𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒 . . .
❛𝖻𝖾 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖾𝖿𝗎𝗅❜

𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 —
episode two

𖡡     𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿
𝟭𝟭:𝟬𝟲 𝗮𝗺

"Interview three. Emma Hutton, Andie Bell's best friend."

Poppi stared down Emma, giving her best 'Bad Cop' demeanor as she sipped on the piping hot coffee.

"There were three of us always. Me, Andie, and Nat." Emma began. "We met in primary school and became completely inseparable." Pip gave a small smile. "She was funny and kind. Just being around her made you feel special."

"What was Sal-"

"Sal made her so happy." Emma interrupted, "He was different to other guys our age, like an old-fashioned romantic." Poppi furrowed her brows. "I mean they hadn't even slept together yet. He wanted to wait."

"It's weird how you can get someone so wrong."

Poppi and Pip stayed silent, and Poppi prayed silently that Emma would dig her own hole, and they wouldn't have to question too hard.

"And they never even argued!" Emma continued, "I suppose Andie never did anything wrong."

Now that had Poppi confused.

"But would Andie even tell you if they were arguing?" Poppi sat up, arms wrapped around her waist as she questioned.

"Of course! We told each other everything." Emma gave a false smile. "More like you told her everything," Pippa grumbled.

"Except, we've seen the messages on Sal's phone, and they were definitely arguing." Poppi shot back. Emma shook her head, "What are you saying?"

"Maybe you got it wrong." Poppi was snark, and she knew it.

"I think either you're saying I'm lying, or I didn't know my best friend. Which is it?" Emma's glare was sharp.

All Poppi did was shrug, and it seemed to have pushed Emma over the edge.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you all this." Emma looked them up and down, and Poppi laughed. "All what? You've not told us anything!"

"I'm done here." Emma gave an awkward laugh, before standing up in front of the table.

"Oh, and, Pip?" She ignored Poppi, eyes trained on her sisters hopeful expression.

"Don't ever contact me again."

Poppi lounged on her bed, clicking around on her laptop. Pippa was sending a voice note to Ravi, Poppi's interjections crude and hilarious.

"I remember after they found Sal's body, you two didn't sleep for weeks and asked a million questions." Their mom stood in the door, eyes traveling over their murder board with a cup of tea in her hand.

"Never made sense," Poppi looked up, closing the laptop and crossing her legs. "You're not gonna say we can't do it, are you?" Poppi checked, brows raised and gaze sharp.

"I am a worried about it, to be honest." She moved closer to Pip, setting her mug down on the table and eyeing the murder board.

"You're always worried." The twins told her, the ghost of a laugh on their lips.

"Just promise me you won't speak to the Bell's or the Singhs, yeah?" Their mother looked at them, and Poppi giggled internally.

"Yeah, sure." Pip replied. "And don't let it get in the way of anything else." She pointed, and Pip smiled. "Like what?" Their mom gestured to the laptop on the desk, "Like this little beauty here."

Poppi checked out, mind wandering to Atticus Bell and the 'Black Banana Bears' debacle.  She had yet to tell Pippa about her conversation with Atticus Bell — hoping she could solve this one little mystery on her own.

She scrolled through Atticus' instagram feed, looking for any clues as to what his message could mean.

"Poppi, come on, we've got to meet Ravi."

"I can't believe you've gone rogue already. We made a solemn pact to be partners on this case, and the first thing you two do is go and interview Emma Hutton without me." They walked through the tree line, Poppi snacking on a package of crisps she managed to grab on her way out.

"I made no such pact, Ravi Singh." She pointed, mouth full as she continued. "But it's not like you've missed much anyways, she barely said a word." Pippa agreed. "According to Emma, Sal and Andie never argued," Pippa shoved her hands in her pockets.

"I wish Nat would reply to my messages," Pippa sighed, "Who's Nat?" Ravi queried, holding the umbrella over the girls heads. "Nat Da Silva, Andie's other best friend." Poppi answered.

