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“Matthew,” she said, “your parents gave us some preliminary information over the phone, but Garrett and I will need you to get us fully up to date.”
“Okay,” Matthew started. “I’m a senior at McCormack University. Over the weekend, my girlfriend . . . I don’t know, she stopped returning my texts and went quiet on social media. She’s done that before when she gets busy with her show.”
“Her show?” Jacqueline asked.
“Yeah, she’s a journalism student with, um, like a really popular campus radio program.”
“Popular is being modest,” Patrick Claymore said. “Laura’s radio show, a podcast, really, is listened to by hundreds of thousands of people each week—based on downloads.”
Jacqueline scribbled some notes. “What’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“Laura McAllister.”
Jacqueline nodded as she continued to write on her legal pad. “Go on.”
“The Scoop started out as a radio program Laura did each week from the broadcasting studio on campus. At first it was just, like, pop culture and gossip. Laura did this segment called Camp-sip—as in campus gossip, where she found the wildest stories from colleges around the country and talked about them. Anything from student-professor hookups to a formal gone wrong. During my freshman year everyone started listening each Thursday night. It was, like, a McCormack U thing, and Laura’s show became really popular.
“Then, sophomore year she did a more serious show about how college campuses can feel, and can actually be, unsafe for female students. She interviewed girls from all over the country, not just McCormack, and the consensus was that girls felt most frightened and vulnerable when they were walking alone off campus. So Laura came up with solutions on how to fix it, which was for the university to hire private drivers to shuttle students to and from campus on nights and weekends. She called the program ‘Uber U.’ And it caught on. Not only did McCormack adopt the Uber U program, but so did colleges across the country. Laura was invited onto Wake Up America and interviewed by Dante Campbell. Ever since then, the popularity of Laura’s show has skyrocketed. She has over a million followers on her social media platforms.”
Matthew shook his head to get back on track.
“Anyway, over the last few weeks Laura told me she had been investigating a story about rape on campus.”
“McCormack University’s campus?” Jacqueline asked.
“Yes. I don’t know all the details because Laura was real quiet about it. She didn’t want the story to leak. But then, last week the campus blew up after the Chadwicks’ press conference. It was totally about the story Laura was getting ready to tell. Then, like I said, Laura stopped returning my calls and texts over the weekend, and went silent on social media. Her parents called me on Sunday to ask if I’d heard from her. I told them I hadn’t and Laura’s parents reported her missing on Sunday. Then, yesterday two police officers showed up at my apartment to ask a bunch of questions.”
“About Laura?” Jacqueline asked.
“Yeah, about Laura and about whether we’d had a fight recently and about a bunch of other stuff.”
“Did you answer their questions?”
“Yeah, but after a while I started getting scared so I told them I wanted to call my parents.”
Mr. Claymore leaned forward onto the conference table. “The police asked Matthew if he would come down to the precinct office to answer more questions during a formal interview, and to provide DNA samples. I instructed him to do no such thing until we obtained legal counsel. I pray Laura is safe and this turns out to be a big scare or misunderstanding. But I’ve heard enough horror stories to know that if something has happened to this poor girl, then the first person the authorities are going to look at is her boyfriend.”
Jacqueline nodded. “Have you had any contact with the police since they questioned you yesterday?”
“No,” Matthew said. “A detective left a voicemail this morning asking me to call him back.”
“But you haven’t?”
“No.”
“Okay,” Jacqueline said. “And as far as you know, no one has yet heard from Laura?”
“No.” Matthew shrugged. “I’ve texted her a bunch of times and I talked with her friends. No one’s heard from her and no one’s seen her.”
Jacqueline tapped her pen on the legal pad as she thought.
“First things first. Do not speak to the police without Garrett or me being present. If they come to your apartment, tell them you want to call your attorney and then get in touch with me immediately. I’ll give you my cell number. In the meantime, one of our investigators will be in touch with you to more thoroughly go over the details of your relationship with Laura, as well as some other information we’re going to need. Then, and only then, I’ll arrange a formal interview with the police. But we’ll do it under our rules. And I’ll be present with you when it happens.”
Parting handshakes were exchanged, and just like that Lancaster & Jordan had a new, high-profile case on their hands.
CHAPTER 36
Washington, D.C. Tuesday, April 25, 2023 10:00 a.m.
