Nick and Nancy are sleeping in the garage.
----------
Ace bikes.
----------
Bess meditates in her van.
Bess: Om... Om...
----------
Ace arrives at George’s home. George is cleaning the stairs.
Ace: You won the blood bucket challenge.
George: I got punked, okay?
Ace: You want help?
It starts raining.
Ace: That'll help.
----------
It’s raining in the garage. Nick wakes up.
Nick: Oh, no, not again! Don't move. I'll get us some coffee.
Nancy: That's usually my contribution.
Nick: Not today.
Nancy is cleaning. She finds a phone.
Nancy: I'm sure there are plenty of logical explanations why a mechanic would have two cell phones. Unfortunately, only one reason why this mystery phone would show a missed call from me, and the final text that Tiffany sent… And my mom's car?
----------
Nick: See if we can get this thing running again.
----------
Nick: Didn't push the plunger yet. I should know how strong you take it.
Phone rings.
Nancy: There's only one other caller logged on that phone, Nick… Tiffany Hudson… She sent you a text right before she died. You knew her. Why would you keep that a secret?
Nick: I have a record. You know what happens if the police tie me to her?
Nancy: The cops I get. But you kept it a secret from me.
Nick: Nancy, I had nothing to do with Tiffany's death. You know that.
Nancy: Here's what I know: Tiffany Hudson's testimony put you in jail. You did two years for manslaughter.
Nick: How did you learn that? I...
Nancy: I saw my dad's file on you. Somehow, you were in contact with Tiffany. The last text she sent was about a package in my mom's car, which you got access to through me… Were you using me?
Nick: No. I would never.
Nancy: How am I supposed to believe that? Now's the time, Nick. If you ever want there to be any trust between us, show me what you took from my mom's car.
Nick: I can't… It's not for you.
Nancy: My dad was right about you.
----------
Nancy is working in her bedroom.
Carson: Waited up for you last night.
Nancy: You don't have to do that anymore. I'm not a kid.
Carson: Where did you sleep?
Nancy: I was at a friend's house.
Carson: Can we be honest with each other?
Nancy: Sure… What happened to the bloody dress that used to be in the attic?
Carson: I threw it away. It was part of an old, dumb joke.
Nancy: It's not in any of our trash cans. I checked.
Carson: The trash got picked up this morning. Nancy, what are you doing? Sneaking around, digging through trash cans? You're about to be arraigned on felony charges for burglary and trespassing at the morgue. You need to be putting your best foot forward with the judge. Is it possible that you can keep out of trouble for the next few days?
Nancy: I'll do my best, counsellor. Anything else you need to relay?
Carson: You're right. You're not a kid… But you're still my kid.
The doorbell rings.
Carson: I have a client.
----------
Carson and Ryan are in his office.
Carson: Where's Tiffany's will?
Ryan: Uh, we had a prenup. It covered her estate planning. Um, basically, what was hers was hers, and what was mine was mine. But it should all go to me as soon as they confirm that she died of natural causes.
Carson: Are you worried she didn't die of natural causes?
Ryan: No… No, what I'm worried about is how I'm gonna make these payments. So, can you just tell me what-what of this I can touch right now?
Carson: Well... Okay.
Ryan hears noises. He sees Nancy.
Ryan: Hey.
Nancy: Hey.
Ryan: We've met, haven't we?
Carson: Ryan, this is my daughter Nancy.
Ryan: Chief McGinnis told me about you. He called you the town snoop.
Nancy: Well, I live here. So I wasn't snooping.
Nancy: I totally was.
Carson: Have a good day at work.
Nancy: Yes, sir.
Ryan: Nice to meet you.
Nancy leaves.
Carson: All righty.
----------
Nancy is in the storage at the Claw.
George: Shift started nine minutes ago, Drew. Got to dock you this time.
Nancy walks to the kitchen.
Nancy: George is extra prickly today.
Ace: She kicked a blood bucket. So the curse says she'll be dead inside a year.
Bess: Wait, you saw it?
Ace: Yeah. There's a lot of it. It'll ruin your morning.
Nancy: Please. George doesn't believe in curses. It's the one thing we agree on.
Ace: Then she's probably worried about the nor'easter storm that's coming.;. The locals tell tales.
Nancy: Tales as in fictional stories.
Bess: Yeah, okay.