"Oh, Nat Da Silva, Nude-Gate Nat." Ravi realized, and Pip and Poppi stopped. "Nude-Gate what?" Poppi asked him, and he shook his head.

"I- I didn't come up with that. Someone leaked her nudes. It was this whole mystery cause no one knows who did it." Ravi explained, and they picked up walking.

"What do you think the messages to Andie are about?" Pip asked the two of them. "I don't know, but there was always some kind of drama with Sal and Andie. I think her dad hated Sal and it caused some issues at home." Ravi imputed.

"Why did he hate Sal?" Pip questioned, a naivety in her voice.

"Pip, come on. No disrespect, but his little blonde angel girl going out with a brown boy? It's kinda obvious." Poppi replied. "She gets it." Ravi high-fived.

The three of them walked toward the water, Pippa and Poppi picking up rocks to skip.

"Do you mind talking about Sal?" Poppi asked him, throwing the rock toward the pond and watching as it cascaded.

"I like it. I don't get to do it much." Ravi replied, looking down at the two girls. "Andie's the one who disappeared, but her face is everywhere. Sal is nowhere. It's like he never existed."

Poppi put her hand on Ravi's back, giving him a small side hug before facing back to the water.

A silence fell over the three of them, the patter of the rain giving them the comfort words couldn't.

"Here, Rav," Poppi handed him a rock, before Pip began to count down.

"One, two, three!"

"Look, Dad's tutoring, I've got to make dinner." Cara told them. Pip and Poppi stood up, offering their assistance. Cara tossed the potatoes, handing Poppi the skinner.

The tension in the room made Poppi unbearably nervous — and she couldn't help but think it was about them interviewing Naomi.

Cara sat down at the table in front of them, resting her chin on her hand and staring down. Poppi glanced at her occasionally, before returning her focus to the potatoes, and then back to Cara.

The silence wasn't a long one, but it felt like forever for Poppi.

"It's been really hard for Naomi." Cara cut the stillness, not looking over at the twins. "Since mum died... and then Sal."

"I know, and I'm sorry." Poppi replied, her eyes now trained on the wooden table — too terrified to look up.

"But you still did it." Cara's tone wasn't venomous, just hurt.

"I think sometimes I- well, we, get fixated on something and we just can't think of anything else." Pippa reasoned. "Even the things we care about, you know?" Poppi chimed in, mustering up the courage to look Cara in the eye.

"If you want us to stop doing the case, we'll stop." Pippa offered, and Poppi crossed her fingers under the table.

"You can do it," Cara sighed, "But please leave Naomi out of it."

"Fair terms, Lady Ward!" Poppi abandoned her potatoes, standing up and moving toward Cara. She wrapped her arms around the girls shoulders, mumbling out excited thank you's as Cara pushed her off lightly.

"You promise?" Cara checked, looking up at Poppi whose arms were wrapped around on her.

"We promise!" Poppi laughed slightly.

"Have you ever sent a nude?" Pippa asked, causing Cara's jaw to drop. "No! Why are you so interested in nudes all of a sudden?" Cara sounded teasing.

"Ravi was telling us about Nat Da Silva's nudes getting shared," Poppi answered, pulling her arms off of Cara and sitting down next to her.

"He didn't look at them himself, they were just all over the school so...." Pippa trailed off.

"Ravi Singh?" Cara questioned, looking back and forth at the two of them. "We're all working together on the case. He said it was a mystery who sent them." Pip clarified, watching as Cara turned her attention back to the potatoes.

"Lucky it was a mystery," Naomi chimed in from the living room. "Nat is not someone you wanna fuck with." Cara's eyes widened, and Poppi took her chance.

"Do you still see her ever?"

"Nope." Naomi shook her head, but Cara turned back to the two of them.

"I know Nat. I see her all the time at the tennis club, I've got a doubles match against her next week." Poppi's mouth stretched into a grin.

"Hello, chefs!" Elliot greeted, and the awkward silence made him furrow his brows.

"Nudes."

"Tennis."

"Potatoes."

Poppi wrapped her arms around her waist, a sense of dread filling her body as she watched the tennis match play out. She tapped her feet on the ground, clapping every once in awhile for Cara.

