In the beginning of Episode 2 of Widow's Bay, Patricia and Tom set off to work together, with Tom eagerly anticipating the New York Times review. He requests Patricia to read it to him again, and he's equally enthusiastic about the impending arrival of tourists. As they drop by the local café, Tom is thrilled to see that the owner has finally acquired a coffee-making machine. The café owner is uncertain if it was a wise investment, but Tom assures him that it's the right move, considering the tourists are arriving that weekend.
Suddenly, sirens pierce the air, and Tom and Patricia follow to investigate the commotion. It turns out that Wyck is causing a disturbance at the local inn, believing it's unsafe for tourists to stay there. The sheriff and Tom try to persuade him to calm down, but Wyck insists that Tom is leading everyone into danger by only caring about modernizing the town. Wyck labels him a coward and challenges him to sleep at the inn. Being called a coward sparks Tom's anger, and he retorts by calling Wyck a dumb hick. Tom tries to apologize when he realizes he's gone too far, but the damage is already done. The sheriff escorts a drunk Wyck away.
Later that night, Tom drops by the local restaurant to pick up his dinner. He runs into the priest, where he vents about Wyck always getting away with his behavior. He also requests the priest to lock the church doors so teenagers like Evans won't ring the bell at midnight. The priest is taken aback and starts to explain that it's impossible, but then stops himself.
As he's leaving the restaurant, a few people confront Tom for calling Wyck a dumb hick. They offer to pay for his one-night stay at the local inn, believing it's haunted due to its history. Tom agrees to the challenge but is taken aback when they insist he has to sleep there that night and in the captain's suite, where a captain once slept and went insane, killing his family.
They also mention other instances where people have perished within the inn's walls. Tom feels that some of these tales are mere fabrications, rife with misogyny. They bring up the notorious clown serial killer, and Rosemary suggests that Tom spend time in the crawl space. Tom bravely agrees, in exchange for them dropping the cursed inn narrative. He heads home and has dinner with Evan. Initially, Evan is bummed about spending the night at Ruth's, but soon his excitement builds.
Meanwhile, the priest returns to the church and unlocks the attic. He checks and verifies that the church bell is securely locked in place; that would mean it’s impossible for someone to ring it. He then goes back to read an old letter detailing the steps to take if the bell tolls.
Later, Patricia drops Tom off at the inn and wishes him luck. Kurt, the owner, welcomes him but refuses to enter the captain's suite. He gives Tom the rules and wishes him goodnight, saying he's heading home. As part of the deal, he locks Tom inside the inn and gives him a camera to film himself as proof.
Tom settles in and turns on an old video of a man doing a tour of the island. He goes downstairs, grabs a drink, and notices a deck of cards. He soon starts recording himself doing the specific challenges that the residents asked him to do. He gets stuck in the closet for a while, but that doesn't faze him. However, the basement is where he draws the line.
Tom returns to his room and calls Ruth to check on Evan. Evan never answers the phone, and Ruth's attention is elsewhere, so he hangs up. He notices that the curtain is open, despite having closed it earlier. He also hears strange noises coming from under the sink. He checks outside his room and discovers another guest, William. The latter invites him to have a drink downstairs. Initially, Tom declines and returns to watching the tour video. However, he's spooked when the TV starts getting static, sparks fly, and then it goes off. With that, Tom joins William downstairs for drinks.
Tom vents his frustration about the weird superstitions that the residents have. He reveals that he ran unopposed as mayor and is having a hard time bringing change. They play a game and talk about their childhoods. It turns out Tom wasn't born in Widow's Bay. He only visited during the summers to spend time with his dad. He didn't get along with his dad, but when the man got sick, Tom moved into town to look after him and ended up meeting and marrying his wife.
William seems to understand Tom's problems and advises him to be careful not to let the town's hicks bring him down. He then claims that he has had too much to drink and goes to bed, assuring Tom that ghosts are not real and that he is a good mayor.
Filled with newfound courage, Tom goes under the crawl space. His torch goes off just as soon as he finishes recording a video. He hears an odd sound, and William suddenly appears and asks to join him. Tom says no, but William joins anyway. Only this time, William is a clown, and as Tom crawls deeper inside, he sees a rotting body and screams in terror.
The next morning, Tom wakes up screaming from a nightmare. He calls Kurt and the sheriff. They go through CCTV footage and see no other guests; Tom was only talking to himself. Wyck shows up and mocks Tom, saying he got the clown. He challenges Kurt to go into the captain's suite. Although scared, Kurt goes in for five and thirty seconds consecutively.
Tom refuses to admit to Wyck that he might be right. The sheriff notices black mould and assumes it is the cause of Tom's hallucinations. Wyck defiantly refuses while Kurt promises to fix the issue and seal the suite for good measure.
Later, Patricia picks Tom up, and he lies that everything was fine and nothing happened.
