"Hi. I'm planning a surprise visit for my husband and he cannot stop talking about the room he had on his last visit. Can you pull up that reservation?" Spencer said, faking a country accent.
Katherine was walking past when she heard the fake accent. "Who are you on the phone with?" She whispered.
"His name is Ian Thomas." Spencer said into the phone, making Katherine roll her eyes.
"Now she's onto Ian? What's up with the targeting my friends?" Katherine whispered to Emily.
"Yeah, why are you doing this?" Emily whispered.
"I think Ian and Alison were together the weekend before she disappeared." Spencer whispered, blocking the phone with her hand. "Do you guys remember how Alison was acting when she got home from visiting her grandmother. All giggles and tan?"
"Yeah." Katherine and Emily said.
"Ali hated old people and Ali's grandmother lives in Georgia. Hilton Head is in South Carolina. She was lying to us." Spencer said.
"So what? Alison lied more than she breathed. You think that was enough to make Ian permanently shut her up?" Emily said.
"Alison was obsessed with Ian, Emily. She'd show up to parties, do things in front of Melissa. I love Ian but it does look bad if you really think about it." Katherine said.
"I thought you'd be happy to hear it was anybody but Toby." Spencer said.
"Still sucky for me." Katherine said with a frown. Spencer rubbed Katherine's shoulder and gave a faint smile. A way to apologize.
"All Toby wanted was for me and Kat to believe him and I didn't." Emily said.
"I did." Katherine said.
"Okay, but Toby lied about a lot of things too." Spencer said.
"If lying was a crime, we would all be in jail." Emily said.
"For life." Katherine said.
"Agent Cooper. Good morning." Emily said, making Spencer's eyes widen at who was behind her.
"Hi. Beautiful day, huh?" Agent Cooper said.
"Looks like someone traded in her wheels for heels." Emily said as Hanna walked up to them.
"They're flats, but they are Ferragamos." Hanna said. "You're talking to us again?" She asked Katherine, noticing the brunette at the table.
"Yeah." Katherine said with a small smile which Hanna returned with a wide one.
"Good, we've missed you." She said, sitting down next to her.
"Thank you." Spencer said over the phone before hanging up.
"The food in this town is to die for. I'm missing it already." Agent Cooper said.
"Are you going somewhere?"Hanna asked.
"Came here to find the person that killed your friend. Toby Cavanaugh might be out on bail but he's not leaving town and we have a solid case against him. Unless you have a reason for me to stay." Agent Cooper said.
"How about the fact that it wasn't T-" Katherine started but she was cut off.
"Well, I guess we'll see you around, then." Hanna said.
"You girls take care." Agent Cooper said, before walking away.
"What?" Emily said when she was gone.
"Ian was definitely at Hilton Head the same weekend as Ali." Spencer said.
"Well, yeah. I could've told you that." Katherine said.
"What?" Spencer asked.
"Ian had told me he was going that weekend, I knew they were together the moment Alison admitted to being at Hilton Head." Katherine said.
"Maybe we do have a reason for Cooper to stay." Emily said.
...
"Agent Cooper is not some small town cop who's gonna arrest Spencer's brother-in-law because Ali carved his name into a tree." Hanna said as the group of girls walked through the cafeteria.
"Yeah, a tree that's no longer there." Aria said.
"No one knows that but us." Emily said as they all sat down.
"And Ian." Spencer said.
"And A." Hanna said.
"Screw A." Katherine said, opening a packet of almonds and starting to eat them.
Everyone but Katherine looked at Noel through the window. But Katherine had caught on quickly.
"Not this again." She groaned.
"Why? Because he's your boyfriend?" Aria asked.
"What? He's not my-. Oh." Katherine said. "So, funny story. Noel and I were just having fun that night, I knew it would get to you, I was mad, you know?"
"Oh my god, Kat. You guys were all over each other." Hanna said.
"We're always like that, Han. Me and Eric are the same way, no biggie." Katherine said, shrugging and popping another almond in her mouth.
"Anyways, if Noel is A, he led us to that tree for a reason." Spencer said.
