I grab a fry. “How exactly is he going to do that?”
“Well, for one, you’re going to help him. And two, he already has.”
I stop with my mouth half-open, ready to take a bite. “What?”
“Colin didn’t go straight home from the wedding.”
Listen for the Lie Podcast with Ben Owens EPISODE THREE—“MATT WAS TOO GOOD FOR HER”
Colin Dunn had been dating Savannah for a few months when she was killed. I’ll let him introduce himself, in his own words.
Colin:????????????I was a real shithead. [laughter] Yeah, man, I was just not into that whole small-town life. I hated every second of it, and I hated myself for not being brave enough to just hop a bus out of there. I sort of took that out on Savvy a lot.
Ben:???????????????Took it out on her? How?
Colin:????????????I wasn’t that nice to her. I know I probably shouldn’t admit that, or I should, like, try to make myself look good, but, whatever, man. I just feel like I should be honest about it.
Ben:???????????????Take me back a bit. How’d you guys meet?
Colin:????????????At the bar where she worked. I wasn’t old enough to drink but I had a fake ID—yo, can I say that? Am I like admitting to a crime?
Ben:???????????????You’re fine.
Colin:????????????Yeah, so I was nineteen or twenty or whatever, and I had a fake ID. I don’t think Savvy knew it was fake. No, she definitely didn’t know. I always felt like I was a bad influence on her. She was just the nicest, sweetest girl, and I was not the nicest guy. I think if I had met her a few years later, I could have been a better guy for her, but … well, she got murdered. Which is a bummer.
Ben:???????????????It is indeed a bummer.
Colin:????????????Anyways, we met at the bar, and hit it off right away.
Ben:???????????????This was when?
Colin:????????????That was early in the year, like January. So, like four months before she died.
Ben:???????????????And you dated up until she was killed?
Colin:????????????I mean … I don’t know if dated was the word. We weren’t … uh, yeah, you know, let’s just say we dated. Yeah. Savvy was a nice girl. Nicer than me, that’s for sure.
Ben:???????????????Did you know her friends?
Colin:????????????Uh, sort of? Some of them?
Ben:???????????????Did you know Lucy? Had you met her before the wedding?
Colin:????????????Yeah, I’d met her once or twice. She was in the bar once, and she’d been over at Savvy’s place once when I dropped by. So, I knew who she was, but like … we weren’t buddies.
Ben:???????????????Did you have any particular impression of her?
Colin:????????????Uh … she was hot?
Ben:???????????????Anything else?
Colin:????????????Not really.
Ben:???????????????Did you know Matt?
Colin:????????????Not until the wedding.
Ben:???????????????And you hung out with him and Lucy at the wedding?
Colin:????????????Yeah. We were at the same table.
Ben:???????????????What did you think of them?
Colin:????????????Lucy didn’t really talk to me. Not in a rude way, just in a “we have nothing in common” way. Matt and I talked about basketball some—it was during the NBA finals. Matt was a good time. He came to have fun at that wedding. Well, you’ve heard.
Ben:???????????????And you saw that?
Colin:????????????Oh yeah. He was definitely wasted.
Ben:???????????????How was he acting? Was he a happy drunk, was he angry…？
Colin:????????????Pretty happy drunk, from what I remember. He was dancing a lot, laughing … completely ignoring Lucy, who seemed pissed about something.
Ben:???????????????At him?
Colin:????????????I don’t know, man. I asked Savvy about it and she said Lucy was fine. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. Like it was none of my business. And it wasn’t. I didn’t really care.
Ben:???????????????Savvy drove you to the wedding, but she left without you. What happened there?
Colin:????????????Lucy and Matt had a fight, I think. I don’t know what it was about. But Savvy seemed upset about it, and she asked her brother—Keaton—to take me home. I didn’t go with him, though. I didn’t live far, so I just walked.
Ben:???????????????You walked straight home?
Colin:????????????Yeah.
Ben:???????????????By yourself?
Colin:????????????I … yeah.
Ben:???????????????A guest at that wedding says she saw you getting into a car with a woman.
Colin:????????????What guest?
Ben:???????????????Just someone who wishes they’d spoke up earlier. Did you get in anyone’s car that night?