In the War Room, archaeologist Laird Niven examines the lead cross Rick Lagina and Gary Drayton recovered from Smith's Cove. Laird confirms it is lead, pierced by a square nail, crudely made and asymmetrical, and says he has never seen anything like it in Nova Scotia. He notes the metal shows little wear or white patina, suggesting it was recently unearthed rather than long exposed, and agrees with Marty Lagina's theory that the team's excavation of the French drain area the previous year may have dislodged it. The team, including Alex Lagina, Jack Begley, Charles Barkhouse, and Craig Tester by video, decides to seek a European religious antiquities expert to authenticate and date the cross.
The H-8 excavation pushes deeper as the permanent caisson encounters a ten-foot void at 170 feet, the same depth where the oscillator had rested on a flat wooden surface days earlier. The casing drops from 162 to 172 feet under its own weight, and geologist Terry Matheson assesses it as a cavern or tunnel. Marty declares they are in the collapse of the Money Pit. Spoils from the void yield a fine piece of pottery with a raised leaf design at around 150 feet, bone fragments at 162 feet that appear to include a knuckle joint, and more leather. Rick and Gary return to Smith's Cove while the drilling continues and find a lead spoon handle and a decorative brass fitting that Gary believes came from a boat.
Frustration builds as the caisson approaches 196 feet and hits gypsum and anhydrite bedrock with no sign of the Chappell Vault. The massive 50-inch hole has produced far fewer artifacts than the original six-inch borehole, a result Craig Tester calls incomprehensible. The Irving team concludes there is nowhere left to go. Craig and Marty theorize that the caisson may have pushed the vault material sideways rather than capturing it within the shaft, an explanation consistent with the increasing resistance the oscillator encountered.
Geophysicist Mike West of GEMTEC presents a three-dimensional model incorporating all 44 Geotech boreholes, their deviations, and dual induction readings. The model reveals that several holes drifted during drilling, leaving a roughly 10-by-20-foot area south of H-8 unexplored at the target depth of 150 to 200 feet. Mike notes that if H-8 marks the center of the original Money Pit, a seven-foot radius circle around it captures every significant metallic anomaly in the data. Doug Crowell recommends the team look up to 20 feet in that direction for the vault.
In an emotional War Room session, Craig announces he is leaving Oak Island to be with his wife, who is still grieving the death of their son Drake earlier in the year. Rick resolves to dig one more caisson before the season ends, and Jack Begley asks to name the new shaft after his late stepbrother. The team agrees: the hole will be designated DMT, Drake's initials. With the contractor waiting for a decision, Rick, Marty, Terry, Gary, and Charles vote unanimously to spend their remaining budget on the new target, determined to finish what they started for Craig and for Drake.
