A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3
As Good As Dead
by Holly Jackson
Contents
Twenty-Three
Overview
Awakened at night, Pip discovers DT has remotely printed a taunt and hijacked her Bluetooth speakers to blast music, terrifying her family. She spots a masked figure fleeing their driveway. Unable to pursue, Pip lies to calm her parents, confirming DT’s proximity and that she’s his next numbered target.
Summary
Pip wakes abruptly in the night to the sound of her wireless printer activating on its own. She retrieves the page to find a DT message: “Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears? PS. I learned this trick from you, season 1 episode 5. Ready for my next trick?” Realizing a wireless device means the sender must be nearby, Pip scans her room and windows in panic.
Before she can react further, her Bluetooth speakers erupt with deafening death metal, disorienting her and shaking the house. Pip scrambles under her desk and unplugs the speakers to stop the noise. Her parents rush in with the lights, and her younger brother Josh sobs in fear down the hall.
Connecting the tech hacks to proximity, Pip leaps to the window and sees a masked figure in dark clothes sprinting away from their driveway. She hesitates a second too long and the intruder—presumed DT—vanishes into the night.
Blocked by her parents and unable to chase, Pip quickly invents a cover story: a random phone autoplay or faulty speakers caused the disturbance. She apologizes as her parents, shaken and angry, work to settle Josh, who refuses to sleep alone after the fright.
Left awake and rattled, Pip processes the escalation: DT was right outside her window, within Bluetooth range, and is now taunting her with staged “tricks.” She concludes with grim clarity that she is his number six.
Who Appears
- PipProtagonist; awakened by DT’s tech hacks, finds printed taunt, stops blaring speakers, spots masked figure fleeing, lies to reassure family.
- DTStalker; remotely prints a threat, hijacks speakers at full volume, appears masked outside Pip’s window, escapes into the night.
- VictorPip’s dad; rushes in alarmed by the noise, demands explanations, helps manage the family’s fear.
- Pip’s mumComforts Josh after the fright, questions Pip about the disturbance, helps restore calm.
- JoshPip’s younger brother; terrified by the sudden noise, cries and refuses to sleep alone.