Ace: About... How the nor'easter blows restless spirits ashore.
Bess: Oh, dear.
Nancy: I'll get it.
----------
Karen is at the Claw to interview Nancy.
Nancy: You're not afraid to eat here?
Karen: Our lab tested all the food from the Claw the night Tiffany died. No traces of poison anywhere.
Nancy: Great. We'll post about it on Yelp. Karen, why are you really here?
Karen: Based on her 911 call, the D.A.'s looking to build a case out of Tiffany Hudson's death. Your break-in at the morgue makes you look like a pretty good suspect, if your criminal charges stand… But we have a new suspect. And I'm betting that you can give us information that could lead to his arrest.
Nancy: You want Nick.
Karen: He's got a criminal record. We got the protective order lifted and uncovered a motive.
Nancy: So when they say juvenile records are sealed, guess they don't mean sealed sealed.
Karen: I know you didn't kill Tiffany. If you give me something on Nick, enough to take the interest off of you, your criminal charges go away… You don't want a felony conviction on your college applications, Nance. I'll give you till the end of day… Stay safe, everyone. Feels like a nor'easter spinning up.
Karen leaves. Bess, George and Ace sit at Nancy’s table.
George: The cops think Nick killed Tiffany?
Ace: She said motive. Something about his juvenile conviction?
Bess: Wait, did he do something violent?
George: Like how violent? Like assault? Robbery?
Ace: Manslaughter?
Bess: Did he kill someone?
Nancy: No, manslaughter's different.
Ace: But he did kill someone?
Nancy: I don't... Have all the facts. He-he never told me what happened.
George: Okay, we're missing the silver lining here. If Nick did kill Tiffany, we're all off the hook as suspects.
Nancy: That's a little harsh.
George: So? You get a clean slate, all my customers return, and then Bess can go back to being a carefree rich girl slumming as a subpar waitress.
Bess: Ah. You said I was improving.
George: Pretty low bar.
Ace: What made the cops look at Nick?
Nancy’s phone rings.
----------
Nancy joins Nick in the storage.
Nancy: What's with the secrecy?
Nick: The cops just tossed my place.
Nancy: What?
Nick: They had a search warrant. Said they triangulated recent calls to the burner phone that Tiffany sent a text message to. They were looking for the phone...
Nancy opens her locker and takes the phone.
Nancy: I took it… And deactivated it. You know you're supposed to burn a burner phone when it's done, right?
Nick: I couldn't lose the text history with Tiffany. I've been studying every word, looking for clues, because...
Nick shows Nancy a clock.
Nick: This is what was in your mom's car. And Tiffany told me not to trust anyone… But I've been staring at this thing for two days now, and I still don't know what its purpose is.
Nancy: You brought me a puzzle.
Nancy: If I solve this, will I either want to forgive him or put him away?
Nancy: Let's figure it out.
----------
Nancy: So, there's either something inside it, or it's meant to lead us somewhere.
Nick: Tiffany loved her hidden treasures… Emphasis on hidden. It seemed like she had a lot of enemies in this town.
Nancy: So that's why she turned to you? Why was this in my mom's car?
Nick: Your mom was my social worker. She started out helping your dad on my case; then after I got sentenced, she'd come and visit me.
Nancy: Did you know who I was? Before we met on the Fourth of July?
Nick: Yes. But I wasn't trying to get to the car. I just wanted to meet you because your mom was one of the only good people I knew during that time in my life.
Nancy: But this package was from Tiffany. You got to help me understand.
Nick: When I was doing time, if anyone but Kate Drew had asked me to meet the witness who got me locked up, no way I'd have agreed. But your mom... She was different. She could wear you down with kindness.
Nancy: Yeah. She really could.
Nick: So, finally I told her she could send Tiffany for a visit.
----------
Nick and Tiffany are sitting, waiting.
Nick: I was mad, caged. I mean, it was hard enough just to sit across from this person. No force on earth could make me talk to her. I let the time pass without a word.
----------
Nick tells Nancy his story.
Nick: And she came back the next week, like it was my job to ease her guilt for testifying against me. I passed another hour not hearing a word she said. So she found another way.
Nancy: You communicated through books?
Nick: She called it our secret language.
----------
A woman enters in the Claw.
Rita: Hello?
George: Welcome to the Claw.
