The Ties That Bind

The mystery of the Perilous Pen deepens at Whit's End, where Eugene, Wooton, Penny, and Wooton's brother Hadley puzzle over their latest discovery: an address hidden in the Perilous Pen's website code points to the New York headquarters of Maximize Comics, the very company that wants to publish Wooton's work under its boss, Dee Grant. Hadley can hardly believe a big corporation would be so sneaky, but Eugene finds that the Perilous Pen's website and Maximize Comics use the same internet service provider, one that seems to serve only those two customers. Still, that doesn't reveal who in Odyssey has been leaking secrets about Wooton's new Sleuth Family Robinson series. Then Eugene remembers that Detective Polehouse has attached a security program to Whit's End to monitor the website and the shop, and he resolves to ask the detective about the results.

Meanwhile, Whit plays Scrabble with Randall Edgeware, the gravely ill brother of schoolteacher Rhonda Adelaide. Randall apologizes for the trouble his sister and groups like the Vigilanters have caused Whit, and admits her behavior changed when he became sick. Whit shares that his own doctor still has no explanation for his recent collapse, but Randall's situation is far more serious: the doctors say he is running out of time, and he confesses he is afraid to die. When Whit offers to talk about the faith that keeps him from fearing death, Randall accepts at once: "I don't know if I'll have a later."

Eugene asks Jules Kendall what she knows about the bad blood between Buck and Vance King, telling her and a shocked Connie that Buck was beaten in McAlister Park. Jules claims to know nothing, but she quietly summons Buck to the park, looks at his bruises, and learns that Vance's friends did it. Troubled, she wonders aloud how something that was supposed to be simple became so complicated, and asks Buck whether he really believes he can settle down as part of Eugene and Katrina's family. When Vance himself appears, Jules demands that he apologize to Buck and leave him alone, warning, "I'll wreck everything." Vance coolly reminds her that anything she reveals will incriminate her too, and asks how Connie and Whit will look at her once they know. After Vance strolls off, Buck observes that Jules seems to be the one who needs help, and she hurries away. Soon afterward she tells a bewildered Connie that Odyssey is driving her crazy and she is flying back to California as soon as she can pack.

Elsewhere, Hadley stands with Wooton outside his fire-damaged house, helping him list what was lost for the insurance company. Hadley confesses that he had to close his comic book shop in Alaska because he is a bad businessman, and says he should probably go home, feeling like the guy in the stage play of life who keeps getting in the way. Wooton gently suggests that maybe he's the comic relief instead, which touches Hadley more than Wooton knows.

Detective Polehouse tells Eugene he cannot legally tap the Perilous Pen's out-of-state website, but he hands over the monitoring data from Whit's End, first "deputizing" Eugene for the price of two jam donuts and a cauldron of coffee. Combing through the report with Whit, Eugene spots something remarkable: a cell phone, identified by its unique IMEI number, has been using the shop's own Wi-Fi to send data to the Perilous Pen's website, and the detective can trace whose phone it is. Eugene also slips Whit an envelope of information that may help him at his upcoming association meeting.

At the school, Matthew Parker's parents, David and Eva, sit down with Ms. Adelaide about the low grade she gave Matthew's gender essay. They point out that essays on gender and marriage have little to do with the class's study of Herman Melville's Billy Budd, and seem suspiciously tied to the Let's Get Together Festival and its planned display. Eva grants that Ms. Adelaide is an excellent teacher, but warns that even the best teachers can turn a classroom into a pulpit, and that parents worry when education starts to look like indoctrination. Ms. Adelaide insists she would never lower a grade over a student's views, yet when the Parkers press her to consider whether she might have done it unintentionally, she promises to think about it.

Everything comes together back at Whit's End. While Penny and Connie search the storage room for art Whit wants framed, Penny opens some boxes and gasps: they hold Wooton's Sleuth Family Robinson sketches, paintings, and notes, brought there before the fire for a special display and forgotten in all the confusion. Not only did Wooton's artwork survive, but Penny realizes the storeroom could be exactly how the Perilous Pen has been getting information. Just then Detective Polehouse arrives upstairs with the trace results, and he, Eugene, and a stunned Wooton hurry down. Asked who has access to the room, Connie starts to answer, then stops with a horrified "Oh, no." As Penny rattles off guesses, Eugene delivers the blow: the Perilous Pen's informant is Jules Kendall, Connie's own half-sister.