The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious #4)(49)

“You did,” Stevie said.

This much she had already revealed to Nate and Janelle, who looked at Carson with unimpressed faces.

“Me? I . . .”

“I wouldn’t recommend whatever you’re planning on saying,” Janelle said, joining Stevie on the window bench.

“I would.” Nate was sprawled on the floor, picking at the splinters. “I like it when Stevie goes feral.”

To his credit, Carson said no more. He sat down on the floor and crossed his legs in a full yogic knot.

“Now will you tell us the how?” Janelle said. “That’s more what I want to know.”

“Sure.” Stevie stretched out a bit and her neck made a loud crack. “We knew from the start that the message was put on our wall in advance. We know that because it was dry and because there was paint under my bed. Also, we went all over the cabin to see how someone might get in. The screen windows have metal grates over them, the door was locked from the inside, and the floor is made of concrete. Impossible, right? But there was one way—there’s a hole in the screen on the window, only an inch or two big. And tonight, when I saw Dylan stick that entire hot dog roll in his mouth, I realized how someone could





use a hole that size to gain access to our cabin.”

“Not what I expected to hear you say,” Nate said, “but okay.”

“You can get something large through a small opening if it’s soft,” Stevie went on. “The hot dog roll was soft, so Dylan could shove it in his mouth. So what might go through a little hole in a screen? Maybe something like this.”

Stevie held up the reusable bag Carson had given her. She made an okay gesture with her right hand, and with the left, pulled the bag through the circle made by her fingers.

“Fabric,” she said. “And who has a lot of fabric in custom, photorealistic patterns?”

“Oh no,” Janelle said, shaking her head. “Oh . . . you have got to be kidding me.”

“There’s an entire wall of it at the Bounce House,” Stevie said. “All you’d need to do is make a wood pattern. It was probably up there on the wall. You painted the message on the wall—kind of high up, so it was more in line with the window, and more in shadow. You let the paint drip, but not too much, because you had to make sure the message fit under the piece of fabric you were going to use to cover it. You wiped away any extra so it wouldn’t show. When it was dry, you covered it up with the piece of fabric, attaching it with some tape.”

She held up the piece of tape she’d found under the bed. She had gone back and retrieved it before this meeting.

“All you needed to do then was attach some thread or fishing line or something and string it out the window. Sometime in the night, you gave the string a tug and the fabric slid





out through the screen. I think it must have brushed against my face as it came down. I thought what I felt was some kind of insect. And that was it. A message mysteriously appears on our wall. Then, of course, you prepared the box of dolls and claimed to find it on your run.”

“Yes!” he said, breaking into a huge grin. “Yes! You”—he pointed at Stevie—“are the real deal. That was nuts! That was so good! I knew I made the right decision.”

“Was this supposed to be some kind of test?” Nate asked.

“I don’t think so,” Stevie said. “It was for the show, wasn’t it?”

“Sometimes you need to prime the pump,” Carson said. “A little drama to get things going.”

“And your plan was to freak us out and make us feel like someone was sneaking into our cabin and leaving threatening messages?” Janelle said.

“You were never in any danger!” Carson said.

“How did we know that?”

“But you weren’t,” he said a bit less enthusiastically.

“So the plan was to fake this message thing and then what?” Stevie said. “Have it be part of the case? Make it seem like someone was trying to stop the podcast?”

“Well, yeah,” he said.

“And you didn’t think people might be annoyed by that?” Nate asked. “Like, people listening? To know that you faked threats against yourself?”

“Well, the idea was for no one to know . . .”

“When were you going to tell us?” Stevie said.





He reached deep into his messenger bag and pulled out a balled-up bag in a wood pattern.


“Have one. It’s the bag from the wood pattern in your cabin. I was going to tell you soon, because I knew you were alarmed. See, I even brought the bags.”

He tossed one to Stevie, who let it land on the ground.

“I’m going back,” Janelle said, shaking her head. “I have to talk to Vi.”

She looked to Nate.

“Oh, I’m staying,” Nate said, settling in. “This is absolutely my Think Jam.”

Stevie faced off with Carson, who looked altogether too happy for someone she had just busted for leaving creepy messages. He had the glowing contentment of a man who fully believed that he was one with the cosmos, feeling all the feels.

“So we’re clear,” Stevie said, “I’ll still work on this case, but I do it my way, which means never faking stuff.”