In the middle of the night, Avery has Oren escort her to Hawthorne House’s armory because she has connected the word Winchester to Jameson and suspects Tobias Hawthorne hid another clue there. Oren leads Avery through twisting corridors to an ornate mirror that conceals a steel-reinforced safe-room entrance protected by facial recognition.

Inside, Avery finds that the armory looks elegant rather than militaristic, with cherrywood cabinets, a marble-topped table, and an expensive rug. Oren explains that the room also functions as a safe room and tornado shelter, then tells Avery there are at least thirty Winchester rifles in the collection.

Avery tells Oren she is looking for a message from Tobias Hawthorne, likely a carved number or symbol. Avery reflects that Jameson withheld information after searching for the clue tied to his own middle name, so Avery no longer feels obligated to keep secrets from him. Avery also reconsiders the carving in the Black Wood, wondering whether “Tobias Hawthorne II” was made by Toby as a child rather than being the real clue.

Because the shooter remains unidentified, Avery cannot safely return to the woods. Oren handles the rifles carefully and explains that Tobias rarely confided in him, though the two respected each other. Oren identifies one of Tobias’s favorite rifles and stresses that all guns must be treated as loaded, even when they are not.

Avery forces herself to examine the Winchesters despite her recent trauma from being shot at. On the fourth rifle, Avery asks where bullets are loaded and discovers three etched letters on the underside of the cocking lever: O, N, E. Avery interprets the marks not as initials but as the number one, pairing it with the earlier bridge clue and revising “infinity” to “eight,” producing the sequence eight-one.