Did Adnan Know That Hae Had To Pick Up Her Cousin at Campfield?

I got an e-mail this morning asking whether Adnan knew about Hae’s routine of picking up her cousin after school. Adnan, of course, says as much during the second episode of Serial. The e-mailer, however, wondered whether this was merely a claim that Adnan made in 2014 or whether he likely knew of this routine back in 1999. Let’s look at the evidence.

Hae seemingly got her driver’s license in September 1998 (Hae’s brother; page 45). In October 1998, Hae’s mother purchased a Nissan Sentra for Hae to drive; once Hae had her license and car, she was expected to pick up her cousin from Campfield Early Learning Center on a daily basis (Hae’s brother; page 48)

Campfield was approximately 15-20 minutes away from Woodlawn High School (Hae’s brother; page 47):

In 1998, Hae and Adnan dated in October before breaking up in early November. They were then back together by December 3rd before again breaking up sometime in mid-December.

Meanwhile, the indoor track season started in mid-November (Coach Sye; pg. 1):

According to two fellow students — Debbie and Becky — Hae frequently gave rides to Adnan to track practice after school, even when Adnan had his own car at school. Here’s Debbie (pg. 32-33):

And here’s Becky (pg. 31):

According to Becky, Adnan would continue to get these rides from Hae even after their final breakup in December:

While there is conflicting evidence about the cousin pickup time and the start of track practice, the likeliest scenario to me is that Hae had to pick up her cousin at about 3:15-3:20 P.M. (pg. 31) and that track practice started at 3:30 P.M. (more on this soon). Therefore, on a typical day from mid-November to mid-January, Hae likely gave Adnan a ride to track practice at about 3:00 P.M. before going to pick up her cousin at Campfield. This routine likely occurred both while Adnan and Hae were dating and while they were broken up but remained good friends.

Given this routine, I don’t see any logical scenario in which Adnan was unaware that Hae had to pick up her cousin at Campfield.

-CM