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Solve this puzzle if you want to live.
Could she call the police?
What if the killer had eyes on her – what if calling the police guaranteed her death?
Was it better to risk death than to play some psycho’s crazy game? And what if he’d already decided to kill her whether she solved his puzzle or not?
Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she turned away from the door, clutching the enigmatic puzzle in her quivering hands. The house felt colder now, each creak and groan of the old structure turning her nerves to ice. She needed to focus, to piece together the riddle that could be her only chance of survival.
She spread the paper on her coffee table, under the dim light of a lone lamp. The puzzle was a labyrinthine array of symbols, numbers, and letters, a chaotic jigsaw that defied immediate understanding. her mind raced as she tried to find a starting point, a clue that could lead her to the next step.
She was no cryptographer, no puzzle master. The killer had given her a task that seemed impossible, a twisted game with stakes higher than she could bear.
But she knew she had no other choice.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Ella was hunched over her laptop, transposing the information that Thomas Holt had given her into the police database, school records and social media pages. The clock on the wall ticked away – eight PM – marking the passing of another hour in their investigation that seemed to be going nowhere.
‘Anything?’ Ripley asked from across the room.
Ella buried her face in her hands and tried to brute force the exhaustion away. ‘Are we sure Holt wasn’t just lying to us? I can’t find any reports of missing kids, no expulsions, no police reports relating to Lincoln High.’
'Same,' Ripley said. 'Holt might have been bullshitting us, but he seemed genuinely shaken when you mentioned the puzzles. Like he hadn't thought about it in years.'
‘Yeah, he was definitely telling the truth there. But everything else? I don’t know.’
'Let's consider for a moment that Holt was telling the truth. What if this puzzle kid wasn't officially enrolled? Maybe homeschooled but hung around the school? It's a long shot, but it could explain the lack of records.'
Ella massaged her temples in preparation for an oncoming migraine. ‘I've already scoured the homeschooling records and community group archives. I can’t find anyone matching the description Holt gave us.’
Ripley threw her pen down and pressed her palms to her eyeballs. ‘So, our puzzle kid is an enigma. What's our next move?’
‘Memories,’ Ella said. ‘We need to tap into the personal memories of everyone we can find from Lincoln High. Someone has to remember this kid’s name.’
‘We need to get as many officers on this as possible. Track down as many alumni as we can. I’ll call the chief.’ Ripley grabbed her phone and dialed. ‘Did you manage to find anything on those potential clique members that Holt mentioned?’
‘Laura Benson and Tilly Michaels?’ Ella asked. ‘Nothing. No sign of them in the school records. There’re about ten Lauras on the social page though, but no one with the surname Benson. Still searching for Tilly but not having much luck.’
‘Probably got married,’ Ripley said as she pulled the phone from her ear. ‘Damn chief’s not answering. Tilly, you say?’
‘Yeah. Tilly Michaels.’
‘Matilda,’ Ripley said.
‘Huh?’
‘It’s short for Matilda. Try that.’
Ella slapped her palm against her forehead. ‘Dammit. Of course.’ She adjusted her search, scouring through every member of the Lincoln High social media group. One name emerged from the crowd.
‘Got one,’ Ella announced. ‘Tilly Harrison. Alumni of Lincoln High.’
‘Find her. We need to warn her that she might be in danger.’
Ella took her search to another platform, pulling up all of the available information about the woman on the screen. According to Thomas Holt, Tilly Harrison was another member of the clique, and that meant her life was on the line.
Before Ella could make any headway, her cell phone began to ring. A wave of déjà vu hit her as she clocked the director’s number again. Thoughts of Randall Carter and his new approach came hurtling back, but Ella swallowed her dread and answered right away.
