After the funeral, the girls sat gathered at The Radley taking a drink. The entire thing reminded Isabella of Alison's funeral all those years ago when they first had been cornered by Wilden and then took a drink at the Apple Rose Grill. The feeling of déjà vu made Isabella think of everything else that had happened in this town – good and bad – leaving her suffocated.
"When did you tell Jordan?" Aria asked out of the blue, attention focused on the blonde.
"Tell him what?" Hanna wondered, not fully understanding the question.
"This town, Charlotte everything we went through," Aria clarified.
"She means the things she can't google," Isabella snorted.
"When I knew I was falling in love with him," Hanna responded with a soft smile.
"Hmm, Liam and I aren't there yet but — I know he's gonna have a lot of questions when I get back," Aria said.
"Are you sure you should leave tonight?" Emily asked her. They all found it a bit weird how eager Aria was to get out of town. Isabella wasn't especially thrilled about staying either, but since it was a long trip and it gave her the opportunity to settle a case in New York, staying for a little longer in order to not look like she was fleeing town wouldn't kill her. "You know the cops wanna talk to us before we go."
"Yeah, I've already missed a few days of work," Aria said like it was obvious.
"We all have, Aria," Hanna said before Isabella could make a sarcastic comment. "We're staying."
"Okay, well, my boss asked me to come back," Aria told them, earning looks from all her friends. "You guys, this wasn't an easy job to get. I can't lose it."
"They're gonna ask us questions about that night," Hanna pointed out.
"Yeah, we were all together and none of us left the hotel. What else is there to say?" Aria shrugged, placing her glass on the table.
"I left," Isabella pointed out. "At around one and Caleb dropped me off at home after that."
"I think the person the cops should really be talking to is right over there," Spencer said, nodding over to the reception where Sara Harvey checked into The Radley. The guy who came with her to the funeral – some sort of assistant perhaps – took the pen from the clerk and signed. "Can she really not sign her own name?"
"I still haven't told anyone about what happened, have you?" Emily asked them and Hanna shook her head.
"Do we really believe she doesn't remember?" Aria wondered.
"I think she's lying. Just like she lied about having Swedish Syndrome to get her sentence reduced," Hanna said confidently.
"Stockholm Syndrome," Isabella corrected. "And that requires her to actually have been kidnapped, which she wasn't. She was living out in the world and chose to help Charlotte torture us."
"You know, the judge didn't see it that way," Aria said.
"If Sara really was brainwashed, she'd have a pretty strong motive to kill Charlotte. Revenge," Spencer told them, easily falling back to her old habits of jumping to conclusions – even if they did make sense.
Aria picked up her phone and checked the time, "Oh, I hate to break up this but I gotta get going."
"I'll walk you to your car," Hanna offered and after a few goodbye hugs Aria left Rosewood.
•*•*•*•
After spending the morning with her dads and Jaime, Isabella met up with the others at the Hastings barn. Alison had spoken with Lorenzo after the funeral and he'd given her the autopsy report that Isabella now read loudly from, "'The flower was placed in her hand to make it look like a suicide. Her fingernails were wiped clean. So were her hands."
"I'm so sorry, Ali," Hanna said sympathetically.
"Who would do something like this?" Alison asked, understandably still shaken by her sister's murder.
"Sara Harvey," Hanna responded easily.
"Well, the police can't see how she could push someone off a building when she can barely hold a fork," Alison snorted.
"Maybe she's lying about that," Hanna suggested.
"Or maybe she had help," Spencer added.
"Either way, they took her off the suspect list," Alison told them. Then she changed the subject and said, "Aria left town quickly."
"She had to go back to work," Spencer explained.
"Well, she was still angry with Charlotte," Alison pointed out, referring to the hearing.
"She wasn't angry. She was scared," Spencer tried to reason with her. "And she said everything that she needed to say up on that stand."
"I saw her dad this morning. He said that she left town one day earlier than planned," Alison told them, clearly not buying any of their excuses about Aria's departure. The other three had no idea how to respond. Luckily, she decided to change the subject, "I was hoping that you guys would come to dinner tonight. Emily, Caleb, Jaime. Jordan too. I could really use the company. It's been really lonely in that house.
"Sure," Isabella said, knowing her friend needed this. "We would be happy too."
Hanna didn't look thrilled by the thought – probably not looking forward to having Caleb and Jordan, who decided to show up from nowhere, in the same room – but she pushed it down and asked, "What should we bring?"
•*•*•*•
Later the same day, Isabella sat on the couch in the Hastings barn. Spencer was — of course — freaking out about them once again being a suspect in a murder. Isabella couldn't claim to be completely calm yet she tried to sooth her own paranoia by reasoning that she had nothing to do with it.
