"Jug, do you really think Vee and I are going to sit idly by and not help our boyfriends graduate?"
✿
"I'm ready to rise from the grave."
Mickey is nervously twisting the charm bracelet on her wrist as she watches Jughead pack his duffel bag. "Are you sure?" Fear encompasses her voice. If he comes back too soon, the Preppies will just try to kill him again. They're ruthless like that. "It's only been two weeks, Jug."
"Yeah, and I feel like I'm actually dead." Jughead didn't anticipate the toll hiding out would take. He's read his own obituaries and watched a livestream that Betty set up for his wake. He's been very careful not to ruin the plan, but it's become too much. All of his friends have went beyond for him to nail the Preppies to the wall—even Archie and Betty with their fake dating; he knows that's not fun for Veronica.
The plan hasn't gone perfectly. People have caught on, but at least it's the people they could trust the most. JB figured it out on her own after Betty asked for the fake blood to smear on the decoy rock that was tested. Mickey told FP right after the morgue and he's been playing along ever since. Veronica had to tell Hermosa when Hermosa threatened to tell their parents about the kids lying and to keep using her private investigator skills to dig for the truth; she also assumed that Betty and Veronica were secret girlfriends. Speaking of Betty, she told Alice just like Archie told Mary.
"It's lonely down here, Mick."
She felt for him, but it wasn't like she could come down every day. It was too risky. She's only been down here twice for less than five minutes to drop off food, supplies, and a change of clothes.
Mickey glances at his murder board. "All the strings are connected. Have you figured it out?"
Jughead knows she looking for any reason to keep him safe. He moves over to her and wraps his arms around her. "Yes." He's used all this time and the cover his friends have created to solve everything. He focused on every scrap of even fence, went over every minuscule detail, and looked for hidden patterns, hints, and clues. "This was a different kind of mystery than the ones I've tackled before. This wasn't a whodunnit. This was a whydunnit. More psychological."
"Are you sure?" she asks one more time.
"I was just going over all of this one more time." Jughead smiles, "We're going to blow Stonewall Prep out of the water."
"First, you need to shower."
✿
"The floor is open," DuPoint says to the students in the seminar room. "Any thoughts regarding Dostoevsky's take on morality?"
All of their attention turns when the door flys open and Mickey, Betty, and Jughead enter the room. Jughead, clad in his leather jacket and new beanie, walks further into the room with a smile on his face. "Hey, guys." When they're all looking at him bewildered, he asks,
"Well, what, did you even miss me?
Bret rises from his seat, pointing at Jughead, "You gotta be kidding me!"
DuPoint stutters, "Mr. Jones. I...I don't understand. We all thought—"
"That I was dead?" Jughead nods, "Actually for a minute there, I did too. Yeah. Hey, what's that oft-used Mark Twain quote? 'Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.'" He grins.
Mickey takes the key out of her back pocket, closes the seminar doors, and locks it. "We've got a whole class period to lay it all out for your psychotic asses."
And that's when the storytelling begins. The almost perfect murder mystery with all its twists and turns.
It started with Jughead's grandfather writing the original Baxter Brothers novel and being exploited by DuPoint to sell the idea for five-thousand dollars—even though the books have generated millions. DuPoint didn't want the secret to come out, so he killed everyone who might know his secret. Another murderous aspect of the story was the Stonewall 4. Whenever a ghostwriter was rewarded the contract, they had to commit the perfect murder thus leading to the four "missing" students. When Jughead confronted each of the past ghostwriters, they all wanted to contact their lawyers.
All of the accidental deaths were just DuPoint's doing to keep his secret about his empire. Only Jughead's grandfather made it out alive. He, Charles, and FP joined the seminar room to add to the story. Apparently, one of the students DuPoint killed went to see Jughead's grandfather to warn him about DuPoint. Then that student died two days later. Jughead's grandfather left his family so that he wouldn't be killed.
This is why Mr. DuPoint gave Jughead the contract to lure Jughead's grandfather out of hiding.
Mr. Chipping recruited Moose to be the next victim to become the fifth Stonewall student to disappear. His guilt took over and he forced Moose to leave before he was murdered. His guilt and all the secrets is why Mr. Chipping killed himself—not because of the affair Donna lied about, but because he wished he never got the Baxter Brothers' contract.