George’s coffee pot bursts.
Bess: George, oh, my God! You could've got a shard in your neck. You're cursed. You're cursed.
George: Oh, don't say that. I'm fine.
Rita: Is this a bad time? I was hoping you were hiring.
Bess: I can take care of you.
Ace: I got it.
----------
Bess and Rita walk to a table.
Rita: I'm Rita.
Bess: Ah. Hi, Rita. So have you ever waited tables before?
Rita: Once. On roller skates.
Bess: Oh, I love those retro places.
Ace and George are cleaning.
George: I'll get a dustpan.
Ace: Yeah.
Ace saves George’s life.
Bess: Oh, my gosh.
Ace: Damn, that curse is alive.
George: I don't believe in curses.
Bess: Well, then explain that!
George: Gravity!
----------
Nancy finds something on the clock.
Nancy: Did you see there's an engraving in here? It's too long to be a serial number, too new to be a smith's mark… If books were your secret language, maybe it's an ISBN. You know, the number on the cover of books. Did you keep the ones she gave you?
----------
Ace and Bess are protecting George from her curse.
Rita: It's a protection circle.
Ace: This is Rita. We found a how-to video on the Internet.
Bess: The blood bucket is obviously trying to kill George.
George: Obviously. Where are you two going?
Nick: We're gonna follow clues from a dead woman.
Bess: Ooh, like a treasure hunt?
Nancy: No.
George: Drew, you're going outside, right now? With him? Why can't this wait?
Nancy: It's time-sensitive.
----------
Nancy and Nick are in the garage. They looking for books.
Nancy: There must be something in your books.
Nick: Clock wasn't the first thing Tiffany gave me… That would be this… "But my real treasure are the rays of intelligence you have elicited from my brain..."
----------
Nick is reading in front of Tiffany.
Nick: "... The languages you have implanted in my memory."
Nick: The books got me talking, but the story she really wanted to hear was my own.
Nick: You weren't inside the party. I know you were on the sidewalk at 8:12 p.m. Now, you heard the sound.
----------
In the garage, Nick tells his story.
Nick: After a few months, I asked for newer books. Toni Morrison, Ntozake Shange. Had to get past Edith Wharton. Man, that was a slog. House of Mirth my ass.
Nancy: Under the Lilacs. The, uh... The number's almost the same. If you lop off the first three digits, the last 13 line up.
Nick: First three digits are one, seven, zero. Page 170. Chapter title: "A Boy's Bargain". Oh, uh, a bargain has two sides. It's not a gift. You got to meet in the middle… Under the Lilacs. Tiffany loved puzzles and-and escape rooms and plays on words.
Nancy: And she knew you'd remember that, so whatever trail she left, it has to be one that you can follow.
Nick: There was someplace she loved here in town. Lilac something.
Nancy: I think I know where to go… But we're gonna need some help first.
----------
Nancy and Nick park near the Claw then they enters in the restaurant. Karen is watching them. A few minutes after they leave the claw and get in car and drive. Karen follows them.
----------
Karen stops the car.
Ace: Is there a problem, Detective?
Karen: Get off the roads. Told you it's not safe out here.
Ace: Okay.
----------
Nancy drives to Lilac Inn.
----------
Nick and Nancy enter in the hotel.
----------
Ryan and Carson are working in Carson’s office.
Ryan: What do you know about the Lilac Inn? That old B and B over on Horseshoe Point? Not much. It was, uh, Tiff's pet project. She was restoring it. Dumped a bunch of money into it that I could really use right now.
Carson: What's your concern about your finances? I'm not seeing any large payments due anytime soon.
Ryan is still hearing noises.
Ryan: I thought your daughter left the house.
Carson: Uh-huh. It looks like she's got this Lilac Inn approved for landmark status.
----------
Ryan walks upstairs. He’s looking for something. He enters in Nancy’s house.
Carson: What are you doing up here?
Ryan: I, uh... I thought I heard something.
Carson: No, we're alone.
Ryan: Yeah.
Carson: Hey, have you been self-medicating?
Ryan: No, it's just the, um... Storm's getting to my-my head.
Carson: All right, come on.
----------
Ryan and Carson go back to Carson’s office.
Carson: Based on the paperwork, it looks like this Lilac Inn is being turned into a public landmark.
