She seems to give a start, but stops and pulls a phone from her clutch bag. Something on the screen annoys her—I can see her eye roll from here. Then she walks out of frame, veering off to her right, away from the lobby. Away from the school. Hastily, I bring up the side hall video feed, clicking to the same time stamp and begging under my breath for her to wander into frame. She does, but then streaks right past the door at a rapid clip. Moving where, though? I try the only video feed left: back exit. It’s a familiar sight; I can make out the window I attempted to climb into, as well as the staff entrance one level down. The camera is angled to take in a full view of the back of the hotel. The video quality takes a nosedive; most of the alley is pitch-black, and the lights that illuminate the building blow out the footage, so it’s too bright and yellow in places, grainy shadow in others. But I can make out Reama clopping down the stairs, into the alley.

She approaches a car, low and long like a station wagon, pulled into the shadows. Reama bends into the open window to chat with the driver. It’s difficult to make anything out beyond basic shapes; everything is shadow and light, though when the driver leans forward as they talk, I catch a curtain of hair. The driver passes something to Reama—a file?—and then blows a long drag of smoke out the window. Nasty habit.

Reama returns the way she came and the car pulls off, gliding through a patch of light on the way. Dark-colored Subaru.

What is Suzanne doing meeting Reama behind Hotel Seaview the night Natalie died?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Ben watches the video clip three times, squinting at the screen with his head tilted to the side.

“You’re sure that’s her?”

“That’s her car.”

“A lot of people drive Subarus,” he points out.

“There’s also the hair, and the vape. I’m sure of it.”

“All right, say it’s her. But how does that factor into…that?” He gestures at my mess of note cards, Post-its, and printed-out Instagram profile pics strewn across the bedspread. Amber sent me the high-resolution—and much more in-focus—pictures from her camera of the sheriff’s board, so I’ve got everything they do, plus a few of my own threads.