“MR. CLARK, MR. HOFSTRA—whoever he pretended to be,” Fiona went on, waving her hands while stepping closer to JJ and Penny. “He killed my father.”

You could hear a pin drop.

“Get away from her!” Emma called from somewhere in the audience seats.

Penny tried to find her, but the lights were so bright. They were cornered by Fiona, onstage.

Fiona said, “I see you brought your little ghost friend Emma. Is she here to help you?”

Ignoring Fiona, Penny said, “We found this in the library.” She held up the script. “It has Mr. Clark’s real name in it, Mr. Hofstra. You knew he was a con man.”

Fiona smiled. “Leave it to the little kids to figure it out.”

“We’re not little kids,” JJ mumbled. But he felt cornered, just like Penny. Both kids stepped back, out of the spotlight.

Fiona continued, “Yes, I knew Mr. Hofstra. He was my father’s butler, in Chicago. He weaseled his way into Dad’s life, just like he did with Mr. Barclay. Only my father wasn’t so lucky. He died of a heart attack—or so it looked, anyway.”

“You think your dad was murdered?” Penny asked.

“I couldn’t prove it, but . . . yes.” Fiona sighed, then got agitated again. “He was poisoned, but the killer made it look like a heart attack. And Gerrit Hofstra forged my father’s will and took all his money. My dad was a wealthy man, like Mr. Barclay.”

“How did you know to come here, to Aspen Springs?” JJ asked.

Fiona stood in the spotlight now. It was like she’d been waiting in the wings until it was her turn to tell the truth. “After he died, I searched my dad’s computer for evidence and found that someone had been researching the Barclay family. My father barely used his computer, so I knew it wasn’t him.”

Fiona turned, and stepped out of the light. She was choosing her words carefully.

“I wanted revenge. I wanted Hofstra to pay. But I knew I needed a plan to take down a con man like him.”

“So, you moved here,” JJ said, prodding her to say more. He sure hoped his recorder was getting this.

Fiona nodded, and turned back to JJ and Penny. “I set up my theater company in town, knowing that Mr. Barclay loved murder mystery games and theater. I approached him, after I had the company up and running.”

“And Mr. Barclay said yes to your play.” Penny got closer to Fiona, slowly.

Fiona smiled. “The truth is, I was actually pretty excited to host a murder mystery at the hotel. But I was here for Hofstra, so I wrote him into the story.”

This was a clever plan, Penny thought. Not that she was about to say that out loud.

Fiona gave Penny and JJ an evil smile. “That Friday, I had an appointment with Mr. Barclay. But I knew how Hofstra liked to use disguises. Don’t get me wrong—he was good—but I knew it wasn’t Mr. Barclay I was speaking to on the phone. Then I brought the poison I ordered ahead of time, and drove up to the Barclay Hotel. All I needed was ten minutes alone with Gerrit Hofstra . . .”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Was Fiona about to confess to the murder?

Fiona took a deep breath. “When I arrived, I met Mr. Barclay, but I knew it was really the con man who killed my father. Then I followed him into the kitchen, where there was a perfect cupcake, waiting for Hofstra. When he looked away, I quickly poisoned the frosting on the cupcake. It was frighteningly easy, really.

“Then I got the invitation,” Fiona went on. “And I knew I had to come here for the weekend, to make sure no one suspected me. Unfortunately, Mr. Barclay did . . .” Her face clouded over.

“How about the other suspects?” Penny asked.

Fiona smiled again. “This was where I got lucky. There were four other suspects! The chef, the cowboy, the librarian, and your mom, the CEO. I couldn’t have written it better in the play.”

JJ paused, thinking of all the danger they had been in that weekend at the Barclay Hotel. “The elevator, the carousel . . .”

Fiona nodded and shrugged, in a “you got me” way. “When I figured out that the two of you were on to me, I knew I had to stop you. It was pretty easy, honestly. The elevator is old, and I just had to turn up the speed on the carousel. Only that didn’t scare you, did it?”

“A little,” JJ admitted.

Penny shot JJ a look that said “act brave!”

“And I almost got rid of your grandpa out there in the blizzard,” Fiona said to Penny.

Penny felt anger boil inside her as she thought of how her grandpa could’ve frozen to death outside in that maze. But she had to keep her detective calm.

Penny realized they’d need a full confession, one for the murder. She said, “So that Friday, at ten thirty, you just poisoned Mr. Clark and left.”

“Mr. Hofstra,” Fiona said, correcting Penny.

“You killed him.”

Fiona nodded. “Yes. And good riddance.”

This was it: the confession they had been looking for. And they had it all on tape!