“You seem surprised I’d assume that, Jen. But aren’t the Sixes by their very nature about hurting other people? You pull pranks, you steal, you humiliate vulnerable boys, you come after the people who want out—like Alexis Grey.”
“No, we’re not about hurting people. We’re about female strength and helping each other gain every advantage we can. Sometimes we put certain people in their place, but only because they’re trying to block us—you know, hogging all the professor’s time, stuff like that. And besides, you can’t totally trust Alexis Grey. Blair said Alexis blamed us for posting that sex tape when a boy had actually done it.”
“How long have you been a member?”
“I was just tapped at the beginning of the term. I’m only a junior member.”
“And Blair was definitely in charge before she was arrested?”
“Yes, I guess.” Jen gnawed on her bottom lip.
“What do you mean you guess?”
“There’s this sort of council of seniors who run things, and Blair was the leader of that. But sometimes it seemed she consulted with other people. I don’t know who.”
Phoebe recalled that Alexis had also sensed that there was someone in the wings.
“You said first of all. What’s the other reason you think they didn’t murder Hutch?” Phoebe asked.
“The police found Blair’s scarf at the murder scene, but I know for a fact it had been stolen,” Jen said. “Someone is setting her up. People are jealous of Blair, and they want to bring her down.”
So the cops had discovered clothing at the scene.
“Wait, start from the beginning,” Phoebe said. “How do you know they found something?”
“I heard from this other girl who talked to Blair’s mother that the cops showed Blair this pink scarf and asked if it was hers, and told her they found it at the scene. I’m sure Blair tried to tell them that the scarf had been stolen, and they probably thought she was just making that up to protect herself. But I know it’s the truth. Because I was walking with her the other day, and she told me someone had taken it.”
“But don’t you see that she realized she’d dropped the scarf when she was at Hutch’s house, and tried to cover her ass by telling you that she’d lost it.”
Jen shook her head. “But she told me Sunday at lunch. That was way before the old guy was murdered. She’d just come from her house. I know she leaves some stuff downstairs in the entranceway, which isn’t locked. Some girls had been hanging out at the apartment downstairs, visiting the guys who live there, and Blair thought one of them had stolen it just to be mean.”
Now that’s the pot calling the kettle black, Phoebe thought snidely, but she knew that the scenario was possible. In her mind she saw the coats drooping from the row of pegs in the dingy entranceway of the Ash Street house. Was Blair really being framed? she wondered. But how would the killer know that she would be a viable suspect?
“By the way, does either Blair or Gwen own a car?” Phoebe asked.
“No—why?”
“Would they have had access to a car?”
Jen bit her lip again and shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, I guess they could have borrowed one.”
“You need to tell the police about your conversation with Blair,” Phoebe said. “I can give you the name of the detective you should talk to.”
“I can’t,” Jen nearly wailed. “Don’t you see? They’ll know that I’m part of the Sixes then. And they’ll suspect me, too.”
So that was the real point of the visit, Phoebe realized. It wasn’t at all about protecting Blair and Gwen—it was about protecting Jen’s own hide.
“But the road may eventually lead to you anyway—everyone in the Sixes could come under suspicion. You should call your parents immediately and get legal advice about how to handle this.”
Jen’s eyes welled with tears. “My parents won’t understand,” she said. There was a trace of petulance in her tone. “Can’t you try to help me first?”
“But help you how?” Phoebe didn’t have an ounce of pity for the girl.
“I don’t know. Can’t you figure out who is setting them up?”
“I’m not a detective, Jen. That’s what the police do.”
“But you write those books. You find all sorts of things out.”
Phoebe rose from the armchair and pulled a tissue from her purse for Jen. She needed a second to think. She had to work this situation to her own advantage—try to use Jen’s inside knowledge about the Sixes.
“Okay, Jen, let me see what I can do,” Phoebe said. “But first I’m going to need additional information.”
Jen shifted on the couch, expectant.
“Let’s start with me.” Phoebe said. “You know, of course, that the Sixes have been after me, right?”
Jen looked away, unable to make eye contact. “I know they were upset with you,” she muttered. “Blair said you were trying to expose us—and then ruin us.”
“Were you one of the girls that broke into my house?”
“What?” Jen said. “I never heard they did that. Are you sure it was them?”
“Forget that for a minute,” Phoebe said bluntly. “What does the word Fortuna mean to you?”
The girl looked genuinely puzzled. “Um, nothing. I’ve never heard of it. Is it a place?”
“I want you to ask the other girls in the Sixes about that name, okay? You won’t want them to catch on that you talked to me, so tell them you overheard me on the phone after class, and that I was talking about the Sixes and Fortuna. See if it means something to any of them.”
“Okay.”
“Now tell me about the circles.”
Jen’s eyes widened in surprise. “But how—why do you need to know about them?”
“Just trust me. If I’m going to help you, you’re going to have to provide me with information. I know about the first four. What are the fifth and sixth circles?”
“I really can’t talk about them. We’re never supposed to reveal anything about the circles.”
“Jen, people are dead,” Phoebe said. “It’s time to talk.”
The girl looked away and bit her lip again. At this rate, Phoebe thought, it was going to be a bloody pulp by the end of their conversation. Finally Jen looked back at Phoebe.
“You’re only supposed to know about the circles you’ve done and the one directly above them,” she said. “I’ve only done the first two. But someone told me about the fourth and fifth in secret.”
Phoebe already knew about the fourth. “What’s the fifth one?” she asked.
“‘Seduce and Exploit.’”
“You’re supposed to entice someone to have sex with you?”
“Kind of.”
“Kind of ?” Phoebe could feel her patience starting to fray.
“Well, yes, sex if you want. But you can find some other way to win their favor.”
“And what’s the exploit part?”
Jen looked away yet again, and this time when she turned her head back, she never looked directly into Phoebe’s eyes.
“You entice them to do something for you or give you something you need.”
“So you have sex with a boy and then have him write a term paper for you—something like that?”
“No, not a boy. You have to seduce someone in power. So what they have to share is really worthwhile.”
Wow, Phoebe thought, it was just as the psychologist had told her—girl power totally run amuck.
“Like a professor, then?” Phoebe asked. “Or someone in the administration?”
“Yes,” Jen said, nearly in a whisper.