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Emmie’s brows hike. “That’s tragic, but unless she scared him to death, I’m not hearing murder.”

“Not necessarily,” Jasper says. “But Vampyra had a whole other career before she became a horror host. She spent four years working in a funeral home and trained in mortuary science.” He pauses. “Which means she knows her way around chemicals—and probably knows which ones a routine toxicology screening would miss.”

Leo straightens. “Well, if she did kill her husband—and if Clawdia knew what happened to him⁠—”

“Then she had something on Vampyra worth a whole lot more than a sponsorship deal,” I say.

Jasper shifts beside me. “There’s one last thing before we officially retire shop talk for the night. The final toxicology report came in this morning.” His expression tightens. “Clawdia had cyanide in her drink.”

Cyanide. Just thinking the word sends a chill through me, along with the memory of Ghoulia answering Georgie’s absurd question about which poison she considered the most romantic. Relatively painless. Works quickly. At least compared to the alternatives. She hadn’t even hesitated.

“Doesn’t take much, either,” Jasper says. “It’s fast, easy to get into a drink, and lethal. All our killer needed was a few seconds alone with Clawdia’s glass.”

“Okay, but let’s backtrack to Miss Kitty,” Emmie says. “What was in the footage?”

“All of it. Every single woman spilled something ugly on camera, and we’re not talking about pocketing the tiny shampoo bottles. I’m talking Floyd, purchased followers, phony hauntings, torpedoed sponsorships, plus a cheerful sprinkle of embezzlement.” I go in for another bite. “Some of those confessions could bury careers. The rest could come with matching handcuffs.”

“And Clawdia was going to release all of it?” Jasper sounds appalled.

“She thought it would make great television.” I finish my s’more and immediately start on another one because apparently I have no self-control when it comes to chocolate. “So now the question is, where’s the footage?”

“Did Miss Kitty get it back?” Leo asks.

“Actually, we can get a pretty good idea without the raw footage.” Jasper reaches for his phone. “Kitty’s been posting bits and pieces to her channel for two years. Take a look.”

He pulls up her older videos and passes the phone my way. Before long, it’s making the rounds beside the fire.

The documentary is there if you know what you’re looking for. A stray interview here. A behind-the-scenes clip there. Pieces of a much larger project Kitty never quite managed to hide.

I stop on a video from early in the project. Kitty is practically glowing as she films Clawdia, soaking up every word the woman says.

Then I find one posted two months ago.

Different story.

Kitty’s smile looks pasted on now, and Clawdia isn’t offering suggestions anymore. She’s giving orders.

Emmie watches over my shoulder. “Wow. You can practically pinpoint when everything went south.”

She’s right.

Six months ago, Kitty looked thrilled to be working with her idol.

Two months ago, she looked like she’d met her.

The documentary was real. The footage was damaging. And Kitty poured everything she had into a project her own mentor decided to weaponize.

“Whether she got the raw footage back is what I need to find out tomorrow.” I turn my marshmallow over the fire, watching the edges go gold. “If she did, then she had contact with Clawdia recently. And that gives her opportunity.”

“So Vampyra’s still in the running?” Emmie asks. “Dead husband. Funeral home experience. Knows her way around chemicals.”

“She has to be.” I pull the marshmallow away from the flame before I cremate another one. “Ghoulia thinks she’s ninety percent image and ten percent impulse. According to her, if Vampyra wanted Clawdia dead, she would’ve stabbed her during the toast, taken a bow, and posted the highlights before dessert. Poison requires patience. Vampyra barely plans past her next Instagram post.”

“That lines up with what I heard in her head,” Leo says. “Lots of panic. Lots of performance. Not much planning.”

Jasper stares into the fire. “Still doesn’t erase her background. We can’t cross her off because Ghoulia thinks she’s flighty.”

“I’m not crossing anyone off until I can look them in the eye.” I sandwich my marshmallow between two graham crackers and add enough chocolate to make this a structural concern. “But Kitty has the freshest reason to hate Clawdia. If Clawdia was about to tear apart everything Kitty spent years building—and drag everyone who trusted her down with it...”