Regan said, “Stay put. I’m going to copy this.”

Regan went to the library media center and carefully made two Xerox copies of the journal. It started at the beginning of her senior year and was labeled on the first page Candace Swain’s Journal, #6 and ended the Monday before she was killed, based on the dates. She had somehow been in the library that night, presumably to add this last journal entry and research Payson. Why spend the night in the library? Was she scared to go back to her dorm?

Regan felt the pain in Candace’s writing. Her soul-searching and her guilt and her desire to do the right thing, even if she got in trouble, was clear on every page. She was a good person at heart. Torn and alone, wanting to fix everything.

Regan was pretty certain that Rachel had killed Candace to keep her from going to the police. Rachel had made one big mistake: she had moved the body. Did she do that because of who would be investigating? Or because she had been seen near the aquatic center? Perhaps she moved the body to destroy evidence or delay the investigation. Did she have help? There were external security cameras. How had she avoided them?

And why didn’t she take Candace’s body to the Payson mine where she’d dumped Adele?

She had only part of the picture, but she was now certain that it was Rachel who’d told Nicole Bergamo not to tell anyone she saw Candace in the truck. Why, Regan could only speculate. Maybe Rachel thought if Candace were found by the police first, she would tell them about Adele. Then, when Nicole went on the podcast, whoever she told—Rachel or someone else—had known it was Nicole sharing the story, even with the disguised voice.

And now Nicole was in the hospital, in a coma.

Abernathy either had seen something suspicious and was killed because of it, or he was killed to frame him for Candace’s murder.

That wasn’t the work of selfish Taylor James or needy Vicky Ryan or conceited Kimberly Foster. That was the work of a sociopath, someone who would do or say anything to avoid getting in trouble for her actions.

It was the work of Rachel Wagner. Regan would bet her life on it.

When she was done copying the journal, she went back to the study room and said to Lucas and Lizzy, “I’m going to take the original to Henry Clarkson for safekeeping and bring the copy to the chief of police. Young has a conflict, but he might be able to fill in blanks. And I can’t see him defending Rachel, not when confronted with overwhelming circumstantial evidence of her guilt.”

They were on the clock: if Nicole regained consciousness, she might identify Rachel. Rachel could run. If she hadn’t already.

If she ran, Regan would find her.