“Her phone was found, what, a mile away?” asked Carter. “We could search for restaurants nearby and see if there’s a connection to any of the suspects.”
But Adi’s stomach had begun to churn. “No.”
“The missing comforter,” Sierra said, not hearing him. “It could have been used to protect her skin inside the freezer. She had it with her that night. The killer could have used it to drag her into any industrial free—”
“Adi?” Carter interrupted. “Are you all right?”
Adi gulped, suddenly nauseated. “What if,” he said weakly, “Alicia never left the complex alive?”
“You think the killer used the freezer in our kitchens?” Beck said. “The same freezer we were trapped in?”
The air stilled.
“It’s certainly big enough,” Carter whispered.
Sierra pressed her hands to the sides of her head. “The food poisoning. If the killer had to move the meat boxes out, like we did—”
“Then Alicia could lie flat on the freezer floor.” Carter gripped her stomach. “Yep, Adi, I understand why you’re looking like that.”
“Wait,” Sierra said. “Elijah saw her leave the complex after me.”
“Maybe she came back,” Beck said softly.
“Speaking of Elijah,” said Adi. “That car he heard at four in the morning—if the killer had left Alicia in the complex overnight to freeze, it makes sense they’d be returning before dawn to pick up her body and stage it at the studio.”
“What time was her phone turned off ?” Carter asked.
“Ten twenty-eight,” Beck and Sierra said in unison.
“So they killed her at the villa,” said Adi, “then took the phone and drove away before turning it off, to make it look like Alicia was still alive at that time, and that she’d moved to a different location.”
“It fits.” Sierra’s voice sounded far away. “I think you were right, Beck. Alicia must’ve returned to the complex. Maybe the killer even lured her back. Pretending to be Louis?” She closed her eyes, as if picturing the events as she spoke. “She goes in, only it’s not Louis. Or maybe she doesn’t see the killer at all. Maybe they attack her from behind. They use a gloved hand to cover her mouth and nose. She struggles . . . clawing, but her nails are too short to catch any DNA, and the killer simply waits until . . . until . . .”
Adi’s insides sank. This was nothing like the euphoria of solving puzzles. Alicia’s death had been brutal.
And despite how far they’d come, they still didn’t know who had done it.
Adi would have felt discouraged, except—
His heart leaped.
“This is it.”
His teammates looked at him. Adi turned the computer screen to face them, revealing the open folder. “Sweetbrier Resort— season six.”
“Yes!” Beck threw his arms into the air. “Adi, you are like freaking James Bond!”
“But there’s no grand prize anymore,” Carter pointed out. “No invitation to Sweetbrier.”
“Oh, I’ll get there someday,” said Beck. “And when I do, I’ll be ready.”
It wasn’t long before the sounds of demolition fell quiet and thestudio shut down for the night. They used their phone flashlights as they crept down the corridor.
“I can’t believe we’re going to see the finale room,” Carter whispered. “Is it wrong that I’m alittleexcited?”
They came to the doors of Soundstage E, and Adi reached for the handle. “Are we ready?”
Everyone nodded.
