It was no use.
Everyone but Warix walked around on the stony beach where they had disembarked earlier, holding up their phones. What remained of the dock burned and collapsed into the ocean.
Sofia had started sniffling on their hike down, and it had broken Plum’s heart.
It was Plum’s fault they were here, stuck on an island in the middle of a wide ocean, with an actual murderer.
It was so far from what she’d planned, it felt like the disco ball inside her had shattered into a thousand pieces, sending jagged, cutting shards into her heart and lungs.
Hearing Sofia cry made it hard to breathe.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Plum murmured to her two friends.
“Hey.” Marlowe’s voice was firm yet tired. “It’s not like you torched it. “
“I know. But Netflix and ramen for the week back in Huntington doesn’t sound that bad now, does it?” Plum said.
“Stop, Plum.” Sofia’s voice was raw with frustration.
Plum bit her lip. Her vision got blurry, and she tried to blink back the tears.
Sean paced out into the water, holding up his phone until he was waist-deep. “No luck.” He turned and lunged back ashore.
“There’s no signal,” Jalen said behind Plum.
“We know!” Plum turned around, exasperated.
Jalen gave her an apologetic wince and tilted his phone to indicate that he was, of course, recording. “Whoever has trapped us on this island has set the dock on fire,” he pronounced ponderously.
“I’m going to lose it if he keeps doing that,” Shelley said. She hugged herself.
“Now what do we do?” Cici asked.
They all turned to Marlowe.
Marlowe realized they were staring at her. “What? I don’t know!”
“I thought maybe there’s another old movie you might know about,” Jude suggested.
“What, an old movie about this?” Marlowe’s voice was sarcastic. “Sure, sure. A movie about a fake festival and a group of people stranded on an island with a killer among them? Oh!” She turned back to the group with a shocked expression.
“You’ve thought of one, haven’t you?” Plum asked.
“Yes,” Marlowe said. “And Then There Were None, 20th Century Fox, 1945. Based on famous mystery novelist Agatha Christie’s book.”
“Oh! I’ve seen a remake of that!” Cici said.
They started filing back up the cliff path.
“What does it say we should do?” Sean asked.
“Well, I mean, they almost all die, so I don’t think we should use it as a model,” Marlowe said. “But one big thing they do that we should do, just to be safe, is search the island.”
Plum nodded, grateful that Marlowe’s old-movie knowledge was providing them with practical steps they could take.
“Might as well,” Sofia said. “It’s not like there’s gonna be a dance party tonight or anything.”
Another spear of guilt stabbed into Plum.
“Sure, but why do we need to do the search?” Dude asked.
“To make sure there’s no one else hiding on the island, right?” Jalen asked.
It was hard for Plum to keep from training her eyes on every shadow after Jalen said that. Each lump of rock or squat bush looked like a person, crouching, waiting to strike.
“Yes,” Marlowe panted. “To make sure we’re the only ones here.”
“Better find some flashlights,” Plum suggested.
The path was reaching its steepest point. They stopped talking until they crested the cliff and started walking on the moonlit path to the villa.
“Okay, so we’ll search the island.” Jude nodded. “I won’t be able to sleep now that you’ve talked about a killer hiding on the island, anyway. We should take weapons ’cause I know we’ll meet him!”
“Who?” Sean asked.
“Our killer!” Jude exclaimed.
No one seemed to have the heart to explain to him that the search was necessary, but it wasn’t certain they would find someone hiding on the island.
“Okay, so we break into groups of three or more, right? So that not one of us is caught alone with the killer?” Sofia suggested.
“Good idea,” Dude agreed.
“She’s not the only one who’s seen old movies.” Sofia jerked a thumb at Marlowe. “That’s from Clue! It’s from the eighties. They’re stuck in a mansion, not an island.”
“Okay, so we split into groups of three or more.” Cici pulled a hand down her long ponytail, smoothing the already perfect strands.
“We’ll do the other beach,” Marlowe volunteered, gesturing to Plum and Sofia.
“We’ll do the grounds and that caretaker shed,” Jude yipped. He tossed enthusiastic arms around Dude’s and Sean’s shoulders, as if it were some kind of game instead of a hunt for a killer.
“And we’ll do the villa?” Cici turned to Jalen and Shelley.
Shelley nodded.
“We’re going to search the villa, in the hopes of finding a killer,” Jalen narrated. “I pray we find them.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cici sighed.
“Better tell Warix what we’re doing,” Plum suggested. “He said the killer was one step ahead of us. And he was right about there being no signal on the beach down by the dock. Maybe he’ll have an idea.”
Shelley nodded. “We’ll start in the conservatory and get him to join us.”
Plum felt a sardonic smile twitch at the edge of her lips. Based on what she’d seen of the gamer, he’d join the group only if he could be in the lead and boss the others around.
But at least they had a plan.
“Okay, check the time. Meet back in the conservatory in an hour. Stay safe. Stay together,” Marlowe said.
“We will be safe,” Jalen promised into his phone. “Unless the killer has other plans.”