Lies, secrets, deception, underhanded tactics, murder. I feel like I'm watching a police procedural, which would be great if it wasn't named Riverdale.
Ronnie pays Jughead to do some investigating on who shot Hiram, who lies unconscious in the hospital. Jug suspects Madam Mayor Hermione played a hand in the attempted murder. He turns out to be right, of course, but there's more to that. She had brokered a deal with FP Jones to pull the trigger in exchange for his being appointed the new town sheriff. Hiram and Claudius' partnered drug operations were polluting Riverdale's water supply, thus causing some of the youngsters to have seizures. This did not sit well with the mayor, and the fact that Hiram refused to shut down the manufacturing of Fizzle Rocks. So she had to take action.
Meanwhile, Betty conducts her own investigation into the death of Claudius in prison. Autopsy results reveal that he, as well as Clifford Blossom, was poisoned by no other than Aunt Penelope though both deaths were made to look like suicides. Why? Because Penelope hates men.
In both scenarios, neither Jughead nor Betty can do anything to implicate Hermione or Penelope, respectively. Aunt Blossom knows that Betty has had some dealings with the Black Hood, which she could use against her. Similarly, if Jughead says a word about Mayor Lodge, then Sheriff Jones could go to jail too.