The Inheritance Games, #3
The Final Gambit
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
CHAPTER 66
Overview
Avery searches the chapel and solves Tobias Hawthorne’s altar puzzle by interpreting a Bible verse as a clue to Braille. The altar opens to reveal a hidden crypt large enough for Will Blake’s body, but the remains are gone.
Instead, Avery finds a shroud, a furious message carved by Toby accusing Tobias, and a USB drive. The discovery confirms that Toby uncovered the secret before running away and gives Avery a new piece of evidence that may reveal what really happened.
Summary
Avery enters the chapel early in the morning, searching for evidence that Tobias Hawthorne hid Will Blake’s remains there. She examines the stained glass, pews, and altar, but finds no obvious clue until she reads the inscription carved into the altar: a verse from 2 Corinthians 4:18 about fixing one’s eyes on the unseen.
Because Avery knows Blake once used a Bible verse as a lock combination, she treats the citation as a puzzle. Behind the altar, Avery finds eighteen raised circles arranged in three rows of six, hidden in a gap between the marble and the floor. The verse number suggests 4:18, but Avery realizes the phrase about the unseen points to Braille, so she looks up the Braille patterns for four, one, and eight.
Avery presses the corresponding raised circles, and the altar unlocks. The marble slab on top separates from the rest, but it is too heavy for Avery to move alone, so Avery asks Oren for help. Oren reluctantly helps Avery slide the slab aside.
Inside the altar, Avery finds that the marble has been hollowed out into a space large enough to hold a body, confirming Avery’s suspicion that the chapel altar served as a hidden tomb. However, there are no remains inside. Instead, Avery finds a shroud and evidence that the interior marble was defaced in Toby’s handwriting.
Toby’s carved message reads, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, FATHER. The discovery implies Toby found the secret tomb and knew something terrible about Tobias Hawthorne’s actions. Avery then finds one final object inside what was likely once Will Blake’s tomb: a USB drive.
Who Appears
- Avery GrambsSearches the chapel, solves the Braille altar puzzle, and finds Toby’s message and USB drive.
- OrenStands guard and helps Avery move the heavy marble slab from the altar.
- Toby HawthorneAbsent but central; his carved accusation proves he discovered his father’s hidden secret.
- Tobias HawthorneDesigned the chapel’s secret crypt and puzzle, concealing evidence tied to Will Blake.
- Will BlakePresumed former occupant of the hidden altar tomb, though his remains are missing.