"Is A, I mean, is maybe Noel trying to help us find Ali's killer?" Aria asked.
"Thanks for the use of maybe and if, makes it a little better." Katherine said. "But why would A do that? A hates us."
"Yeah, A helping us? Wow, that's a first." Hanna said.
"How could Noel even know about Ian and Ali?" Spencer asked.
"Okay, so I still fully believe that Noel is not A but it was pretty obvious. I knew because I was connected to both, Ian and Ali. Noel wasn't as close to either of them as me but he's smart. He probably figured it out." Katherine said.
"And have you ever noticed how Noel is always around?" Aria asked.
"That's because I'm always around, Aria. And Hanna is dating Noel's best friend." Katherine said.
They looked at the window again, but this time Katherine looked too. Katherine was shocked to see Noel talking to Mike Montgomery, Aria's little brother.
"Are they friends?" Emily asked.
"No." Aria and Katherine said at the same time.
"Hanna's right about Cooper. We need to find some kind of proof." Spencer said.
"Thank you, Veronica Mars." Hanna said.
"That proof may be boxed in your kitchen." Emily said to Spencer.
"Hi." Maya said, walking up to the table.
"Hey." Emily said, getting up and giving Maya a kiss.
"Are we still on for later?" Maya asked. "You know, now that your dad's gone?"
"Yeah, my mom knows how my dad feels about us." Emily said.
"In other words, he'll tolerate me." Maya said.
"She's spending the day in the city, okay, so you'll be safe, I promise." Emily said.
"What's later?" Spencer asked.
"Yeah, Em, gonna show Maya the way around your bed?" Katherine asked, a teasing smile on her face.
"Studying." Emily said, giving Katherine a look.
"Studying? That's the most overused lie ever." Katherine said.
"Yeah, is that girl on girl code for romance?" Hanna asked, the same smile on Katherine's face on hers.
"No, we're actually studying." Emily said.
"But your friend is a romantic." Maya said.
"Is she?" Spencer asked.
"Yeah. Walks in the rain, picnics by the lake, dancing naked in candlelight." Emily said. All the girls' mouths opened slightly making Emily laugh. "I'm just kidding. We go to dinner and a movie, just like you guys."
"Well, she's not entirely kidding. Emily would love to do those things." Maya said, making Emily blush.
"Okay, you've shared enough." Emily said, pulling Maya away.
"They're so cute." Katherine said after Emily and Maya left and they all nodded.
...
"Noel, what the hell? I was with the girls." Katherine said as Noel brought her down a hall. "No. Seriously? You wanna torment him more?" She said once she realized where they were heading.
Noel just smirked and told her to be quiet as they walked in. They stood in front of Mr. Fitz's desk, waiting for him to turn around.
"Nice vest. This is your teacher look, right? I'm an observant guy. I see things other people may not notice." Noel said.
"Your point is?" Ezra asked.
"Aria told me that you might have misunderstood our previous conversation about my disappointing grade. It's sweet how close you two are." Noel said.
"What do you want?" Ezra asked.
"I wanna make this easy for you. This is a brand new paper, and trust me, it's worthy of an A." Noel said, handing Ezra the paper.
"Yeah, this is the same essay. You just reprinted it." Ezra said, flicking through the pages and handing it back.
"Well, last time we talked, I wanted the A. This time I need it or I don't get to suit up for Friday's game." Noel said.
"Mr. Fitz, please just give him the A. Noel is our best player." Katherine said.
"It's a few strokes of a pen. Why is this so hard for you?" Noel said.
"If you have to ask the question, you wouldn't understand my answer." Ezra said.
"Let's go, Noel. This isn't worth it." Katherine said, not wanting Aria to get hurt from whatever would come out of this.
"You two are never early for class. What's up?" Zach Kavins said, taking his seat.
"Noel just had to ask Mr. Fitz something." Katherine said, grabbing Noel's hand and pulling him to their seats in the back.
"Yeah, and we were looking for Aria." Noel said.
"You two still hooking up? I thought you and Katherine were a thing now." Zach said.
