The journal says the best way to sneak into Snow White’s castle is to go through Swan Lake to the moat and under the gate, so Alex and Conner wait until nightfall, so they won’t be spotted. Inside, they find the laundry room and change into maid outfits, bundling their wet clothes in towels to make them look like they’re working. They find the room where the coffin should be, but it isn’t there. While searching, Alex finds a series of love letters between two people named Evly and Mira, and Conner discovers a portrait of the huntsman and his daughter, whom the twins recognize as the woman from the basket room. Feeling sick, they realize the woman must be collecting the Wishing Spell items for the Evil Queen.

Snow White arrives, and the twins ask her where the coffin is. Snow White had it moved to the dwarf mines, and the twins leave the palace to head back to the Dwarf Forest. On their way, they pass through a section of forest that’s been logged, except for a twisted tree that’s clearly the curvy tree from their dad’s story. They can’t believe the tree is real, and Conner ends the chapter proclaiming that “things always find a way of becoming more complex” (315).