"I remember what happened the night Mallory died," Mary Anne repeated.

The shaft of moonlight coming through the window illuminated her face. Eyes wide, mouth agape, face ghostly pale, she had a look of sheer terror.

"I was drinking all night," Mary Anne recalled. "I ended up at that party – the party Stacey mentioned. Half the school was there."

Dawn listened as Mary Anne spoke. Mary Anne's voice was soft and monotone as she relayed the painful memory.

"I left with someone. He took me to a private place to make out." Mary Anne shook her head. "I was drunk and stupid."

Dawn shrugged. "Sometimes teenagers do dumb things."

"No! You don't understand!" Mary Anne protested. "The boy I left with...was Ben Hobart!"

Dawn gasped, "Mallory's boyfriend!"

"And the private place he took me to..." Mary Anne paused to take a deep breath, "It was the cliff where Mallory was killed just a few hours later."

Dawn gasped again.

"I was so out of it," Mary Anne went on. "I didn't care about Ben. I wasn't interested in him. I was just there."

"You were in a really dark place in your life," Dawn sympathized. "I get it."

"It gets worse," Mary Anne said as tears began to fall.

"Worse? Okay. Go on."

"Mallory caught us there," Mary Anne closed her eyes tightly, clearly pained by the memory. "She was screaming at us. She was so angry. She kept yelling 'How could you? How could you'."

"Then what happened?" Dawn asked, anxious to know but afraid of the answer.

"She left," Mary Anne recalled. "Mallory left."

Dawn exhaled, semi-relieved. Mallory was still dead – and someone was responsible for it...but she was glad to know it wasn't Mary Anne.

"She ran away crying. She cut through the field as if she was headed toward her house." Mary Anne wrapped her arms around herself tightly. "I guess that's when she threw away that picture of Ben I found in the garbage."

"What did you and Ben do after Mal ran away?" Dawn was on the edge of her seat.

"Ben took off after her."

"Oh?" Dawn grimaced. "He probably caught up with her. I bet he is the killer!"

"It seems that way," Mary Anne admitted.

"What did you do?"

"I passed out under a tree," Mary Anne began to pace around her room. "And that's when something really weird happened."

"What?" Dawn leaned in, all ears.

"I woke up...it must have been just an hour or so later...in the back seat of a car."

"Whose car?"

"I...I was still drunk and it's all foggy," Mary Anne walked faster as she talked. "But...I think the driver of the car was...was..."

"Who, Mary Anne?" Dawn exclaimed. "Who was driving the car?"

Mary Anne stopped dead in her tracks. "It was Mrs. Porter!"

Hours later, Kristy and Claudia met at the park. Claudia, wearing cheetah print leggings and thigh high white patent leather boots under a neon green knit poncho, was sitting for Laura and Gabbie Perkins. Kristy, in her standard Stoneybrook High t-shirt and jeans, brought her brother David Michael and her step-brother Andrew. As the kids played, Claudia and Kristy discussed their recent brushes with B activity.

"I can't believe you found letters Mallory wrote to B in the Pike's basement," Claudia balked, knocking back a box of Nerds she had stuffed in her purse, which was made out of newspaper. "Maybe that means one of the Pikes is B?"

"I don't know," Kristy countered. "The window was propped open, so it kinda seems like someone was - or is - sneaking in and out."

"Creepy!" Claudia shuddered.

"Someone was there," Kristy was certain. "Standing in the front yard, watching me through the window."

"What time was it?" Claudia asked.

"I had just put the kids to bed...so it was about 9 o'clock, I guess."

"I left Ashley's at 8:45," Claudia began to get excited. "She could've left right after and gotten to the Pike's house easily by 9."

Kristy suppressed an eye roll. "I highly doubt Ashley Wyeth is B."

"But the way she signs her name on her paintings...the heart looks just like a B!" Claudia argued. "AND the selection of Nancy Drew books she had us painting was a huge clue. PLUS, she's suddenly uber-supportive of me babysitting to save money for art school."

"Circumstantial," Kristy waved her hand dismissively.

"Well...based on her diary entries, we can tell Mallory and B have a strong bond," Claudia continued. "So maybe Mallory approached Ashley, just like she did me, about helping illustrate her novel. Maybe she and Ashley bonded over that."

