“What?” Lizzy said.

“What what?” he asked.

“You just said something. Were you talking to me?”

“Guess maybe thinking out loud. What if Taylor James killed herself out of guilt? What if she killed Candace?”

“Whoa, slow down, Lucas. You’ve really jumped the shark.”

“Have I? Consider that Taylor and Candace fought about something. Everyone claimed it was about Joseph Abernathy, but then we get that letter that it was about something completely different, and the odd call. Maybe Taylor kills her accidentally, panics, moves the body, covers up the crime. But she feels guilty and starts doing drugs.”

“I can see it, but do you have any evidence?”

Of course he didn’t, and she knew it.

“Now she’s dead,” he said. “And if she did kill Candace, I’ll never prove it.”

“Stop with the fatalism. Breathe. Now, you wanted info on Vicky Ryan?”

“Find anything?”

“Nothing particularly interesting. She’s a nursing major, an overachiever. Loves planning parties, loves socializing, has her photo all over everything. Outgoing. Pretty. From a teeny-tiny town west of Phoenix, called Buckeye. No boyfriend now, though had one until the fall. Her best friend is Nicole Bergamo, a math major. I actually know Nicole. We’re not besties or anything, but I was in a couple classes with her. She’s super smart, totally like—who’s that guy?—the Beautiful Mind guy, she just gets math on a level most people don’t. I think she wants to teach, but I could remember it wrong. Anyway, they’re roommates, have been for all four years, so they must be tight. Oh, shit. I need to run. I can’t be late for my class.”

“I’m already late,” he groaned. “Go, I’ll wrap up here.” Maybe even skip his class. He had an A: he could get the notes from someone.

She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. “See you later.”

Lucas watched Lizzy leave, thinking about her, them, what might be, then he shook his head to clear it. Thinking about the future wasn’t going to get the work done.

He finished going through all the sorority girls on his list. As he pulled down Alexa Castillo’s profile, something jumped out at him.

Hometown: Kingman, Arizona.

Was that a coincidence? That a sorority sister who graduated the year before Candace was from Kingman? Had she returned after graduation? Were they close?

Could Candace have been visiting her that weekend?

If so, why didn’t she come forward?

He did another quick search but couldn’t find Alexa Castillo anywhere on social media. It was a common name, but no one fit on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram. He searched for alumnae news in the Sigma Rho newsletters: nothing. The only thing he could find was her senior statement, where she said she planned on teaching elementary school. Nothing about where she would be teaching, no follow-ups.