Luna turned back to Alex. If she could get just one person to believe her, she’d be okay. All she needed was one. “Think about it. The timing isn’t just fishy—it’s controlled. Remember how we all just stood in the hallway after breakfast waiting for the challenge notification this morning? We assumed that structure—meal, challenge, meal, challenge, meal—would apply to today. We filled in the blanks because Jewel conditioned us to. So, when it deviated, we immediately assumed and believed the worst.”

“That’s a really good point,” Alex said, and her heart grew three sizes.

“Everything is exactly as it seems in The Cruelest Jewel,” Luna said. “They even activated the ABORT button. They just changed the name, thinking it would fool us.”

“All right. Fine,” Francis said. “If this is a challenge, how do we complete it with no envelope telling us what to do?”

Luna had an answer for that. On her tablet, she pulled up and recited the exact game language: For some, you will receive a notification and instructions through your tablets at the designated time. If asked to enter a challenge room, once inside you must locate your envelope.

“There’s no envelope because we didn’t enter a room. This challenge, let’s call it Jewel Is Missing, is happening estate-wide. Look at the recipe,” Luna said, waiting for everyone to do so.

Preheat oven to 314 degrees.

Mix all colors until batter is smooth.

Pour into sweet companion molds. Set aside all but three key ingredients.

Whip two partridges until a psychopomp and circumstance forms.

Share and cut the Baker’s dozen chocolate bar into quadragrams.

In a pressure cooker, separate the royal flush with red herrings wild. Bake for seven minutes.

Serve the chocolate concoction scrambled atop a pie on a cloudy white day under a winner’s cursed crown.

“We’ve figured out steps two through four. Now we’re on step six! Don’t you get it?” Luna paused, trying to rein in her excitement. “A pressure cooker? That’s the interrogation. Separate the royal flush from red herrings wild? That’s us. We’re the royal flush because of the freebie present playing cards we got at lunch yesterday! The recipe is telling us we have to decide how we want to move forward. We’ve already been given everything we need to solve the recipe.”

“You skipped step five,” Francis said.

“I didn’t,” Luna said, confidence waning. She knew the next part would be a hard sell. “I think someone in here received a freebie present. They have the answer to number five.”

“What gave you that idea?” Harlow asked.

“It’s just a hunch.”

“Who has the present, then?” Francis asked. “Don’t all speak up at once, now.”

“Maybe they can’t yet,” Luna said softly.

“That’s convenient.”