Young said, “I can’t take as statements people remembering—possibly remembering—something that happened three years ago, through a podcast. There is no way I can verify that they are remembering the correct day. And why would the person who claimed to have seen her at the library not have come forward? All security footage is erased after thirty days, unless campus police flag it. There’s no way to verify that information. She could be making it up.”
“She may not have thought about it at the time, or not have known Candace was missing. She wasn’t in a sorority, and most people on campus were in the dark until after Candace was killed. Also, in my experience, people rarely come forward. They have to be asked.”
“Do you think I didn’t do my job?”
He was antagonistic, for no reason. “I didn’t say that.”
“You implied it.”
“No, I didn’t.”
He scowled. “I’ll tell you this, Ms. Merritt. If my department had had the case from the beginning, it would have been handled differently. The campus police were out of their element and should have called us in right away, but they didn’t know what they were dealing with. I don’t blame them—as soon as she was missing for more than forty-eight hours, they called us in, plus the sheriff’s department and the troopers. Every agency was looking for her by that Wednesday afternoon. Once it became a homicide investigation, I got involved. Though campus police did basic work—talked to Sigma Rho, Candace’s family, her professors—it wasn’t treated as a serious investigation until she was found dead. Then my team talked to everyone again. I don’t have to tell you that memories fade over a week. Can you imagine what three years does to them?”
She saw his point. “I read the public reports and the autopsy report, which included an analysis of the water found in Candace’s lungs.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“Lucas believed that you dismissed his theory that she drowned in a chlorinated body of water.”
“I dismissed Lucas. He’s into television forensics—he thinks everything is instantaneous. We didn’t know for weeks that the water samples didn’t match Hope Springs Lake. Not because of any incompetence but because of a backlog in the state lab.” He paused. “I made an assumption that she drowned in the lake because the autopsy said she drowned and she was found in the lake. By the time we learned that she drowned in a chlorinated body of water, it was too late to collect evidence from any other potential crime scene. Security tapes were already gone from the campus—as I said, they automatically get erased after thirty days unless specifically flagged. We had flagged all the tapes from the dorm, but there was nothing of value on them. No one came forward stating that they’d seen her after the party on Friday night. We knew her card key had been used late Sunday night, but no one in the sorority saw her, and there’s no camera on the side door, only the main entrance. We had evidence that Joseph Abernathy harassed the women at the sorority house, and Candace knew him through her volunteer work. We had witnesses stating he was yelling at her at the party when she asked him to leave. When he was seen hopping a train the morning her body was found, it was pretty damning.”
“But he hasn’t returned. Was he found jumping off? Caught on security at another station?”
“Again, you’re questioning my diligence.”
He was angry, and she didn’t see why. She was asking basic questions, calm.
“Detective, you can see why Lucas is skeptical. Why I’m skeptical that Abernathy killed Candace and moved her body.”
He stared at her. “We notified the railroad, but we weren’t informed that he was seen until the day after we found her body. He had more than twenty-four hours to disappear.”
“Do you have any other evidence—”
“We have no other evidence. I’ve wanted to talk to Abernathy. He’s fallen off the face of the earth, but every law-enforcement agency in the country has his stats, and we sent out a BOLO to every shelter in the database more than once. I know how to do my job. Look, I don’t want to be a hardnose, but Lucas Vega has no personal or firsthand knowledge of Candace Swain’s disappearance or death. I asked him. He saw her before the party the night she disappeared. I checked his alibi, just for kicks. He’s acting like a reporter, but without training, experience, or employer.”
“Look, Detective, I get it. You have experience, you know what you’re doing. You want to solve this case. But Lucas has something good here. He’s getting information. You know that because you admitted to listening to the podcast.”
Young didn’t comment.
“Do you really believe that Abernathy killed her?”
“Usually, the most obvious answer is the correct answer. Occam’s razor.” He hesitated, then added, “Abernathy is a person of interest. We’ve wanted to talk to him. It’s that simple. The truth? I have nothing. There is no physical evidence. Water is a great way to destroy evidence, especially chlorinated water combined with the high-algae content of the lake. I won’t say that Abernathy is straight-out guilty, but he is the most likely suspect. And if he’s not guilty? He knows something. His disappearance tells me that. If I think that Lucas Vega finds anything useful, bet your house I’ll follow up. But right now all he has are conjecture and rumors.”
“Fair enough.”
She wanted more information but wasn’t certain how she could get anything more out of him. Young would know if she was fishing. She decided to share part of what she’d learned in the hopes that he would share other information.
“Did you know that Candace often spent time in the aquatic center? It’s not far from the sorority.”
He nodded. “Yes.”