16. Over a Barrel

Aria gets a text signed by Detective Holbrook asking to meet up and explain everything. It's a dubious request, but she sees it as a chance to convince him to stop helping Alison. Aria soon finds herself on a wild goose chase. The meeting time and place change twice, and Holbrook never shows. The Hastings are renting out their barn to Jonny, a scrappy guy who makes his own tempera paint. He tells Spencer about dropping out of college and traveling the world. Spencer begins to reconsider her plans for the future.

Paige makes it clear that she is unprepared to date long-distance. Emily wears one of Paige’s shirts to work and bristles when Talia points out a hole in the shoulder. Talia correctly assumes that the shirt is representative of Emily’s relationship with Paige, and suggests she let go of both. Pastor Ted asks Hanna to meet him in town. He reveals his plan to propose to Ashley and asks Hanna’s permission. Hanna gives her blessing, then goes to confront her mother. She presses about whether Ashley plans to tell Ted about what happened with Jason.

Ashley dodges the question. When Ted produces a ring that night, Ashley panics. She does not give Ted a response. Mona’s stolen laptop is activated by its thief, triggering an automatic text to be sent to the girls. The message includes a set of coordinates that reveals the location of the laptop. Spencer and Caleb follow the coordinates to a storage unit with a heavy-duty lock and an awful smell coming from inside. They gain access by traveling through the building's air vents. Inside is Mona’s laptop, several bags of crime scene evidence, and a large, ominous barrel.

Spencer is disturbed by the possibility that Mona’s body is dissolving inside. They leave the storage unit as they found it, and Caleb wipes the building's security footage. Toby spies a text from Caleb on Spencer's phone that alludes to their recent felonious behavior. He presses for details, but Spencer is tight-lipped. Meanwhile, Caleb and Hanna discuss the contents of the storage unit. Hanna's next plan is to connect everything to Holbrook, but Caleb has bad news: the unit is rented in Hanna's name. ' A' ending: 'A' logs into Detective Holbrook's computer at the police department.