He still had questions. Maybe it would take a psychology degree for him to understand why Rachel went to these lengths. Regan had explained that everything Rachel had done was to protect her image. And the more her carefully built life began to fall apart, the more violent she became.
He had more information today than they’d had this weekend, and he had spent the afternoon recording interviews with key people—people who had refused to talk to him before. They might have refused today, except that Regan went to bat for him.
There was a knock on the studio door, and he jumped. He saw Henry Clarkson through the glass and waved him in.
“How are you doing?” Clarkson asked.
“Okay.”
“You don’t sound confident.”
“Sad. I don’t know why.”
“Because murder is senseless. You either get angry or you get sad. Sometimes, a combination of both.” He sat down. “You did a good thing here, Lucas. Don’t start second-guessing yourself.”
“Taylor James is dead because I did this podcast. Nicole Bergamo was poisoned. She almost died. I could have died. I’m not ready to die. That sounds lame.”
“No. It does not sound lame. If anything, it should remind you that every day is a gift. If you’re religious, you might say every day is gift from God. If you’re not, you might just call it living in the moment. You are going to go far, Lucas. You have compassion and intelligence, and you’ll use both in your chosen field.”
“There were so many mistakes in the investigation, but not on purpose. Just little things—like the delay from the lab on Candace’s lungs. I don’t want to make mistakes that might let a killer go free.”
“We all make mistakes, Lucas. It’s a part of life, a part of growing up. It’s owning those mistakes, of trying to not make the same mistake twice. Of learning each and every day.”
Lizzy burst in. “Oh. Sorry. Didn’t see you, Professor.”
Clarkson smiled and stood. “Good to see you, Ms. Choi. I’m going. I’ll be listening live tonight. I’m going over to John Merritt’s house to listen with him and Regan.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d better hurry.”
“You have time. Lizzy and I have a lot of work to do first. And, Professor, thank you. I’ll be okay. I’m just working through things.”
“I know you’ll be fine. But I’m always here if you need someone to listen.”
Clarkson left, and Lizzy kissed Lucas. “I wish you’d have waited for me.”
“Stop worrying.”
“I came from your apartment. I helped Mrs. Levitz find her last missing cat. She’s much happier to have them all together again.”
The fire department had cleared the apartment for residents to move back in today. Troy had gotten him and Lucas an Airbnb for the week, said he was touched that Lucas had thought to save his football-card collection, even though there was no fire. And even though they could move back in now, the place still reeked of sulfur and smoke. Mrs. Levitz brought in industrial fans to help air everything out.
They had already mapped out the show, and Lizzy had edited and prepped the interviews he’d done. He also had someone calling in for a live interview. When they were done with the preliminary work, Lizzy asked, “Are you ready to do this?”
“Yes.”
“Then, let’s do it.” She went into the producer’s side of the studio and gave him a thumbs-up, then blew him a kiss. He smiled. He was ready.
“This is Lucas Vega, and I’m here talking about the Sorority Murder. A lot has happened since our last episode.”
He summarized the purpose of the podcast and said, “I wasn’t completely honest with you, my audience, about why I decided to air this podcast. I did, in fact, have another motive. I wanted to find out what happened to Adele Overton, the older sister of my high-school girlfriend. And I believed that if I solved Candace Swain’s murder, I would learn what happened to Adele.
“Adele disappeared from NAU over six years ago. She allegedly left campus at the beginning of winter break, heading for home in Phoenix. She never arrived. Her car was found in Gallup, New Mexico. Based on the evidence—a broken headlight and a small amount of blood found on the steering wheel—troopers believed that someone caused an accident for the purposes of hurting Adele. Her body was never found.
“When I came to NAU, I started thinking about Adele again. I learned that she had had classes with Candace Swain and Taylor James. So I reached out to Candace—probably not the best way to do it, but by scheduling a tutoring appointment through the writing lab. She was very nice, smart, helpful. And after a couple sessions, I asked questions about Adele. Did she remember her, did she have any idea what might have happened? Candace stopped talking to me. At first I thought maybe I was too pushy or she was sad, but then I thought maybe she knew something more.