Holly wakes early after another poor night of sleep and finds one text from John Ackerly and one from Izzy Jaynes. John reports that older AA members in Upsala remember Trig only vaguely, including that he sometimes used a real name that might have been John, Ron, or Don. After a calm walk to Dingley Park and breakfast, Holly checks on Kate McKay at the hotel, then goes to the Mingo Auditorium to inspect security before that night’s event.

At the Mingo, Maisie Rogan shows Holly the stage, the camera coverage, the metal detectors, and the available exits. Holly is pleased that audience members will be screened and especially values a hidden route through the kitchen and employees’ lot that could help Kate leave with less chaos. Later, Corrie Anderson finalizes a better Pittsburgh venue for the tour, reports the good news to Kate and Holly, and then leaves for the Mingo, believing she only needs to sign insurance paperwork. At the same time, Izzy, stuck at softball practice, lets herself focus on the game instead of police work and has little useful information when Holly calls.

Waiting at the Mingo’s service entrance under the name Donald Gibson, Trig puts his plan into motion. He injects Corrie with pentobarbital, dismisses her Uber driver with cash, and drags her into the Transit van, binding her hands and feet while trying to keep her alive long enough to serve his larger purpose. Sista Bessie and her dresser, Alberta Wing, arrive unexpectedly and nearly ruin the abduction by delaying Trig at the van, but he manages to get them inside. When Corrie begins to wake and make noise, Trig threatens her with a gun, tapes her mouth with a breathing hole, and forces her to reveal her phone passcode.

While Kate remains occupied at the hotel and Holly briefly visits her apartment, uneasy because she senses she has missed some important detail from the Mingo, Trig moves Corrie to the abandoned rink at Dingley Park. Christopher Stewart, hiding there as Chrissy, hears Trig bring in a bound captive and watches him tie Corrie inside the old penalty box. Stewart recognizes Corrie as Kate’s assistant and hides successfully until Trig leaves, realizing that the new captive connects directly to Kate.

Elsewhere, John receives a follow-up call from an AA contact in Breezy Point. The caller remembers that Trig sometimes used the name Don and once joked about hiring someone to clean up elephant dung at ten in the morning, giving John a more concrete clue about Trig’s identity and past work. John has no time to act on it immediately because a distraught customer smashes the backbar mirror and breaks down in tears.