hit up the party. And thank god I did, cause lots of people saw me that night. The police had already looked through a bunch of photos; I was in a few, and I had a bunch of alibi witnesses.
MARTINA GREEN: Did you hear from Zoe at all after you left Windermere?
MAX ADLER: Nope. Honestly, I wasn’t that worried. I just figured she’d walked home and was sleeping it off. It wasn’t until a couple days later that I heard on the news she was missing.
MARTINA GREEN: And why didn’t you go to the police then? You could have helped put a few pieces together months ago.
MAX ADLER: I know, okay? It wasn’t my finest hour. But honestly, I knew her disappearance didn’t have anything to do with me. She was drunk and upset when I left the stable, sure, but she was fine. I was trying to graduate from Brown. I didn’t want to get tangled up in a missing-persons investigation. I don’t know what happened that night any more than anyone else.
MARTINA GREEN: And you didn’t try to get in touch with her at all?
MAX ADLER: Look, I know this doesn’t make me sound great, but no. I didn’t. She was a hot mess; it was kind of a turnoff. Maybe I should have checked in with her, sure, but I didn’t have anything to do with Zoe winding up at the bottom of Parrish Lake. Walking away when a girl tells you to leave her alone isn’t a crime. The police agreed.
MARTINA GREEN: The day after Zoe’s body was found, Caden Talbot told police that he’d discovered an empty bottle of whiskey and two empty beer bottles in the stable on January first. Presumably those belonged to you and Zoe?
MAX ADLER: The whiskey was technically Caden’s, from what Zoe was saying, but yeah, the two beer bottles would have been mine.
MARTINA GREEN: And it was just you and Zoe pre-partying in the stable. Anna Cicconi wasn’t with you?
MAX ADLER: No way. I met Anna for the first time this summer, when she came to the aquarium where I work. She definitely wasn’t drinking with us that night.
MARTINA GREEN: And what about Kaylee Harrison?
MAX ADLER: Kaylee …
MARTINA GREEN: Anna’s friend from Brooklyn who she said in her August fifth confession was with her at Windermere the night Zoe disappeared?
MAX ADLER: Oh right, I’ve met Kaylee. Anna brought her to a party over the summer. But no, she wasn’t there that night. I only met Kaylee once, this July. Unless Zoe invited someone else over after I left, it was definitely just Zoe and me drinking in the stable. Those were our bottles Caden found.
MARTINA GREEN: Thanks, Max.
[SOFT ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND]
Okay listeners, it’s go time. Missing Zoe reached eighty thousand of you last episode. That’s huge. That means there are a lot of you tuning in—people who want justice for Zoe, who know that justice doesn’t happen without the whole truth. And now it’s my turn to ask you a favor. If you have any information about the night of December thirty-first or morning of January first that might help police uncover what happened to Zoe Spanos after Max Adler left her alone in the Windermere stable, this is the time to come forward. Even if it’s a detail that seems insignificant.
With the information we know now, the likelihood that Anna Cicconi was even in Herron Mills the night Zoe died is very, very slim. Anna’s pretrial motion to dismiss the charges against her is still pending review by the court. If anyone has information that could help prevent the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of an innocent girl, this is the time to step up. Anna needs you. It’s your responsibility to help. You can reach an anonymous tip line established by the Spanos family at 631-958-2757, or you can contact the Herron Mills PD directly.
[END BACKGROUND MUSIC]
Next up, I’ll be speaking to criminal defense attorney Katarina Wall. Ms. Wall does not represent Anna Cicconi, but she’ll be able to provide a general overview of the legal procedures involved in pretrial motions to dismiss in New York State. …
30 October
Herron Mills, NY
IT’S LATE. The night sky swirls with the first inky ribbons of autumn-crisped air as Martina and Aster make their way through the girl-sized gaps in the unkempt privacy hedge that has long ceased to effectively partition Windermere from Linden Lane. A wayward branch reaches out to snare Martina’s hair in its grasp, and she