Lucy was initially thought to be a second victim, not the perpetrator. She’d also suffered significant injuries.
However, police found no evidence of a third person at the scene. An autopsy showed that the scratches on Savannah’s arms were from Lucy’s fingernails, and the bruising appeared to be in the shape of Lucy’s hand. When witnesses began to come forward with what they’d seen at the wedding, the narrative around Lucy changed.
I spoke with Nina Garcia about what she saw between Lucy and Savannah that night.
Nina:?????????????A bunch of people saw Lucy and Savvy fighting at the wedding, yeah.
Ben:???????????????What do you mean by fighting? Can you describe what you saw?
Nina:?????????????I came out of the bathroom and Lucy and Matt were making out in the hallway. Savvy looked pissed.
Ben:???????????????Savvy looked pissed about Lucy kissing her own husband?
Nina:?????????????Yeah. And Savvy, like, cleared her throat, and they stopped. Then Lucy tried to say something to Savvy and Savvy let her have it. I couldn’t hear what she said, but it was super tense.
Ben:???????????????You didn’t hear anything at all?
Nina:?????????????No. And I didn’t see it, but I heard that later, when Savvy and Lucy left together, Savvy was still angry. People saw her yelling at Lucy and slamming her car door. There was clearly a situation happening there.
Lucy has insisted, from the very beginning, that she has no memory of Savannah’s murder. In fact, she claims to not remember anything from the night of the wedding at all.
Here’s Colin Dunn again, Savannah’s date to the wedding.
Colin:????????????Yeah, Lucy says she doesn’t remember anything after leaving her house that day. She doesn’t even remember arriving at the wedding, I guess.
Ben:???????????????So, what does she remember? From what you’ve heard.
Colin:????????????She remembers getting in the car with Matt to leave for the Byrd Estate. But then nothing else? I didn’t even know amnesia was a real thing. I thought they made that up for TV.
Ben:???????????????It’s a real thing.
Colin:????????????Weird, man. Anyways, yeah, they had me go talk to Lucy a couple days after she got out of the hospital.
Ben:???????????????Why?
Colin:????????????They were like, trying to get Lucy to remember what happened that night. Matt had told her some stuff, but he was really wasted. I can hold my booze. My memory was all right.
Ben:???????????????Were you okay with that? With going to talk to her?
Colin:????????????Yeah, whatever. I felt bad about—well, you know. The whole thing with that woman in the car. That wasn’t cool.
Anyways, I went over to the Chases’, because Lucy was staying with her parents. I asked her to tell what she did remember, and she said, “We met in the parking lot and we all went in together and found our table,” and I was like, “No, we didn’t.” And then she just started sobbing, which was really weird.
Ben:???????????????Sobbing?
Colin:????????????Yeah, so apparently someone else had seen Matt and Lucy talking to another couple in the parking lot, and they’d thought it was me and Savvy. They’d told the police that, because at the time, they were trying to put everything together, so it was all important, you know? But that person got confused or was like also wasted or something because we actually got there later. Lucy and Matt were already sitting at the table when we walked in.
Ben:???????????????That upset Lucy?
Colin:????????????Like, for real upset. Totally freaked me out. I thought she was going to pass out or something. Kathleen and Don told me later that Lucy had said she remembered walking into the reception, with Matt and me and Savvy. Like she had created a whole new memory around the bad information? I think everything went to shit after that. Lucy couldn’t tell what was real and what she was creating to try and remember.
Ben:???????????????Did you believe her, when she said she didn’t remember anything?
Colin:????????????I don’t know, man. She was putting on a hell of a show if she was lying. I sort of believed her after people told me that amnesia wasn’t just a TV thing.
The thing I don’t really get is—wouldn’t she remember something eventually? Like after the head injury healed? That’s suspicious to me, man.
Something stuck out to me during my conversation with Colin—he said that he went to see Lucy just two days after she got out of the hospital. He went there specifically to try to help her re-create the night her friend was murdered, which seems like a huge amount of stress to put on someone who just suffered a head injury.
In fact, not many people talk about Lucy’s head injury at all. It’s been reported that she suffered a “moderate traumatic brain injury,” which is actually a very serious injury. I spoke to a doctor who preferred to stay off the record since he never treated Lucy Chase, but he confirmed that yes, amnesia is a real thing that happens with brain injuries. In fact, it’s not that people who have suffered a brain injury forget what happens, it’s that their brain stopped making memories at all. The memory doesn’t exist.
So, to answer the question that a lot of you have been asking—yes. The amnesia defense is a real thing. Given the extent of Lucy’s injuries, it’s possible that she really doesn’t remember what happened that night.
But is that the truth? And why is everyone in Plumpton so convinced she’s lying?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LUCY
I think we should break up.
I see Nathan’s text as soon as I wake up. It was sent at two in the morning Texas time. Midnight in California. I wonder whether he was drunk.
Why???? I laugh as I push send.
I wonder what finally pushed him over the edge. Maybe he made it to the episode about my cheating with Kyle. He could excuse murder, but he drew the line at my cheating on my husband.
It’s only six in the morning in Los Angeles, so I don’t expect a response right away. Or ever, maybe.
Mom’s gym agreed to let me use her pass while I’m in town, and I get on the treadmill, until run run run is the only thought going round and round in my brain.
Nathan hasn’t texted back by the time I get home and shower, but Matt has.
Every part of my body tenses when I see his name on my screen.
Hey. Meet me for lunch. Please?
I want to ignore it, like I ignored every single other text he sent me over the years.
But I think of Ben’s request. Of Grandma’s request. Of Savvy.
I was never good at convincing Matt to do anything, but maybe things are different now. Maybe I’m different now.
Maybe I’m just an even bigger idiot.
Sure, I reply.
* * *
Matt’s waiting in the booth of the Mexican restaurant when I arrive, scrolling through his phone. He looks up and smiles when he spots me walking toward him.
A waitress passes me, holding a tray of sizzling fajitas. Oh damn. Those hot plates could do so much damage if pounded into a human skull. I’d have to be careful not to burn myself in the process, though.
“Let’s kill—”
Nope. No. I do not have the energy for the voice right now. Let’s focus, brain.
Matt stands as I approach, and he’s hugging me before I can react. He smells familiar—a hint of cedar in his aftershave, mint from his Tic Tac habit.
I avoid looking at him as we pull away, because I’m repeatedly bashing a fajita plate into his face.
I slide onto the red plastic, noting that Matt has a margarita in front of him and has ordered one for me as well. I’m not a huge fan of day drinking, or of salt on the rim of my glass, and he knew both of these things at one point. I’m not sure he cared back then either.
My phone buzzes, and I nudge it out of my purse to see that Nathan has replied to my last text.
We’re just going in different directions.
I guess that’s fair. I’m possibly headed to prison, and he is headed back to the dating apps to find a new girlfriend.
Another text pops up.