True Detective Season 3: 10 Craziest Fan Theories
8. Hays Finds Julie In The 90s, But Covers It Up To Protect Her
There are two contrasting theories here, one that follows on from the previous two and one that has a fresh take. Both of them though share a common thread: Hays finds Julie in the 90s and after she tells him the truth, he agrees to cover it up.
The more popular version posits that after Julie was abducted by the owner’s wife, she becomes part of a child sex ring. Though she eventually escapes, she never wants to revisit that time. She may want to get on with life with her own family, she may have killed someone to get out of there, or there may be hugely powerful figures within the organisation that she lives in constant fear of. Whatever it is, it’s enough for Purple Hays to agree to drop the whole thing.
However, one fly in the ointment of the ‘uncle Dan peephole theory’ is the fact the dust remains fresh. This suggests that it wasn’t Dan watching and abusing Julie, but Will. If she murdered him to escape then ran off, Hays might believe her to be justified and let her live her life. That could explain why the note had such a childish misspelling of ‘shud’.