25. April

25

APRIL

JANUARY 2, 5:30 P.M.

We get to Piper's house at the same time. Vivian and I both climb out of our cars and lock them, staring at each other for a few silent seconds.

"Hey," she says.

"Hey," I echo.

We haven't talked at all today, but now doesn't feel like the time for heartfelt apologies or explanations.

"You saw the—?"

"Yeah," I say. Even if I'd somehow missed the article about Piper's dad, it's all over socials now, too. It would be hard not to know—and clearly, we both rushed here as soon as we heard.

We climb the steps to the porch, and for the first time, my brain slows down enough to think about what this really means. Piper's dad was arrested in connection with Margot's death. I should feel angry and vindicated, ready to beat this door down and demand answers, but instead, I'm hesitant. There's something else, a feeling I can't quite describe. Almost like the pieces don't fit. Like it's all too easy.

But I force it down. There have to be answers inside this house, and I'm not leaving until I get them. I ring the doorbell, and the sound fades into the foyer. Vivian knocks, and I move to the shuttered windows to peer through the slats, and that's when I see it—a little envelope tucked behind them.

"Shit," Vivian says, seeing it, too.

I pull out the envelope. It's addressed to Piper in the Jester's too-familiar script. I rip it open and read the message inside. This time, it's as brief as a puncture wound.

I warned you.

Heart jumping, I go to ring the doorbell again, but Vivian's reaching behind the other shutter.

"They keep a spare somewhere over here," she says. "Wyatt's always forgetting his."

She pulls out a key and slides it into the lock. As soon as we're inside, Vivian's bounding up the stairs.

"Piper," she calls. "Are you up here?" She pauses. "Come on. We saw your car outside."

There's quiet for a few seconds, until a weak voice calls, "Yeah."

We move toward the cracked-open door at the end of the hall. Vivian leads us inside, and at first, we don't see her. Then I spot her feet sticking out from the other side of her perfectly made bed. She's sitting on the floor, knees curled to her chest.

Piper looks up at us with puffy red eyes, somehow still managing her signature glare. "You broke into my house."

"We texted a bunch of times," Vivian says. "You didn't answer. And I know where Wyatt leaves the spare key."

It hits me, suddenly, that Piper must have been alone since the news broke. No one's come to check on her. We may not be her best friends, but right now, we're all she's got.

"So," she says, "I'm guessing you've heard."

Our silence is an answer.

"Are you okay?" Vivian asks.

"Fantastic," she says flatly. "Never been better."

"What happened?" I ask.

"Apparently, they came to his office. Arrested him in front of everyone." She swallows. "My mom's still at the station. Wyatt went, too, but I can't—I couldn't—" She closes her eyes. "They won't even say what evidence they have. They just took him."

I don't want to ask, but I have to. "Did he kill her?"

"No," she says sharply.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know. "

The silence buzzes between us. Piper pulls her knees even tighter to her chest, like she's trying to make herself small enough to disappear.

"He falsified a progress report," she says. "About Margot. I found it on his computer. He sent one to Marty that said Margot was abusing pills and showing signs of psychosis, but his session notes didn't say anything like that at all."

My next inhale feels like syrup in my lungs, thick and heavy. I was right. I knew Margot wasn't so far gone. She wanted to live, and someone took that from her.

"And…" Piper squeezes her eyes shut, like she can't bear to look at us for this next part. "He's in the Pierrot."

For a second, we're all quiet as the truth sinks in: the Pierrot is full of familiar faces, maybe even ones we love.

"Are you sure?" Vivian asks.

"Aiden told me. He found an invitation for an event addressed to my dad. But he didn't do it. I know he didn't. There has to be some other reason he faked that report."

I recognize the look in her eyes, that fire of certainty. It's probably how I looked when I told her that Margot's death wasn't an accident.

"I believe you," Vivian says softly, sinking to the floor next to Piper.

I don't know if I do, not fully, but Piper's hurting, and she's maybe my friend, and I think that's all that matters right now.