Caleb handed over a coffee mug to Isabella and then one to Spencer who sat with her computer by the dinner table slash desk. "The police thinks that the murders was premeditated. That's why they're looking at us,"
"Alright, let them look," Caleb told her. "They'll see that all of you put what happened behind you and you've moved on."
"You know it hasn't been that easy," Spencer pointed out, casting a quick glance at Isabella.
"Going to therapy isn't a strike against you," Caleb told both girls. "You had a lot to overcome."
"I think I am still overcoming it," Isabella said. It's been a long time since she had a full on panic attack but her mental health was far from perfect. She'd still wake up some nights and be stuck in the dollhouse, the box Charlotte put her in or sometimes the lighthouse.
"It's not gonna make anybody think that you're capable of murder," Caleb said assuringly, sitting at the edge of the couch, offering Isabella a quick side hug.
"No, this might," Spencer said, angling the computer towards the two. Both Caleb and Isabella stood up and walked over to the table. Caleb sat down while Isabella only bent over a bit to look at the screen.
"What is this?" Isabella asked. "A detailed description of how you planned to murder Charlotte."
"It's a paper that I wrote my sophomore year at Georgetown," Spencer explained. "Each of us had to do a case study on a unique murder and I did mine on a woman who was killed on her wedding night. Did you know that it's human instinct to go head first when you leap to your death?"
"No."
"Yes."
"Well, it is," Spencer continued. "And later on, they discovered that her neck was broken before she fell. She was found holding her bridal bouquet and her fingernails were wiped clean."
"What class was this for?" Caleb asked with a frown.
"How To Get Away With Murder 101?" Isabella suggested jokingly.
"It's for criminology," Spencer deadpanned. "Look, that's exactly the way that Charlotte died. What if somebody knows that I wrote this paper? They know my history here and they're trying to set me up?"
"Spence, breathe," Caleb said calmly, looking deeply into Spencer's eyes with an intimacy she hadn't expected between those two. "Being back here is making you paranoid. Nobody's trying to hurt you, okay? I'm telling you this is all just one big coincidence. Right, Isa?" Caleb looked at Isabella for help.
The green eyed girl's eyes flickered between her best friend and her brother. Something had changed in the air between them. Deciding not to question it more now, Isabella said, "A coincidence requires that there are no apparent casual connections. Charlotte being murdered alone could have been a coincidence. The circumstances, however — it's clear they are supposed to point in our direction."
•*•*•*•
"I can't believe Jaime has grown so much," Spencer said, standing next to Isabella as they watched him chat happily with Caleb, seated on the couch in Alison's living room.
"It's been five years, Spence," Isabella reminded her. "That's a lot when you're that little."
"How does he like England?" Emily wondered.
"He loves it," Isabella chuckled. "He was still a toddler when we left Rosewood so he pretty much can't remember anything other than living in Oxford and now London."
"Hi," Hanna said upon entering the house, carrying some food. Behind her trailed her fiance who smiled brightly as he handed over the food box he was carrying to Emily.
"Oh, wow," Emily said. "You guys bring enough food?"
"Oh, there's more," Hanna told them.
"Hey, Hanna. Hi, Jordan," Spencer said, giving the tall man a hug while Caleb remained with Jaime. "So good to see you,"
"You too," Jordan responded.
"Jordan, you haven't met Izzy yet," Hanna introduced them cheerfully, hoping her enthusiasm would improve her fiancé's chances of impressing Isabella. The two had never met, since Isabella lived across the world, and the blonde knew that out of her friends Isabella — despite Jordan's confidence — was not easily impressed. "Izzy, this is Jordan."
"A pleasure," Isabella said, shaking his hand with a polite smile. Knowing Hanna definitely warned him about her — because the blonde also told her to play nice — Isabella made sure to fix him with a scrutinising gaze.
"The pleasure is mine. Hanna's told me a lot about you," Jordan smiled charmingly.
"Oh really?" Isabella smirked. "I could happily return the favour and tell you a little bit about Hanna-"
"And this," Hanna said loudly, cutting her off, "is Izzy's son: Jaime."
"Hanna banana," Jaime skipped to the blonde and hugged her quickly. He was an unusually social child which was surprising considering his parents. Then he turned to Jordan, "It's a pleasure meeting you," he said politely — his great grandmothers would both have been proud, then he skipped back over to Caleb who awkwardly stood there.
"Uh, Jordan, this is Caleb. Caleb, Jordan," Hanna introduced the two; her voice was upbeat enough to prove that it made her uneasy to have them in the same room. Not that Isabella blamed her.
"I finally get to meet the Caleb Rivers," Jordan greeted his fiance's ex with a smile – something Isabella supposed she had to give him credit for. Had he been rude to Caleb, she'd have loathed him at once.
"Yeah, it's nice to meet you," Caleb shook his hand. That the entire ordeal made him uncomfortable did not go unnoticed by Isabella.