"The thing about Aria is she's way into older guys, good thing Kat's always been my favorite." Noel said, giving Katherine a short kiss.
"Give me the paper, I can reread it today." Ezra said and Noel walked back to the front with his paper and then headed back to Katherine, a victorious smirk on his face.
There was a ton of commotion and Katherine headed to the door to see what was going on. She stood in the doorway with Ezra and saw Toby Cavanaugh walk down the hall with his probation officer.
"Murderer." Ryder Hink said, stepping in front of Toby. Katherine was about to do something about it when Ezra grabbed her arm and subtly shook his head. She bit the inside of her cheek and went back to her seat.
...
"Did you take another look at my paper?" Noel asked, as he and Katherine walked into Ezra's classroom.
"Yes." Ezra said. He handed it to Noel and it was still a C. Katherine raised an eyebrow. Ezra was bold for that.
"What the hell is this?" Noel asked.
"It's the grade you earned." Ezra said, packing up his stuff to go.
"Do you know what this means?" Noel asked. Ezra just walked away, he made it to the doorway when Noel grabbed his arm and started to yell. "Hey, I'm talking to you." Katherine would've flinched if she wasn't used to this, sometimes someone would get too close to her for Noel's liking and he'd yell or hurt them.
"I know exactly what it means." Ezra said.
...
Spencer was on a run, Toby was on a walk, and Katherine had just gotten a coffee. She walked out to see a car drive past Toby.
"Why don't you save us the cost of a trial and drop dead?" The person in the passenger seat yelled. Katherine quickly picked up someones pretzel and cheese sauce and threw them at the car.
"Why don't you save me the cost of a headache and shut up?" Katherine yelled at the guy in the car, who just flipped her off. "Are you okay, Toby?" She asked.
"Do you believe me, Kat?" Toby asked, he looked at her like she was the last hope he had.
"Yeah, I believe you." Katherine said, giving him a hug. They started walking forward, their arms looped together.
"Ice cream is so good." The older little kid said.
"Yeah." The smaller one agreed.
But when they saw Toby they froze and took off across the street, making Toby frown.
"Ignore that, they're just little kids. They believe anything that they're told." Katherine said, and Toby nodded but he started walking faster. Katherine almost had to jog to keep up with the pace he was going. He turned into an alley that led nowhere and unhooked their arms, he leaned against a wall and tears welled up in his eyes as he sat down "Toby. Let it out." Katherine said, rubbing Toby's arm as she sat down next to him. He leaned is head on her shoulder and quiet sobs stained her shoulder.
Spencer had peeked through a gate on the side and saw Toby cry into Katherine's arms, she immediately felt sympathy for the boy.
...
"Step aside, please." A school security officer said.
"Somebody set me up." Noel said.
"What's going on?" Katherine asked Aria as she walked up.
"I don't know, I guess something is in Noel's locker." Aria said.
"You'll have to explain this one, Mr. Kahn." The officer said.
"You have to believe me." Noel said. Katherine was about to walk up and defend Noel, she was going to tell the officers off when Aria held her arm, holding her back.
"You stole the answers to three midterms, Mr. Kahn." Principal Hackett said. "I can't imagine ever believing you again."
Katherine turned her head slightly and saw Ezra start to face what was going on, his face looked intrigued and relieved. She really hated him but she needed to say some stuff to him, for Aria's sake. Aria turned to face Ezra and the three of them knew what had just happened. Noel could never turn Ezra in, he was safe.
Aria and Ezra's eye contact and Katherine's glancing between them stopped when the girls' phones started to ring. They all pulled out their phones and Katherine debated replying. Something along the lines of 'fuck you bitch'. But she knew it would only cause more problems for her.
A is for Alison, not Amateur.
A had actually set up Noel Kahn.
...
"I don't know who I'm more afraid of. A, the bitch who tried to flatten Hanna or A, our new frenemy." Aria said.
"Both are more your friends than mine. I mean, we all know that A set Noel up for Aria." Katherine said.
"Kat's right. A saved my relationship." Aria said with a smile that could make the angels jealous.
"Yeah, well, A tried to kill me." Hanna said.
