It was 5:00 AM. Vespera was in a deep slumber. She had set two phones on the bedside table, and one buzzed with an incoming message. By the time she saw the message, it was already morning. It was a text from Felicia.

Felicia’s message revealed a crucial detail: the young man’s dead body was probably hidden in the countryside or mountains of Ashford. The text read: “There’s a small hill with flowers, grass, and a pond. There’s a small wooden cabin, too. You were once classmates. Do you have any idea where this place could be?”

Ashford? Not that place again! Vespera seemed somewhat drawn to Ashford lately. Not only had she heard about it several times, but Felicia even brought it up in her text today. A small hill, flowers, grass, a pond, and a small wooden cabin—all of that sounded like scenery in the mountains. But after Vespera gave it more thought, the description didn’t seem to match.

Also, was Quentin from Ashford? Rebecca had mailed the information to her. All this while, Vespera thought Quentin was from Halewick. Wasn’t he Tina’s high school classmate?

Vespera gave Rebecca a call. Before she could even say a word, Rebecca said, “I’m on my way to your place. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Okay.” Rebecca seemed to have news of her own as well, and she really did show up at Vespera’s apartment within ten minutes.

Rebecca said, “I woke up early today and listened to the recording from last night. Gave me quite a shock.”

“Felicia is really good at this, isn’t she? She actually tricked Tina into getting drunk and made her spill the beans.”