Williams been stripping assets, preparing to close the mill entirely once he's extracted maximum value. He doesn't care about the workers or the town. It's all just numbers on a balance sheet to him. The final entries grew increasingly urgent. Thomas had compiled enough evidence to expose Williams crimes, but feared the consequences for Sophia and James if the truth came out.
He devised an elaborate plan to disappear, taking his evidence with him while leaving behind a trail that only his true heir could follow. "I've designed a system," he wrote in his last entry, dated May 10th, 1977. "A series of clues and puzzles built into the house itself. Only someone with Brook's blood and a craftsman's eye will see the patterns. When the time is right, when it's safe, my grandson will come home to claim his inheritance.
Not just this house or material wealth, but the truth. And with that truth, perhaps justice can finally be served. The journal ended there. One week later, according to newspaper accounts, Thomas Blackwell vanished without a trace. Ethan sat back, his mind reeling from revelations that rewrote his family history.
His father had known the truth since his 18th birthday, but had chosen to keep it secret. Whywa? To protect Ethan from a painful legacy? Or because he feared William Grant's power and influence might reach even to Chicago. Morning found Ethan still in the library, the journal opened before him when Noah came downstairs.
"Did you read it all? " the boy asked, eyeing the journal. "Yes," Ethan replied, rubbing his tired eyes. "It's quite a story. Are you going to tell me? " Ethan considered his son's earnest face. At 8, Noah was young, but he was also perceptive and resilient.
Sheltering him from difficult truths might do more harm than good. Your great-grandfather Thomas had a secret love affair with a married woman named Sophia, he explained. They had a son, your grandfather James. But Sophia's husband, William Grant, was a powerful and dangerous man. To protect the boy, they sent him away to be raised by Howard Brooks in Chicago.
That's why Grandpa never talked about Riverdale. Noah realized he was hiding. I think so, Ethan agreed. Thomas discovered that William was stealing money from their company and planned to expose him. But before he could, Thomas had to disappear to protect himself and his evidence.
Noah's brow furrowed in concentration. "So the map and the key and all the clues, they're leading us to the evidence and maybe more," Ethan said. Thomas wanted his true heir to know the whole story and reclaim the Blackwell legacy. "That's us. " Noah's eyes lit up with understanding. "We're the true heirs.
Yes, buddy. We are. Ethan smiled despite the weight of responsibility he felt. But we need to be careful. Alexander Reed believes his father was the victim, not the villain.