The nerves felt like barbs in her stomach as Pip approached the tiny, glass-fronted building. The words “Fairview Mail” on a small sign beside the door.

Pip pressed the buzzer and a muffled robotic voice came through the speaker.

“Hello?”

“Um, hi,” Pip said. “I’m here to see Becca Bell.”

“OK,” the voice said, “I’ll buzz you in. Give the door a good push—it’s sticky.”

A harsh, whining sound and Pip shoved the door until it unstuck, swinging inward. She closed the door behind her and stood in a small and cold room. There were three sofas and a couple coffee tables but no people.

“Hello?” she called.

Another door opened and a man strolled through, flicking the collar up on his long beige coat. A man with straight dark hair pushed to the side and gray-tinged skin. Stanley Forbes.

“Oh.” He stopped when he saw Pip. “I’m just on my way out. I…Who are you?”

He stared at her with narrowed eyes, his lower jaw jutted out, and Pip felt goosebumps crawling down her neck. It really was cold in here.

“I’m here to see Becca,” she said.

“Oh, right.” He smiled without showing his teeth. “Everyone’s working in the back room today. Heating’s busted at the front. That way.” He pointed at the door he’d come through.

“Thank you,” she said, but Stanley wasn’t listening, already halfway out the front door.

Pip walked to the far door and pushed through. A short corridor opened up into a larger room, with four paper-laden desks pushed against each wall. There were three women, each typing loudly at their computers. None of them had noticed her over the sound.

Pip walked toward Becca Bell, whose short blond hair was scraped back in a stubby ponytail, and cleared her throat.

“Hi, Becca,” she said.

Becca spun around in her chair, and the other two women looked up. “Oh,” she said, “it’s you that’s here to see me? Shouldn’t you be at school?”

“Yeah, sorry. It’s fall break,” Pip said, shifting nervously under Becca’s gaze, thinking of how close she and Ravi had been to getting caught by her in the Bell house. Pip looked over Becca’s shoulder, at the computer screen full of typed words.

Becca’s eyes followed hers, and she minimized the document.

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s the first piece I’m writing for the newspaper, and my first draft is absolutely awful. My eyes only.” She smiled.

“What’s it about?” Pip asked.

“Oh, um, just about this old farmhouse that’s been uninhabited for eleven years now, just off the Fairview end of Sycamore Road. They can’t seem to sell it.” She looked up at Pip. “A few of the neighbors are thinking about pitching in to buy it, trying to apply for change of use and doing it up as a café-bar combo. I’m writing about why that’s a terrible idea.”

One of the women across the room cut in. “My brother lives near there and he doesn’t think it’s such a terrible idea. Beer on tap just down the road. He’s ecstatic.” She gave a hacking laugh.

Becca shrugged, glancing down at her hands as she picked at the sleeve of her cardigan. “I just think the place deserves to be a home for a family again one day,” she said. “My dad almost bought it and restored it years ago, before everything happened. He changed his mind, in the end, but I’ve always wondered what things would be like if he hadn’t.”

The other two keyboards fell silent.

“Oh, Becca, sweetheart,” the woman said. “I had no idea that was the reason. Well, I feel awful now.” She slapped her forehead. “I’ll do the coffee run today.”

“No, don’t worry.”

The other two women turned back to their computers.

“Pippa, isn’t it?” Becca spoke quietly, angling to face her. “What can I help you with? If it’s about what we discussed before, you know I don’t want to be involved.”

“This is important,” Pip said, her voice dipping into a whisper. “Really important. Please.”

Becca’s blue eyes locked on hers for a long moment.

“Fine.” She stood up. “Let’s go out to the front room.”

The room felt colder the second time around. Becca took a seat on the nearest sofa and crossed her legs. Pip sat at the other end and faced her.

“Um…so…” Her voice tapered off. She wasn’t quite sure how to phrase it or how much she should tell her. She stalled, staring into Becca’s Andie-like face.

“What is it?” Becca asked.

Pip found her voice. “So, while researching, I found out Andie was dealing drugs and selling at calamity parties.”

Becca’s neat brows drew down to her eyes. “No,” she said, “there’s no way.”

“I’m sorry; I’ve confirmed it with multiple sources,” Pip said.

“She couldn’t have.”

“The man who supplied her gave her a secret second phone, a burner phone, to use.” Pip carried on over Becca’s protests. “He said that Andie hid the phone in her wardrobe along with her stash.”

“I’m sorry, but I think someone’s played a trick on you,” Becca said, shaking her head. “There’s no way my sister was selling drugs.”

“I understand it must be hard to hear, I’m sorry,” Pip said. “The police didn’t find the burner phone in her room, and I’m trying to find out who might have had access to her room after she went missing.”

“Wh…but…,” Becca sputtered, still shaking her head. “No one did; the house was taped off.”

“I mean before the police arrived. After Andie left the house and before your parents discovered she was missing. Was there any way someone could have broken into your house without you knowing? Had you gone to sleep?”

“I…I—” Her voice cracked. “No, I don’t know. I wasn’t asleep. I was downstairs watching TV. But you—”

“Do you know Max Hastings?” Pip said quickly before Becca could object again.

Becca stared at her, confusion clouding her eyes. “Um,” she said, “yeah, he was Sal’s friend, wasn’t he? The blond guy.”

“Did you ever notice him hanging around your house after Andie disappeared?”

“No,” she said. “No, but why—”

“What about Daniel da Silva? Do you know him?” Pip said, hoping this quick-fire questioning was working, that Becca would answer before she thought not to answer.

“Daniel,” she said, “yeah, I know him. He was close with my dad.”

Pip’s eyes narrowed. “How did they know each other?”

“He worked for my dad for a while, after he quit his janitor’s job at school,” Becca sniffed. “My dad owns a cleaning company. But he took a shine to Daniel and promoted him to a job in the office. He was the one that convinced Daniel to apply to be a police officer, supported him through the training. Yeah. I don’t know if they’re still close; I don’t speak to my dad.”

“So did you see a lot of Daniel?” asked Pip.

“Quite a bit. He often stopped by, stayed for dinner sometimes. What has this got to do with my sister?”

“Daniel was a police officer when your sister went missing. Was he involved in the case at all?”

“Well, yeah,” Becca replied, “he was one of the first responding officers when my dad reported it.”

Pip felt herself tilting forward, her hands against the sofa cushion, leaning into Becca’s words. “Did he do a search of the house?”

“Yeah,” Becca said. “He and this other policewoman took our statements and then did their primary search.”

“Could Daniel have been the one that searched Andie’s room?”

“Yeah, maybe.” Becca shrugged. “I don’t see where you’re going with this. I think you’ve been misled by someone, really. Andie was not involved in drugs.”

“Daniel da Silva was the first to access Andie’s room,” Pip said, more to herself than to Becca.

“Why does that matter?” Annoyance started to stir in Becca’s voice. “We know what happened that night. We know Sal killed her, regardless of what Andie or anyone else was up to.”

“I’m not sure he did,” Pip said, widening her eyes in what she hoped was a meaningful way. “I’m not so sure Sal did it. And I think I’m close to proving it.”