"Ant said he'd get me a drink and then he was gone, like, half an hour, so I went to look for him, and I found him and Stella in Mr. and Mrs. Hastings walk-in wardrobe." Lauren recounted, and Poppi's jaw dropped.

"Doing what?"

"You know."

"No."

"Fucking!" Poppi replied, before being shushed by Elliot.

"Shh... it's match point, da Silva to serve." Poppi rolled her eyes when he looked away, turning her attention back to the match in front of her.

The crowd was quiet, the only noises coming from the hit of the tennis ball and the grunts of the players. Poppi had to admit, she was a little bit interested in the match.

Nat chased after the ball, the crowd breaking out into cheers when it rolled out of bounds. Nat ran back onto the court, throwing her racket down. Elliot and Lauren jeering at her reaction with one-off comments.

"I'll be back in a minute." Pippa stated, before pulling Poppi's arm to stand. Poppi yelped, yanking her arm away from her sisters to glance at the spot of blues and purples that littered her wrist.

"Sorry, wrong arm!" Pippa apologized, grabbing her sisters hand and directing her to follow Nat.

They passed through the gate, somehow making it through to the locker room. Poppi pushed the door open, eyes falling on Nat Da Silva – in all her naked glory.

"Good game," Poppi choked out.

"It was a shit game!" Nat turned over her shoulder, eyes landing on the two timid girls. "Do I know you?" She looked them up and down.

"I've DM'ed you a few times," Pippa and Poppi both refused to look at her, eyes trained on the ceiling. Nat's brows quirked up.

"I'm doing a school project on the Andie Bell case." Pip explained, moving closer and pressing record on her phone. "Was wondering if I could ask you some questions."

"Don't be shy, everyone's seen it all before." Nat laughed softly, a teasing tone.

"I haven't." Poppi shook her head.

"What do you wanna know?" Nat asked them, pulling on her shirt as the twins sat down in front of her. They were more confident now, now that the naked part of their interview over.

"What was Andie like?" Poppi paid attention to how she reacted to each word, hoping to catch a tell-tale sign of lying or something.

"Andie was one of those people who... when she turned her beam of light onto you it felt warm, it felt like you were her entire world." Nat recounted with a smile.

"Why do you think Sal and Andie argued so much?" Poppi pressed, hoping to get a clearer answer out of Nat.

"I guess when that beam moved elsewhere, it felt cold." She shrugged, "Maybe that got to Sal after awhile."

"Did you and Emma feel that too?" Pippa asked, tilting her head down. "No. No, she was the best friend ever." Nat shook her head. "If Andie had a flaw, it was that she attracted the wrong guys."

Poppi furrowed her brows, making note of the way Nat wasn't making eye contact. "She'd start sleeping with someone new, and then she'd just..."

Bingo.

"But, she wasn't sleeping with Sal." Pippa told her, and by the way Nat looked up — she knew she had slipped up.

"You said sleeping with someone new." Poppi pointed, leaning in toward Nat. "Who do you mean?" Nat began to gather her stuff, slipping on her shoes and standing.

"Who do you mean, Nat?" She questioned again, and Nat stared at her.

"You two seem nice, you don't know what you're digging up. Be careful." Nat warned, before walking out of the locker room.

Pippa and Poppi stood outside of the courts, away from their friends and staring out at the roads. Cara jeered, and Conor shouted out something about a survival expedition, but Poppi couldn't bring herself to listen.

A black car pulled in, stopping in the road. When Poppi caught a glimpse of the driver, she paled, grabbing Pippa's hand and turning over to their friends.

"Can we go? Please?"

"Yeah, of course." They stood, beginning to walk down the road. The black car drove next to them, slowing down to match their speed. Poppi glanced over, the nerves eating her stomach alive as she made eye contact with Dan again.

Her grip on Pippa's hand tightened, and she felt like just looking at him made the sting in her wrist worsen.

𝗥𝗢𝗥𝗬      𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗦 !
hello da silvas
i promise atticus next chapter
(maybe)