Chapter 9 - VANESSA STOPS LYING ABOUT ONE THING
Vanessa’s second interview lasted three hours.
Her attorney attended.
So did a university investigator.
Vanessa began by correcting her original missing-person statement.
Yes, she had been inside West Utility Passage with Emma.
Yes, she followed Emma there.
Yes, she grabbed Emma’s arm.
Yes, Emma’s bracelet broke.
Yes, Vanessa lied afterward.
Why?
“Because I already had the Leah case.”
Meaning she feared the tunnel video would make it look as if she had continued unauthorized access while under investigation.
She had.
Why follow Emma?
“I wanted the log.”
“To destroy it?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Yes.”
There.
Not a misunderstanding.
She thought if Mick’s paper log disappeared, the university would rely on the digital version already corrected to show a maintenance check rather than an emergency student exit.
That could reduce her exposure.
Brooke followed because Vanessa asked.
Neither planned to hurt Emma.
Brooke’s video supported that.
Then Vanessa explained her current cruelty toward Rachel.
After Emma disappeared, Vanessa became convinced Emma had intentionally vanished to let everyone else absorb the investigation.
Emma had told Vanessa the night she left:
“I’m done carrying your part.”
Vanessa interpreted that as a threat.
Then Emma disappeared.
Conduct investigators kept calling Vanessa.
Her graduate-school recommendation was suspended.
She lost her student events position.
Her parents learned about Leah.
Brooke stopped sleeping.
Vanessa convinced herself Emma had detonated everything and walked away.
Then Rachel appeared every day asking:
“What did you do to her?”
Vanessa hated her.
Not because Rachel was wrong to ask.
Because Vanessa did not know the answer either.
Then she admitted something Rachel had not expected.
Vanessa corrected her Leah statement the morning after Emma disappeared.
Full tunnel location.
Actual delay.
Mick’s involvement.
Her own instruction to Leah to say she fell outside.
Why?
“Emma said I had until Friday.”
“What day was it?”
“Thursday.”
“You thought she might come back?”
“Yes.”
“Did you correct the statement because you were afraid?”
“Yes.”
“Did you also think it was the right thing?”
Vanessa stared.
“Eventually.”
Not admirable.
Still an action.
Then the investigator asked about Paul Lang.
Vanessa looked uncomfortable.
After Leah’s fall, Vanessa called Lang before the ambulance arrived.
Why?
Student events reported to him.
“What did he say?”
Vanessa answered:
“He said get Leah outside.”
Mick had said the same thing.
Then Lang said:
“Tell medical West Walk until I know why you people were underground.”
That sentence mattered.
Did he order them to lie?
Vanessa said:
“I heard it that way.”
Did Lang mean location should remain preliminary until verified?
His lawyer would later say yes.
Same words.
Different consequence.
Then the night Emma disappeared, Vanessa sent Lang one message.
9:42 p.m.
She’s below with Mick. She has the paper log.
Lang replied:
Get out of there. I’m opening south.
There.
South door mystery.
Lang had opened it.
Not to trap Emma.
To push everyone out.
At least according to the message.
Vanessa then showed one more text.
10:09 p.m.
Emma to Vanessa:
You weren’t the one who opened it. He was. I know that now.
Vanessa stared at the screen.
“Emma knew Lang opened the door.”
“Yes.”
“So why did Leah say Emma was afraid of somebody else?”
Vanessa looked at the investigator.
“Because after she got outside, Lang called her.”
“What happened?”
“I heard Emma yelling through the door.”
“What did she say?”
Vanessa remembered exactly.
You used my map, you used his access, and now you want me to carry all of it?
Rachel would hear that line later.
It changed the shape of Emma’s disappearance again.
May you like
She had not left the tunnel afraid of Vanessa.
She left furious at someone above her.
