“Taylor’s overdose is tragic,” Rachel continued. “We’re having a memorial for her Monday evening. You’re welcome to come,” she added, “but not Lucas. That would stir up too much anger and emotion. Many of the girls feel the podcast sent Taylor over the edge. She was a sensitive young woman, and Candace’s death nearly destroyed her.”
“I hope you understand how we feel about this,” Vicky said.
“I do. But I would want to know the truth.”
“Of course,” she said, emphatic. “But I doubt he’ll accomplish anything, and it’s at the expense of our mental health. This is a college podcast. People talk, and some are not very nice.”
Vicky didn’t come off as being the type to struggle in any capacity. She was confident and articulate, but Regan could imagine how others might not be—like Taylor.
“I appreciate your time,” Regan said. “I’ll talk to Lucas about your concerns, but he still plans to finish the scheduled episodes.”
“I appreciate whatever you can do. I have to run to a study session, but it was nice to meet you, Regan.”
Vicky left, and Regan rose from her seat. “I hope,” Rachel said, “that you’ll convince Lucas to treat Taylor James with respect on his podcast in light of the circumstances of her death.”
“I have no reason to think that he wouldn’t.”
Rachel rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry. I was trying to put on a brave face for Vicky, but Taylor’s death hit me hard.”
Regan sat back down. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m sorry, really. There is some truth to what Lucas Vega is doing. I might not like his approach, but...he touched upon some animosity between Taylor and Candace that went far beyond Taylor’s concern about the homeless man.”
“Do you know what it was about?”
She shook her head. “I had just started as the faculty advisor, and the girls were only beginning to know me. Now I like to think that any of them would come to me if they were having difficulties.”
“What do you think was going on between them?”
“I don’t know the details. Just rumors and innuendo, and I don’t feel comfortable sharing any of that.” She paused, then said carefully, “It would not surprise me if I learned Taylor had...hurt...Candace. She fell apart after Candace’s murder, and I just had this odd feeling... Anyway, guilt is a powerful emotion. For three years Taylor struggled with addiction, and I fear the podcast sent her over the edge.”
“Do you have anything concrete that makes you think that Taylor was involved in Candace’s murder?”
“Of course not! Just...a feeling. She spiraled after Candace’s death, more than anyone. But it was such an awful time for the sorority. Sigma Rho almost didn’t get through it. But we did, and we’re stronger for it.”
Lizzy Choi loved being a TA for what she affectionately called Math for Dummies. Probably not politically correct, but teaching artsy types how to do basic math that they should have learned in elementary school was actually fun. Her mom always thought she should be a teacher herself, but the idea of being trapped in a classroom doing the same thing every day, every year, just with different kids? No thanks.
She didn’t care that the professor rarely showed up. She was on full scholarship and got paid for being a TA. She was putting virtually every dime in the bank because who knew what was going to happen when she graduated? What if she couldn’t find a job right away?
Right. Someone with your brains majoring in engineering? You’ll land somewhere fast.
Still her parents were old-school. Save your money, don’t go into debt, get a good job, buy a house, get married, have a family. She wasn’t quite sure about the last two on the checklist, but she was only twenty-one: she had time.
Well, time was relative. She had a heavy class schedule, she was the TA for this class, and she was working on Lucas’s podcast. Free time was at a premium, and she wanted to spend it with Lucas. Which was so unlike her.
She was about to call him and see if he wanted to meet for lunch when Nicole Bergamo approached her. She did a double take. She had just been talking about Nicole with Lucas last night, and now she clearly wanted to talk to her, even though they hadn’t had a class together this year.
Nicole was another super smart math person, but not a geek like Lizzy. Nicole was definitely the type to become a math teacher.
“Hi, Lizzy. I’m so glad I caught you here.”
“Almost missed me! I let the children out early today because I was hungry. Do you want to get lunch?”
“I can’t. Can we go back into the classroom where we have some privacy?”
“Sure.” Weird. Lizzy led the way to the class, opened the door. Yes, her math-challenged kids had fled quickly, and the room was empty.
Nicole relaxed and sat down on one of the desks. “Thanks,” she said. “You’re probably thinking, What does Nicole want? I haven’t talked to her in a year.”
“I know what you want.”
Nicole stared at her. “You do?”
“Yeah. We haven’t talked in over a year, and now I’m helping Lucas solve Candace Swain’s murder and you’re coming to me because we know each other.”
“Oh. Yeah. Okay.”
Nicole was math-smart, but there wasn’t a lot of common sense there, Lizzy realized.
“So? What’s up? You’re not going to convince me to work on Lucas to dump the podcast.”
“No, why would I?”
“Because...your sorority is all hush-hush, shut it down.”
“No. I mean, yes—officially—but there’s a group of us who really like what he’s doing, and we want to help, but we can’t.”
“Define can’t.”
“I don’t want to get kicked out of the sorority.”
“Can they do that?”
“Yeah. They can, if Vicky has enough votes.”
“She’s your best friend.”
“And I really thought I could convince her to at least let those of us who want to call in do so. That girl? Who said she saw Candace on Sunday night, in her car? That caused huge problems. Vicky and the council figured out who she was, brought her in to talk. Said if she knew anything about Candace to go to the police and not talk to anyone else or she would be out of here, period. She’ll be on probation through graduation, and she could lose her pin and all alumnae perks if she breaks the agreement. She’s heartbroken.”