"Imbarazzante," Isabella said in a quiet sing-song voice, receiving a harsh stomp on the foot by Hanna.
"Any chance you wanna help me get the last load of food from the car?" Jordan wondered.
"Uh, yeah. How much did you guys bring?" Caleb asked.
"I know. I come from a big family," Jordan wrapped an arm around Hanna's shoulder. "Always over-order." Then the two men walked out to the car.
"They'll be fine," Emily assured Hanna.
"Or else we will get free dinner entertainment," Isabella snorted, cradling her foot. "You are lucky heels have numbed my feet to the point where I barely feel pain anymore."
Hanna offered her a half-hearted glare. Then she turned to the hostess, "How are you doing?"
"I'm holding up, I guess," Alison sighed. "I'm glad everyone could make it — except for Aria. Has anyone talked to her?"
"Uh, not since she left," Emily answered.
"Yeah, I've called her a few times," Alison told them. "She hasn't returned my calls."
"She's probably just busy with work," Hanna tried to excuse their friend's behaviour. Meanwhile Spencer picked up a vase with flowers that stood on the dinner table.
"What are you doing?" Alison snapped, shocking everyone.
"I was just gonna make some room," Spencer explained.
"I bought those for Charlotte to welcome her home," Alison explained, voice thick with emotion.
"Spence," Emily said, nodding towards the table in a sign that she should put it back.
"Okay. Well, then the flowers can stay there," Spencer put the flowers back on the table. "I'll go get some serving spoons."
•*•*•*•
"For how long?" Hanna asked Emily who just told them she was planning on sticking around in Rosewood for a bit longer.
"Couple of weeks. Maybe a month," Emily shrugged. "My mom asked me to stick around for a while."
"The Salk Institute won't mind?" Hanna then asked.
After a second of hesitation, Emily answered, "No.
"What do you do there?" Hanna asked curiously.
"Um, we research cures. Alzheimer's, diabetes infectious diseases,"
"Damn," Hanna said, impressed. "Well, you'll save 'em, I'll dress 'em." Then she teasingly bumped Isabella's shoulder, "And Izzy will make sure they don't get their insurance money."
"Oh, perfect," Jordan said as he and Caleb put in the additional table top. "And I think it goes in this way."
Hanna rummaged through the box in front of her and let out a frustrated sigh, "God, there's four bottles of wine and nobody can find a wine opener. This is not happening." She stood up and walked out of the room.
"Uh, it's actually, it's backwards. I used to have one just like it," Caleb explained as they turned it over. "You kinda have to angle the leaves down,"
"Oh, the one with the scratch on it?" Jordan realised. "Yeah, it's the first piece of furniture we put into the new place. Hanna wouldn't let go of it."
Isabella easily saw her brother's downcast eyes. Jordan probably didn't intend to make him feel bad but it was definitely not easy for Caleb to hear. So she decided to spare him, "Caleb? I can't find any wine glasses. You wanna go check the pantry for me?"
"Yeah," Caleb smiled at her and walked away.
"Nice," Isabella said, assisting Jordan in unfolding the tablecloth.
"So do you and Caleb see much of each other?" Jordan wondered, attempting to start a conversation.
"He's the one I see the most," Isabella smiled fondly. "During all the holidays, vacations, birthdays and whenever either of us have the time to visit. And we talk nearly every day
"That's nice," Jordan said. "Me and my friends from high school barely manage to keep in touch."
"It's different for me and Caleb," Isabella shrugged. "My dads essentially adopted him during high school so we are not friends per say. Not to mention how much Jaime loves him. Saying Caleb's his favourite uncle would be misleading so it's more accurate to say he is Jaime's favourite person."
"He's six, right?" Jordan asked, looking over at the blonde boy who spoke with Alison and Emily.
"Yeah, nearly seven," Isabella said, smiling instinctively as she thought of her son. "So let's just say I get asked if I'm his nanny or sister a lot."
•*•*•*•
Everyone sat gathered by the table, ready to eat dinner when Alison's phone rang. "Thank you. I, uh, I appreciate you calling," Alison said to the person on the other end.
"Ali, who was that?" Emily wondered.
"Lorenzo. He said he'd call with any updates," Alison explained, taking her seat by the table.
"What was it? The update?" Spencer wondered.
"Time of death. Charlotte was killed around 4:00 a.m," Alison said while pouring herself some more wine.
"Are you okay?" Hanna wondered..
"Lorenzo says this is good news. They're one step closer to finding her killer," Alison said. After a moment of awkward silence she said, Let's say grace."
Everyone joined hands and because of her friend's recent loss Isabella refrained from making a comment or complaining. Jaime took his mother's hand and his uncle's hand, simply copying the adults even though his eyes were firmly placed on the food in front of him.
"Hanna, hand," Jordan whispered when the blonde simply sat there. Hanna came to life and took her fiance's and ex-boyfriend's hands.
