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Aria sat up straighter "Did I ? Did Noel?"
Hanna shook her head "He still hasn’t woken up"
Just yesterday, a helicopter had brought Noel here froained consciousness since On the one hand, Aria couldn’t wait for Noel to wake up On the other, she had no idea what she would say when he did That was because even though she and Noel had been dating for more than a year, Aria had just discovered that Noel had had a secret relationship with Alison DiLaurentis while she was in The Preserve He knew the truth about the DiLaurentis titch, and he hadn’t said a word to Aria--or anyone else To say that Aria suddenly couldn’t trust Noel was an understateone so far as to wonder if Noel was Helper A, the secret boyfriend who’d been helping Ali torirls to the storage shed The girls were sure it was a trap Noel and Ali had set, so they’d called the police They’d found Noel bound and gagged in a chair, close to death And then there was a new note from A: Noel wasn’t the helper A--Ali--had manipulated them once omery?"
A tall, bristly-haired police officer stood above Aria "Y-yes?" Aria stammered
The cop--who had Popeye forearms and a reddish crew cut--stepped closer "Nairls have a minute?"
Aria frowned "We already told the police everything we know yesterday"
Gates s teddy-bearish about hiht questions"
Aria bit down hard on the inside of her cheek Now that Noel had been hurt, she felt she needed to keep quiet about A again She couldn’t risk anyone else beco a victim
Gates led the roo lilies After everyone sat down on a new set of scratchy couches, he looked at his notepad "Ae that Noel was in the storage shed?"
Despite their more private location, Aria could still feel everyone in the roo Mrs Kahn peeked up from behind the Food section of the paper A boy in an Episcopal Academy sweatshirt peered out from under his hood Mason Byers, one of Noel’s buddies on the lacrosse tea at a table across the roo a deck of cards and cocked his head toward the group
"I got a handwritten note, not a text," Hanna clarified "And it said to go to the shed I called the cops just in case the threat was real"
Gates ood you did Whoever sent you that note most likely hurt Mr Kahn--or, at the very least, saho did it Do you have the note on you?"
Hanna looked trapped "It’s at ho it to us as soon as possible?"
"Uh, sure" Hanna rubbed her nose, looking uncomfortable
Gates turned to Aria "Mr and Mrs Kahn said you called the if Noel had come home Did you have reason to be worried about him?"
Aria tried very hard not to make eye contact with her friends She’dto turn Noel in As Ali’s helper "He wasn’t picking up his phone," she said siirlfriend"
Gates looked at Spencer and Emily "You tere at the shed as well, correct?"
"That’s right," E her paper coffee cup apart
"Did you see anyone on the school grounds that looked suspicious? Two people who ht have put Noel there?"
Spencer and Emily shook their heads "All I saere a bunch of kids playing soccer," Spencer said
"Wait" Emily leaned forward "Two people?"
Gates nodded "Our forensic tearaphs of Mr Kahn in the shed The coed could have only been done by a two-person tealance Ali and Helper A, obviously It was proof Noel really hadn’t been Ali’s accomplice
"And you have no idea who could have done such a thing?" Gates pressed
There was a long silence Aria sed hard Hanna’s mouth twitched Spencer and Emily looked anywhere but at the officer It was probably obvious that they were lying, but it wasn’t as if they could tell the truth
Finally, Gates thanked theht Hanna covered her face with her hands "Guys, what aive theive it, they’ll think we’re hiding so" Spencer slumped back on the couch "Maybe we should just tell the on"
Aria narrowed her eyes "And risk so hurt?"
"What we need to do is figure out who Helper A is" Spencer glanced cagily at the cop, as now talking to Noel’s parents "Then we can co"
Hanna stared into her palms "I can’t believe Helper A isn’t Noel"
Aria made a small, tortured sound
"I didn’t lad it’s not Noel But ere so close to figuring it out And noe’re back to square one"