“Scared her in what way?” Josie asked.
“She used to say that she knew what she’d get with alcohol. It was predictable, but with drugs, she didn’t know what things would do to her body. In high school, one of her friends tried cocaine thinking it would be just fine, but it had PCP in it and ended up killing the girl. Heart attack, I think Nysa said. I guess the kid Nysa’s friend got the coke from didn’t even know about it. Nysa always said street drugs weren’t regulated and you couldn’t trust anyone, but if she had a beer, she knew exactly where it was coming from and what was in it. Plus, you know, ’cause she’s on the swim team, she’s subject to random drug testing.”
“Okay,” Josie said. “What about you? Do you or any of your and Nysa’s mutual friends use edibles?”
“Like pot?”
“Or any food with drugs baked, cooked, or mixed into it.”
“No,” Christine said.
“You’re not going to be in trouble if you or your friends use edibles,” Josie told her. “I’m just trying to figure out what happened to your roommate.”
Christine laughed. “I’m afraid that Nysa and I just weren’t that cool, Detective, and like I just said, Nysa was an athlete and no way was she risking her body by putting crazy shit into it.”
“Was there someone she might have risked taking drugs for?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means is there anyone you can think of who could have offered her drugs and, for whatever reason—peer pressure, or she liked the person—she wouldn’t turn them down?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What about brownies? Did she like brownies?”
“Who doesn’t like brownies? Yeah, she liked them. She had a weakness for sugary stuff.”
“Had you two made any recently?”
“No.”
“Bought any?”
“No.”
“Had anyone brought you any brownies?”
“No. I promise you, Detective, we haven’t had any brownies in this place since school started. Come back and look.”
The autopsy would show stomach contents—if any—for the eight hours that Nysa was missing before her death. “That’s okay,” Josie said. “I believe you. I’ve got to get up to campus police headquarters. For now, I’m going to text you a photo of a sticker. I want you to tell me if you’ve ever seen it before.”
“Why?”
“Just have a look, and then we’ll talk.”
She took the phone from her ear and quickly texted Christine a copy of the photo she’d taken of the sticker. Several seconds ticked by and then Josie heard an audible shudder. Christine said, “That’s creepy as hell. What is that? Some kind of creepy doll with its head cracked open?”
“We’re not sure yet,” Josie answered. “I just need to know if you’ve seen it anywhere.”
“No. Good God. I’d remember that. Where was it?”
“We located Nysa’s backpack,” Josie told her. “In the woods behind Hollister Way. There was a baggie with that sticker on it. There were crumbs in the bag. We believe from brownies.”
Silence. Then, “Are you sure it was her backpack?”
“It had her student ID in it.”
“Well, I’ve never seen the sticker before. I would definitely remember. I have no idea how it ended up in Nysa’s things.”
“Okay,” Josie said. “If you do see this anywhere or hear anyone talking about it or even if anything else occurs to you that you think I should know, call me.”
Twelve
Back on campus, Josie followed the directions that Christine had given her to find the campus police building. It was the smallest building on campus, Josie thought. Just a square, brick thing with four parking spots alongside it and two steps leading to the front door. Inside, a uniformed campus officer behind a metal desk waved Josie through the reception area down a short hallway. Only one door was open, and inside Josie saw Mettner and Chief Hahlbeck sitting side by side at a desk, their eyes glued to a laptop screen. Noah stood behind them, peering over their shoulders. Josie knocked lightly on the doorframe. The Chief waved her over.
Josie took up position beside Noah and reported on what she had found at Nysa’s apartment—which amounted to nothing beyond the fact that her swimsuits and swim bag were still there—and more importantly, what she had found in the woods. She pulled up the photo of the baggie and sticker and showed each of them.
“Some kind of drug marker,” Mettner said immediately.
“That’s what Chan said,” Josie told him.
“Yeah, when I was in college, we had a guy who sold stuff on campus. He marked all of his stuff with a drawing of a bluebird. It was a stamp though, not a sticker. Like his drugs were the bluebird of happiness or something stupid like that.”
“No shit,” said Noah. “We have no shortage of drug activity in this city. Hell, we’re down under the East Bridge a few times a week, but I’ve never seen this. Chief, you ever see this drawing on campus?”
Hillary took a closer look at Josie’s phone screen, her upper lip curling. “No, I haven’t, but that doesn’t mean much. I haven’t been here long. Send that to me, and I’ll start asking around, checking files.”
Josie texted her the photo and pointed to the laptop on the desk. “How about you guys? What did you find?”
Mettner motioned to the laptop and asked Chief Hahlbeck, “Do you mind?”
She shifted her chair over a bit to give Mettner more room. “Not at all,” she said.
He clicked around until he pulled up a screen showing the outside of the library. “Here we see Nysa leaving at nine thirty-two, alone.”
Josie watched as a flurry of students exited the library, identifying Nysa immediately since she was wearing the same clothes as she was when they found her in the pool. A black backpack slung over her left shoulder, she walked off in the direction of lower campus. Mettner clicked out of the library footage and brought up several other screens showing the exteriors of various campus buildings. The footage was dim, since by that time of night it was dark and the outdoor lighting that presided over campus walkways wasn’t very bright. Still, they could easily identify Nysa in the videos. Foot traffic was relatively light. Nysa moved alone, one of the only students out and about whose eyes weren’t glued to her phone. She didn’t greet or wave to anyone else. Another screen showed the exterior of the Ervene Gulley Arts & Humanities building.
Josie said, “The cut-through to her housing complex is behind that building.”
Mettner nodded. “Yes, we found that.” More clicking, and then another screen came up, this time from a camera set high up on the back of the building, taking in the parking lot and wooded area. They watched as Nysa walked through the parking lot and found the cut-through, disappearing through the trees. Alone.
“But we know she didn’t make it home,” Josie said.
Mettner held up a finger. “Here’s where it gets interesting.”
Josie and Noah watched as he fast-forwarded through the footage, each hour passing in a matter of seconds. No one used the cut-through during the night. Then at 5:57 a.m., a figure emerged from it.