“And you’re sure about the date?” Camila asked.
“Yes. I was supposed to go back to school the next day, and I wanted to spend the night with Neil. I wasn’t exactly thril ed to find Mike there when I got over. They were smoking and they were pretty wel baked. I hung out with them for a while. They ordered pizza. I final y figured out that Mike wasn’t going anywhere and Neil wasn’t going to make him, so I went home in a huff.”
“So you think you left at ten?” Hannah asked. How had Angie’s presence not come to light before now? Why wouldn’t Dandridge have mentioned her to his attorneys? Or maybe he had, and they’d decided her evidence wouldn’t help.
Angie nodded. “I’m pretty sure.”
“Wel , the time line suggests that the murder happened a couple of hours later,” Hannah said. “Can you think of anything that would suggest Michael might have left later? Did you ever talk to Neil about it?”
Angie raised her shoulders in a gentle shrug. “Honestly? I would have been surprised if Mike had gone anywhere that night. He often slept over on the couch at Neil’s. I think he was lonely. He didn’t seem to have many friends. And they real y weren’t in any shape to go anywhere that night. Apart from the weed, they were splitting a bottle of whiskey, listening to music. You know, they were settled in.”
This was al just opinion. It wasn’t proof of any kind. Whatever Angie said, there was nothing at al to stop Dandridge leaving the house as soon as Neil passed out. By her own admission Angie had been distracted by her boyfriend. It would have been easy for Dandridge to go with the flow, make it seem like he was drinking and smoking heavily while al the time letting Neil take the lion’s share.
“Did you ever confirm that with Neil?” Camila was asking. “Did he ever tel you how the night ended?”
Angie shook her head. “I went back to school the fol owing morning. And I was so pissed at Neil for not making an effort on my last night that I didn’t cal him for a few days. I kept waiting for him to cal me, and then when he didn’t, my pride wouldn’t let me make the first move, you know? Three weeks later, when Mike was arrested, I cal ed Neil then. I cal ed him maybe four or five times. But I never reached him. Next time I came home to Yorktown, I went over to his place. You know, I had the excuse of wanting to pick up my stuff—I had left a few books, a couple of sweatshirts at his place—but real y I just wanted to have a good argument. Get a bit of closure. But Neil wasn’t there. His landlord lived in the place upstairs and he told me that Neil just bounced. He didn’t even give notice, but because he’d paid a couple of months in advance, the landlord wasn’t complaining.”
“And that’s it?” Hannah asked. “You never heard from him again?”
“Never,” Angie said.
“What about his friends? His family?” Camila asked.
“Other than Mike, I never real y got to know his friends. There were other guys they hung out with, of course, but I only saw them if we al met up at a bar. And Neil had a sister. She’s older . . . I think they were close, but I never met her. It wouldn’t real y have occurred to me to reach out to anyone to try to get in touch with him. I guess I just figured if he didn’t want me, that was that.”
“You didn’t think it was strange, that he never cal ed you after that night?”
Angie shook her head. She sipped her tea. “I was snippy with him, when I left. And then I went back to col ege. And I guess I figured that he’d decided he didn’t need the drama. He just moved on. And, honestly, I did too.”
They were quiet for a moment.
“You said you ordered pizza,” Camila said. “Maybe we could talk to the pizza guy. He could at least corroborate the early part of the night.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Angie said, screwing up her nose. “That was Derek Rawlings. The delivery guy, I mean. I knew Derek a little because his brother Claude was in my year in high school. Anyway, Derek died years ago. In a car accident, I think. But he real y wouldn’t have been much help to you. He just dropped the pizza off, got paid, and left.”
Camila nodded. She looked a little disappointed. She must have known it would probably have been a dead end, but it was hard to have another possible lead, however slight, shut down. She leaned forward. “You know, Angie, no one heard from Neil after that night.
He disappeared.” There was a touch of drama to her voice and Angie made another face.
“I don’t think that’s right,” she said.
“Oh?” Camila said.
“When I spoke to his landlord, he’d only been gone a few days.
So that means he was stil in his place for a couple of weeks after the murder. And I don’t think it’s right to say that he just disappeared.
I mean, I think I heard he was living in North Carolina.”
“Do you know where?” Camila asked quickly. But Angie shrugged helplessly.
“God, I don’t know. I can’t even remember who told me that. But I’m sure I heard it from someone.”
“Do you know where we could get in touch with his sister?”
Camila asked.
Angie thought for a moment. “I don’t, but I probably know someone who does. I have a friend who has a sister who was in her class, I think. If you give me your number, I can try to find out for you.”
Camila and Hannah looked at each other. “We’re just here for the day,” Hannah said, careful y, feeling again the need to appear to make a genuine effort. “Is there any way you’d be able to cal her now? We don’t want to push.”
Angie stood up, looked around for her phone. “No, it’s okay,” she said. “She’l be at work, so she might not answer. I can give it a shot.” But she had better luck than she’d anticipated. Her friend answered the phone and seemed interested in helping out. A couple of minutes later she cal ed Angie back with a phone number for Sophia Prosper.
Camila and Hannah stood up, and Hannah offered her hand for a shake. “Thank you so much, Angie,” she said. “We’re so grateful.”
Angie walked them out. She stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb to wave them off. She looked sad.
“It al feels like a thousand years ago now,” she said. “I got married. I have two children.” She nodded back toward the inn.
“When my parents retired I took over this place, which I can tel you was never in my plans when I was twenty-two. But I’ve lived a life. It might not be perfect, or what I thought my life would be, but I’ve lived a whole life. Michael though, al this time, he’s just been in prison. If he didn’t do it, can you imagine what that must be like?”
Hannah nodded gravely and thanked Angie again and said goodbye and al the while she thought about what Dandridge had done, al the pain he had caused, the lives taken, al the lives destroyed. No prison term would be long enough.
LAURA
DIARY ENTRY #5