Spencer: enters her kitchen, filled with the other girls, with a gift from A. They find four magic eight balls that threaten the girls that if Hanna’s mom goes free, A’s coming for them.
Hanna: is worried that Travis has gone back on his promise when her mother gets called in for a police line-up. Luckily, Travis is able to ID Ashley, and all the charges are dropped. Later, at their house, Hanna finds another gift from A. Inside a child-size coffin rests a doll version of Mona. A texts the girls and tells them that they need to find Mona before the cops do and think that the girls killed her. At least the girls can’t be accused of Wilden’s murder, as the local news releases a police sketch of the murderer that bears a striking resemblance to CeCe Drake. Hanna calls Radley and finds that Mona is no longer a patient there, so she and Caleb go on a search for her. They stake out Mona’s house, but no dice.
Spencer: seeks out Wren to see if he will tell her where Mona went. However, after visiting his house, she only finds Jenna’s car and Shawna hiding behind the window. Later, Spencer makes multiple calls to Toby, who has gone AWOL. Meanwhile, Toby is hiding out in the Brew having a solo heartbreak session going through his mom’s belongings. However, before he leaves the Brew, he sees Shawna drop a piece of paper that shows Wren and Melissa are living together a year after their break-up. He finally calls Spencer, and they try to figure out the new evidence together.
Emily: attempts to reassure Paige who is worried about her and asks Emily to stay over at her house until CeCe is found. Later, the couple goes to French Club to look for Mona, and there is a painfully long and annoying scene in French. When they finally switch back to English, they still come up empty.
Aria: is back in love with Ezra, as if she ever really stopped. He thanks her for being there for him “as a friend,” but after a lame movie night with Jake, it’s pretty clear who has her heart. Or at the very least her lips, as Ezra and Aria make out after a poetry reading at the Brew later that night.
Spencer: finds another gift from A the next day. At first it seems like an empty box, but drawing on her magic camp skills, Spencer shows that the box actually holds a secret compartment with a saw in it. The saw reads, “Watch me make a girl disappear.” Spencer realizes that A isn’t playing a game with them, he/she’s putting on a magic show.
Aria: and Emily do an internet search and discover a magic show happening in Ravenswood that day. At the magic show, the magician, the Great Charlemagne makes Aria dissapear as a part of his act. She returns unscathed, only to find that A has taken Emily.
Emily: disappears via leger de main (slight of hand). The girls call Emily who is trapped in a box but can hear a saw running in the background. The girls follow someone in a red coat to the local saw mill and attempt to free Emily from the would-be coffin. Just as they break the lock, the red coat also turns off the saw. Another person in a red coat appears on the balcony of the saw mill.
Spencer: follows one of the red coats, who she thinks is Ali, to A’s lair. Meanwhile, Toby stakes out Mona’s house. Shawna leaves in Jenna’s car and drives to a bed and breakfast to deliver something to Mona. Mona asks Shawna if “she” is okay with this, and Shawna responds that “she” doesn’t have a choice.
Aria: follows the second red coat and has a sparring match with, you guessed it, CeCe Drake. Eventually, Aria gets the upper hand and CeCe loses her balance and falls. Aria tries to hold onto her hand, but she slips and falls to the floor. The girls think that CeCe is dead, but when they look away and then look back, she is gone.
Spencer: leads the other girls to A’s lair and tells them that she thinks Ali wanted them to find it. As the girls search, someone, presumably A, watches them from behind one of the posters. Besides a super computer surveillance system, the apartment is full of timelines of each of the girls, including Ali. Because Wren and CeCe are on the timelines and payroll of A, they know that neither of them are A.
Aria: discovers that A has not only been tracking each of them, but Ali as well. This, of course, confirms all of our suspicions that Ali is still alive.
Hanna: tries to crack A’s password with Caleb’s help, but it doesn’t work. After peaking in A’s closet and finding nothing but suits, Hanna thinks that A must be a guy. They think that A must then be “board shorts,” especially since the name of A’s company is Ali’s favorite beach in Cape May. Hanna, always fashion forward, also notices A’s costume to the Ravenswood Historical Society’s ball that night: a World War One gas mask soldier uniform. A thinks that Ali is going to be there, so the girls decide that they will attend the party as well.
Emily: finds a letter from Ali to the older guy, who thought Ali was 18 when they met.
All the girls leave the lair to go to the costume party, but are confronted by Mrs. Grunwald. She tells them that she lied to them to protect Ali, because Ali called her that summer for help. Mrs. Grunwald tried to use her special skill of “insight” to help Ali discover who was trying to hurt her. She was also the person who pulled Ali out after she was buried alive. Mrs. Grunwald drove Ali to the hospital, but when she went inside and came back, Ali was gone. Grunwald tells the girls that she didn’t go to the police because Ali didn’t want to be found. She also warns them not to go to the party tonight because “he” is watching them, hoping they’ll lead “him” to Ali. After Grunwald tells the girls not to go to the party, they debate whether or not they should trust her. Aria makes the final decision for them as she enters a costume shop.
The Final Scene: Back at A’s lair, the identity of A is revealed. It’s…Ezra.
Reader’s Digest Version: Do we know who A is? Yes! It’s Ezra. Are we ready to go to a party? Absolutely, but we can wait until Summer 2014 if we have to.