they’re worried about you. Who won’t let you out of their sight because they love you that much.
But Zoe vanished anyway, I remind myself, and my stomach coils into a tight knot.
24 NOW
September
Herron Mills, NY
MARTINA REFRESHES HER screen every two minutes, but no new updates have posted since early afternoon. This is all she’s going to get. Tiana Percy coming forward was a hot story for an hour this morning, but it’s already faded into the background. Martina should be solving the SAT practice problems she promised Dad she’d do tonight, or struggling through the Spanish homework that might come a bit easier if Mami had ever spoken Spanish with her growing up. Instead Martina presses play on the video clip one more time. The words BREAKING NEWS fill the screen in silver block letters.
“New information has emerged today in the ongoing Zoe Spanos homicide investigation,” a too perky newscaster says from behind the desk. “Yale University senior Tiana Percy has come forward as an alibi witness for Caden Talbot, boyfriend of slain Herron Mills teen Zoe Spanos. Miss Spanos disappeared from Herron Mills on her way to a house party last New Year’s Eve, and her body was recovered from nearby Parrish Lake in August. Mr. Talbot was previously identified as a person of interest in the investigation and has been cooperating with police.”
Photos of Zoe, Caden, and Tiana fill the screen as the newscaster continues.
“Ms. Percy spoke voluntarily with the Herron Mills PD this morning after a high school friend posted a series of photos online, placing her with Caden Talbot at a New Year’s Eve party in Westchester during the window police have identified for Zoe’s death. Ms. Percy was unwilling to comment on the nature of her relationship with classmate Caden Talbot, but says she was aware of Mr. Talbot’s relationship with Miss Spanos.”
Martina slumps back in her desk chair. She has to admit, she never “liked” Caden for Zoe’s killer, to borrow a term from police-speak. But until now, those hours after 10:30 p.m. had remained unaccounted for. With Tiana proving Caden’s whereabouts, at her side in her Westchester hometown, Caden’s innocence has been verified. Tiana was able to pull up tons of photos from the party, all of which she’d been saving on her phone. They hadn’t been shared anywhere online, at Caden’s request. But Tiana’s photos can be matched to others from that same party, posted online by Tiana’s friends, placing Caden in Rye, NY, between the hours of 11:45 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.
It’s a two-hour drive from Rye to Herron Mills under the best of circumstances. Caden definitely wasn’t with Zoe at the White Sand Marina when the last GPS activity registered on her phone. He couldn’t have had anything to do with the purchase of the Greyhound ticket, at least not in person. He couldn’t have made it out to Herron Mills and back to the Upper West Side by six thirty, when he was seen by Doreen Winn-Carey on her living room couch.
Neither Caden Talbot nor Tiana Percy were responsible for Zoe’s death.
Martina pulls up Aster’s number, fires off a text.
Hi. I’m around, if you want to talk? Miss you.
Martina doesn’t expect a reply.
* * *
“I hear you got Caden to talk.” Anna sounds excited today. Energized. Martina hates to be the one to burst her bubble.
“Yes and no,” she says, exhaustion evident in her voice. It’s Friday, the day after Tiana came forward, the end of a long week. Martina’s in Miss Fox-Rigg’s chemistry lab again, staring out the window into sheets of driving rain. The storm’s going to mess up the tape, but it doesn’t matter. She’s not planning to air this interview; this is just a chance for them to talk.
Episode Six went live on Tuesday to thirty thousand downloads and counting. She’d been right; people wanted to hear Caden speak. Even if what she ultimately aired was all about Anna and a two-month-old, unsolved stable fire. It had been too much to hope Caden would actually open up about his relationship with Zoe—or Tiana.
“Yes and no?” Anna repeats Martina’s words back to her. “What does that mean?”
“I got my interview,” Martina says. “But he wouldn’t go on the record about the night of Zoe’s disappearance. Not that I expected he would.”
Anna sighs. “Thanks for getting me that address, by the way.”
“No problem. Any response?”
“Not yet. I’m not giving up, though.”
“I hope you hear back,” Martina says. “Keep me posted?”
Anna steers the conversation back to Caden. “Did