Jay:The Lake House.
Aleeza:Never heard of it.
Jay:It’s a romance. It makes no sense, but I liked it. It’s gentle and cozy. My mom’s a big Keanu Reeves fan. I watched it with her.
Aleeza:My parents are really into science fiction. I asked them about time travel and technology, and my dad emailed me a list of all the best time-travel movies.
Jay:We should watch them together.
I frown. Did he want to spend time with me outside of our investigation?
Aleeza:How are we going to watch movies together if we’re months apart?
Jay:We’ll stream them at the same time and text each other while we’re watching. It’ll be fun. And it’s research. Do you want to start tomorrow after our eight o’clock update on the case? The Lake House must be streaming somewhere.
Why not? It’s not like I have anyone else to hang out with.
Aleeza:Sure. When are you going to talk to your cousin?
Jay:I’ll text her. We have lunch together fairly often. I’ll casually mention my new investigative reporter friend who’s into bowls and octopuses.
Aleeza:Okay. I’ll wait until you do before I contact her.
Jay:I’m heading to bed—I have water polo practice in the morning. Same time tomorrow?
Aleeza:Yep. Tomorrow we can start the scripts for the podcast too.
Jay:Good night! Say good night to the octopus for me.
“Jay says good night, Ted,” I say aloud.
Aleeza:Done. Talk tomorrow.
On Monday, between my classes, I start drafting the first episode of the podcast. And after my last class, I go to the campus security main office to try to get access to the camera footage from East House.
“Not without a warrant,” the guy at the desk says, barely looking at me.
“I’m doing an investigation on Jay’s disappearance—”
“Not without a warrant,” he says again, a smirk on his face. He looks like he’s on a power trip. Which he probably is.
“I assume that footage was given to the police?”
“Of course.”
“What about his student card logs? Did Jay use his card after—”
“Not without a—”
“A warrant. I know.” There has to be something this guy will tell me. “One question: Are there any exits in East House from the second floor? Like a back stairwell or something?”
“How would I know?”
I sigh. “Okay, can you tell me if there is a back-door camera?”
“I’ll throw you a bone. No, there isn’t, but the alarm on the door is connected to the system. We’d know if someone opened it.”
“Was it opened the night Jay Hoque disappeared?”
