that he was under the impression after speaking to Detective Spivey, who had spoken to Emilia between her previous interviews, that she had “new” information she was now willing to share. Buie didn’t want her to worry about Josh. He was in no position to get to her. She needn’t be concerned for her safety. She should feel free to talk as openly as possible. Buie was a little upset at Emilia because she had told Spivey she had something to say, and yet it felt to Buie as if she was wasting their time.
What Emilia wasn’t telling Buie, just yet, was that she didn’t trust him. She felt more comfortable talking to Spivey. Emilia knew Spivey outside of the police department. They had a history of sorts. Spivey’s former wife was an instructor at the technical college where Emilia had gotten her massage certificate. His ex-wife had taught Emilia, and Spivey had met Emilia at the graduation ceremony. Within that relationship, Emilia felt that Spivey, unlike Buie, was not one to go about making accusations against her, or using an accusatory tone, which Emilia clearly did not like. Spivey was more of a listener. He sat and took in whatever Emilia wanted to say without coming back at her, wagging a finger. Spivey took in the information—and Emilia appreciated that.
“You understand your rights still apply,” Buie explained as they again acclimated themselves to the soft room. “Okay. You’ve got to tell me the truth from point A to Z. Okay? Tell me.”
Emilia said she had been thinking about everything they had discussed and something “hit” her as she thought about her mother’s trailer the last time she and Buie had talked.
Trailer?
That much was new.
Buie encouraged Emilia to tell him the story. Get on with it. Let’s hear what you have to say.
Emilia took a deep breath. She got comfortable in her chair. This was tougher than she thought. It was as though figuring this revelation out herself for the first time scared the hell out of her.
Nevertheless, deciding to come clean with what she knew, Emilia Carr cleared her throat and told her story to Detective Donald Buie.
CHAPTER 20
IT WAS FIVE-THIRTY, the morning of February 16, 2009—the night of February 15 was the last time anyone had seen Heather Strong. Josh generally called Emilia when he wanted to come over. But on this morning, as the sun was just edging its way up over the Atlantic horizon, Emilia was asleep, in bed, when she was startled by a knock on her bedroom window.
Who’s that? Emilia thought as she woke up, still partially asleep, and looked toward her window.
“Josh?”
According to Emilia, Josh was standing outside her window.
“What are you doing here?” Emilia asked. Josh looked disheveled, out of breath, spooked and wired, as though someone had been chasing him. “It’s cold out there.... Come around to the door so I can let you in.”
“I just came by to tell you that I love you and I am on my way to work,” Josh said.
This was a bit strange, even for Josh. He had suddenly turned into Romeo, showing up at Emilia’s bedroom window just to say, “I love you”? Emilia was used to Josh calling her every morning to share this intimacy, but he had never come to her window before this day.
Emilia wondered, Why is he here? It’s so early.
“Okay . . . Josh,” Emilia said.
“I thought he was kind of weird,” Emilia told Detective Buie as she told this story on the morning of March 19. Things had been “really, really tense” between them, Emilia later said. She had told Josh on more than one occasion that they needed to stop arguing so much. If all they did was fight, the relationship needed to end.
The gulf growing between them, Emilia recalled for Buie, was centered on Heather and the kids. According to what she explained during her March 19 interview, Josh kept telling Emilia, “I will not let Heather take the kids.” Heather had taken them back to Mississippi once and Josh had followed. He wasn’t about to allow that to happen again. He was constantly in fear of Heather moving the kids away and him never seeing them again. “What are you talking about?” Emilia said she asked Josh whenever he mentioned not allowing Heather to take the kids. Was Josh planning on taking her to court?
While at Emilia’s bedroom window, Josh said, “I cannot come in. You don’t want to help me.”
Emilia wanted to know what was going on. What did he mean by that? Why was Josh at her window? Why was he saying he didn’t want her help? Emilia couldn’t understand what was happening—it all seemed so foreign to her. Josh wasn’t himself.
“Where’s Heather, Josh?” Emilia asked after Josh again referred to the fact that Heather was gone. “She back in Mississippi?”
Josh looked down. Then he whi
spered: “She’s closer than you think.”
They argued about this comment later. Emilia saw Josh that evening and she asked him again, “Where is Heather?”
She wondered, why was he being so mysterious? All this business about “she’s closer than you think.” What was he talking about?
“That’s when he told me,” Emilia explained to Detective Buie. “I don’t know if he said he strangled her or he choked her or whatever, but he said he did that.”
The reason Josh was at her window on that morning soon became obvious to Emilia, she said. Josh carried on in the days following that visit, telling her one night, “She’s in the back trailer.”
There was an old trailer home in the back of the main house in Boardman. It was abandoned and nobody generally went near it. Weeds and brush had grown up around it. They sometimes used it for storage; but for the most part, the trailer was full of junk nobody used.
“Now, see, what I don’t understand,” Emilia continued telling Buie, “is when he told me that he killed her, I don’t know where at. But I know he had her in my momma’s back trailer is what he told me.” Emilia stopped. She thought about it. “Look, she wouldn’t come there willingly. There’s no way that girl would come there willingly.”
Emilia said the trailer didn’t lock. The door had no latch. Josh knew all of this. He even offered to clear all the brush and clean up the area surrounding the trailer. Emilia’s mother told him not to worry about it, but Josh had made a pile of odd junk in back of the trailer one day. No one wondered why. They just assumed Josh wanted to help clean up the yard.
Buie wanted to know exactly what Josh had said. It was important to get the language correct. Buie wondered: Why was Emilia just coming out with this now? Why had she waited so long? Why hold back a potential admission of murder spoken by the father of her child? Was it to protect Josh?
“He told me that he choked her, strangled her, whatever. He told me, ‘I choked the bitch out. . . .’”
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