19
"Okay we get it! It has to stay between us three!" Heidi had to stop Laura going on about how top secret this piece information was. "Can you please just tell us now?"
"I'm sure it's not as big as you're making it out to be." Sofia continued filing her nails.
"Okay on Wednesday I went for a drive with Spencer to tell her about A and the video..." Laura began.
Sofia decided to prompt her. "Get to the actual point! It's Friday!"
"If you're not interested, leave my house!" Heidi grimaced as she opened her bedroom door to make sure no one had come home without her realising.
Laura lowered her voice. "Well, she knew exactly what Abi was wearing the night she disappeared but she said that she left town way before that day."
"So she lied? That only makes her guilty of not telling the truth!" Sofia frowned.
"But why would she lie about that? Plus she said she didn't really like Abi." Laura was obviously convinced that Spencer knew more than she was letting on.
"She knew what Abi was wearing and she's hiding the fact that she was here the night that she disappeared. There might be a connection there." Heidi considered something. "We should tell Tiana!"
"We can't." Laura was stern. "Spencer is her cousin."
"Yeah what if we're wrong. I mean, come on. What's the worst Spencer could've done if she was in Roseford that day anyway?" Sofia shrugged.
"She could've killed someone!" Laura seemed shocked that Sofia didn't agree with what she was saying immediately.
"But Spencer doesn't seem crazy at all." Sofia was having a hard time understanding why Spencer could be a potential suspect.
"And we don't know for sure whether Abi is dead or not so..." Heidi found herself partially agreeing with Sofia for once.
"Get real! We can't keep hoping that she's alive forever!" Laura was getting frustrated.
"And we can't assume she's dead either!" Sofia snapped back. "For all we know she's living it up in Mexico!"
Laura folded her arms. "I'm sure she'd be back by now if she was in Mexico!"
"Maybe she likes the tacos better over there." Sofia suggested.
"That was just stupid!" Heidi was back to disagreeing with Sofia. They all jumped when the door bell rang. "I'll get it."
Heidi ran downstairs quickly. When she opened the front door, there was no one in sight. Her phone bleeped and she read the new IM.
Another little present. ––A
Heidi looked down and saw an envelope. She picked it up and closed the door. The picture in the envelope made a chill run up her spine and she sprinted back to her bedroom to show Laura and Sofia. "You've gotta see this! It's from A!"
Sofia snatched the picture and stared the big, black bag being pulled by a gloved hand in it. "Oh my god! That bag looks like-"
"Like it could hold a body? Yeah! And look at what's coming out the end of the bag!" Heidi pointed at the photo.
"It looks like...like blond hair." Laura was stunned. "So do you guys still think Abi's alive? This has to be the night she went missing. Look at that huge tree branch near the bag! Remember the stormy weather that night? When Abi's mom was on the phone to me the day after Abi went missing, I heard Abi's dad complain about a huge branch he had to move out of their yard!"
"So you think that it's Abi's backyard in the picture!" Heidi grabbed her phone. "We have to tell Tiana about this!"
"She was probably killed in her own backyard! This needs to be taken to the police now!" Laura grabbed her bag.
Sofia stood up. "One thing's bothering me though."
"What?" Laura asked.
"Why did she leave the barn and go back to her yard in the first place?" Sofia brought up the question that they all wanted to know the answer to.
When Heidi picked the photo up to put it into her bag she saw the red writing on the back. "Let it burn?"
"What did you say?" Laura turned back.
"Look at the back of this!" Heidi gave the picture to Laura.
"Let it burn..." Laura thought for a moment.
"Do you think the killer burnt the body?" Sofia narrowed her eyes.
"This proves Anna is A! And she must be the killer! I think we all know what this means." Laura was breathless.