“I think,” she said, “that if you share why you are personally invested in Candace’s disappearance and murder, your listeners will respond accordingly.”
Lucas quickly recovered and said, “My girlfriend in high school—we were friends for years, since first grade. Anyway, her older sister disappeared driving back from NAU during winter break. It really tore up her family. You’re right—not knowing what happened to Adele was worse for them in some ways. I mean, not worse than losing her, but there was no closure. They still don’t know what happened to her.”
“How long ago was that?”
“A little over six years.”
“Why didn’t you decide to do your podcast on that case?”
What did he say to that? “I don’t know. I think maybe because Adele had been a freshman and didn’t know many people, and Candace was a senior, in a sorority, popular, friendly. I thought it might make for a more interesting podcast.”
“I see your point,” Regan said.
“I was also too close to that case, and to the family. Adele went missing while driving. Her car was found in New Mexico. Candace Swain went missing from campus, so it felt more immediate, relatable to students here. Candace was part of a sorority, but Adele hadn’t made many friends. In addition, the circumstances of Candace’s disappearance and murder were both different and compelling. There were no witnesses to Adele’s disappearance, but there were several people who saw Candace the night she disappeared.”
“That makes sense,” Regan said.
Lucas was relieved he didn’t have to expand further. He wasn’t ready to talk about Adele. Just mentioning her and Candace in the same conversation had him squirming. He could practically feel the picture burning a hole through his backpack across the room—the physical proof that Candace and Taylor had known Adele. That they had been friends.
When Lucas had talked about Adele with Candace, she had flipped. Her reaction made Lucas suspicious. But until he found the photo, he didn’t have any hard proof that they were friends. Now that he had it, he didn’t know what to do with it.
Regan was staring at him. “Lucas,” she said, “I think we have a caller.”
He didn’t realize that Regan had been talking about witness statements and reliability; he’d zoned out.
“Sorry. Brain freeze,” he said and gave a little laugh. She looked at him oddly, so he turned away, glanced at Lizzy through the glass. She put up two fingers, and he pressed the second line on the studio phone.
“Hello, this is Lucas Vega with Regan Merritt talking about the reliability of witnesses. Do you have a comment?”
“Well, I’m sorry about your friend who went missing,” a female voice of indeterminate age said. “But really, is bringing all this up again helpful? That poor girl overdosed. Don’t you think that maybe your podcast had something to do with that? That you’re dredging up this tragedy and reminding Candace’s friends what happened? Maybe Ms. James couldn’t take it. Depression and drugs don’t mix.”
“I don’t know that Ms. James’s personal problems can be connected to a true-crime podcast,” Lucas said.
“Really? Well, if you think that, then maybe you’re not all that sensitive to other people’s situations. How do you think you’d feel if someone started dragging your friend’s name through the mud? If they started talking about it and making you feel sad again? You’re insensitive and sensational, throwing far-fetched theories out there. You have no idea what you’re doing, other than hurting people. It’s borderline evil.”
The caller hung up.
Lucas had no idea what to say.
Fortunately, Regan intervened. “The police are currently investigating the death of Taylor James. Preliminarily, as the newspaper said this morning, she died of a drug overdose, but they will conduct a thorough investigation to ensure that it was accidental. Sometimes a tainted drug hits the streets and they’ll want to track it to prevent more deaths. And we don’t know Ms. James’s state of mind. So that case needs to be left up to the authorities, as it’s an active investigation.
“But Candace Swain is a cold case. Cold cases are notorious in that the police don’t have the time and resources to continue an active investigation. Without evidence, the cases are put on the back burner, sometimes never solved. Sometimes a witness or piece of evidence surfaces, and an investigation finds new life. That’s what I hope will happen with this podcast. We already have four viable witness statements that have been turned over to the authorities. The authorities are paying attention to this podcast and will likely follow up. I know there are more people out there, people who saw or talked to Candace the week she was missing, people who might have talked to her before she went missing that have an idea about her state of mind. What do you think, Lucas?”
“I agree. But Lizzy informs me we have another caller. Hello, you’re on the air with Lucas Vega and Regan Merritt.”
“I knew Candace,” a voice said. The tone was disguised through a computer-generated program. Lucas glanced at the window at Lizzy, and she gave him a big grin and a thumbs-up.
This was Nicole Bergamo. He was positive.
“I have a question for Regan.”
“Ask away,” Regan said.
“You said the other day that if you don’t tell the police something you won’t get in trouble. I mean, if you’re never asked and don’t know that you might know something, right?”
“Yes, in most cases you’re correct. Sometimes a potential witness might not know what’s important to an investigation.”
“What about hearsay? When, you know, someone tells you something?”
“Again, it depends. Hypotheticals are difficult to answer.”
“I saw Candace on Tuesday morning. I mean, I thought I did, but when I mentioned it to someone, they said I had to be mistaken. And so...I just thought I was wrong.”
“When did you mention it to someone? Then or recently?”