The Sorority Murder (Regan Merritt, #1)(76)

Maybe she hadn’t been at the party. Maybe she’d known about it, said she was there because Candace told her about the argument and what her plans were. Maybe Alexa knew exactly where Candace had disappeared to. Had Alexa gone with her? Now, Alexa was trying to help them on the podcast without letting on that she was the one who’d helped Candace. Because she didn’t want to put herself or her daughter in harm’s way.

“She knows something, possibly even suspects who killed Candace,” Regan said. “But without evidence, she’s smart enough to know talking might put her in danger. We need to proceed carefully.”

“So what do we do?”

“Maybe we can convince Detective Young to come on the podcast tonight.”

“He won’t. He hates me.”

“Hate is a strong word. Irritated is probably better.”

“Why?”

“Two reasons. First, we can share this information with him about Alexa. I suspect that if Alexa is questioned by authorities, she’ll come clean. She has that civic-minded vibe to her.”

“Second,” she continued, “Nicole told Lizzy that some of the sorority girls wanted to help. That tells me that some of them know more information about Candace but have been bullied into being quiet by Vicky and the council primarily because they believe only the police should be investigating. If we have Detective Young on the podcast, that just might open them up. They may call and tell all. I still think the police know more than they’ve said, publicly or privately. But they are still stuck on Joseph Abernathy. This might get them unstuck.”

Lucas didn’t say anything.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Regan asked a couple minutes later.

“Can he shut me down? I have four more episodes after tonight. What if he says end it?”

“He can’t. You have the first amendment on your side.”

“I want to solve this.”

“I do, too. I think we will—if we can get those girls to open up. Having the support of the police might make the difference.”

“All right,” he reluctantly agreed.

“If you don’t want to, we won’t, and we can try Alexa again on Monday.”

“No, let’s do it, but I also want to try Alexa again,” he said.

Regan turned south and headed toward the police station. When she pulled into the parking lot, she saw a familiar person exiting the building: Rachel Wagner.

Instead of pulling into the first available parking place, she drove past it, and stopped, looked in her side-view mirror.

Detective Young was right behind Rachel. They crossed the lot together, talking.

Lucas turned in his seat, and Regan hit him. “Don’t draw attention to us.”

“Is that Rachel Wagner?” he asked as he faced forward again.

“Yep.”

As Regan watched, Young kissed Rachel. Then she got into a Jeep and drove off, fortunately in the opposite direction from Regan.

Instead of going back into the building, Young walked around the side to where employees parked. A minute later, he left the lot, heading in the same direction as Rachel.

Well, that was interesting.

Rachel was dating the lead investigator in Candace Swain’s murder. Was that a conflict?

Maybe. Maybe not. Yet, it rubbed Regan the wrong way. It wasn’t that Young should have said he was dating the sorority’s advisor... It just felt like a conflict.

“What does this mean?” Lucas said.

“I don’t know. But I need to think about how we approach Young. Maybe not tonight.”

“I trust you, Regan. Whatever you think is best.”

She wished she knew, because something wasn’t adding up.

“Let’s talk to Kimberly Foster.”

Lucas glanced at her sheepishly.

“What?” she pushed.

“I left a message for her. She hasn’t called me back.”

“Okay. Let’s try again. This time, tell her we have a witness to the argument between Taylor and Candace, we know that she was there, and the argument wasn’t solely about Joseph Abernathy. Call us back, or we’re going to bring the witness on the podcast.”

“Are we?”

“No—unless Alexa calls in, which I doubt. She’ll be listening, especially after we confronted her today. She has my card. I’m hoping she’ll call me. If we can figure out who Candace visited that weekend, anyone can. She’s going to realize that. Fear might convince her to talk when in the past it had her remain silent.”

“You’re smarter than average. Maybe no one else will put it together.”

“We can’t assume that no one else can figure it out, especially after the podcast tonight. And neither can Alexa. She knows what Candace planned to do when she disappeared. If we have that information, we might learn who had cause to kill her.”

“How are you going to get Alexa to talk? To either call in or call you?”

“She needs to feel safe enough to trust me,” Regan said. “Perhaps I could talk on the podcast tonight about witness protection or tells stories of people who stepped up to do the right thing even though it put them and their family in danger, and what the US Marshals Service does to help them.”

“Like, put Alexa into witness protection?”