Ryan: Wait, what? No. I thought she was flipping it. We were gonna sell it.
Carson: No, approval's gone through. After they wrap up final touches, you won't have any claim to it anymore, and that could happen soon as this storm clears.
Ryan is still hearing noises.
Carson: Ryan?
Ryan: Do you not hear those footsteps upstairs? Okay, um... Look, before Tiffany died, she was... She was waking up in the middle of the night, saying that she thought someone was watching us sleep, that... Walking around in the bedroom. You know, and I just... I thought it was her anxiety meds, to be honest with you.
Ryan sees Lucy Sable’s ghost.
Carson: What the hell?
Ryan: Okay, that's it. I'm out of here.
Carson: Whoa, hang on. Hey! Hang on. You're not driving anywhere. The last thing you need is a DUI.
Ryan: Okay, well, then you take me to Tiffany's place, the Lilac Inn.
Carson: Have you seen the roads outside?
Ryan: You got a dad car. You're fine. Come on, get your coat.
----------
Ace sees Bess’s van on the road.
Ace: Someone's gonna have a bad day when they find that branch through the window.
Bess: Oh, my God.
Ace: You all right?
Bess: Yeah. I'm fine.
----------
Nick and Nancy visits Lilac Inn.
Nick: Tiffany told me about her fixer-uppers. She definitely believed in the possibility of transformation.
Nancy: After you told her your story? You did tell her, right?
Nick: Eventually… This looks like Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island.
Nancy: I think this is E.B. White. Charlotte's Web.
Nick: Beardo is Longfellow. And they're both Mainers, so this last one's got to be Stephen King… Or not.
Nancy: Nick, what did you tell Tiffany about the night it happened?
Nick: The guy I hurt, we were part of a spring break trip. Bunch of stupid kids from high school up in the sticks of Maine for a football camp. Uh, this one guy, we got into it one night. Tiffany saw how it ended. She wanted to know how it started, so I told her.
----------
Tiffany is crying.
Nick: Afterwards, she told me she wished she could take it all back, like, if she could turn back time, she could've changed my life.
----------
Nancy: How did the fight start? I'm just trying to solve this.
Nick: No, it feels more like you're trying to solve me than Tiffany's puzzle.
Nancy: I'm on your side.
Nick: Doing what, exactly? Digging into places I've asked you not to go? And for what?
Nancy: You haven't told me the details of what happened. If I knew the circumstances, I could try to understand how something...
Nick: How what? I could take someone's life? It was self-defense. Why do you care how it happened?
Nancy: Because I need to know what you're capable of.
Nick: Do you think I killed Tiffany? Do you think I could murder someone in cold blood?
Nancy hears noise.
Nancy: Oh, God, it's my father and Ryan.
Nick: It's Edith Wharton. It's The House of damn Mirth.
Nancy: We need to hide.
Nick: She's telling me it's in the kitchen.
----------
Nick and Nancy are in the kitchen.
Nancy: Nick, we cannot get caught in here.
Nick: Are you that ashamed of having your father see you here with me?
Nancy: He's Ryan's lawyer now. I don't want either of them to find out what we're doing. Plus, Tiffany went to a lot of trouble to keep this clock a secret from her husband.
Nick: "How delicious to have a place like this all to one's self."
Nancy: What are you saying?
Nick: Uh, not my words. Uh, Wharton's. Tiffany loved this part. Loved all the little cakes... In cupboards.
Nancy: Quick, we need to hide.
----------
Ryan and Carson enter in Lilac Inn.
Ryan: This is unbelievable. Maybe we could strip it for parts. You know? There's got to be 100 grand worth of vintage hardware alone.
Carson: It's an odd clause in your prenup that the only way you inherit her estate is if Tiffany died of natural causes. Tiffany was a perfectly healthy young woman. What makes you think her death was natural?
Ryan: She wasn't healthy, Carson. She was taking a whole cocktail full of mood stabilizers and sleeping pills. It's what made her so paranoid, seeing things. That's why she put the clause in. Like I or anybody else wanted her dead… Look, I don't know how she died, okay? I mean, m-maybe... Do you think maybe she was haunted?
Carson: That's a... A literal question? You-you think she was haunted, by ghosts?
Ryan: I don't know. Maybe. You know? I mean, I... I mean, do you, do you think that w-we're visited by vengeful spirits? You know, forces that are trying to harm us?
