Nothing is ever as it seems on Pretty Little Liars. So the fact that we're being made to believe that Byron killed Charlotte DiLaurentis makes me immediately question his guilt in the matter. After all, when has this series ever made the real culprit so obvious? Odds are Aria's dad is just another red herring to throw us off the scent of what's really going on. However, that's not to say that Mr. Montgomery isn't still hiding something from his daughter, which would help to explain his shady behavior. In the latest episode, we saw Byron get off the phone with Aria and make the remark "I think she knows" to an unseen mystery accomplice. So who was Byron talking to on Pretty Little Liars ? I have a sneaking suspicion that they were discussing something that has nothing to do with Charlotte's death.
At first, I immediately thought Byron was talking to Ezra, given the message he'd left for him on Ezra's answering machine. (Also, who has an answering machine anymore, Ezra?) But then I remembered how the Liars spotted Byron at the Radley hotel earlier in the episode and felt like that may have been a clue as to what's going on with him. What if Byron is fearful of Aria finding out that he's been secretly dating Hanna's mom, Ashley Marin, aka the owner of the hotel he just so happened to be spotted checking into? The hosts of Bustle's Pretty Little Liars podcast, Taking This One To The Grave, also have some theories about Byron's behavior, which you can listen to below.
Byron and Ella may no longer be together, but he may still be fearful that Aria wouldn't approve of his new relationship, given that it's with the mother of one of her best friends. Not to mention that it's the perfect way to make Byron seem like he's up to something terrible when really it's just an innocent romantic dalliance. And it's not as if these two haven't had some serious chemistry in the past, so it would make sense for them to turn to each other after both their daughters left the nest. Perhaps that's what helped inspire Ashley to steal the security data backup system. She wanted to protect both Hanna and Aria.
Of course, that still doesn't explain why Byron's nine iron is missing from his golf bag, though that could just be Uber A messing with Aria's mind for all we know. Yes, it's true that Byron hated Charlotte and once said that she would be released from the institution "over his dead body," but that's just kind of something you say in the heat of the moment. He may at times be a neglectful father and terrible husband (fidelity isn't his strong suit), but he's no killer. At least not when it comes to Charlotte's murder.
For even more PLL theories, check out previous episodes of Taking This One To The Grave below.
Images: Eric McCandless/Freeform; prettylittleliars/Tumblr
