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“You didn’t,” Milton whispered earnestly to Kira.

“She’s the only one who could have moved his body.” Tempest tossed the cardboard aside and followed the blue tape back to the living room to stand in the spot that would have been the stage in front of the fireplace. “If we agree it wasn’t Harold’s ghost who moved Lucas’s body, it’s the only answer that’s possible.”

“She isn’t the killer.” Milton took a deep breath and looked as if he was about to say more, but Kira spoke first.

“Don’t do anything stupid like confessing to a murder you didn’t commit to save me.” Kira turned from Milton and faced Tempest.

“It’s true, isn’t it?” Tempest watched Kira’s resolute face.

Kira didn’t look frightened. Or sorry. Only relieved .

“I didn’t kill Lucas Cruz,” Kira said. “But I moved his body.”

“Where?” Sanjay asked as several others gasped. “I swear you couldn’t have found an impossibly small hiding spot in my magic trunk.”

“The one place we never thought to look,” said Tempest, “because normally there’s no way a body could be hidden in such a small-seeming piece of furniture. But we forgot one important thing. In addition to the folding chairs, the one other piece of furniture we rented was the futon . It was rented from Kira’s cousin’s company: Storage Solutions.”

Sanjay groaned. “ Storage. It’s right there in their name.”

“So everything they rent includes extra storage,” Gideon added.

“The folding chairs fold up to be flat,” said Tempest. “And the futon must’ve had a hidden storage compartment.”

Kira nodded. “The cushion is a lot thinner than it looks. After I threw up in the bathroom, I looked out and saw the body to my right, and Ivy and Cameron to my left— with their backs turned to me . I had a flash of inspiration when I saw Lucas lying right next to the futon. It only took a couple of seconds to unlatch the futon’s storage section and lift him into the long compartment under the cushion. I might look small, but I’m hella strong from hauling around heavy stacks of books all day, so I knew I could do it.”

“Why?” Ivy asked. “Were you covering up for the real killer?”

“No way.” Kira shook her head. “I really did think it was an accident. That the props got messed up and it was a tragic accident.”

“You thought I killed him?” Milton tugged at his beard.

“Not on purpose,” Kira insisted. “I know you’d never do that. I was freaking out at what we’d just seen. While I was throwing up, so many things were flashing through my mind. Not just wondering how the prop gun could have malfunctioned, but also how the library opening would be ruined. My local library is how I got through my childhood. I’ve seen up close how much both kids and adults use our little public library. Libraries are essential . Having another library in town would have been amazing.”

Her confession sounded genuine, but there was something in her words that didn’t ring true.

“I don’t buy it that you’d move a dead body to save Gray House Library,” Tempest said.

“It’s the truth.” Kira rubbed her eyes. “But you’re right. That’s not the whole story. I was also thinking of myself. How could I not? My boss is a tyrant, but libraries are my calling. I didn’t want to leave Hidden Creek…”

“You thought you could get the second librarian job that Harold’s trust set up?” Tempest asked.

Kira nodded. “I was already trying to impress Cameron with my work ethic, hoping he’d hire me. I knew I couldn’t bring Lucas back to life, but I thought I could at least have his body be discovered after the city council meeting. I thought someone being killed would mess up the library getting approved, so I only wanted to hide him long enough to get through the city council meeting when the vote was supposed to happen.”

“And then the city council decided to postpone the vote,” Tempest said.

Kira’s face darkened. “I did it for nothing. I know I screwed up. The largest screwup of my life.”

“But how did you get his body back onto the floor the second night?” Sanjay asked.

“Were you the person who trapped us in that room?” Gideon added.

“No way,” Kira said adamantly. “I have no idea who killed him, how they figured out he was in the futon, or how they got him out of there while trapping all of us in the escape room. I swear it. I was trapped in there with you! But as for moving his body in the first place to save the library?” She took a deep breath. “I take responsibility for that. I’ll go talk to that detective now. I have his card, so I can wake him up. I’ll turn myself in to the police for my role in messing with the evidence. He seems honest, so I don’t think he’ll railroad me into confessing to a murder I didn’t commit.”

“Let me go with you,” Milton said.

“I can do it on my own,” Kira snapped. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to run away to avoid whatever punishment is coming to me. My whole life is here in Hidden Creek. I hope it’s still waiting for me when I get out of jail.”

“Let me go as your friend,” Milton said. “Wait. I don’t mean that.”

Kira winced.

“What I mean,” Milton added, “is that I want to go with you for me as much as for you. I lost out on a lot of years of being a dad, and it feels good to have been able to look out for you these past couple of years. Let me be selfish. Let me be your moral support. Whatever you need, I’m here.”

Milton watched her hopefully, and a moment later, Kira threw herself into his arms. When she broke away from the hug, there were tears in his eyes.

“That was a surprisingly touching resolution,” Ivy said as they closed the barn door behind Kira and Milton.

“Except it’s not a resolution,” Tempest said.

“Because we still don’t know who actually killed Lucas Cruz.” Ivy leaned against the barn’s sliding door.

“Actually…” Tempest bit her lip so hard she drew blood. She hated what she’d realized. But all the clues told her she was right. “I know who did it. Who’s up for breaking into Gray House?”