"You said Aiden told you this?" I ask her, settling down on her other side.

Piper nods. "A few hours ago, after school."

And now she's starting to sound more like herself as she gives us new details at a mile a minute: how Aiden's been investigating the Pierrot, all of the cover-ups he's already discovered. My head is spinning by the time I remember the message in my hand.

"We found this outside," I say, handing it to Piper.

She scans the message. At first, I don't understand the look of revelation on her face, but then it clicks into place.

I warned you.

"They did this," Piper says. "The Jester, or whoever really killed Margot. They got my dad arrested to punish me. They framed him."

I grip my camera strap, trying to ground myself in the swirl of thoughts. But what Piper's saying makes sense. The Pierrot is no stranger to covering up crime, and it would be easy enough to make Piper's dad their fall guy. Still, he wrote that report. He's not innocent. I'm trying to decide if I should say so when Vivian reaches for her backpack.

"There's something else I found," she says, digging into a pocket and pulling out a flip phone. "It was sitting on my car in an envelope after school today."

"From the Jester?" Piper asks.

"I don't know." Vivian hands her the phone. "Read the messages. I don't think he'd want us to have this."

I scoot closer to Piper to read over her shoulder, my chest constricting as I start to understand what it is we're seeing.

"This is him," I say. "The man who killed her. The Rougarou."

"You think it's the guy from the balcony?" Vivian asks.

"I know it is." Breathlessly, I tell them about going to see Renee, what she told me: Margot and the man who brought her to the Pierrot, how they were together.

Vivian's eyes widen. "Then this is evidence, right? We could bring it to the police and prove to them it wasn't Piper's dad, or—"

"We can't." Piper stands, like she's too full of energy to sit still. "That's the thing. We can't prove who this belongs to. That's probably why the Jester did this. Like he's taunting us, or something."

"And we can't go to the police," I add. "As far as we know, the Pierrot has them in their pocket. Why else would they suddenly arrest Piper's dad when just a week ago they weren't even calling Margot's death a murder?"

Piper nods. "The Pierrot is pulling the strings. Protecting the real killer."

"But why would your dad have been helping them?" Vivian asks. "I mean, if he faked that report, then he was doing it to protect the guy who really killed her, right?"

"Right," Piper says. "So we have to find out who he is."

"I thought you wanted to play it safe." It comes out colder than I mean it to—maybe because I'm still bruised by everything she said on the levee. "You know, accept that Margot died and Lily ran away and everything is fine."

For the first time, Piper looks almost… sorry.

"I shouldn't have said all that," she says. "Or I should have said it in a better way. I was scared, I guess. Of what could happen." She grips the Jester's message, cinching the thick paper. "But whoever killed Margot, he's the reason my dad is in jail right now. He's still walking free, and I sure as hell bet he knows where Lily is, too."

Vivian nods. "We have to find her."

They both have a fire in their eyes now, and I feel an ember of it flickering toward my own, catching.

"And make sure Margot's killer rots in prison for the rest of his sorry little life," I add.

Vivian smiles. "So what's the plan?"

Piper claps with such force that I yelp a little.

"Sorry," she says. "Force of habit again. But the invitation Aiden found…" She grabs her own backpack and digs it out, unfolding it for us to read. "This is happening tonight. A ‘Royal Feast.' I think they're initiating people."

"You think we should go?" Vivian asks.

"We have to," Piper says. "The Jester, or Margot's killer, whoever he really is—he'll probably be there."

"And what if they catch us?" Vivian asks.

"Maybe we should let them."

They both turn to stare at me as if I just suggested we leap into oncoming traffic.

"I mean, maybe that's how we get him," I explain, the idea taking shape. "We know how to get in and out now. Renee can help us. If we can lure the Jester somehow, then we can trap him. Figure out who he is and what he knows."

Piper grins, and it's in all of us, now. A fire roaring.

"Maids," she says. "Let's fucking assemble."