looking up from the notes. ‘And this isn’t over.’
‘Yes, it is.’ She took them back and dropped them on the desk. ‘Barney’s dead, Ravi. And who will be next? You? Me? The killer’s been here, in my house, in my room. They read my research and typed a warning on my EPQ log. Here, Ravi, in the same house as my nine-year-old brother. We are putting too many people in danger if we carry on. Your parents could lose the only son they have left.’ She broke off, an image of Ravi dead in the autumn leaves behind her eyes, Josh beside him. ‘The killer knows everything we know. They’ve beaten us and we have too much to lose. I’m sorry that it means I have to abandon Sal. I’m so sorry.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me about the threats?’ he said.
‘At first I thought it might just be a prank,’ she said, shrugging. ‘But I didn’t want you to know, in case you made me stop. And then I just got stuck, keeping it a secret. I thought they were just threats. I thought I could beat them. I was so stupid and now I’ve paid for my mistakes.’
‘You’re not stupid; you were right all along about Sal,’ he said. ‘He was innocent. We know that now but it’s not enough. He deserves everyone to know that he was good and kind until the end. My parents deserve that. And now we don’t even have the photo that proved it.’
‘I still have the photo,’ Pip said quietly, taking the printout from the bottom drawer and handing it to him. ‘Of course I’d never destroy it. But it can’t help us now.’
‘Why?’
‘The killer is watching me, Ravi. Watching us. If we take that photo to the police and they don’t believe us, if they think we Photoshopped it or something, then it’s too late. We would have played our final hand and it’s not strong enough. Then what happens? Josh gets taken? You do? People could die here.’ She sat on her bed, picking at the lumps on her socks. ‘We don’t have our smoking gun. The photo isn’t proof enough; it relies on massive interpretive leaps and it’s no longer online. Why would they believe us? Sal’s brother and a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl. I hardly believe us. All we have are tall stories about a murdered girl, and you know what the police here think of Sal, just like the rest of Kilton. We can’t risk our lives on that photo alone.’
‘No,’ Ravi said, laying the photo on the desk and nodding. ‘You’re right. And one of our main suspects is a policeman. It’s not the right move. Even if the police did somehow believe us and reopen the case, it would take them a long time to find the actual killer that way. Time we wouldn’t have.’ He wheeled the desk chair over to face her on the bed, straddling it. ‘So I guess our only option is to find them ourselves.’
‘We can’t –’ Pip started.
‘Do you seriously think walking away is the best move here? How would you ever feel safe again in Kilton, knowing the person that killed Andie and Sal and your dog is still out there? Knowing they’re watching you? How could you live like that?’
‘I have to.’
‘For such a clever person, you’re being a real plonker right now.’ He leaned his elbows on the back of the chair, chin against his knuckles.
‘They murdered my dog,’ she said.
‘They murdered my brother. And what are we going to do about it?’ he said, straightening up, a daring glint in his dark eyes. ‘Are we going to forget everything, curl up and hide? Live our lives knowing a killer is out there watching us? Or do we fight? Do we find them and punish them for what they’ve done to us? Put them behind bars so they can’t hurt anyone ever again?’
‘They’ll know we haven’t stopped,’ she said.
‘No they won’t, not if we’re careful. No more talking to the people on your list, no more talking to anyone. The answer must be somewhere in everything we’ve learned. You’ll say you’ve given up your project. Only you and I will know.’
Pip didn’t say anything.
‘If you need more persuasion,’ Ravi said, walking over to his rucksack, ‘I brought my laptop for you. It’s yours until this is done.’ He pulled it out and brandished it.
‘But –’
‘It’s yours,’ he said. ‘You can use it to revise for your exam and to