Chapters (61)
- Cover
- Praise
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- From the Journal of Candace Swain
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Letter Found in the Journal of Candace Swain
- Forty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- Booklist
- Excerpt
“The police took witness statements from dozens of people who had been at the party. Three people said they heard the argument, their names are redacted in the report, but one I figured was Taylor. Two other statements were from people not in the sorority who saw Candace talking to Abernathy. We know that he had been run off campus at least twice, and he would be going to jail if caught again. So it makes sense that they would have a disagreement about whether to call the police.”
“I agree. But what if someone else at the party overheard the conversation? Maybe they didn’t think much about it at the time, but now, when they heard your podcast where you state that they were arguing about Abernathy and whether to call the police? And they know that is not completely accurate. Maybe they are just learning that the murder investigation is still open. It might have motivated them to call.”
“Then, why not give their name? Why hang up?”
“Because they don’t want to get in trouble with the sorority,” Regan suggested. “Any number of reasons. It’s worth looking into. Did you reach out to Taylor?”
“I couldn’t find her. She graduated, and I don’t know where she went after that.”
“I can find her,” Regan said. “Finding people is something I’m really good at.”
Twelve
Lucas Vega’s stupid murder podcast had drained her.
Vicky Ryan poured herself a glass of white wine and drank half of it in one gulp. She didn’t want to be drinking alone, but she was over twenty-one, and they were allowed to have alcohol on campus, and damn, she was alone and had a headache and didn’t know what to do with this stupid podcast that was causing friction among her sorority sisters.
Half the girls thought the idea was smart and didn’t like that the council had forbidden them from participating. The other half worried about the impact on the sorority and Candace’s reputation. And people on both sides thought the police should handle it.
But her roommate, Nicole, had made a good point the other night.
“It’s been three years and the police haven’t solved Candace’s murder. Maybe this could help.”
Nicole might be right, but Vicky was worried about some of her sisters who were truly upset listening to the podcast. Vicky tried to be fair and impartial, but it was hard. She had to protect the sorority’s reputation, and creating a safe space for the girls she was supposed to lead and protect was important to her. She couldn’t stop Nicole and others from listening, but she could prevent playing it in common areas.