While EJ is in crisis and Sophia is traumatized, another character is preparing to clean up the long-hidden ashes: Steve Johnson.

Without making any noise or making any announcements, Steve begins to observe and ask questions.

And this time, his target is EJ – and the mysterious fire that Salem is talking about.

It all starts when Steve sees EJ almost fainting from a memory fragment of the fire.

EJ appears disjointed, scared, and unable to explain the cause.

But Steve – with his soldierly instincts – immediately realizes: this is not a random reaction. It is the reflex of someone who witnessed the tragedy or caused it. Steve decides to start looking back at the old files.

He traces the timeline of EJ’s disappearance, the characters who had connections with Cat, and the strange things in EJ’s burn records. From a series of secret conversations, Steve realizes two things: one – Cat was not originally a minor character, and two – the fire was not an accident. It had signs of a purge.

The chain of events leads to suspicion: Cat once held information that could destroy someone’s reputation in Salem. And the fire was the “silence”. EJ could also be a victim who was swept up, or vice versa – an unwilling accomplice. The more Steve searches, the more it seems: someone deliberately erased history. But the main loophole is that EJ’s memory is recovering.

Even more frightening, Steve begins to realize that Sophia Choi could be the remaining piece. Her silence was not a coincidence. She may have witnessed something that shattered her mind. She knew the truth, but fear froze her throat.

Steve had heard Rachel say: Sophia wrote on a piece of paper “that night was not an accident”. That stunned Steve. And from here, he was motivated to dig deeper. He believed: if EJ remembered completely, and Sophia found her voice again, Salem would know who started the fire.

Steve’s investigation was not safe. The person behind the fire years ago certainly did not want the secret dug up. But Steve was not afraid. He had faced worse crimes. He believed one thing: darkness cannot live forever if the light comes in time.

A sign for Salem: a winter full of undercurrents. When EJ’s past returned, and when Steve decided to pursue it, Salem might witness a revelation more terrifying than any previous case.