In fact, Lucas had a copy of Candace’s phone records, thanks to her sister. Chrissy Swain had all her sister’s passwords, which had also helped him confirm that Candace hadn’t been on social media after the Friday-night party, nor did she use her phone after leaving a message for Richie. That’s why Lucas thought she might have had a second phone—maybe a burner that was never found.

Knowing now from a caller that Candace might have been seen on that Sunday after the party, her whereabouts Saturday didn’t seem to be as important, Lucas thought. She’d been angry, maybe decided to leave campus, get away for the weekend, and come back on Sunday night.

Then she left her car in the parking garage and disappeared. The only thing in the autopsy report that stood out to him, besides the water in her lungs, was that her stomach was empty and that she had probably eaten approximately eight hours before she was killed. Which would mean a late lunch or early dinner. Where did she eat? With whom?

Were people even telling the truth? Why would they lie?

He picked up a pen and added to the timeline the information they’d learned about Candace being seen at the library. He added question marks. He wanted to believe the two callers, but he couldn’t shake the idea that maybe the guy who saw her Monday night was calling either to mess with him—like the plethora of nasty emails he’d been getting—or had seen her at an earlier date.

“Why are you nervous, Lucas?” Regan asked without looking at him.

“I’m not. I guess I’m trying to look at this through your eyes.”

“You have good stuff here, quality research. I think you should have shared all of this on your podcast. It might have jump-started more of a conversation.”

“I plan to. I have the podcasts sketched out while also leaving it open-ended so people will call in with clues.”

“I get that. I’m looking at this as a whole. And there’s an obvious answer.”

“Which is?”

“Someone lied to the police. Your information is incomplete. You have documentation from newspapers, and the original report that indicates they spoke to her two boyfriends, her roommate Annie, Taylor James from the sorority, others from Sigma Rho, a senior who said he saw her talking to the homeless guy the evening of the party. But they must have also spoken to people on and off campus, especially after her body was found. A missing-person investigation is different than a homicide investigation. I’m really good with missing persons, it’s what I did for years. I found people who didn’t want to be found. And nine times out of ten someone lied to me about what they knew. Sometimes lies of omission, other times they lied to my face.”