Ash waited for Gwen and Heather inside the sheriff's station lounge. A cardboard box rested on the table before him, but after briefly examining the files inside, he decided not to read further until Heather arrived.
Although all three had been questioned at the same time, Ash finished first despite having far more to explain. After surviving Jigsaw, Ghostface, the West Virginia cannibals, and now Leatherface, he had become disturbingly familiar with giving police statements.
Gwen and Heather had far less experience with official questioning. While waiting for them, Ash used the station bathroom to wash the blood and dirt from his skin. An officer also gave him a clean uniform because his clothes had been ruined during the fight.
The uniform was slightly too large and technically should not have been given to a civilian. However, every officer at the estate had watched Ash fight an immortal chainsaw killer with a glowing greatsword. Allowing him to borrow clean clothing seemed like a minor violation compared to everything else that happened that night.
The officers still warned him to return it before leaving. Police uniforms were regulated by law, and wearing one without permission could create serious problems.
Gwen and Heather finally entered the lounge and found Ash sitting comfortably in his borrowed uniform. Heather froze for a moment when she saw that he was unharmed.
Then she rushed forward and threw her arms around him.
Ash caught her before the chair could tip backward. Heather settled across his lap and wrapped both arms tightly around his neck while burying her face against his shoulder.
The first time she hugged him like this had been at the airport after mistaking him for Gwen. This time there was no confusion behind the gesture.
Heather's body trembled against him.
"You scared me to death," she whispered. "How could something like that be living beneath the house my grandmother left me?"
Ash gave Gwen a reassuring look before placing one arm around Heather's waist. His other hand moved gently across her dark hair until her breathing began to calm.
"I'm fine," he said. "Farnsworth gave you a letter from Verna. You still haven't read it, have you?"
Heather shook her head without releasing him.
"It's inside my bag with the legal documents. I left everything in the Ford."
"Verna probably explained what happened in that letter. We'll read it when we get our things back."
Heather nodded, though the fear had not completely left her.
Ash gave her a moment before lightly patting her hip.
"Before that, Sheriff Hooper left something for you."
Heather reluctantly climbed off his lap. Ash opened the cardboard box and removed several thick folders before placing them on the table.
Heather sat between Gwen and Ash as she opened the first file.
The documents contained the buried history of the Sawyer family.
The Sawyers had lived near Newt for generations and operated a local slaughterhouse. Their family had always been considered strange and isolated, but the town tolerated them until the killings of August 1973.
That summer, a group of young travelers crossed paths with Jedidiah Sawyer, better known as Jed. He murdered nearly all of them inside the Sawyer farmhouse.
Only one young woman escaped.
Her name was Sally Hardesty.
The file contained photographs from the original crime scene along with Sally's statement. Ash recognized the details almost immediately. This world's history followed the events of the first Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
After Sally reached safety, Hooper was still a deputy. He went to the Sawyer home and demanded that the family surrender Jed.
The Sawyers agreed.
They were willing to hand him over if it meant protecting the remaining members of the family. The situation could have ended with Jed's arrest and a formal investigation.
Burt Hartman refused to allow that.
He arrived with an armed mob of angry townspeople and ignored Hooper's attempts to stop them. The mob opened fire on the farmhouse and killed every Sawyer they could find.
Once the shooting ended, the townspeople burned the property to the ground.
Investigators later recovered Jed's chainsaw from the ruins. Since no one could identify most of the burned bodies, the town accepted the assumption that Leatherface had died in the fire.
The mob celebrated among the remains and took a photograph together. Burt stood proudly at the center while the people around him smiled as though they had accomplished something heroic.
The date was August 19, 1973.
It was the same date engraved on the Sawyer graves and used as the security code for the Carson estate.
The records also revealed what happened to Heather.
Her biological mother, Loretta Sawyer, escaped the burning farmhouse while carrying her infant daughter. She hid inside a small shed near the property before Gavin and Arlene Miller discovered them.
Arlene could not have children.
Gavin took the baby from Loretta and kicked the injured woman until she died. He and Arlene secretly carried Heather away before anyone else saw what had happened.
The couple moved far from Newt and raised her under the name Heather Miller. They never told the town that another member of the Sawyer family had survived.
Verna Carson escaped the massacre because she was away visiting relatives. She eventually returned and discovered that Jed had also survived.
She hid Leatherface beneath the Carson mansion and kept him locked inside the basement for decades.
The prayers carved into the hidden staircase and Ash's greatsword had likely prevented whatever possessed Jed from escaping. Verna continued feeding and caring for him until her death.
The records did not explain when Leatherface became supernatural or how a demon entered his body.
Heather stared at the old photograph of the mob. Gavin and Arlene stood among the smiling townspeople with expressions of triumph on their faces.
The same people who raised her with affection had helped murder her biological family. Gavin had personally killed her mother before stealing her away.
Heather remained motionless for several seconds.
Gwen noticed her hands beginning to tremble and wrapped one arm around her shoulders.
"Heather."
Her voice remained gentle but firm.
"None of this is your fault. They raised you and loved you, and those feelings may have been real. The crimes they committed are also real."
Heather closed her eyes.
"You don't have to punish yourself for what they did," Gwen continued. "You have the right to decide how you feel and what kind of relationship you want with them."
Heather drew a slow breath and leaned against her.
The Millers had given her food, shelter, education, and years of family memories. That did not erase the fact that they had stolen her from a dying woman and lied about her identity for her entire life.
"I'm grateful that they raised me," Heather said quietly. "I can't pretend that none of this happened."
She opened her eyes and looked at Gavin's smiling face in the photograph.
"I don't want revenge. I also can't return home and continue acting like their daughter."
Her voice steadied as she reached a decision.
"I'll hire an attorney and formally sever our legal relationship. I'll set aside enough money from Grandma's inheritance to support them for the rest of their lives and give it to them as a single payment."
Heather paused before continuing.
"I'll consider it repayment for everything they spent raising me. After that, neither side will owe the other anything."
She looked toward Ash and Gwen.
"That's my decision. What do you think?"
Ash and Gwen exchanged a brief glance before nodding together.
"We support you."