“I’m aware. I don’t generally involve myself in the private lives of my colleagues.”
“This time, you might. I wanted to share with him some information that came to light after one of Lucas’s episodes, but because of his relationship I didn’t. That journal details allegedly criminal activities by Ms. Wagner, including covering up the accidental death of another student, Adele Overton. Candace disappeared three years ago in an attempt to find Adele’s body. When she failed, she returned to campus and was murdered.”
Olivia flipped through the copy. “Where is the original?”
“Safe.”
“You understand that chain of custody is compromised.”
“It’s already been compromised because the journal was hidden in the library for three years. But I’m certain that a handwriting expert would be able to confirm the journal is Candace’s.”
“This is a complex case with no physical evidence.”
“I have a witness who is willing to come forward who can offer some testimony about the events that led to Adele’s death, and who saw Candace after the Spring Fling party.”
“Why didn’t she come forward earlier?”
“She didn’t live in Flagstaff at the time and didn’t know that Candace had been missing. She only heard about her death later. She is fearful for her life because she believes that Taylor James was killed because of what she knew about Candace’s murder.”
“You think that Rachel Wagner killed her?”
“Yes. I can’t prove it.” Yet.
“Steven thoroughly investigated Swain’s murder. There were a lot of issues—contamination of the evidence because of the lake, and the fact that the body was moved, but we didn’t know it until more than a month later because of a backlog in the state lab. Time was not with us on this. The suspect was known to have harassed Ms. Swain and had been seen on campus multiple times. She knew him from Sunrise Center, and he had a record of being belligerent when intoxicated.”
“And a witness allegedly saw him jump on a train, and he has never come back,” Lucas said. Regan was glad he spoke up; she wanted to see him engaged. “I talked to Willa March; he rode the rails frequently, but he always returned to Flagstaff. He hasn’t been seen in three years.”
“Possibly because he’s wanted for questioning in a murder investigation.”
“Did you have any other suspects?” Lucas asked.
“Normally, I would tell you I can’t say, but in light of the information you already have—and the fact that I don’t want this department adversely represented on your podcast—the answer is no. We cleared the two boyfriends. No interview pointed to anyone having a problem with Ms. Swain, other than Mr. Abernathy. Steven has been looking at the case again, in light of the people who have come forward through your podcast.”
“I wanted to interview Detective Young,” Lucas said. “He refused to help.”
“He wouldn’t generally be allowed to speak to the media, not on an open case like this,” Olivia said. “Now, he has a clear conflict of interest. I’m going to have to reassign the case.” She looked at her computer, typed, read something. “I’m passing this on to Detective Brian Hernandez. He’ll contact both of you for statements. He’ll have to get up to speed.”
“That’s all I can ask,” Regan said. “Thank you.”
Regan and Lucas left their contact information with the commander and exited the building.
“What now?” Lucas said.
“We wait. I’ll take you home.”
Lucas didn’t look happy. She was more optimistic. The wheels of justice moved slow, but they worked more often than not.
Still, Regan knew how he felt. So she said, “We have a podcast on Tuesday, and if Rachel Wagner is still walking free, we’re going to make her life a living hell.”
Forty
Rachel Wagner needed to know exactly what Lucas Vega knew. Steven had listened to the podcast last night and called her, told her to listen and share with him any insight she had.
She’d already listened to the damn thing and knew that Nicole Bergamo was going to cause her huge problems. If she told the police that Rachel had told her not to share the information about Candace and the truck, Steven would become suspicious. Rachel had been relieved that Nicole hadn’t shared her name on air—until Steven called her. He was obsessed with the podcast, even though he thought Lucas Vega was a novice. Even when Rachel had told him how much the podcast upset her girls, he still thought it was an interesting approach.
“It’s a cold case. I look at it from time to time, mostly sending notices to homeless shelters and hospitals looking for Abernathy. But maybe I need to be looking at the case in a different way.”
That was a problem. A huge problem. Abernathy had to be guilty in Steven’s mind, because that was the only way he wouldn’t look at other possibilities.
Rachel didn’t want to lose everything she had. How could she rebuild again? Rebuilding after everything that had happened in Tucson had been difficult and mentally exhausting. She didn’t want to go through that again.
Rachel waited until first Lucas, then his roommate, left their apartment. She’d parked down the street. His roommate had an overnight bag, and Lucas left with Regan Merritt.
Rachel did not like Regan. She was nosy and trouble, acting like some sort of investigator when she was nothing but a failed cop. Yet, Lucas couldn’t have gotten half this far with his stupid podcast without her. She was just as much to blame as Lucas if Rachel’s carefully built world disintegrated.
Rachel had dressed like a college student, had a jacket with a hoodie—just in case someone saw her, she didn’t want to be recognized. She easily opened the door—the lock was quite simple, and this wasn’t her first rodeo.
In his apartment, she went through Vega’s files. The more she read, the more upset she became. He had made the connection between Candace, Taylor, and Adele. He had a timeline on his wall, and he’d written that Candace had been at “Payson Mine” from Tuesday to Saturday.