"Speculative," Kristy shook her head.

"I guess I just want it to be her so it's not Janine," Claudia explained softly.

"Oh, it's Janine alright!" a voice startled them from behind.

Stacey marched up, hand in hand with Charlotte Johanssen.

"Go play, sweetie," Stacey told Charlotte. "I'll be sitting here with Kristy and Claudia."

Charlotte ran off and Stacey, dressed fashionably in fashionable fashions, sat down beside Claudia.

"Sam and I watched a movie with Charlie and Janine last night," Stacey told them. "She was giving me really weird looks! She has to be B."

Kristy gasped. "What time was this?"

Stacey shrugged. "We started the movie at about 8, I think? Maybe a little after."

"Then it's not her!" Claudia exclaimed with glee.

"Huh?" Stacey asked.

"Someone was standing in the Pike's yard watching me last night. I'm pretty sure it was B." Kristy explained. "At 9 o'clock. So if Janine was with you watching a movie, she couldn't have been standing in the Pike's yard!"

"Janine couldn't be B!" Claudia effused with relief.

"But Janine left early," Stacey explained. "I mentioned Mallory just to see how she would react. She got nervous, told Charlie she didn't feel well, and left."

"What time?" Claudia demanded.

Stacey thought for a moment. "It was just after 8:30."

Claudia went pale. Janine could've easily been the one standing outside the Pike's house. Considering all of the other shady clues, Janine was certainly a prime suspect to be B.

"But there are still other suspects," Kristy spoke up, noticing Claudia's dismay. "Shannon is certainly crazy enough to be B..."

"And don't forget Ben Hobart," Stacey added. "There's definitely something going on with Ben Hobart."

At the very moment those words were spoken, Mary Anne stepped up to Ben Hobart's door.

What am I doing? She thought. Ben is probably Mallory's killer. He's dangerous. Claudia and Stacey saw him with a gun. I shouldn't be here. I should go.

She wavered and considered running back to her car, driving home, and forgetting everything. She wanted to know what happened that night. She wanted to piece things together and solve the mystery, ending the nightmare once and for all. But at what cost? Her own life?

A few months ago, I wouldn't have cared if my life was in danger, Mary Anne realized. But now...The BSC is back together. I have my friends back. I have my sister back. I feel like I have something to live for again.

Before she could go, the door swung open. Ben Hobart stood before her. He had a backpack flung over one shoulder and was clearly heading out. He was startled to see someone on the front porch. And even more startled to see that it was Mary Anne.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I have to ask you about something." Mary Anne replied, attempting to sound strong and brave.

"What?" he grunted, seeming agitated.

"I want to know what happened the night Mallory died."

Ben looked past her. He looked at the ground. Anywhere he could look to avoiding looking Mary Anne in the eye.

"I need to know what happened, Ben."

Ben didn't answer. He clutched his backpack tightly.

"Please, Ben. Tell me what happened." Mary Anne pressed sternly.

"Leave me alone," Ben mumbled.

"I just want some answers, Ben!" Mary Anne yelled, surprised by the volume and anger in her voice.

"You wanna know what happened?" Ben exploded. He unzipped his backpack, pulled out a gun, and glared at Mary Anne. "Come with me."

Less than a mile away, Dawn lowered herself into the familiar secret passage that she had "discovered" a few years earlier. And now, it seemed, it was B's lair.

A clue to B's identity had to be there. Dawn just knew it.

She turned the flashlight on her cellphone on and took a look around. The photographs of the BSC still lined the walls.

"Why?" Dawn wondered aloud. "Why is B so obsessed with us?"

As she scanned the area, something on the floor in the corner caught her eye. It appeared to be a photo album. She stepped over and picked it up, opening to a random page. Staring back at her was Mallory, surrounded by her smiling family, on one of their annual trips to Sea City. Dawn flipped toward the back of the album. It was filled with pages of fairly recent photos of Mallory. Dawn studied the photos and noticed that they were all taken in the same place – atop the cliff where Mallory had died.

Before Dawn could go any further, she heard someone climbing down into the passage behind her. She frantically threw the photo album down, dropping her phone in the process, and whirled around only to be blinded by the beams of a flashlight.

A familiar voice greeted, "Hello, Dawn."