Nora, June, and Hester arrive at the Meadows model home to confront Annette. Nora reveals that she knows about Annette’s affair with Collin and presents evidence of mortgage-fraud convictions. When June and Hester inform Annette that Collin and Vanessa plan to flee to the Cayman Islands in July, Annette becomes enraged.

Under pressure, Annette outlines the scam: Vanessa and Neil secured investor capital from local banks, Collin purchased land and built a few model homes to bolster credibility, and loan officers like Dawson pushed through fraudulent loans for unqualified straw buyers. The conspirators collected down payments with no intention of building the houses. Annette admits that she tipped off Collin when Neil tried to dissuade a buyer, helping seal Neil’s fate. She also reveals that Collin spent the night of Fenton’s death with her, providing an alibi for the murder.

As Annette finishes her confession, Collin and Sheriff Hendricks arrive; Nora realizes that they were alerted by Bob, their secret co-conspirator. Collin binds the three women with plastic ties while the sheriff outlines a cover story blaming teen arsonists, turns on all the gas stove burners, and leaves to establish an alibi. Collin fetches a gasoline can.

Bob arrives but refuses to burn the women alive. Collin reveals that Bob killed Fenton with potassium chloride and carbon monoxide. Bob admits to killing Neil and framing Estella, claiming money as his motive, but he says that he has hidden proof of the conspiracy. Shouting a cryptic clue about going down a “dark stream,” Bob storms out. Collin chases him with the gas can, spilling fuel that ignites.

The fire spreads into the kitchen. With her hands bound, Nora unlocks a sliding glass door, allowing June and Hester to escape. Collin emerges from the smoke, drags Nora back inside, and shoves her to the floor. Choking on smoke, she crawls toward the glass door, glimpses Collin watching from the patio, and loses consciousness.

Nora wakes in Mission Hospital three days after the fire. Jed explains that she suffered smoke inhalation and widespread superficial burns and required sedation because she kept reliving her original trauma. Prompted by June on the night of the party, Jed had consulted the medical examiner, Dr. Lou, who already had doubts about Fenton’s cause of death.

Jed explains that Deputy Andrews heard everything that Collin and Sherriff Hendricks said through an open phone line on Hester’s phone. When the situation turned dangerous, Andrews rushed to the scene and subdued Collin while Jed rescued Nora from the burning kitchen. June and Hester are safe. The conspirators—Sheriff Hendricks, Dawson, Vanessa, and Collin—are in federal custody. Bob died in the fire. Estella has been freed.

Hester reports that the conspirators face mortgage-fraud charges, but proving their connection to the murders requires Bob’s hidden evidence. Nora thinks about Bob’s final words and recognizes them from J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit—lyrics from a song about barrels floating downstream. She demands immediate discharge so that she can help locate the proof.

Later that day, the Secret, Book, and Scone Society meets Deputy Andrews at Bob’s isolated cabin. Following the Tolkien clue, Nora finds a barrel-shaped bank in Bob’s bedroom. Inside is an envelope containing a flash drive and a typewritten letter confessing to both murders. Bob explains that he killed Neil to avenge his parents, who fell prey to a real-estate scam just like Neil and Collin’s. He says that he was later hired by Collin to kill Fenton. The letter expresses regret over framing Estella, whom he says he deeply admired. The flash drive contains recordings proving the conspiracy. Estella expresses conflicted grief, recognizing Bob’s genuine but twisted feelings for her.

One month later, the four women meet at Miracle Books. Madison County Community Bank has collapsed, devastating employees and depositors, but the women’s own businesses are thriving due to media attention. Sheriff Hendricks, Collin, and Vanessa have been found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and are awaiting sentencing. Dawson has received a lighter sentence, as his involvement in the murders can’t be proven. The group decides to create anonymous gift bags for displaced bank employees.

Nora then shares her deepest secret. She describes her former life as an unhappy suburban wife. On New Year’s Eve, she discovered that her husband was having an affair. She found them together and discovered that his mistress was pregnant. Enraged and intoxicated, she drove recklessly and caused a head-on collision with a car carrying a mother and toddler. Nora shows her friends a pair of charred toddler sneakers, explaining that she pulled the unconscious mother from the burning car and then returned for the boy. She sustained her burns while shielding him as she struggled with the car seat. Both survived. The boy’s father sent her the shoes as a permanent reminder of her recklessness. Nora reveals that she has a criminal record and will never drive again. Hester gives her a jam-filled comfort scone, which reminds her of her favorite childhood book, Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban.

Later, June notices that the “HELP WANTED” sign that Nora placed in the shop window is missing. When Nora investigates, a thin woman wearing oversized clothes and a hospital identification bracelet emerges from the shadows, holding the sign and whispering that she needs a job. Seeing the woman’s clear love of books, Nora invites her inside.