A knock on her door had her groaning. She didn’t want to talk to anyone about the podcast. It had been the number one topic in the sorority for the last week, since Lucas Vega had aired the first episode last Tuesday night.

She opened the door and was surprised to find Rachel Wagner, their faculty advisor, standing there. She looked upset.

“Are you okay?” Vicky asked.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course.” She opened the door wider, and Rachel walked in and stared out the window. It was dark, and Vicky could see her reflection in the glass. “Do you want some wine?”

“I’d love some, but no, thank you.” Rachel turned around. She didn’t look thirty-five. She was tall, model-pretty with silky blond hair and big brown eyes and could have passed for a student. She was one of Vicky’s favorite teachers as well because she knew what she was talking about and she had more open office hours than most. She was up for a professor slot in the biology department, after being an associate professor for the past six years.

“You’re upset about the podcast,” Vicky said. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

“I’m so frustrated and don’t know how to handle this. I tried talking to Henry Clarkson last week, after the first episode, but he doesn’t see this from our perspective. And then Henry hooked Vega up with a former US Marshal? Why?”

“Nicole has been talking to some of the girls, and they think this podcast is a good idea.”

“I know. I had a long conversation with Nicole yesterday. I’m too close to it. I really liked Candace, and I told her she needed to do more to keep that man off campus, but she had such a soft spot for the troubled. I admired that about her, but at the same time she didn’t have the street smarts to know who might really be dangerous.”

“You think he really killed her.”

“Yes! Who else?”

“Yeah, I know—you’re probably right. But Nicole and some of the others are talking about other theories, and it’s just exhausting.”

“The police know what they’re doing,” Rachel said. “They’ve been up-front with us from the beginning. Abernathy is their primary suspect. He killed her and knew he did something wrong and left. It makes sense, and it fits all the evidence. I’m just surprised they never caught up with him.”

“I wish I could get them to stop listening, because others are getting upset. I found Debra crying after the podcast. She’s the sensitive type, said she now can’t stop picturing Candace drowning, and it’s interfering with her studies.”

“I’ll go talk to her if it’ll help.”

“I’m sure it would.”