In Chap­ter 228 of “All the Col­ors of the Dark,” the after­math of Nix’s death unfolds as Lacey’s becomes qui­eter, with only the locals remain­ing to reflect over sweet cream pan­cakes and cof­fee. The com­mu­ni­ty mourns a fig­ure who main­tained order for near­ly thir­ty years, and Char­lotte shares her thoughts with Saint as they walk to Mon­ta Clare High. It’s the night of Mar­ty Tooms’ exe­cu­tion, the man respon­si­ble for tak­ing Patch, prompt­ing Char­lotte to ques­tion the fair­ness of it all, won­der­ing if it should hurt. Saint reas­sures her in a soft tone, but Char­lotte feels that Tooms deserves a harsh­er fate.

At the sta­tion, Saint receives a call from Himes, reveal­ing that Patch is like­ly en route to North Dako­ta, where he may have a girl. Himes also updates her regard­ing Joseph Macauley, who brought his sis­ter back home, sym­bol­iz­ing a restora­tion of life. Post-call, Saint encoun­ters Jasper, who deliv­ers sur­pris­ing news: Nix left her his house in his last will, a rev­e­la­tion that leaves her stunned and per­plexed. Jasper pro­vides her with doc­u­ments and keys but can­not explain Nix’s motives. He hints at the absence of any oth­er heirs, sug­gest­ing the house might now belong to her.

Lat­er, Saint returns home to find foren­sic exam­in­er Ste­vie Har­ris at her yard, where bones were recent­ly dis­cov­ered. The two women pro­ceed to the site of the dis­cov­ery, where Ste­vie informs her that the bones are canine and have been there for a long time. Their inves­ti­ga­tion was delayed, and Ste­vie, who appears weary, hands Saint a gold tag found along­side the bones. As she reflects on the find­ings, Sain­t’s phone rings, and she rush­es inside to answer, indi­cat­ing a new devel­op­ment in her day.

Over­all, this chap­ter encap­su­lates themes of loss, inher­i­tance, and the lin­ger­ing impact of past actions with­in a tight­ly knit com­mu­ni­ty. The char­ac­ters grap­ple with both emo­tion­al and prac­ti­cal reper­cus­sions, each nav­i­gat­ing the com­plex­i­ty of their inter­twined lives as they face dif­fi­cult truths.