"Thank you, Heavenly Father for this healing food and these dear friends and thank you to all those who are working tirelessly to seek justice for Charlotte. And thank you for helping the police find Charlotte's killer and anyone who could be protecting him — or her," Alison said and the other girls opened their eyes – Hanna and Isabella never closed theirs – and shared a look. "Thank you always for your guidance and love. Amen."
"Amen."
•*•*•*•
Once dinner passed Hanna, Spencer and Isabella hid in the pantry to talk. Upon entering, Hanna said, "That was awkward."
"Was that speech directed at us?" Spencer asked.
"She certainly was looking at us," Isabella said.
"Not at us but — Aria maybe," Hanna told them.
"Why would Ali think that Aria had anything to do with Charlotte's death?" Spencer wondered.
"Maybe she did," Hanna sighed. "Aria left the hotel the night that she was killed."
"How do you know this?" Isabella wondered.
"I saw her," Hanna confessed."She left around 3:00 a.m. and I don't know when she got back."
"Let's just ask her," Spencer suggested.
"Well, I tried that. She denied going anywhere but her car," Hanna explained.
"Okay, well, there are surveillance cameras, right in the lobby of the hotel?" Spencer said.
"Yeah," Hanna nodded.
"Your mom's the manager. So maybe you could find a way to get a look at the footage from that night," Spencer suggested.
"No. we don't do stuff like that anymore," Isabella said firmly. "Let the police investigate this. If they find the footage of Aria, they can ask her questions. It's not our job to solve this murder."
•*•*•*•
Spencer, Hanna and Emily decided to take matters into their own hands and broke into the security room at The Radley. Isabella found it to be incredibly stupid but through their stupidity had managed to find out that Aria left the hotel room after three in the morning – with none other than Ezra – and showed up at 4:20 am again without him. Meaning she wasn't at The Radley at the time of Charlotte's murder.
To make Aria's behaviour even more strange, Emily witnessed Aria going up to Ezra's apartment above The Brew earlier that day even though she'd not told anyone she was back in town. Realising they had to confront their friend, the other four girls waited at the Montgomery House for her to come back.
Upon entering, Aria was shocked to see all of them standing in her father's living room. "How did you know I was back?" Aria asked them.
"I saw you visiting Ezra," Emily explained. "We know you saw him the night Charlotte died."
"We know you left the hotel for more than five minutes," Hanna added, her gaze steely.
"Yeah, and by the time you came back Charlotte was already dead," Spencer finished.
"It's time to tell us what really happened that night," Isabella said to her cousin.
Aria told them about how she'd called Ezra that night when she couldn't sleep and they went on a walk through town, talking about Charlotte's release. On their walk, they witnessed a blonde in a red sweater walking by in the distance and they assumed it was Charlotte – and Ezra's opinion on her release was less than pleasant. Then she returned to The Radley.
"He told me he went home afterwards," Aria explained. "But —- I don't know. He-he was so angry."
"Aria, what is it?" Hanna said.
"I know him," Aria confessed. "And I know that Ezra can't look me in the eye when he lies. And when he told me he went home, he didn't — look at me."
"Well, we have to tell someone," Hanna exclaimed. "Lorenzo, Ali, anyone."
"No, we don't," Emily shook her head. "Now, this is a giant leap. We're talking about Ezra killing someone. I mean, until we have actual proof we don't tell anyone anything."
"It's not," Spencer said, turning everyone's attention to her. "It's not a giant leap. In fact, I think I told Ezra how to do it," she confessed. Everyone sat down and Spencer told the others about the paper she wrote at Georgetown
"Ezra was on his book tour and we got together for lunch. He was still trying to figure out what he wanted to write next and he said that he was toying around with the idea of a murder mystery," Spencer explained. "I had just written my paper so I told him about the case in detail."
"Maybe Ezra did do this to protect you," Hanna told Aria.
"Protect me?" Aria repeated disbelievingly. "By copying some bizarre murder from the past?"
"Spencer, this was a public case," Emily reasoned. "You weren't the only two who knew about it," Aria reasoned with her friend."
"He saw how upset Aria was in the courtroom. And he's still angry about what happened to Nicole. I mean, who knows what he's capable of now?" Spencer said, fully jumping on the Ezra train. Normally, Isabella had no qualms about throwing shade at Ezra and he was definitely suspicious; however she liked having all the facts before jumping to conclusions.
"If he did kill Charlotte and the police find out — it's gonna look like you were involved too," Hanna said to Aria. "You left the hotel with Ezra and you came back a half hour after Charlotte was killed."
"Nobody can see that security footage," Aria decided.
"Are you guys serious right now?" Isabella asked in disbelief. "We can't do this again. Haven't any of you learned that every time we try to meddle or hide things it just gets worse?"
And worse it would get...