Avery finds that Xander has indeed arranged a helicopter on Hawthorne House’s lawn, but Oren refuses to let anyone board until he has checked it and then takes the pilot’s seat himself. Avery climbs in and finds Jameson already waiting, eager but unwilling to face the next clue alone.

Grayson boards as well, confirming Xander’s prediction that both brothers would follow Avery. Tension immediately rises because Avery cannot stop thinking about Grayson’s earlier implication that he may have killed Emily, while Jameson clearly does not want Grayson there.

During the flight over the Black Wood, Avery sees what she could not see from the ground: the dense forest, the lighter ring of trees, and the central clearing form a long, narrow O, or a zero. After landing, Avery and Jameson excitedly connect the four clues from Tobias Hawthorne’s will: Westbrook, Davenport, Winchester, and Blackwood correspond to 8, 1, 1, and 0.

Jameson considers whether 8110 might be a safe combination, address, coordinates, or scrambled clue. Avery suggests a date and tests the possibilities until she reaches 10/18: October eighteenth, Avery’s birthday. Avery remembers that her mother once hinted at a secret about the day Avery was born, and Avery begins to think Tobias Hawthorne’s choice of her may be tied to her mother.

Jameson reacts harshly and insists the numbers cannot be a date. Grayson then reveals why: Emily died on October eighteenth one year earlier. Jameson becomes furious, concluding that Tobias Hawthorne may have chosen Avery simply because she was born on the day Emily died, then storms away and bitterly declares the mystery solved.