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Back The Sorority Murder
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

“One more question, Detective Hernandez. You have been looking into the past of Rachel Wagner and the death of another Sigma Rho college student, some years ago, at the University of Arizona. Can you share what you know?”

“We’re working with the Tucson Police Department in a joint investigation, but a sorority sister went missing near the end of her sophomore year of college. Her name was Brittney Posner. Her body was found off campus over a year later, at the bottom of a cliff near a trail on Mount Lemmon. The Tucson police investigated the disappearance and interviewed several people in the sorority, including Rachel Wagner—the victim’s roommate. Ms. Wagner gave conflicting statements, but the police found no physical evidence tying her to the victim’s disappearance. When her body was found, they again questioned Ms. Wagner and again found no probable cause—but she remained a person of interest. The main issue was that two autopsies conflicted. The first said cause of death was indeterminate, that they couldn’t confirm whether she’d died from the fall or was already dead when she fell. A second autopsy suggested that she died from the fall itself. Tox screens were done, but many drugs don’t last in the body over time, and when found the body was in such an advanced state of decomposition, many of the tests were inconclusive.

“We’re now helping to revisit the case, and based on some documents we found in Ms. Wagner’s residence, we believe she may have been involved. I can’t say more right now but hope to have a full report shortly.”

“Maybe you’ll be able to share that report with my listeners on my final podcast episode in two weeks.”

“If I can, I will.”

“Thank you for your time, Detective.”

Lucas cut off the call and said, “One accidental death six and a half years ago spiraled out of control, resulting in the deaths of three other people—and the attempted murder of three more. Why? Why did Rachel Wagner go to these lengths to protect her reputation? How did she manipulate people into helping her? Those are answers I don’t have. On Friday, I’ll be interviewing Professor Henry Clarkson of the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department and Dr. Edith Vlansky, a forensic psychiatrist and honorary professor here at NAU. Maybe between them, we’ll find answers.

“But even if we have answers as to why, that doesn’t discount the lives lost. We have answers, and we might have justice, even though Rachel Wagner was killed and families won’t be able to face her in court. But do we have closure?

“I don’t know. What is closure, anyway? People we care about are still gone. Justice may be served, but justice doesn’t fill the hole in the hearts of those who loved Candace and Adele.