The Sorority Murder (Regan Merritt, #1)(13)
“Hmm.”
Her dad was thinking. He was one of the smartest cops she knew.
Chrissy’s voice came back. “My mom called me Tuesday. She said not to worry, it was likely a misunderstanding, but Candace left campus Friday night and hadn’t returned. She asked if Candy had called me. She hadn’t.”
Lucas said, “When Annie returned to campus late Sunday night, she didn’t think twice about Candace not being in the room because she often stayed out late or over with a boyfriend. It wasn’t until Monday afternoon when Annie came back from class and tried to call her roommate that she found her phone in their dorm room, on the charger, with dozens of missed calls. That is when she called NAUPD, the campus police.”
Regan thought that Lucas did a decent job recounting the initial missing-person investigation, from Annie’s growing concern to contacting campus police to the delayed call to Flagstaff PD when campus police determined she hadn’t returned home—something that often happened in the college experience.
“According to campus records, Candace’s student card key—the card that is used to enter the dorms or use the meal plan—was used to enter the Mountain View dorm at 12:20 a.m. Saturday morning, consistent with witness statements that Candace left the party after midnight. Her card key was used once more—Sunday night at 11:10 p.m. According to the police, no one saw her enter the building or leave after. A thorough search of the building yielded no additional information or signs of foul play. There are no security cameras inside dorms or on the side entrance where she entered—the entrance closest to the parking garage. The police have never suggested why she might have returned or when she left again. Her card key has never been found.
“Once Flagstaff PD were notified on Wednesday morning,” Lucas continued, “they focused their investigation on friends, family, and boyfriends of Candace Swain. Witnesses indicated that Candace had been seeing two different men, one a student and one who worked downtown as a bartender. Both were publicly cleared by the police in her disappearance.”
Good to know, Regan thought, but she would want to read the reports.
You haven’t even decided whether to get involved.
Except maybe she always knew she would.
Lucas explored every public theory of Candace’s disappearance, from being overwhelmed with her finals to a possible accident to foul play.
Chrissy said, “Candy would never, never, never disappear. Not without telling someone. Not without telling me. We were close. We talked every week. I...I blame myself. I should have known something was wrong when she didn’t call me on Sunday. I had a meet and didn’t get back to my dorm until late and just didn’t think about it... I keep thinking if I reached out, if I had talked to her, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Lucas said, “No one has come forward stating that they saw Candace after the Spring Fling party. Her car was found in the Mountain View parking garage, dedicated parking for the sororities, on Tuesday morning—but no one could verify how long it had been there. She didn’t go to any classes, she didn’t volunteer at Sunrise Center, and she didn’t contact anyone—at least, no one has come forward. The missing-person investigation became a homicide investigation on Sunday, April 19, when Candace’s body was found in Hope Springs Lake.”
Lucas continued. “The Spring Fling is the last time anyone saw Candace alive. Were you there? Call in and tell me. Did you see Candace? What was her disposition? Did you see her leaving? Was she with anyone?”
John interrupted. “Those are all questions the police would have asked.”
“Shh,” Regan whispered.
“According to media reports that came out the week Candace was missing,” Lucas said, “the police were looking for a homeless transient named Joseph Abernathy because of accusations by the sorority—not just Sigma Rho, but several other sororities that shared the Mountain View dorms—that Abernathy had been hanging around the dorm harassing the women and making them uncomfortable. According to the NAUPD crime reports, campus police removed an unnamed homeless man twice, once for loitering and once for public urination.
“If you were at the party, did you see Mr. Abernathy or anyone who fits his description? He is described in the press as an ‘unkempt forty-eight-year-old transient with long graying dark hair and untrimmed beard.’ He is six feet four inches tall and approximately one hundred eighty pounds.”
Lucas paused, as if waiting to take a call, but there was no call, and he continued. “Taylor James, the Sigma Rho president, told police that Candace had confronted Joseph Abernathy outside the dorm at the beginning of the party and asked him to leave. According to Taylor, their later argument was in part about whether they should have called the police on him. Adam Carroll, the community relations officer for NAUPD, explains what students should do in these situations.”
A male voice came on. “Our department recommends that if anyone on campus makes you uncomfortable, to call the office or use one of the blue-light emergency phones that have a direct line to our dispatch. One of the strengths of NAU is that we are an open campus in the middle of town, and we welcome community members to share our resources and trails and to attend our concerts and sporting events. But this can also become a drawback because some people don’t obey the rules. It is better to be safe and contact us than try and deal with a potentially violent individual on your own.”