Lots going on in this episode!
Apparently Nancy thinks the Historical Society is being haunted by Temperance's daughter Charity. She thinks, if they can find something that belonged to Charity, they can contact her and ask about the division of her soul and thus rescue the next two victims of the Frozen Heart Killer before he strikes.
Confusing, eh? So, Charity and her husband Beckett planned to split her soul into four pieces upon her death so Temperance could never find them. They did this on the battlefield at Gettysburg, and her soul went into four people nearby.
Temperance has been trapped for two hundred years by the Women in White, and was released upon Horseshoe Bay at the beginning of the season. That's when the Frozen Heart murders began. It appears that The Man in the Hat, aka Copperhead, is Beckett, Charity's husband. He's been trapped in his cage beneath the Historical Society, until someone set him free, to become the Frozen Hearts Killer, and to kill the last four bits of Charity's soul before Temperance can get to any of them.
Temperance has been playing the long game, it appears, writing letters to Charity she hides behind a grate. She said something in the last one about reuniting with Charity "and finishing what they started".
Surprisingly, Bess, who is always so gullible, is feeling as if she was ill used by Temperance. She does not like at all Temperance suddenly taking on her daughter's face. Why, she thinks, is Nancy still taken in by Temperance? A new tough, hard Bess emerges this episode.
Off to Icarus Hall she goes, knowing Temperance isn't there (some text exchange with Temperance). She's looking for something to prove Temperance is up to no good so she can convince Nancy. She finds Temperance's letters behind the grate, and tries to photograph the recent one, but it doesn't work. Thinking she hears someone coming she tries to just leave with the letter in hand but it burns up before she gets far.
Nancy and Agent Park have some romantic vibes and they search Beckett's cell, trapped below the Historical Society by whatever is haunting the place. They find two things belonging to Charity, and try to find a way out, running into Ace, who senses something between them.
Ace has been all in trying to solve the mystery of the haunted historical society. He's getting messages in a variety of ways, knocks, radio, video clips he decodes for missing pieces.
One of the things Nancy found in the cell is an arrow shaped object. It turns out to be the second piece of the key to Beckett's cell. He puts the key together, inserts it in the cages lock, and poof. He has forgotten he asked Nancy to meet him at the Historical Society, she comes there but now doesn't see him. He doesn't realize that's the case, so he follows her home and goes to knock on her door to explain. There, Hannah, the missing proprietor of the Historical Society, is standing at the door knocking too. She has been the phantom knocker all along.
Trapped somewhere, and now with Ace trapped as well, she's been trying to get Nancy's attention for a long time. Nancy opens the door to the phantom knocker and sees neither of them.
There's the key, literally. Hannah for some reason opened Beckett's cage. She disappeared. We don't know why the key was broken in half, but now we know using the key in the lock transports you somewhere else.
Edit: As soon as I re-read this I'm remembering that FBI Agent Park is in Horseshoe Bay because he's a profiler who has been tracking the serial killer known as the Frozen Hearts killer for a long time, in other places. There has also been evidence that the victims of the Frozen Heart Killer in Horseshoe Bay were killed, their hearts frozen, by two different methods. Aha.
The show is back January 7, too long to wait!
