“Good,” Stella continued. “Luna was selected to ensure the entirety of the Goldspiracy Forums would watch to support their Founder. If anyone would analyze every single frame of video from this weekend to help discover the truth, it would be them.”

Luna nodded in agreement. “We would’ve never given up.”

“And then, there was Francis,” Stella said.

“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.” Francis’s stillness had broken again. “This isn’t the plan we agreed to—”

“Of course it’s not the plan that we agreed to, because I lied.” She stood up only to throw herself onto the next love seat, lounging like a mildly irritated cat. “Whose side are you on? That’s a real question by the way. Nicole, cover your ears.”

“Stella—”

“Stop interrupting me.” She paused again for effect, rolling into a sitting position. “Jewel wanted an inside man on our team. Someone who would ensure we got all the information we needed. Francis, she knew you would do your honorable best no matter the circumstances. And she also knew you would do everything in your power to help us, even if that meant spying on your friends. Face it, you’re predictable and she likes you.”

“Wait.” Francis’s gaze drifted slowly from Stella to Ethan. “No.”

Nicole must have given him some acting pointers—he looked convincing as hell.

“Don’t jump ahead of me now. After Jewel secured the players, she had one more trick up her sleeve. The proof is in the presents, because we got two sets: challenge and freebies.” Stella could feel how unhinged her smile looked. “The culprits knew about the challenge presents, but they didn’t know about the freebies. Jewel gave those to us directly in secret.”

“But wait, there’s more,” Harlow said. “Four.”

Stella pointed at Olive. “I figured out that neither of you knew anything about our freebie presents when you asked about my wyvern necklace. At first, I thought you were laying it on thick, because right before that Jewel said, ‘One of them will betray me.’ Them being you and Ethan. But Jewel wasn’t being facetious.

“So I asked myself, Why would someone who helped plan the game, who helped host it, not recognize an integral part of it? Because Jewel intentionally hid it from you. And pray tell, why would she do that? Because the culprits work here. They didn’t need to break in because the call was coming from inside the house.”

Stella walked back to her starting place next to Harlow.

“The staff would never do something like that. Ever,” Olive said, righteous as rain in the summer. “They wouldn’t have any reason to.”

Ethan agreed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it, though?” Stella teased. “I told you the proof is in the presents. On the last night Jewel was seen alive, she gave Harlow a freebie present: six letter tiles that would form quadragrams—a portmanteau meaning four anagrams.”