Xander copies the audio files from both USB drives onto his computer. Each file sounds like garbled noise when played alone, but Avery realizes that the two clips may function together as a decoder. Xander aligns the files in an audio-editing program, and the combined playback reveals a recorded message from Tobias Hawthorne addressed to Avery.

Tobias acknowledges that Avery has likely wondered why he chose her and frames his decision as part of one last grand mystery. He says that if Avery is hearing the message, Eve is present, the tomb has been found, and Vincent Blake has become a serious threat. Tobias also greets the Hawthorne brothers, suggesting that Avery may have united them in a way Tobias himself could not.

The recording reveals that Tobias expected Blake to move once Tobias was dead. Tobias admits that he made Avery his heir partly because Blake would always come for the Hawthorne fortune and legacy, and Tobias wanted Blake's attention redirected toward Avery instead of the people Tobias valued most. Avery understands that Tobias deliberately painted a target on her because Tobias considered Avery more disposable than his family.

Tobias further reveals that he met Avery's mother, Hannah Rooney, and tried to use her to reach Toby. Hannah knew about Vincent Blake, the death of Blake's son, and Toby's hidden Blake family seal; she threatened to expose everything if Tobias came near Hannah or Avery again. Tobias says Avery became useful as a possible keeper of Hannah's knowledge, a way to draw Toby out of hiding, a final puzzle for the Hawthorne brothers, and a shield against Blake and other enemies.

Despite the cruelty of his plan, Tobias claims he studied Avery and believes she has a chance to survive what is coming. He warns that Blake will trap and underestimate Avery, then advises her to exploit that underestimation and defeat Blake by the rules of Blake's own honor. Tobias ends by addressing Nash, Grayson, Jameson, and Xander, telling them to judge or hate Tobias if they must, then closes with a final challenge: "On your marks, boys. Get set. Go."