“One of your friends lives here?” Iris seemed impressed. “Is her dad, like, Bill Gates or something?”
Emily steered into the circle, feeling bad that she couldn’t tell Iris the truth. Sure, she was lying to her about a lot of stuff, but things with them had become easier since they skinny-dipped in the lake on Tuesday. They’d even developed an inside joke about Emily’s dad’s old, stinky fleece slippers. But it wasn’t like she could bring her inside the panic room while she and her friends had yet another talk about Real Ali and her helper.
Emily turned into the long driveway and parked next to the four-car garage. “Are you going to be okay in the car for a sec?” she asked Iris. “I won’t be long, I promise.”
Iris slumped down in the seat and looked at a copy of Us Weekly she’d stolen from Wawa. “Why can’t you just get whatever it is from your friend at school?”
“Because, um, she’s sick,” Emily said stupidly.
Iris gave her a strange look, but Emily fled the car before she could ask anything else.
Spencer pulled her inside and once again led her down into the basement. Aria was already inside the panic room, pacing back and forth. And Hanna, who looked even more made-up and coiffed today, was sitting on the denim couch, looking at Aria plaintively. “So Mike didn’t ride to school with you? Do you know where he is right now? How can I talk to him if I can’t use my stupid cell phone?”
“He was at Byron’s last night—I was at Ella’s.” Aria looked apologetic. “What were you guys fighting about, anyway?”
“Guys, we don’t have much time,” Spencer interrupted, and everyone looked at her. “I got another note from Agent Fuji,” she continued worriedly, her eyes darting around the security screens. “She says there’s something we didn’t tell her. She wanted to talk to me.”
“She wants to talk to me, too!” Hanna whispered. “Are you going to?”
“What do you think?” Spencer looked horrified. “I deleted the message. I’m going to pretend I didn’t get it.”
Emily sat down next to Hanna. “Do you think A said something?”
Spencer sank to the metal swivel chair next to the monitors. “I don’t know. Has anyone heard from A?”
Hanna tentatively raised a hand. “A sent me a note. It was about prom, but A left it at the front desk of the burn clinic.”
Spencer widened her eyes. “So A knows you’ve been volunteering there?”
“I guess.” Hanna’s face was ashen. “But that doesn’t mean A knows why, right?”
“The only notes I got were the two about the painting investigation,” Aria said, perching on the couch’s arm. “Which is scary. They’ve opened the case back up. Maybe that’s what Fuji wants to talk to us about.”
Emily shifted worriedly. “Maybe A is pissed off because he or she doesn’t know our new cell numbers. Maybe he gave Fuji some intel as punishment.”
“That’s what I was worried about, too,” Spencer said. “What do you think A told Fuji?”
“Who knows?” Emily mumbled.
For a moment, no one said anything. On the monitors, Emily could see her Volvo parked at the curb. Iris turned a page of her magazine, looking like she was about to fall asleep.
Then Spencer pulled the suspects list out of her bag and pinned it to the wall. Quite a few names had been crossed off—all the girls. There was a wiggly line through Darren Wilden and a question mark next to Jason. Only Graham’s and Noel’s names were unmarked. Emily caught Aria staring at it. It wasn’t a surprise to her—last night, Emily had stopped over at her house to tell her they’d narrowed down the list to only guys. Aria opened her mouth to say something, then shut it fast.
“What?” Emily asked.
Aria shook her head. “Nothing.”
Emily cleared her throat. “So does anyone have any thoughts about who Ali might have met at Keppler Park?” She’d shared her discovery with Hanna and Aria last night.
Hanna shook her head. Aria cleared her throat awkwardly and turned away. “Nope.” Her voice squeaked.
Emily watched Aria’s face, but she gave nothing away. Spencer was watching, too. “Are you sure?” she pressed. “Maybe Noel has been there?”
Aria fiddled with the grommets on the couch. “I said I was sure, didn’t I? Noel isn’t A.”
“I know you don’t want to believe it, Aria,” Spencer said soothingly. “But the more we find out, the more sense Noel makes.”
Aria’s eyes flashed. “All we’ve found out is that A might be a guy and that Ali had a boyfriend. That could be anyone.”
“There’s more than that.” Spencer twirled the pen in her hands. “It turns out that someone stole a bunch of prescription medications from the Bill Beach last spring. It might have been the person who was taking care of Ali.”
Aria wrinkled her nose. “So? Noel doesn’t have a connection to the Bill Beach. As far as I know, he’s never even been there.”