What happened
Solomon isn't dead. He made a deal with John S. Myth to disappear, and a lookalike named Frederick Canary was killed in his place.
Who's who
Solomon EspositoThe fixer. Still alive. He left the house during the party.
John S. MythThe killer. He killed Frederick, not Solomon.
Frederick CanaryThe man on the floor of Room #2. A lookalike nobody at the party had met.
Chadwick Ashford-VaneBeat Solomon up earlier that night, but left him alive.
Why
- John came to the castle to kill Solomon. Solomon could prove that John framed a coworker for a mission John had botched.
- Solomon was already planning to disappear. He offered John a deal: his black book, in exchange for help disappearing.
- The plan needed a body. Frederick was found three months earlier and given a pacemaker that matched Solomon's.
The timeline
About 9:15Chadwick fights Solomon in Room #2 and leaves him hurt, but alive.
Right afterSolomon says he has a private meeting with Ursina. There was no meeting. He leaves the house.
9:31Frederick is already in Room #2, drugged and dressed as Solomon. John sets off a device that stops his pacemaker. The clock in the black box stopped at 9:31.
After thatJohn stages the scene: candles, sigils (one drawn backwards), poison dabbed on the lips, stab wounds from Dion's letter opener, and Chadwick's blood moved onto the body. Punching the body left John with a bruised knuckle.
The red herrings
Phase 1The ritual setup points at Frater Castlerock. He was innocent.
Phase 2The bloody handkerchief points at Chadwick. He beat Solomon, but he didn't kill anyone.
Phase 3The pacemaker and the black box point at John. That was right, but it doesn't tell you who died.
The clues that proved it
- The pacemaker numbers don't match. The body's reads
SDR-6T4M8H. Solomon's ID card, in the medical case (code 460), saysSDR-2K7E9W. - The black box (code 318) had a Stryder chip, a clock stopped at 9:31, and agency markings that match the torn badge from behind the dresser drawer.
- The black book (code 742) had dirt on everyone, plus Solomon's own notes about the deal.
- The Meridian's missing-persons story went live at 5 PM Saturday. Frederick has Solomon's face.
- The last photo: Solomon, alive, on a boat.
How it ended
Nobody voted for John.