Regan couldn’t betray Alexa’s confidence, but she felt she should share part of what they’d learned with Candace’s sister. Lucas didn’t want to say anything, so Regan spoke vaguely of their theory. “We believe that Candace was aware of a crime and wrote in her journal about it. She wanted to go to the police, her friends didn’t, and that may have been the reason she was killed.”

“Oh, God, that...that would be awful. You think someone she knew killed her? Someone she trusted?”

“It’s possible. So if the journal is here, we need to find it,” Regan said.

“What do you need from me?” Chrissy asked.

“You knew Candace better than anyone. We need to make a list of her interests, favorite books, anything that we can use to narrow down our search. I’ll start,” Regan said. “My contact said that Candace was in the library researching gold mines in Payson. So books about Payson, Payson history, and gold mines should be on the list.”

“Right. Okay,” Chrissy said, “her favorite book in high school was To Kill a Mockingbird. She read it like a hundred times.”

Regan thought that book would be too small to hide a journal in, plus it could easily be checked out for a class or used in research. But she wrote it down. “What were some of her other favorite books?”

Chrissy gave them a list of popular YA fiction. “She was a nursing student, so anything related to that.”

Together, they brainstormed and came up with a detailed list of possible books Candace would have used to hide her journal.

Lucas promised to let Chrissy know if they found it, and they ended the call. Lizzy ran in. “Oh my God, Lucas, Nicole Bergamo is in the hospital. In a coma.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Someone posted it on social media. Last night her roommate, Vicky Ryan, found her unconscious and not breathing. People are speculating an attempted suicide. Her parents are coming in from Washington, and Vicky is at the hospital with her.”

Suicide seemed unlikely. Regan asked Lizzy, “When you talked to her, did she say anything that made you think she was suicidal?”

“No. Nicole is one of the nicest, happiest people I know.”

That didn’t necessarily mean she didn’t have problems, and mental-health issues were sometimes not easy to identify.

Lizzy continued. “Nicole is the one who called in last night. I disguised her voice like I promised. What if she knows more? And she never identified the person who told her not to go to the police, who told her she was wrong about the truck.”

“Lucas, you and Lizzy start looking for the journal. I’m going to make a call.”

They left the room, and Regan called her dad. He hadn’t started his golf game yet.

“Dad, I need a favor.”

“Anything.”