“Actually, it’s a viable theory,” she said. Rachel had also implied the same thing. But it was just conjecture and rumors, something Regan didn’t put much stock in, until she could find evidence.
“I’d been thinking the same thing,” Lucas said. “That maybe Taylor is responsible. But it’ll be impossible to prove.”
“Not necessarily,” Regan said. “If you came to that conclusion, others may, too. We’ll see what happens tonight on the podcast and go from there.” She glanced at her watch. “We should go. Alexa Castillo’s school day ends shortly. She has little digital footprint, so I don’t know how else to find her through public channels.”
Lizzy popped up. “I’ll see you at the studio tonight.”
“Lizzy,” Regan said, “I told Lucas to watch himself, because he’s stirred up a lot of anger over at the sorority. I’m telling you the same thing.”
“He told me about the notes. I’ll be super cautious.”
They walked out together. Lizzy planned to take the bus back to campus, but Regan gave her a ride as it wasn’t too far out of the way. She didn’t think that Lizzy would be in danger—Lucas was the face of the podcast—but as Lizzy said, it was best to be super cautious.
Regan couldn’t find parking anywhere close to the elementary school because dozens of cars were lined up to pick up kids. She parked around the corner and waited. She’d wait until most of the kids and parents were gone, then head in.
While they waited, she said to Lucas, “Vicky Ryan seems to be at the center of this. She wants to end the podcast. She knew Candace, had seen her that night, witnessed part of the argument. She claimed she didn’t hear what it was about but mentioned that Rachel was there as well. Did you know about that?”
“No, it has never come up, and it wasn’t in the police report.”
“So Rachel was there during the argument, along with Kimberly Foster and possibly others. Why would anyone lie about what the fight was about?”
“Maybe,” Lucas considered, “the fight was about more than Abernathy. Maybe it started out that way but devolved into something else.”
Possible, but without someone who was there to confirm, they could only speculate.
“Rachel simply confirmed what we have already been told, then went on to say she should have called the police on Abernathy, and Candace may still be alive. Rachel and Vicky believe he’s guilty. They don’t even question it. Though Rachel said something interesting, that she wouldn’t be surprised if she learned that Taylor had hurt Candace.”
“Hurt? Like, her feelings?”
“Her tone said killed. She just didn’t use the word.”
“Wow.”
“I don’t know what to think, but someone in that sorority knows exactly what happened to Candace Swain, and I’m at the point where I’m more than a little irritated. At the people keeping secrets and at the cops for not digging deeper. Abernathy looks good on the surface, but it doesn’t make sense when you look at everything else.”
Cars started easing up from the front of the school as parents and caregivers picked up the children. When the second of three buses pulled away, Regan and Lucas walked to the school.
If Taylor had lied to the police—or intentionally misled them about the argument—she could have lied about anything. She might have seen Candace during the time she was missing. She might have loaned her a car or money or even driven her somewhere. But why? And when she turned up dead, why wouldn’t Taylor have spoken up? Would someone at the sorority cover up a murder? An accidental death? What would be the motive for remaining silent?
Based on what they knew, Candace’s disappearance was voluntary. She had a prepaid phone and didn’t use her regular cell, which didn’t make sense. Maybe Candace didn’t want anyone to find her.
According to the police report, the phone left in the dorm had contained no information about Candace’s plans.
Regan pushed her questions aside as she and Lucas approached the main entrance. While schools had pretty tight security these days, and visitors had to go through the office to access any of the classrooms, once school was out for the day, the gates were often left open. That was the case here.
It was pretty easy to find Ms. Castillo’s classroom: the rooms were grouped by grade with teacher names on the door. Helpful arrows pointed her to the wing that housed grades one through three. Alexa Castillo’s room was in the far corner.