Contents
Epilogue — 7.
Overview
In December 2018, a fire destroys The Briars, the late Colin Wren’s estate. Official reports blame faulty wiring and unsafe insulation, while snow and a powerless gate delay firefighters.
After the engines pass, Gwen departs from a hidden pickup, quietly linking her presence to the catastrophe’s timing.
Summary
In December 2018, a basement fire erupts at The Briars, the Massachusetts estate of the late tech billionaire Colin Wren. Investigators attribute the ignition to degraded wiring that sparked old, unsafe insulation installed in 1973.
Heavy snowfall slows the fire department’s response. When crews arrive, a power failure has frozen the front gate, forcing them to use the Jaws of Life for nearly ten minutes before reaching a manor already fully engulfed.
Once the trucks grind up the drive and vanish into the storm, a pickup idling in the trees across the road turns on its headlights. Gwen, having watched unseen, pulls out and drives home, her exit pointedly following the emergency vehicles’ ascent.
Who Appears
- GwenWaits hidden near The Briars during the blaze, then departs after fire trucks pass.
- Fire crewsRespond to The Briars fire amid heavy snow; delayed by a powerless gate requiring the Jaws of Life.
- Colin WrenDeceased tech billionaire; his estate, The Briars, is destroyed by the December 2018 fire.