Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Going downstairs felt like a mistake, too. As soon as I entered the convention area, I was stopped by multiple people asking about the unsolved murder mentioned in the Q&A. My response became a short, repeated phrase. "We'll be posting about that tonight. Stay tuned!"
By noon, I was feeling more than a little stressed, and I skipped out on the banquet lunch to take a walk outside.
As soon as my feet hit the sidewalk, I felt better. I walked quickly at first, eager to get away from the convention, but once the initial anxious rush had passed, I slowed my steps, taking my first real look around at the city.
We'd flown into Chicago last night, and this was the first chance I'd gotten outside since we'd arrived.
It was a Monday afternoon in the middle of August, and it was hot outside.
I slipped off the lightweight sweater I'd worn over my dress while in the air-conditioned hotel and slung it over one arm as I walked, my heels clicking on the pavement, my blonde hair blowing in the warm breeze.
As a stairway came up from the river, I headed down the cement steps, ending up in a garden patio next to a coffee and juice bar, which had shaded umbrellas over the patio tables.
Grabbing a large, iced coffee and a banana from the café, I took a seat at one of the tables and let out a breath.
Watching the water flow by was relaxing and gave me a chance to think about everything that had happened.
While I'd stayed away from Chicago since graduation, it hadn't been solely because of Paige's death, or the confusing investigation and rumors that followed.
It hadn't even been about Liam, who'd been my boyfriend for most of that year.
I had also stayed away because my father tended to show up in Chicago for holidays with my aunt, which was a whole other story.
But the real reason I hadn't come back was about me, about not wanting to be that girl anymore.
After graduation, I'd headed to New York City, where no one knew me, and I'd closed the book on my past. That book was open now, and I was still shocked by Alina's appearance at the keynote address.
She'd never reached out before, and it wasn't like she couldn't have done so through social media or our podcast. No, she'd waited for me to show up in person.
We'd only decided to come to Chicago a few weeks earlier, but she'd been ready for me.
She'd jumped on the opportunity to confront me in public, to make it impossible for me to say no.
Now, I had no choice. I had to look into what had happened to Paige, and that was going to get complicated fast as I wasn't an impartial observer.
How could I investigate Paige's death without talking about myself, without revealing too much of my own life, my own relationships?
Maybe just by focusing on the actual details of her death and not spending too much time on her.
There was only one way out of this for me: I had to find Paige's killer.
I had to prove it was murder and get justice for her family.
Then I'd become the heroine of the story, the one who stood up for Paige, even if it was nine years too late.
My phone buzzed with a text from Cassidy, asking if I was all right.
Taking a walk, I texted back. I'm going to skip the afternoon sessions and start looking into Paige's death.
Morgan and I will check out the two o'clock session and then we'll meet you in the room.
I gave her text a thumbs-up and then got to my feet, feeling as if I'd found the direction I needed to go.
I didn't know where that road would take me, but I was getting on it, and I hoped I'd be able to find the answers I needed.
I also hoped that those answers weren't going to implicate someone I'd known, someone I'd trusted or cared about.
When I returned to the hotel, it was after two, and as I moved toward the elevator bank, I heard my name called.
Forcing a smile on my face, I turned around to see a woman approaching.
Her brown hair was pulled back from her face, and she wore a navy-blue blazer with the hotel insignia over her navy-blue skirt.
"Tessa Conway," she said again, drawing closer.
"Rachel Bentley," I said with surprise. "Do you work here?"
"I'm one of the concierges," Rachel replied. "I saw your photo on the convention poster, and I couldn't believe you were back in town."
Rachel had lived down the hall from me in the dorm our sophomore year. We'd spent a lot of time together then, but we'd both moved into apartments for our last two years and hadn't spent as much time together after that.
"It sounds like you're super successful, which I knew you would be. You were always a girl who was going places," Rachel said with a smile.
Her warmth felt good coming after the cold sting of Alina's gaze. "It sounds like you also have a fun job."
"I like hospitality," Rachel said. "And as you know, I love to talk.
Anyway, when I heard you were coming, I listened to your podcast. It was entertaining and also a little terrifying.
It's one thing to talk about crime, but you and your friends actually went to the scene and found a murderer. And you got hurt, didn't you?"
"I did, but I'm recovered now. It felt good to get justice for the missing women."
"You were very heroic. How long are you in town?"
"Until Wednesday."
"If there is anything I can do to make your stay special, please let me know. I can get you into the best restaurant in town. Just say the word."
"Thanks. I feel like we're pretty booked up, but I appreciate the offer."
"No problem. I don't suppose you have any time for a drink."
"I wish I did. The schedule is pretty packed. Maybe I can see," I added, noting the disappointed gleam in her eyes.
"It would be fun to get Kerry and Ella to meet up with us, too."
"Kerry and Ella Marlin?" I asked with surprise. "They're here?"
"Yes. Didn't you see them on the program?"
I hadn't studied the program that closely, leaving it to Morgan to tell me which sessions to go to. "I guess I missed that."
"They have a podcast about being identical twins."
"I didn't know. I'll have to check it out."
"I'm sure you'll run into them."
As Rachel walked away, I headed straight for the opening doors of an elevator, eager to get inside before I could run into anyone else from my past. I don't know why I hadn't expected that there might be local Chicago people here, but none of these people had been on my radar for the past decade, so I hadn't given it that much thought. That might have been another mistake.
When I got back to the suite, I picked up the program and looked through it, seeing Kerry and her sister were leading a workshop tomorrow morning. Family podcasts weren't interesting to me, which was probably why I'd skipped over their names. Now, I was seeing more familiar faces in my head.
