The Sorority Murder (Regan Merritt, #1)(100)

The letter was a clear explanation of what had happened the night Adele died. Candace asked for their forgiveness.

Steven read the letter twice and, after, seemed hardened.

Brian said, “Going back to Joseph Abernathy. I remember the BOLO at the time. There were—” he skimmed through a file “—six sightings of him on campus, and twice the police escorted him off.”

“Correct,” Steven said. “Sigma Rho wasn’t the only complaint. The cheerleading coach, another sorority, other students. At the Spring Fling, four different people stated that they saw Candace talking to Abernathy before the party began. Those statements are in the file. I also have statements from Taylor James and Kimberly Foster that Taylor had wanted to call the police that night but Candace didn’t. She wanted to handle it herself, fearing that Abernathy would be imprisoned for continuing to violate the order to stay off campus. That was consistent with other statements from her boyfriends and Willa March, the director of Sunrise Center.”

“And he was spotted at the homeless camp near the tracks, according to a caller on Vega’s podcast,” Brian said.

“I was not aware of that, though we regularly patrolled the camp looking for him.”

Regan said, “Willa March confirmed that one of her other clients contacted her about Joseph, and she went down to talk to him, but by the time she got there, he was gone.”

Steven said, “I worked with Ms. March during that time. She seemed to be forthcoming, and while she was protective of the people she helped, she also recognized that Abernathy wasn’t always aware of his actions and could lash out. It’s why he was no longer allowed shelter but could come for meals. I don’t know why she didn’t mention the sighting to me.”

“Maybe because he was no longer there,” Regan suggested.

“She should have come forward. Same with the information about her truck. She knew we were looking for Abernathy, the truck was missing, Candace was missing, and both of them knew the truck was available to use.”

It was a valid point, Regan thought. Perhaps Willa, in her desire to help those in her care, had let her ministry cloud her judgment.

“What about the witness who saw him boarding a freight train?” Regan asked.

“It fit with what we knew about him,” Steven said. “Abernathy was known to ride the rails, had been doing it for years. We knew which train, but by the time we were told and contacted the railroad, the train had made three stops. At the fourth, in Oklahoma, authorities searched all cars and didn’t find him. He could have gotten off anyplace in between here and there.”

Brian flipped to the next page. “Is this right? The witness was Nicole Bergamo, the same person who is in a coma now?”

Regan straightened. “Nicole saw Abernathy?”

Steven hesitated, realizing the potential problem, then said, “Yes, she said she was at breakfast that morning with friends and saw him jumping into the car as the train started to move. No one else saw him.”

“Hmm.”

Regan said, “When Nicole called in to the podcast, she insisted that her voice be disguised because she didn’t want anyone in the sorority to know that she was calling. Specifically, someone in the sorority had told her three years ago not to tell the police about seeing Candace in the truck, that person convinced her that she had been mistaken. I believe that person was Rachel Wagner and that, when Nicole is out of her coma, she’ll state that. What if Rachel also convinced her to be the official witness to Abernathy’s last sighting? Who was she with that day?”

Steven didn’t even wait for Brian to read the notes. “Vicky Ryan, Rachel Wagner, and Taylor James. None of them saw Abernathy, but why would Nicole lie?”

“Rachel is manipulative. She could have convinced Nicole that the man was Abernathy, to the extent that Nicole believed it. Just like she had been convinced it wasn’t Candace in the truck. Remember, she was a freshman then, away from home, new to the sorority, and Rachel was in a position of authority. And now, three years later, listening to the podcast, she’s rethinking what she knew then.”

“I can’t arrest Rachel for the information in the journal or on conjecture,” Brian said. “I can ask her about the journal. Get her on record either confirming or denying, which could help us if we catch her in a lie. But I would really like Nicole’s statement first. She’s still in a coma, and I have no idea when she’ll be ready to give a statement once she wakes up. Steven, I’m sorry to take the case, but I’ll keep you in the loop as much as you want. You did say you were breaking it off with her, right?”

“I’ve been ignoring her calls all day,” he said.

“She’s going to know something is up,” Regan said.

“What am I supposed to do?” Steven said, showing the first outward sign of frustration and anger. “Pretend nothing is wrong? Pretend she didn’t cover up the death of a college student? Pretend she had nothing to do with poisoning a young woman?”

“We don’t know for certain that she did,” Brian said.

“She did it,” Steven said. “Everything is coming clear to me. I honestly believed that Joseph Abernathy was involved in Candace’s death. Everything pointed to him, but there were a couple of things that didn’t quite fit. When he was seen leaving town, it made him seem a more likely suspect, but I should have looked harder at the sorority. Rachel convinced me not to.”