On the morning of Misty’s will reading, Patch goes to the offices of Jasper and Coates without knowing why he has been called. He sits beside Mrs. Meyer, who quietly takes his hand, and Patch sees how grief has hollowed her out. The reading is brief: Misty leaves her estate to Charlotte, gives a small amount to charity, arranges for her trust to be redirected, and leaves Patch one of her pictures.

Then Jasper announces the real shock. Misty has named “Charlotte Mary Grace Meyer” to be left in the sole custody of Joseph Henry Macauley. The decision gives Patch a future he did not expect and turns Misty’s final act into a deliberate choice about Charlotte’s life after her death.

Later, Patch sits with Saint on the rear deck while she clears up inside. He assumes Mrs. Meyer must have objected, but Saint says Mrs. Meyer already knew. Patch argues that Charlotte would be better off in the comfort of the Meyer household and points out that Charlotte steals, but Saint pushes back, saying Mrs. Meyer is too old to give Charlotte the life Patch can. When Patch doubts that he could ever be the better choice, Saint says Misty was trying to set him free instead of leaving him trapped forever in the darkness of the past.

The conversation turns back to the long search. Patch asks about an Oklahoma girl, and Saint says the girl was another of Eli Aaron’s victims, with no clear reason or useful lead to explain what happened to her. Frustrated by years without a real break, Patch says they need anything at all, but Saint replies that breaks tend to come only when people stop searching. When Patch says the girl could be Grace, Saint tells him he does not really believe that, and Patch admits she is right.