Since ghostwriters had to commit the perfect murder to keep the contract, the Preppies made killing Jughead a group effort.
Donna kept Betty busy and blew Devil's Breath in Betty's face.
Bret led Jughead to the woods.
Joan hit him on the head with the rock.
Jonathan was supposed to check Jughead's pulse.
Then Donna led Betty into the woods where Jughead's body was.
Joan and Jonathan pointed Mickey, Veronica and Archie into the woods to find Betty.
The one they didn't count on was Jughead's beanie cushioning the blow, making it less severe. Mickey's the one who felt for a pulse after Archie said he didn't fe anything. She and Betty performed CPR on him while Veronica held the beanie to his wound to slow down the bleeding.
Even barely conscious, Jughead made it clear he didn't want to go to the hospital.
Betty called Charles that night. He told them to carry Jughead through the woods to a med-van just outside the woods. Then Charles instructed them to clean the scene and to get rid of their clothes. It's why they threw the bloody rock into the swimming hole and burned their clothes in the bonfire that Betty started.
Jughead was unconscious for thirty-six hours. It's why the day following that night Betty was racked with guilt, Veronica was freaking out about who to blame, and Mickey was so scared about what would happen. They were all worried Jughead might not make it. That's why Mickey tried to keep them together under his fate was revealed to them.
Dr. Curdle Jr helped them in the morgue—for a price, of course. A little bit of makeup helped Jughead look dead.
Charles told DuPoint that all of Jughead's evidence and the trophies from victims at DuPoint's home was concrete enough to arrest him.
DuPoint jumped out the window just like Chipping.
All in all, privilege really saved the Preppies. Joan had diplomatic immunity because her dad's an ambassador. She decided to leave the country to avoid charges. Donna didn't actually do any of the dirty work, so she's transferring to a new school scot free. Baxter Brothers is rebranding to Tracey True which she was supposed to write until Betty and Mickey threatened to link her to everything, which would get her jail time.
One damning piece of evidence that Hermosa found was that one of DuPoint's victims was Donna's grandmother. Donna wanted revenge against DuPoint for murdering her grandmother and stealing the Tracey True character from her grandmother.
Everything was tied together perfectly with a bow.
✿
Jughead sits on the edge of his bed. "Months at Stonewall Prep away from you guys, what a waste."
Mickey pats his shoulder, "Jug, okay. You're coming back to Riverdale High. We put a stop to DuPont, you solved eight murders, and gave closure to every family of every missing child. I would not call that a waste of time."
"I know. And my dad and grandfather are talking again for the first time in thirty years. It's just...—I feel..." he sighs heavily.
"Cheated? I know. I know. You'll find a meaning to all of this at some point. And on the bright side, we have our sex tape back."
Bret revealed the location of all the illegally recorded tapes, including Mickey and Jughead's sex tape. It was hidden in a secret compartment behind Stonewall's crest.
"You didn't destroy it?"
"If you want me to, I will, but...maybe we can watch it first?"
Jughead grins, "Oh, Mickey, what am I gonna do with you?"
✿
"All right, guys. Let's make a vow," Archie holds up his strawberry milkshake.
They all groan.
"I know. I know. The last time we made a vow to have a normal senior year, everything went to hell pretty quick. But we only have two, three months left. Let's end it on a high note."
Jughead asks, "Are we just gonna ignore the fact that Archie and I will probably not be graduating with you guys?"
Mickey puts her milkshake down, "Jug, do you really think Vee and I are going to sit idly by and not help our boyfriends graduate?"
Veronica sits up straight and her tone becomes serious, "Archie Andrews and Jughead Jones, you will graduate. Even if it takes a thousand tutors, you will set aside everything. No more mysteries. And make graduating your sole purpose in life."
Jughead laughs, "Why does that sound like a threat?"
"Because it is. To going out on top together!" Veronica clinks her glass with Archie's.
They all clink their glasses.
"Cheers."
"Cheers to that."
Kevin runs up to their table. "Guys, guys, just a reminder. I'm posting the sign-up sheet for the variety show tomorrow. You all have to perform. Even you, Jughead."
"Count us in, Kev," Betty snorts.
Jughead pulls him down to sit with them.
For a night, things are normal.