Writer – E. Nelson Bridwell, Joe Gill
Artist – Jack Sparling

A woman named Jeanne Gautier has been murdered and usually, it would not affect those who call themselves the Secret Six in any way. The difference with this particular murder is that it has taken place in the spa owned by Lili De Neuve and even worse, it is a woman that Lili is all too familiar with as Jeanne was blackmailing her with the truth about her past. This, of course, makes Lili the number one suspect even though she did not do it. How Jeanne was murdered presents quite a mystery and the police seem a little baffled by it but it is not long before the rest of Lili’s teammates are on the case. At this point in the story, writers E. Nelson Bridwell and Joe Gill take a break from the main narrative to bring readers back to the past with a look at Lili’s history. It is there that readers learn more than what has already been alluded to in previous issues, of how she was blamed for a murder and of how Mockingbird managed to get her out of it and even further, how Jeanne was actually the true perpetrator. It is a fascinating flashback that finally gives those who peruse this book more reason to care about Lili De Neuve before jumping back into the main story and hot on the trail of the main suspect. Catching the villain will require a bit of finesse and trickery and who better to wile the man’s imagination away than Crimson Dawn while the rest of the team do what they do best and lay a trap. As readers might imagine, the team does just that and it is not long before the man named Valory, the real perpetrator, is soon brought to justice. The interesting thing about it all is that with Jeanne dead, nobody can actually free Lili from Mockingbird’s clutches. There is no more evidence and no more witnesses and with the real culprit in the ground, the crime that Lili was charged with will always belong to her. So as with previous issues, the identity of Mockingbird is still being kept under wraps, as it should be even though one would obviously like to know who it is. As with some of the books that came before, this issue’s strongest part was focusing on a singular character and expanding upon what readers know of them, specifically Lili. It may not have been as intriguing a story without it. Once again, this was a very strong affair courtesy of Bridwell, Gill and artist extraordinaire, Jack Sparling.

4 out of 5