Carson: I've heard that theory.
Ryan: Yeah, well, Tiffany sure did. That's why she spent so much of her energy trying to make good.
Carson: Well, if those were her wishes, it argues for leaving this place alone.
Ryan: Yeah, except I need my money now.
Carson: Who do you owe?
Ryan: It's best to leave the bodies buried… Figuratively, this time.
Carson hears noise.
----------
Nancy and Nick are in a little storage. Nick starts to have a panic attack.
Nancy: Nick, are you all right?
Nick: Ah, yeah. My jail cell was cramped like this. I'm not a big fan of small spaces.
Nancy: Hey. Nick, look at me. Hey. It's okay.
Nick: No, I can't be in here.
Nancy: Just calm down.
Nick: What, you're afraid of me now? 'Cause of what I did to Austin?
Nancy: Austin. Was that his name?
Nick: Yeah.
Nancy: H-He's the one you told Tiffany about. She helped you, with the, with the books she gave you. She believed in you. How did she reach you?
Nick: She wanted me to move on. You-you want to send me back there.
Nancy: No, no. I don't. I just want you to be here with me… Okay? Just be here with me. Please.
Ned sees something.
Nancy: What? What is it?
Nick: "Amontillado".
Nancy: A... Wha... A what?
Nick: If "under the lilacs" didn't do it, or they took down every portrait, there's no way I'd miss the Edgar Allan Poe story "The Cask of Amontillado"…In it... Fortunato crosses the wrong guy, and gets bricked up behind a wall.
Nick breaks the wall.
Nick: It's a safe… Uh, no. No, Tiffany, Tiffany wouldn't send me all the way down here without the key.
Nancy: You're right. Because she wanted to turn back time. This is the last puzzle. Tiffany saw you at 8:12 the night it happened, you said, right?
Nick: Right.
Nancy: Okay. It's like a combination lock. We need to put in another time. To when?
Nick: Uh, the... Uh, the night it happened? Uh, April 28, 4/28.
Nancy finds a key in the clock. Nick opens the safe and breaks a glass.
----------
Ryan hears the glass noise.
Ryan: Okay, you heard that, right?
Carson sees a foot print in the wine.
----------
Nancy and Nick fix the wall.
----------
Ryan enters in the storage.
Carson: Must have been the wind… That's not gonna solve your money problem.
Ryan: Yeah, well, it might help me take my mind off of it.
----------
Nick and Nancy run away.
----------
Nancy and Nick are in Nancy’s car.
Nancy: Tiffany must have had a good reason for hiding that so well.
Nick: Well, let's get inside and...
Karen appears in the street.
Karen: Have you decided about my offer?
----------
Nancy, Nick and Karen are at the Drews’s house.
Nick: What offer is she talking about?
Nancy: They're gonna drop all criminal charges pending against me if I can help them make a case… Against you.
Nick: Well... That's a good deal… So that's why you've been digging into my past all day. Trying to save your own skin… Well, what'd you decide?
Nancy: Your case hinges on the theory that Nick wanted revenge against Tiffany for testifying against him, that she was afraid of him, maybe even trying to buy him off with some sort of package in a car. I have no choice but to prove you wrong… Your officers tossed all these books on the floor, but they didn't really look at them… Read the inscription.
Karen: "Forgiveness is the key to redemption. Please forgive me. Tiffany."
Nancy: He may have hated her once, but that was before they knew each other. Before they became friends. And Nick is not the type of person to ever hurt somebody he cares about… I can't explain to you the level of trust between them, but you managed to get a look at Nick's juvenile records… Check out the visitation logs… You'll see her name there every week… Yes, he took a life once, but Tiffany learned that he would never do it again.
Karen: That might be a consolation for when you're arraigned for burglary and trespassing. For your sake, I hope you're right.
Karen leaves.
----------
George and Rita are talking at the Claw.
Rita: Are you afraid?
George: You think I don't know superstitions and rituals and communing with the dead? My mother made salt circles around my high chair.
Rita: It's different in the storm… Restless spirits want a life, and you've already been marked. Your friends have done the best they could to protect you, but the protection only works if you believe.
George: Who are you?
Rita: Better not leave that circle.
Nancy and Nick enter. Nick saves George’s life.
