“I’m no longer in law enforcement,” she said, which should explain why she felt no need to go to local cops for permission to talk about a cold case. “I know Lucas talked to you at one point.”

“Lucas Vega is a smart, stubborn, angry young man. Emphasis on young. I don’t know what he told you about his conversation with me, but he essentially accused me of being lazy and not caring about the victim. He threw information I already knew at me and demanded I answer his questions. I showed him the door. Why are you helping him?”

Carefully, she said, “I’ve become invested in this case, primarily because it’s attached to my alma mater. Lucas’s quest to retrace Candace Swain’s steps from when she left Sigma Rho until she was found dead is a viable approach.”

“Most of the people who knew Candace are no longer around campus. Maybe a dozen or so are still in the sorority.”

She nodded. “If you listened to the podcast, you know several people have come forward with sightings of the victim during the week she was supposedly missing.”

Young said, “I can’t take as statements people remembering—possibly remembering—something that happened three years ago, through a podcast. There is no way I can verify that they are remembering the correct day. And why would the person who claimed to have seen her at the library not have come forward? All security footage is erased after thirty days, unless campus police flag it. There’s no way to verify that information. She could be making it up.”

“She may not have thought about it at the time, or not have known Candace was missing. She wasn’t in a sorority, and most people on campus were in the dark until after Candace was killed. Also, in my experience, people rarely come forward. They have to be asked.”

“Do you think I didn’t do my job?”

He was antagonistic, for no reason. “I didn’t say that.”

“You implied it.”

“No, I didn’t.”