"I think," AJ continued, "that some of his fraternity brothers found out about his project and saw potential dollar signs."
"Which fraternity brothers?" Matt asked. "Do you know who he was close to?"
"Drew Sanderson was his big brother. Trent Adler seemed like a friend. But, like I said, he didn't really hang out with them that much, especially toward the end of senior year. He was over the whole fraternity experience."
"I talked to both of those guys. They were actually the most communicative of the group. Drew expressed a lot of sadness and regret. Trent, too."
"Were those guys at the party?" Matt asked.
"Drew was. Trent wasn't. Drew said he'd talked to Landon earlier in the evening but had lost track of him. He also said Landon was drinking a lot that night, and he thought it was unusual. One of the other guys, Josh Lorrie, said that Landon was definitely wired. He seemed stressed out and wanted to drink his troubles away."
"I met Lorrie a few times," AJ said. "I wouldn't trust anything he had to say. Seemed smart but shady. I was in a class with Drew once. He wasn't too sharp academically, but Landon said he was funny and had been cool about not pressuring him during the whole hazing thing when he first joined. Frankly, I don't know why Landon ever rushed. He wasn't into that scene. And I can't believe he got so drunk he didn't know where he was. He rarely ever drank more than one beer. He was always thinking about his work, his classes, his job. He was a serious dude. It never made sense to me."
"He wanted to make connections. I encouraged that," she said heavily. "I shouldn't have."
"You weren't wrong. He did make connections," AJ said. "With a bunch of rich kids with influential parents."
"Were there any other friends you remember Landon mentioning?" she asked.
"What about Henry Adler?" Matt interjected. "Trent's cousin."
"Henry was a cocky, know-it-all. The kind of guy who always wants to talk while everyone else listens. I didn't know either him or his cousin well. I think one of them had a sister, too."
"Jill Adler," she said. "Trent's twin sister."
AJ nodded. "That's right."
"What about Landon's girlfriend, Brooke Mercer? Did you know her?" she asked.
"I met her once. I didn't think they were boyfriend-girlfriend until I saw the news articles calling her his grieving girlfriend. That seemed strange to me. I didn't think they'd gone out more than a few times. She was a sorority girl, and she really liked the frat parties. They seemed very different to me, but she was hot."
"It doesn't sound like you cared for her that much," Matt commented.
"She didn't care much for me. She thought I was just some lab rat computer nerd. Not that Landon wasn't the same thing, but he was better looking."
She hadn't known what to make of Brooke, either. She'd certainly acted like she was heartbroken, often breaking down in tears. They'd spent some time together that first week until Brooke's mom had shown up and suggested Brooke take a few days away from it all. Which reminded her that AJ had left school a few weeks later. "Why did you drop out of school, AJ? Alanna told us Sabrina tried to find you, and you were gone. You had left school and disconnected your phone just a few months before graduation. Why?"
"I was scared. I was one of the few people outside the frat who was close to Landon. When I realized the university would not do anything that would jeopardize the reputation of the institution and the endowments of their alumni, I thought I might be in danger. I didn't know anything, but maybe someone would think I did. A couple of times, walking home from the lab late at night, I had the feeling someone was following me. That's why I left. I finished my degree at another university, and I never looked back…until now." He paused. "Why are you digging into all this? What changed?"
"Sabrina Lin reached out to me yesterday morning," she answered. "She said she had information about Landon's death and asked me to meet her, which I did. Before I could talk to her, someone killed her."
His jaw dropped as he gasped. "What? Sabrina is dead? I can't believe she was even looking into Landon's death. It's been six years. What about the other woman I talked to at the legal aid center? You said you spoke to her. What does she know?"
"Nothing. She said Sabrina was short on details."
"But she told you about me," AJ said with alarm. "Now I need to be worried. Damn! Why did you come here? Why did you bring me into this?"
The fear in his eyes was very real, but she hoped it wouldn't stop him from helping her. "I think you cared about my brother, and I need your help, AJ."
"If I had proof of something, I would have laid that out six years ago."
"You could have told me about Landon's project before. You could have talked to me."
He gave her a guilty look. "I did think about it, but I didn't know what to say. You were so devastated, and in the beginning, I wasn't sure if I was just making up an excuse for him to be dead because I didn't want to believe he was a guy who would drink himself into oblivion." He ran a hand through his hair. "I thought you might come looking for me back then, but I guess Landon didn't mention me."
"He might have mentioned you, but I was spinning with grief. Names were a blur to me. I didn't know who to trust. The kids I spoke to painted a picture of my brother that felt completely false."
"Because a dead drunk kid was a better explanation than anything else," AJ said harshly. "I wish I'd been braver, talked louder, but I didn't know what to do. The police turned me away. No one wanted to hear what I had to say."
