World-renowned diver John Chatterton completes his historic descent to the bottom of 10-X, entering the underground chamber 235 feet below ground while Marty Lagina and Craig Tester, grounded in Michigan by the threat of a hurricane, watch via videoconference. Chatterton discovers a metal drill pipe standing about six feet off the floor, with a six-inch section ending at the ceiling and a four-inch section extending into the clay bottom, and confirms it is the only post-like object in the chamber. The find contradicts the claims of veteran treasure hunter Dan Blankenship, who since drilling 10-X in the 1970s had insisted a large square wooden post ran floor to ceiling, and conflicts with sonar data collected earlier that year by underwater imaging expert Brian Abbott, who at ninety percent confidence had identified two large vertical posts. Chatterton also locates an angular rock measuring ten to twelve inches with at least one ninety-degree angle, which he believes produced the sonar signal previously interpreted as a box, and notes that sinkholes in the silt likely account for the shadow Abbott had flagged as a possible human form. He finds moving water and enters a tunnel-like passageway, though nothing inside feels shaped or carved. Asked to assess whether the chamber is man-made, Chatterton concludes it appears to be a natural formation.
The following day, Rick and Marty Lagina welcome three special guests: sisters Joan, Jean, and Joyce McGinnis, direct descendants of Daniel McGinnis, one of the three teenage boys who discovered the Money Pit in 1795. On their first visit to Oak Island, local historian and treasure hunter Charles Barkhouse leads them to the Money Pit site, the McGinnis family foundation, and the root cellar where provincial tour workers in the 1970s pulled a gold chain from the stonework. At the Oak Island Interpretive Centre, the sisters share a family story passed down through five generations: Daniel, a carpenter and mason by trade, recognized pulley marks on the oak tree, and after digging with friends John Smith and Anthony Vaughn, the three boys found three treasure chests and each took one. From a wooden box the sisters produce a gold cross, an item from Daniel McGinnis's chest that has been handed down through the McGinnis men for over 220 years. Their brother James received it from their father at age fifteen, and the night before James died he told them never to let it out of their sight. Jewelers who have examined the cross estimate it could be as old as 500 years, a date that aligns with the team's existing carbon dating evidence and would place it well within the timeframe of several leading theories about the island.
Energized by the McGinnis visit, Rick Lagina returns to the Money Pit with Dave Blankenship and Charles Barkhouse to investigate a 21-foot-tall void discovered the previous week by Rick, Barkhouse, and well driller Jordan Rogers while drilling just north of a suspected wooden vault. Jack Begley had already recovered a small metallic object from the void using an evacuation pump. Rick hires pipe inspection specialist Glen Cornell, who lowers a P 340 Flex-a-probe camera fitted with a dye light for visibility. The probe confirms the cavity and, at 171 feet below ground, captures images of a shiny gold-colored metallic object embedded in the wall of the void, along with a second piece of metal nearby. Rick concludes there is no walking away from the hole, though reaching it would require excavating roughly eighteen stories underground at a cost of millions of dollars.
In a final War Room meeting before the team disperses for the harsh North Atlantic winter, the partners review a season defined by both setbacks and breakthroughs. The McGinnis cross and the metallic objects in the Money Pit void have renewed their resolve, while Chatterton's findings at 10-X, though sobering, are not considered definitive; Dave Blankenship notes that two to three feet of silt remain unexplored and advocates draining the chamber entirely. Rick calls for a vote on whether to continue the search, invoking the "Fellowship of the Dig," and the decision is unanimous: every partner raises a hand. After 220 years, the 221st year of the Oak Island treasure hunt will begin.
