Late in the afternoon, Trig goes to Sista Bessie’s dressing room at the Mingo and intimidates her with a photo of Barbara Robinson bound at Holman Rink. He claims a partner has a gun on Barbara and says Barbara will die if Sista Bessie alerts police or anyone else. To keep his larger plan moving, Trig orders Sista Bessie to perform as scheduled at Dingley Park and then slip away afterward to meet him, promising to release Barbara and Sista Bessie if she obeys. After Trig leaves, Sista Bessie breaks down, prays, and quietly reaches out to an old friend for help.

Meanwhile, Holly keeps worrying over the killer’s remark about cleaning up elephant droppings. When retired detective Pete Huntley calls back, he remembers that a circus once brought elephants to the Mingo Auditorium. That detail jolts Holly into realizing that Donald Gibson of the Mingo fits her growing suspicions and may actually be Trig, the juror-killer. Holly hesitates to call police because she has already been wrong once, and because she wants to check with Kate first, but when she enters Kate’s suite she finds a note saying Kate has gone alone to save Corrie because she believes Christopher Stewart has kidnapped her.

At nearly the same time, Jerome and John Ackerly arrive at the Mingo to pick up Sista Bessie. John notices Donald Gibson’s photo on the wall and recognizes him as the man he saw years earlier at an AA meeting, confirming Holly’s suspicion. Holly gets the same confirmation when John calls from the Mingo, but she orders him not to contact police yet. Desperate for a way to find Kate, Holly remembers that she attached an AirTag to Kate’s keys, locates them at Dingley Park, retrieves Bill Hodges’s gun from the hotel safe, and heads out to intervene herself.

Kate, delayed by heavy traffic near Dingley Park, abandons her Uber and runs to Holman Rink. When she reaches the door, Trig opens it and immediately punches her, breaking her nose before she can use her pepper spray. In the middle of the attack, Christopher Stewart appears disguised in women’s clothing and fires at Trig, shouting that Kate belongs to him. Stewart’s intervention briefly interrupts the assault, but Trig overpowers him, twists his neck, and continues struggling with Kate. Kate manages to spray Trig in the face and fights back fiercely, but Trig still beats her down.

After dragging both Kate and the badly injured Stewart into the foyer, Trig realizes Stewart is the stalker who has been following Kate. Stewart is helpless and barely able to speak, so Trig shoots him in the head, treating him as an expendable substitute victim in his revenge fantasy. Kate regains consciousness, bloodied and with broken teeth, and Trig forces her into the rink where Corrie and Barbara are already captive. He secures Kate near the bleachers and makes clear that they are now waiting for one final arrival before he carries out the rest of his plan.