Avery and Jameson leave Hawthorne House for what both understand is more than a casual walk. Jameson reasons through the clues: the Black Wood is too vast to search blindly, while Westbrook likely points to something at, on, or beneath a bridge rather than in the water.

Jameson identifies the relevant bridge as the place where Tobias Hawthorne proposed to his wife, near Wayback Cottage. Avery realizes the cottage is now occupied by Emily Laughlin’s grandparents, while Oren shadows Avery and Jameson from a distance as protection.

Avery brings up Emily, watching Jameson’s reaction. Jameson explains that Rebecca Laughlin has withdrawn from everyone for months and describes Emily as reckless and eager to live after receiving a heart transplant at thirteen following a childhood limited by a congenital heart condition.

Avery asks whether Jameson took Emily driving, and Jameson admits there was nothing Emily and Jameson did not do together. Jameson says that he and Emily were the same, or that he believed they were, revealing the depth and intensity of Jameson’s connection to Emily.

When Avery asks what happened to Emily, Jameson says, “Grayson happened to her.” As Avery and Jameson reach the hill overlooking the cottage and bridge, Jameson abruptly turns the conversation into a darker version of two truths and a lie: he claims he knew the will’s contents before Avery arrived, that he sent Grayson to bring Avery, and that he watched Emily Laughlin die.