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
He stared at her. “We notified the railroad, but we weren’t informed that he was seen until the day after we found her body. He had more than twenty-four hours to disappear.”
“Do you have any other evidence—”
“We have no other evidence. I’ve wanted to talk to Abernathy. He’s fallen off the face of the earth, but every law-enforcement agency in the country has his stats, and we sent out a BOLO to every shelter in the database more than once. I know how to do my job. Look, I don’t want to be a hardnose, but Lucas Vega has no personal or firsthand knowledge of Candace Swain’s disappearance or death. I asked him. He saw her before the party the night she disappeared. I checked his alibi, just for kicks. He’s acting like a reporter, but without training, experience, or employer.”
“Look, Detective, I get it. You have experience, you know what you’re doing. You want to solve this case. But Lucas has something good here. He’s getting information. You know that because you admitted to listening to the podcast.”
Young didn’t comment.
“Do you really believe that Abernathy killed her?”
“Usually, the most obvious answer is the correct answer. Occam’s razor.” He hesitated, then added, “Abernathy is a person of interest. We’ve wanted to talk to him. It’s that simple. The truth? I have nothing. There is no physical evidence. Water is a great way to destroy evidence, especially chlorinated water combined with the high-algae content of the lake. I won’t say that Abernathy is straight-out guilty, but he is the most likely suspect. And if he’s not guilty? He knows something. His disappearance tells me that. If I think that Lucas Vega finds anything useful, bet your house I’ll follow up. But right now all he has are conjecture and rumors.”
“Fair enough.”
She wanted more information but wasn’t certain how she could get anything more out of him. Young would know if she was fishing. She decided to share part of what she’d learned in the hopes that he would share other information.
“Did you know that Candace often spent time in the aquatic center? It’s not far from the sorority.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“And?”