diff --git a/debug/debug_audit_test.go b/debug/debug_audit_test.go
index 436d6f1..4c13249 100644
--- a/debug/debug_audit_test.go
+++ b/debug/debug_audit_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ package debug
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -181,7 +183,7 @@ TEXT ·wptwo(SB), NOSPLIT, $0-32
 	if err := sess.ClearWatchpoint(0); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("ClearWatchpoint(0): %v", err)
 	}
-	dr0, err := ptracePeekUser(sess.Pid(), drOffset)
+	dr0, err := ptracePeekUser(sess.tid, drOffset)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("read DR0: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -191,16 +193,35 @@ TEXT ·wptwo(SB), NOSPLIT, $0-32
 }
 
 // TestLaunchFailsFastOnDeadDebuggee proves a debuggee that dies before
-// signalling readiness surfaces promptly: the ready poll used to run its
-// full 2.5 seconds before the wait discovered the exit.
+// signalling readiness surfaces through the readiness poll's dead-file
+// watch: the poll used to run its full 2.5 seconds before the wait
+// discovered the exit.
+//
+// The property is checked without a wall-clock bound.  A stub debuggee
+// marks itself dead the instant it starts (a bare Go binary, none of gasm's
+// table initialisation), so the notice is on disk and stays there well
+// inside the poll's budget on any machine, and the only way Launch can
+// report is through the dead file itself.
 func TestLaunchFailsFastOnDeadDebuggee(t *testing.T) {
 	runtime.LockOSThread()
 	defer runtime.UnlockOSThread()
-	bin := buildGasm(t)
 	path := boundaryKernel(t)
-	start := time.Now()
-	sess, err := Launch(bin, path, "nosuchfunction", nil)
-	elapsed := time.Since(start)
+
+	sess, err := Launch(buildStubDebuggee(t), path, "nosuchfunction", nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		sess.Kill()
+		t.Fatal("Launch with a dead debuggee should fail")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "before signalling readiness") {
+		t.Fatalf("error does not come from the dead-file watch: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "stub debuggee died before readiness") {
+		t.Errorf("error does not carry the debuggee's own reason: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// The real debuggee's failure path: the same watch must catch a gasm
+	// that fails on an unknown function before it ever TRACEMEs.
+	sess, err = Launch(buildGasm(t), path, "nosuchfunction", nil)
 	if err == nil {
 		sess.Kill()
 		t.Fatal("Launch with an unknown function should fail")
@@ -209,9 +230,92 @@ func TestLaunchFailsFastOnDeadDebuggee(t *testing.T) {
 		!strings.Contains(err.Error(), "debuggee exited") {
 		t.Errorf("error does not name the dead debuggee: %v", err)
 	}
-	if elapsed >= 1500*time.Millisecond {
-		t.Fatalf("Launch took %v to report the dead debuggee; the readiness poll must detect the exit, not time out", elapsed)
+}
+
+// buildStubDebuggee compiles a stand-in debuggee that marks itself dead the
+// moment it starts.  The real gasm pays for its generated instruction tables
+// before it can fail, which under a loaded machine turned any fixed latency
+// expectation into a race; the stub starts in single-digit milliseconds, so
+// the dead notice always lands inside the readiness poll's budget.
+func buildStubDebuggee(t *testing.T) string {
+	t.Helper()
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("live ptrace session: skipped in -short mode")
 	}
+	const src = `package main
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+)
+
+func main() {
+	dir := os.Getenv("GASM_DEBUG_TMP")
+	os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "dead"),
+		[]byte("stub debuggee died before readiness"), 0o644)
+	os.Exit(1)
+}
+`
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	srcPath := filepath.Join(dir, "stub_debuggee.go")
+	if err := os.WriteFile(srcPath, []byte(src), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write stub source: %v", err)
+	}
+	bin := filepath.Join(dir, "stub_debuggee")
+	out, err := exec.Command("go", "build", "-o", bin, srcPath).CombinedOutput()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("build stub debuggee: %v: %s", err, out)
+	}
+	return bin
+}
+
+// TestKillReturnsForEveryTraceeState proves the kill sequence returns for a
+// debuggee in any state: parked in a ptrace-stop from the launch barrier,
+// run to its exit, and killed twice the way the REPL's quit path and the
+// session cleanup both do.  The old sequence sent SIGKILL and then blocked
+// in Wait4 on a traced child the kill alone never woke, so a test failure
+// on the way out of a session hung the whole package.  A regression here
+// hangs, so a watchdog fails the run.
+func TestKillReturnsForEveryTraceeState(t *testing.T) {
+	runtime.LockOSThread()
+	defer runtime.UnlockOSThread()
+	bin := buildGasm(t)
+	path := boundaryKernel(t)
+
+	timer := time.AfterFunc(time.Minute, func() {
+		panic("watchdog: Kill blocked instead of returning for a tracee state")
+	})
+	defer timer.Stop()
+
+	// Parked at the readiness barrier: the tracee is stopped under ptrace.
+	sess, _, _ := launchKernel(t, bin, path, "boundary", nil)
+	tmpDir := sess.tmpDir
+	sess.Kill()
+	if !sess.Exited() {
+		t.Fatal("Kill must mark the parked debuggee exited")
+	}
+	if _, err := os.Stat(tmpDir); !os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		t.Errorf("Kill left the scratch directory %s behind", tmpDir)
+	}
+
+	// The double kill: the REPL's quit path and the test cleanup both call
+	// Kill on the same session, and the second call returns too.
+	sess.Kill()
+
+	// Run to completion: the debuggee has exited, waitStopped reaped it and
+	// Kill still returns without blocking on the collected child.
+	sess2, bm, fl := launchKernel(t, bin, path, "boundary", nil)
+	entry := sess2.CodeBase() + uint64(fl.Offset)
+	if _, err := bm.Set(entry, "entry"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Set: %v", err)
+	}
+	runToEntry(t, sess2, bm, entry)
+	for !sess2.Exited() {
+		if err := sess2.Continue(); err != nil && !sess2.Exited() {
+			t.Fatalf("Continue: %v", err)
+		}
+	}
+	sess2.Kill()
 }
 
 // TestStrayTrapRunsThrough proves the continue loop survives a trap