Chapter 1.

"What is it, Spencer?"

Spencer had been quiet. Thinking hard.

"No, nothing," she shook her head.

"Well I've got to go," Alison stated as she stood up, "I've got to play referee between Jason and Mary again."

"Good luck," Aria smiled.

"Call if you need anything," Emily hugged her friend.

Alison waved a little as she walked away.

Hanna turned back to Spencer, "Come on, what are you thinking? You're always thinking something."

Spencer leant forward, lowering her voice so the others had to lean in, "I was just thinking… how do we even know that Mary is… Mary?"

"What, you think she's Mrs D?" Emily asked incredulously.

"Well, it's not that hard to buy a bottle of hair dye and a new wardrobe," Spencer figured, "I just don't know why we should be believing anything this woman says."

"But Mrs D wouldn't do that to Alison… have her committed to Welby," Aria nearly sounded convinced.

"Wouldn't she?" Spencer pressed, "She put Charles in Radley. And after everything in that storm cellar… I don't think we ever really knew who Jessica was or what the hell she would do."

"That would mean Mary was the one that was dead, right?" Hanna chimed in, "So you're saying that, what, Mrs D killed her? Took her identity? Why would she do that?"

Silence hung between the girls for a moment.

"She knew Ali was alive, right?" Aria thought aloud, "And she buried Alison alive, right? Maybe she was scared of being found out…"

"She could have been hiding anything," Spencer said, "More than we even know. Maybe she… killed Mary as some kind of escape. As some way of starting again. I mean, don't you think it's weird how friendly her and Alison suddenly are?"

"Well, yeah," Emily frowned, "But she could really be Mary? How do we know?"

"That's the point," Spencer exclaimed, "That's why it's so brilliant. How do we know?"

"It's not like we can ask her to do a DNA swab," Hanna grumbled.

Spencer rolled her eyes, "DNA doesn't matter. Identical twins have the same DNA because they come from the same egg and – "

"Okay, Spence," Hanna cut in, "We get it. So, how can we prove who she is?"

"Fingerprints," Spencer said, "Everybody, even identical twins, have unique fingerprints… but that would only work if one of them was already in the system. Jessica's too smart, she'd never be caught at anything that could go on record. That's why she pinned that baby's death on…. That's it! Mary's prints have to be in the system if they blamed that death on her!"

"But she wasn't convicted," Hanna pointed out, "They just sent her to Radley."

"It doesn't matter," Spencer said, "She was arrested. They would have had to take her prints."

"So…" Aria mused, "All we need to do is get her fingerprints and have Toby run through the system?"

"What about Ali, guys?" Emily asked, "Shouldn't we tell her? This is her mom we're talking about."

"Maybe talking about," Spencer pointed out, "We shouldn't tell her until we know."

"Agreed, she's been through enough," Aria murmured.

Hanna nodded in silent agreeance.

Emily sighed and nodded, "Okay. Let's do it."

"So, how'd the dinner go?" Spencer asked, trying to act normally as she sat in her friends lounge room.

Alison shrugged, "Mary cooked. Jason was rude. Same old, same old."

"I guess it's hard for him to accept…"

"Sure, but Mary is really trying and Jason is just… not," Alison sighed.

Spencer nodded, "Where is she now, anyway?"

"Oh, she just went for a walk," Alison said, "She walks a lot. Something about feeling free."

Spencer nodded again and right on cue, the front door clicked open. Mary entered the lounge room, holding a bag of shopping and the mail.

"Oh, hello Spencer," she smiled.

"Hello," Spencer smiled right back.

"Something for you," Mary handed over a few letters to Alison, "I was going to make tuna mornay. Will you be joining us, Spencer?"

"Oh, I better not," Spencer said politely, "I've got plans, but thank you."

"Some other time, then," Mary offered, walking into the kitchen.

"So, no news," Alison lowered her voice, "on A.D? Nothing?"

Spencer cast a hand up in defeat, "Nothing new," she watched as Mary left the kitchen and walked down the hallway, "Do you mind if I grab a water?"

"Sure," Alison made to stand up.

"It's fine, Ali," Spencer stood up, "I'll get it," she wandered into the kitchen, quickly grabbing a glass of water, her eyes scanning the kitchen bench until she saw the mail.

Carefully, slipping her sleeves over her hands she picked up a letter and hid slipped into her pants pocket.

"Spencer."

Spencer spun around to come face to face with Mary.

"Everything okay?" Mary asked, watching the younger woman closely.

Spencer pasted on a smile and picked up her water, "Great. You know, I don't think any of us have told you we're grateful you got Alison out of that place."

Mary looked mildly surprised, "Well, I was partly responsible…"

Spencer nodded, "Remember when you said you came back to Rosewood because you found out your sister passed away?"

"Of course," Mary confirmed.

"The thing I don't get is… that was so long ago. How did it take you so long to – "

"I wasn't exactly in contact with Jessica," Mary cut in, "Or anyone from this town. I didn't keep tabs on her…"

"Oh," Spencer smiled, "I suppose that makes sense."

"Spencer?" Alison appeared from around the corner and then looked between the two dark haired women, "Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Mary smiled tightly.

"I should really get going," Spencer said, "But you call if you need anything, okay?" she gave Alison a quick hug.

"I know," Alison was used to her friends' saying that by now; she wasn't stupid, she knew they didn't trust Mary. Truth be told, she wasn't even sure that she trusted Mary… but she was starting to.

"Goodbye, Spencer," Mary nodded politely.

"Alright, I better go. Mom's got this idea that I'm not eating properly so she's cooking for me," Hanna rolled her eyes, "But call if you hear from Toby."

"Sure," Spencer nodded.

"I should head off too," Aria stood up and said her goodbye's, leaving Spencer and Emily at The Radley bar.

"Do you really think it could be Mrs D?" Emily asked, still finding it hard to believe.

"In this town, I don't count anything out anymore, Em," Spencer said honestly.

Emily nodded, "And if she's Jessica… is she A.D?"

Spencer thought for a moment, "It would make sense," she said slowly, "If she really loved Charlotte… she could be trying to take revenge for her daughters' death."

"Spence, we need those results," Emily leant forward, "Whoever this person is, we need to figure out if Alison is safe with her."

"We will, Em," Spencer promised.

Emily nodded, "Yeah. My shift starts soon," she sighed, "I should go. But call me the second you hear from Toby?"

Spencer smiled, "First on the list, I promise."

Spencer was just finishing her coffee and a chapter of her book when her phone began buzzing. It had barely rung once when she answered.

"Toby?"

"Hey, Spence. So, you were right. Mary Drake's prints were in the system from when she was sixteen… even though she didn't get convicted in the end, she did get arrested so they took her prints…"

"And do they match …"

Pause.

"They don't match any of the prints you gave me."

Spencer froze, "You're…sure?"

"The test is conclusive, Spence. The prints you gave me don't belong to Mary Drake."

"Oh my god," Spencer closed her eyes, "That's got to mean… Mary is really Jessica. I've got to call the girls. I've got to call Alison. Thanks, Toby," she hung up her phone and begun to scroll through her phone.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Spencer's blood ran cold. She turned around to see Mary… no, Jessica standing in the shadows. She stepped forward, allowing the light to hit her. With a swift movement, she took another step forward and picked the phone straight out of a surprised Spencer's hands. Spencer took a step backwards.

"You always were too smart for your own good."