Nick: Watch out!
George: Oh. Wait, wh-where did Rita go?
Nancy: Who?
George: Rita. Sh-She was just there.
Ace and Bess enter.
Ace: You all right, boss?
Bess: Whoa! What did we miss?
----------
Nick: Tiffany Hudson gave me this. Finding it has forced me to confront things about myself… I know you all had reason to suspect that I'm a killer. And I know that reason's because I've been hiding so much. I thought maybe if we open it together, if I showed you, we could build some trust.
Ace: You did kill somebody, though?
Nick: Yeah.
Bess: What happened?
Nick: His name was Austin. We used to go at it on the football field, and it carried on to a party I was at with a girlfriend, you know, just a friend. And Austin was drunk... High on something, and this time he went after my friend, first with his words, and then with his hands. And then he said, "You got to go, but your girl stays." I couldn't leave her. And he wouldn't let her go, so... I knocked him down… But not out. And he kept coming, so I kept going and he went through a second-story plate glass window… And he died... Because of what I did… I killed Austin… And for the longest time, I felt like a monster… I never wanted to tell you this story.
Nancy comforts Nick.
Nick: I was afraid it would change things between us.
Ace: I think we're past it now.
Bess: What's important is who you are, not what you did… We should get back to work before George starts yelling.
Nancy: George, I'm gonna take my break.
George: Docking you again, but I'll see you after. You can show us the box later, but you better tell us what's inside.
----------
George’s is cleaning the Claw. She finds an article about Karen on a wall.
----------
Nancy and Ned are in Nancy’s bedroom.
Nick: You chose this over Karen's deal.
Nancy: I chose you.
Nick opens the box.
Nick: What are these?
Nancy: I think these are bearer bonds. They don't make these anymore. They're totally untraceable… Nick, this is almost $5 million.
Nick: What? Wh... Why?
Nancy: To get it in your hands without anybody knowing. Um, she wanted you to have a fresh start.
Nick: No. No. No way. No. This kind of money brings trouble. I mean, people will think I-I-I killed her to get to these. What am I supposed to do with this?
Nancy: Keep them, obviously.
Nick: How are you so calm?
Nancy: I get it. It-It's life-changing money.
Nick: Is this even legal? Did we just steal this? I am not going back to jail.
Nancy: Yes. No. And I know. In that order.
Nancy’s phone rings.
Nancy: It's Ace. He says he needs my help.
Nick: Okay. Okay, okay.
Nancy: Is it? Because it doesn't feel like it is.
Nick: Well, it'll have to be.
She kisses Nick.
Nancy: I'll check in with you later, okay?
----------
Nancy joins Ace.
Nancy: Hey.
Ace: Hi. Thanks for coming. I just didn't want to embarrass her.
They walk to Bess’s van.
Nancy: I'll take it from here.
Ace: Mm-hmm.
----------
Nancy knocks on van’s door.
Nancy: Hi.
Bess: Hi. Um... Come in… Um, it's... Nicer when the twinkly lights work. Uh, generator's flooded.
Nancy: Things aren't going so well with your aunt, or... ?
Bess: Oh, you know how families can be.
Nancy: Trust me, I get it.
----------
Carson comes back home.
Carson: Nancy? You home?
He sees Nancy’s shoes.
Carson: The wine.
He phone’s Nancy.
Nancy: Sorry you missed me. Leave a message...
----------
Bess and Nancy are talking in the van.
Bess: This is just a temporary arrangement. It's, you know...
Nancy: Hey, you really helped me out today. Do you think I could return the favour?
Bess: Oh, no, no, I'm fine, I'm fine.
Nancy: Yeah, I can see that. But until we can get this place fixed up, you want to come stay with me?
Bess: If it makes you feel like we're even. Thank you. Okay, cool. I'll, um, I'll pack my things. Great.
Nancy: Funny thing about rainstorms, they can cause a lot of damage, but they can also wash away old debris and reveal what was hidden underneath.
Bess: This'll be great. If you want to borrow clothes, go ahead, but obviously it works both ways. Here you go.
Tiffany’s ring falls on the floor.
Nancy: And sometimes, as soon as one storm passes, the clouds start to darken again and something like this pops up. A diamond ring that went missing the night Tiffany died. Did I just invite a killer to a sleepover?