"Because A thought you saw her. A clearly knows now that you didn't." Spencer said. The door opened and they quickly pretended to be studying. "So the law of cosines is an extension of the Pytha-"
"Hey, Melissa." Katherine said with a warm smile, cutting Spencer off.
"It's nice to see the posse together again." Melissa said, smiling at them.
"The posse?" Aria asked.
"This is me playing nice, Aria. Spencer and I have called a truce." Melissa said.
"Good, I hate being in the middle." Katherine said.
"You're always in the middle. You're literally close friends with two people we don't like." Hanna said.
"Whatever." Katherine said.
"Anyways, I'll play along. How does it feel to be married?" Hanna said.
"It feels like I don't have to try so hard all the time, like things are settled." Melissa said.
"I'm so happy for you and Ian." Katherine said.
"You ready, wife?" Ian asked, walking into the room.
"I am, my handsome husband." Melissa said.
Ian threw a rolled up joint in a baggie at Katherine who caught it with ease and said goodbye.
"Score." Katherine said, tucking the bag into her purse.
Not even ten seconds later, Emily walked in and they all looked at her with bright smiles.
"What?" Emily asked.
"There is something that I need to show you, in my room." Spencer said, and she was about to lead Emily upstairs when Aria spoke up.
"Wait, no. I think she should find it herself." Aria said.
"Definitely." Katherine said, a giddy expression on her face.
"I agree, but first..." Hanna said, standing up and making Emily's hair a tad messy and unbuttoning the top button on Emily's jacket. "There, now you can go."
The girls were going through Ian's boxes while Emily was upstairs with Maya.
"You guys, look. Really?" Spencer said, picking up a pair of binoculars.
"For spying."
"It's so creepy."
"Maybe he likes bird watching."
"You know, I'm officially jealous of Emily's love life." Hanna said, as they heard Maya and Emily laughing.
"Me too." Katherine said.
"Oh, please. You could get anyone you want. Every guy in Rosewood worships you."Spencer said.
"Not everyone." Katherine said, her mind going to Jason.
"We've got comic books, more comic books." Aria said as Hanna pulled out multiple. "And more comic books."
"Evidence of geekdom, but not a crime." Hanna said.
"Hey." Emily said, walking downstairs, hand in hand with Maya.
"Thank you guys so much." Maya said.
Each of them gave Maya a hug before Maya left.
"I don't even know how to thank you guys. Tonight was the best gift anyone could've ever given me." Emily said.
"Where are they sending her?" Spencer asked.
"Some place called True North." Emily said.
"Seriously?" Hanna asked.
"Kat, didn't you have a cousin or something that was sent there?" Spencer asked.
"Yeah, Ty." Katherine said.
"Is it bad?" Emily asked.
"Ty said that they try to convert you. He had to pretend to pray to God for weeks before Aunt Lana let him come back home. He ran away and now he does drugs with some friends in Florida." Katherine said.
"Wait, Ty lives in Florida now?" Aria asked.
"Yeah, up by Miami." Katherine said.
"But Maya's an amazing person, she'll be fine." Aria said.
"Yeah. Did you guys find anything?" Emily said.
"We've looked through every box and found a big, fat nothing." Spencer said.
Aria's phone started to beep and they signaled for her to check it.
"Don't say I never gave you anything.Turn on your computer. A." Aria read out loud.
They all hurried over to Spencer's computer and turned it on. It was the video of Alison that they had been shown in the office.
"If the girls knew I was seeing you, oh my god, they would not stop talking about it."
"This is the video Cooper showed us." Emily said.
"I wish they were more mature, like me and Kat, but...We don't have a lot of time. I have to get back before they wake up. I know you wanna kiss me."
The camera got closer to Alison and she stood up. She took the camera in her hands and turned it to face the boy she was with. Ian Thomas. Everyone but Katherine gasped. She had assumed it was him, she just really didn't want it to be.
"Oh, my god." Spencer said.
"Come closer." Ian said in the video. Alison laughed and all they heard was what sounded like a struggle, the camera was on the sky until it fell to the ground. Showing Alison's hand go limp.