stare at him, wondering what good it does me to know that now. To understand that he feels regret without actually having to make amends for any of it.

And I start to write. AirPods shoved into my ears, I listen to the hits of 1975. Aerosmith. Queen. The Eagles. Laptop open, trying to time travel back to Ojai, the summer of 1975. I lose myself, my own problems falling away. It’s a relief to shed my life and dip into another era.

schools. I read about new businesses. Local gossip. The weather. Politics at the time.

I spend several afternoons at the Ojai library, immersing myself in that era. I read through old issues of the Ojai Valley News. But I’m not only interested in articles about the murders. I read about city council meetings. About the sports teams at Nordhoff High. Ojai Valley School and Thacher, the local boarding