“If our caller is accurate about the timing of her sighting, this means that Candace took her car from campus on Friday night and returned sometime Sunday evening. We know from NAUPD that her card key was used to enter the dorm at 11:10 p.m., though no one has come forward to say they saw her. When did she leave again? There are no cameras in the lot and parking is by permit, so there’s no tracking of when people come and go. They assumed that Candace’s car had been there all weekend because they had no witnesses who said otherwise. Did they even ask? If you know something and are worried, I will keep your confidence. Call or email me.” He recited his contact information again.
“The police issued a BOLO—or Be on the Lookout—for Joseph Abernathy as a person of interest,” Lucas said. He reminded listeners about Abernathy’s history. “A witness saw Abernathy hopping a train on Sunday morning—the morning that Candace’s body was found. Did you see Abernathy on or off campus?”
He rambled a bit, clearly expecting another call. He then went through the rest of the missing-person investigation, but it was a lot of repetition.
“We have a call,” Lucas said, trying not to sound excited. “Caller, you’re on with Lucas Vega. Do you have information about where Candace may have been the week she was missing?”
“No, but I know Joseph. I mean, I knew him.” The voice was male, older.
“How did you know Joseph?”
“I had a rough couple of months back then. Sunrise took me in. Lost my job and my house. My wife had died of cancer, and I had all these bills, and I was grieving and self-medicating. It was a fu—bad time,” he quickly corrected himself.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lucas said.
“Joseph was a serious alcoholic. Half the time you couldn’t have a conversation with him. But when he was half-sober, he was a nice guy. He just couldn’t stop. Didn’t want to stop. But I don’t think he did what the police think he did. He wasn’t a bad guy, just broken.”
“Did you see him that week?”
“I saw him sleeping down by the train tracks one night. I was doing community service. It was a way for me to give something back while I got clean. Cleaning up the roadways and stuff. And he was sleeping at a homeless encampment, just a place near the tracks. There’s a creek that goes through the area, maybe a hundred yards away. Trees and shelter and maybe five or six tents. Out of sight. It’s not there anymore, but three years ago it was. And Joseph was there, sleeping under a tree. I tried to convince him to come back to the shelter, but he told me to leave him alone. So I did.”
“Do you remember what day?”
“No, it was during the week, that’s all I know.”
“Did you tell the police about it?”
“I told Willa, the director. I assume she told the police. They came by a couple of times to talk to her, look for Joseph.”
“Did you know Candace?”
“Not really. I knew who she was. She always said hello and smiled when she served food. She was very nice.”
“And that was the last time you saw Joseph.”
“Yeah. I think something bad happened to him.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because he always came back. That’s what Willa said. He might leave for a few weeks, a month or two, but he’d come back, like a homing pigeon, she said. But he was sick with the drink, you know. He could have died in the middle of nowhere, and who would know?”
Lucas thanked the caller, talked a bit about the police search for Abernathy, then concluded the episode.
“On Tuesday, I’m going to outline exactly what happened to Candace. We know that she was strangled, but she died by drowning. Her body was found in the Hope Springs Lake in the middle of the public golf course. The security cameras at the entrance weren’t triggered, but there are other ways to get to the lake. Did she die in the lake? Or was she killed elsewhere? I have evidence that suggests the latter.”
The podcast was over, music filtered in, and Regan turned off the app.
“What do you think, Dad?”
John mumbled, “He should have talked to Detective Young.”
“Do you know Young?”
“No.”
John Merritt, as the elected sheriff of Coconino County, had sometimes butted heads with local police departments. Generally, though, he’d had a good working relationship with almost everyone, directly or indirectly, and generally deferred to the local jurisdiction.
“In my experience,” she said, “a police detective isn’t going to give a college student the time of day. Young probably sent him to the media officer or told him to put in a FOIA request.” The Freedom of Information Act gave the public access to most information in criminal investigations, but there were some limits, especially in an open case.
“I guess the kid’s onto something,” her dad said. “I heard the transient theory and assumed that they had evidence to back it up. They still could. If they think Abernathy is involved, they likely have a good reason. He probably rides the rails—it’s surprisingly common. Remember that guy who raped and killed four women about ten, twelve years ago? He was living near the railroad tracks, hopped on one day, and if someone hadn’t seen him jumping cars, he may have disappeared forever. And the Route 66 murders? That hobo killed for money and booze across three states, using the rail system to disappear until he was finally caught.”
“No one says hobo anymore, Dad,” she said.
He waved away her comment. “I don’t like this kid’s amateur tactics, and I’m pretty sure the police know a lot more than they’re saying. One thing about investigations, they are dependent on the questions you ask and who you ask. People lie to cops—sometimes intentionally, sometimes by omission. No doubt they looked seriously at the two boyfriends. If she had two, could she have had a third that she didn’t tell anyone about? And I’m not buying into the swimming-pool theory, not yet. The police have the same forensic reports, and they would have tested the water at the time.”
“What if they didn’t?” she asked.
“Most do the work and put in the time.”
“Sometimes we make assumptions and don’t realize it. Reports can be lost or misread.”
John grunted. “Not going there. Not without evidence that there’s a problem. Maybe you should talk to Young, see what he has to say.”
“Maybe I will. So you don’t think I should do the interview with Lucas?” Regan said.