“No, it was during the week, that’s all I know.”

“Did you tell the police about it?”

“I told Willa, the director. I assume she told the police. They came by a couple of times to talk to her, look for Joseph.”

“Did you know Candace?”

“Not really. I knew who she was. She always said hello and smiled when she served food. She was very nice.”

“And that was the last time you saw Joseph.”

“Yeah. I think something bad happened to him.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because he always came back. That’s what Willa said. He might leave for a few weeks, a month or two, but he’d come back, like a homing pigeon, she said. But he was sick with the drink, you know. He could have died in the middle of nowhere, and who would know?”

Lucas thanked the caller, talked a bit about the police search for Abernathy, then concluded the episode.

“On Tuesday, I’m going to outline exactly what happened to Candace. We know that she was strangled, but she died by drowning. Her body was found in the Hope Springs Lake in the middle of the public golf course. The security cameras at the entrance weren’t triggered, but there are other ways to get to the lake. Did she die in the lake? Or was she killed elsewhere? I have evidence that suggests the latter.”

The podcast was over, music filtered in, and Regan turned off the app.

“What do you think, Dad?”

John mumbled, “He should have talked to Detective Young.”

“Do you know Young?”

“No.”

John Merritt, as the elected sheriff of Coconino County, had sometimes butted heads with local police departments. Generally, though, he’d had a good working relationship with almost everyone, directly or indirectly, and generally deferred to the local jurisdiction.

“In my experience,” she said, “a police detective isn’t going to give a college student the time of day. Young probably sent him to the media officer or told him to put in a FOIA request.” The Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to most information in criminal investigations, but there were some limits, especially in an open case.

“I guess the kid’s onto something,” her dad said. “I heard the transient theory and assumed that they had evidence to back it up. They still could. If they think Abernathy is involved, they likely have a good reason. He probably rides the rails—it’s surprisingly common. Remember that guy who raped and killed four women about ten, twelve years ago? He was living near the railroad tracks, hopped on one day, and if someone hadn’t seen him jumping cars, he may have disappeared forever. And the Route 66 murders? That hobo killed for money and booze across three states, using the rail system to disappear until he was finally caught.”

“No one says hobo anymore, Dad,” she said.