“It might be true,” Aria protested. “It’s as good a theory as anything else.”
“No, a crazy girl named Iris killed Ali,” Hanna inserted loudly, trying to smooth her tangles. “A sent me right to her.”
Then everyone looked at Spencer, waiting to see what her theory was. There were goose bumps on Spencer’s arms. “A told me my mom killed Ali because . . . well, because my dad had an affair with Ali’s mom. Ali’s my sister.”
“What?” Aria gasped. Emily just stared. Hanna looked disgusted, like she might throw up into the dented metal trash can in the corner.
“But my mom didn’t do it,” Spencer explained. “She didn’t even know about the affair. I probably ruined my parents’ marriage. A was just . . . messing with me. I think A messed with all of us.”
Everyone stiffened. The realization hit Aria like a heavy boxing glove to her temple. A had messed with all of them. A was behind all of this. Jason hadn’t told the cops about Ian’s ring—A had. Maybe A had even planted it in the woods so Aria would find it. A had sent Emily to look for the DNA report in the evidence room, only to report her to the on-duty cop. A told the police about Ian’s IMs, too, making it look like they’d conspired with him.
A had been toying with them all along, pulling all the strings. And now they were in jail for a murder they didn’t commit.
Aria gazed around at the others. By the stunned looks on their faces, it seemed like they’d just come to the same conclusion. “A’s our worst enemy,” she whispered. She patted her pocket, reaching for her cell phone. Surely A had sent them a group text to show just how gullible and stupid they all were. Gotcha! it probably said. Or, Who’s laughing now!
But then Aria remembered—the cops had confiscated all their phones. If A had sent them a message, they wouldn’t get it.
Chapter 30
Free at Last
About thirty minutes later, there was a knock on the holding-cell doors. All the girls jumped. Emily’s heart catapulted to her throat. This was it. They were going to be interrogated . . . and then they were going to jail.
A woman police officer peered into the room. There were purple circles under her eyes and a coffee stain on the chest of her uniform shirt. “Get your things, girls. You’re being released.”
Everyone fell silent, stunned. Then Emily collapsed with relief. “Really?”
“Did you find A?” Aria asked.
“What happened?” Hanna said at the same time.
The cop’s expression was stony. “All charges against you are dropped.” But there was an uncomfortable look on her face, like there was something else she wanted to say. “Let’s just say circumstances have changed.”
Emily followed the others out of the room, working the words over in her mind. Circumstances have changed? That could mean only one thing. Her heart leapt.
“That body in the hole wasn’t Ali’s, right?” she cried. “You found her!” So they had been listening when she told them that Wilden was a murderer!
Spencer nudged Emily’s ribs. “Would you shut up about that?”
“No,” Emily snapped. A might have sent them to jail, but Emily’s theory was still right. She knew it at the bottom of her heart. She turned back to the cop, who was walking briskly down the hall. “Is Ali okay? Is she safe?”
“You girls are going home,” the cop answered. Her keys jingled on her belt. “That’s all I can tell you.”
They received their personal items from another officer at the front desk. Emily immediately checked her phone, thinking that perhaps Ali had texted, but there were no new messages. Not even a derisive note from A, laughing that Emily had walked right into the trap.
The female cop hit a buzzer, and double doors opened to the parking lot. It was crammed with police cars and news vans. Emily hadn’t seen so much commotion since the fire in the woods.
“Emily,” a voice said.
Darren Wilden ran at them from across the dark parking lot, his quilted police jacket flapping open. “Good. They let you out. I’m sorry about this.”
Emily recoiled, her heart jumping to her throat. Why was Wilden here? Shouldn’t he be arrested?
“What’s going on?” Aria demanded, stopping near an empty patrol car. “Why did they suddenly set us free?”
Wilden guided them away from the crowd, not answering. “Just be glad you’re out of this mess. We’re getting guys to escort you home.”
Emily planted her feet. “I know what you did,” she said in a low voice. “And I’m going to make sure everyone else knows it too.”
Wilden swiveled around, staring at her. His walkie-talkie made a noise, but he ignored it. Finally, he sighed. “What you think you know isn’t true, Emily. I know you went to Lancaster. And I know what you were led to believe. But I didn’t hurt Leah. I’d never do that.”
The blood drained from Emily’s head. “What? How do you know where I was?”
Wilden stared at the glowing parking space lines in the lot. “You guys were right about your new A. I should have listened.”
Aria stomped her foot. “Oh, now you believe us? Why couldn’t you have listened last week, maybe before we were almost fried alive in a forest fire?”
“And before A sent me to the Preserve at Addison-Stevens!” Hanna wailed. “I was locked up with crazy people!”
Emily shot up. The Preserve at Addison-Stevens. That name was in Ali’s evidence file. It was a mental hospital?