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Back The Sorority Murder Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Twenty-Three
  31. Twenty-Four
  32. Twenty-Five
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. Twenty-Nine
  37. Thirty
  38. Thirty-One
  39. Thirty-Two
  40. Thirty-Three
  41. Thirty-Four
  42. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  43. Thirty-Five
  44. Thirty-Six
  45. Thirty-Seven
  46. Thirty-Eight
  47. From the Journal of Candace Swain
  48. Thirty-Nine
  49. Forty
  50. Forty-One
  51. Forty-Two
  52. Forty-Three
  53. Forty-Four
  54. Forty-Five
  55. Forty-Six
  56. Forty-Seven
  57. Letter Found in the Journal of Candace Swain
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. Booklist
  61. Excerpt

“Think about it, okay? And I’d like you to research more about the sorority, Candace’s peers, and the current president.”

“Okay, but why?”

“Because if we find anything good, you need to expose it on the podcast.”

“Expose? That sounds ominous.”

“They’re not talking, but I find it hard to believe that everyone there agrees on this. Isn’t at least one person curious? And after Wagner gave me a hard sell about the mental health of the girls. I’m sure there are some who are seriously troubled by what happened, but so troubled that they want to shut down all conversation? It rubbed me wrong. Candace wasn’t last seen at the sorority party, we know that now, but the reason she left in the first place may be directly connected to something that happened at the party. It’s the only thing that makes sense. If we can stir the pot a bit, it might encourage one or more of them to break ranks.”

“I like that idea. But I don’t want anyone else hurt. Seeing Taylor last night... I just...” He looked pained, and Regan felt for the kid.

“She may not have intended to kill herself, Lucas. It could have been—probably was—an accidental overdose.”

“Yeah—but on purpose or not, I didn’t start this podcast to hurt anyone. I did it to find the truth.”

“That’s a good thing, Lucas. You can’t blame yourself for the decisions other people make. The truth is always important.”

He stared at his half-eaten meal, then said, “How about if you talk to Traverton, and I’ll continue my research on the sorority as soon as I’m done with my morning class.”

“Then, after that, we should go to Sunrise Center. You have a relationship already with the director, but it might be time to follow up.”

“Okay. I have an afternoon class at two, so I can meet you there by four.”

She agreed. “Remember what I said last night.” Regan drained her coffee.

“Be careful, watch my surroundings, do things different than normal.”

“You’re a quick study.”

Twenty-Five

After Regan learned from McCarthy’s that Richie Traverton would come on shift at eleven, she spent the morning doing basic research. Having the Merritt name helped tremendously: anyone who’d lived in Flagstaff for more than ten years knew who her father was, and many of the old-timers still remembered her grandfather. Her generation remembered that her brother had broken the RBI record in high school—43. It didn’t break the state record, but no one had matched it at their high school since.