Kerry and Ella Marlin had been pretty girls, with reddish-blonde hair and brown eyes, and a cute girl-next-door kind of look.
But they weren't at all like the sweet girls next door.
They'd both been wild partiers. I'd known Ella slightly better, because she'd been a drama major, and had had a minor role in the last production I was in.
The door to the suite suddenly opened and I jerked in surprise, a result of being far more nervous than I should be.
Cassidy gave me a searching look. "Sorry, Tessa, did we scare you?"
"I didn't think you'd be back yet."
"It's after three," Morgan replied, tossing her conference tote bag on the coffee table. "We picked up some of the giveaways for you."
"Thanks."
"How was your walk?" Cassidy asked.
"It felt good to be outside, but when I returned, I ran into the concierge, a woman I went to college with, Rachel Bentley."
"Really?" Cassidy gave me a thoughtful look as she kicked off her heels and flopped onto the couch. "Did she know Paige MacIntyre?"
"We didn't talk about her. But yes, she knew Paige. She also told me that two other girls we knew, Kerry and Ella Marlin are here. They have a podcast on identical twins. They're giving a talk tomorrow. I feel like every time I turn around, someone from my past is standing in front of me."
"Well, you did come back to your college town," Morgan said as she picked up a chocolate from the candy box and unwrapped it.
I sat down on the couch across from them. "As much as I want to avoid all this, I think we should start digging into the case."
"I've already begun," Morgan said, with a sparkle in her eyes.
"I was bored in the last workshop, so I ran a media search for any local news stories about Paige MacIntyre's death.
I didn't find a lot, but I know the name of the lead detective and the basics of the incident.
" She pulled her laptop out of her bag. "I'm sure you know more than what I read. "
"Maybe not much more."
"We don't have a lot of time," Cassidy said.
"I was thinking about that," Morgan said. "We should try to extend our stay, although we might have to move out of this lovely suite."
"I can't stay past Wednesday," Cassidy put in, an apology in her gaze. "Friday night is the opening of Finn's restaurant, and I don't want to miss it."
"Of course you can't miss it," I agreed. "We should know by Wednesday if there is anything to investigate or if we've confirmed that it was just an accident. Either way, you should go back to New York."
"I'm free," Morgan said. "Let's worry about our departure date later. Let's begin with putting Paige in the middle of the circle and each spoke goes out to a different group: her theater friends, her college friends who weren't in the theater, her boyfriend, her family…who else?"
"She had a roommate, Sloane Winters. She was an artist. She was only tied to the theater because her art class worked on set design."
Morgan typed as I talked. "Okay, let's expand the theater world, since that's where you and Paige intersect."
"There were probably eighteen actors in the last production, and a dozen crew members.
The head of the department, Professor Robert Hale, directed the fall, winter, and spring productions, which were the highlights of the year.
His TA that spring was Jay Loomis. He acted as assistant director.
I think he also did some script adaptation.
There was also a music director, and we used some of the school orchestra in the productions as well. "
"That's a lot of people," Cassidy commented as Morgan typed. "Maybe we should start filtering the relationships by who liked Paige the most and who liked her the least."
My stomach twisted. "Many people would put me at the top of the list of people who didn't like her. But I didn't kill her."
"Of course you didn't," Cassidy said.
"Agreed," Morgan murmured, giving me a supportive smile.
"Before we get too deep into lists and fact-finding, I think we should announce we're going to focus on Paige's case for our next at-the-crime-scene investigation. Once we go public, that might generate some leads as well."
"I was thinking the same thing," Cassidy said. "The whole point of our podcast is to not only get people listening but also talking. Let's do it now. No reason to wait."
Despite it being my suggestion, I suddenly felt panicked at the thought of committing to this case.
But Cassidy was already on her feet, and Morgan was right behind her.
I got up more slowly, following them over to the dining room table where we'd already set up our camera and recording equipment for our next podcast. We just hadn't known what it would be about until now.
The three of us sat down on one side of the table with me in the middle, as we always did.
Cassidy and Morgan ran the technical parts while I usually did most of the talking.
As they were getting organized, I thought about what I wanted to say.
This was going to be a short teaser video, so I didn't need that much content.
I just needed to grab their attention and give them something to think about, something to want to come back to in order to find out what happened.
"Ready," Morgan said. We always streamed live in order to capture who was online at the time and because it gave us better algorithm results on the platform. The video could then be replayed on several different sites, including our own.
I gave a nod at her questioning glance. And then I looked into the camera and said, "Imagine this…
a dark night in Evanston, Illinois, a deserted area along Lake Michigan, a female college student walking alone.
She is two months away from graduation. She's about to star in a play.
She seems to be living the dream. Her name is Paige MacIntyre.
" I paused. "And that night she didn't come home.
She allegedly fell into the lake and drowned.
Her death was ruled an accident a few short weeks later.
But many people, including Paige's family, disagree with that conclusion.
Since we're in Chicago, we've decided to take a look at her case. "
I took another moment, then added, "To be honest, Paige isn't just a name to me.
I knew her. We were in school together. We were in the same theater group.
We saw each other every day, and I have never forgotten her tragic death.
Hopefully, I can help her family get the answers they deserve.
If anyone has any information on her death, please drop us a note online.
We'll be back tomorrow with more details on this case. Stay tuned…"
As the camera and audio cut off, I let out a breath.
"That was perfect," Morgan said with approval. "You're a great storyteller, Tessa."
I could tell a story, but could I tell the whole truth? I wasn't completely sure, because I'd never really addressed the events of that night, and the truth might not be anything anyone wanted to accept, including me.