a. Thief jerky
b. Caught the flue
c. Nice soot to wear
d. Hearth attack
They're all OUTSTANDING, contestants, but, after much deliberation, I think I'll vote for the first entry, "Thief jerky." Congratulations, TexasNative2000!
Except that TexasNative2000 merely recycled my comment from over six years ago in a near identical story :-)