"There's nothing left." Hope had crossed her arms over herself halfway through her story and now she pulled them tighter. "It all burned to the ground."

Lizzie was the first to speak. "That was your parents' house."

"Lizzie," Josie hissed, elbowing her sister in the ribs.

"What? It was."

Hope didn't say anything about it. She just sighed. "It was all I had left of them."

"Did they say how it started?" Josie asked.

"It wasn't arson." Hope could read her mind. She knew exactly what question Josie was really asking: Was it your stalker? "They said it was an electrical fire. From the house being so old and nobody ..." Hope hiccupped. "... nobody taking care of it."

Landon squeezed her hand. "You did everything you could."

"Thank you." Hope forced out a smile. "I'm starving. Who's hungry?"

"I'll get dinner started," Landon volunteered.

MG nodded. "I'll get the table."

"No, wait." Hope set a hand on his arm. "I actually want to show you a new character design I came up with last night."

"I'll get the table," Lizzie said. She gave MG a push towards Hope. "Go geek out over your men in tights."

"Can I see?" Josie asked as she leaned towards the two of them. "I've always wanted to see how MG's characters go from concept to print."

"Maybe another time." Hope kept that same polite smile on her face. "It's still in the infant stages. Only for MG's eyes right now."

Josie's face fell but she nodded. Quietly, she disappeared into the kitchen after Landon and her twin. Hope wordlessly headed towards the stairs.

"Are we talking hero or villain?" MG asked excitedly as they got closer to the top. Hope's character designs were always breathtaking, but especially the ones she came up with in the middle of the night while she couldn't sleep. Honestly, that's when she did her best work.

"That is the question, isn't it, Milton Greasley?" Hope asked. She closed the door behind him, turning the lock.

"What ..."

"I don't actually have a character design."

"Oh."

"But I was awake doing some thinking last night," Hope continued. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the note she'd retrieved from the guest bathroom earlier. MG took it cautiously. "I think you're the only one I can trust."

"What do you mean?" MG unfolded the note and read it a few times. He didn't understand how it meant he was the only one Hope could trust. If he was being honest here, he and Hope weren't even that great of friends. She was always closer to Lizzie and Josie and Raf than him. The only thing they had in common was that thin overlap in comic book art. "What is this?"

"It's a note. From my stalker." Hope paused for a moment. "Left in my bathroom last night."

" In your house ?" MG's eyebrows rose.

Hope nodded. "Which confirms my suspicion that it's one of us."

"You don't mean -"

Hope kept nodding. "Lizzie, Josie, or Landon. I've ruled you out."

"Why?"

"You're so obsessed with Lizzie, you couldn't even think about being obsessed with me. You're the only one without a motive," Hope spoke faster and faster. "I mean, if anything, you'd be doing this to Lizzie. Not that you would. Just if . Anyways, I need you, your one-track Lizzie-coated mind, and your obsession with mysteries, okay? One of our friends is capable of murder, and I need your help to figure out which one."

"You want to Holmes-and-Watson this?" MG looked like he was enjoying this a little too much.

"Yes, but I'm Holmes. You're Watson."

"And we don't have a homoerotic affair on the side?"

"What?"

"What." MG stiffened. He stepped back. "Not a Johnlock? That's cool."

Hope shook her head. "I don't - Look, MG. I just ... I can't trust anyone else, and I need to know. Can you help me?"

"Yeah." MG nodded quickly. "Yeah, of course."

"Thank you."