At Holly Gibney's office, Barbara Robinson arrives exhausted and ecstatic after an unexpected late-night visit with Sista Bessie, whose real name is Betty Brady. Barbara recounts joining an informal rehearsal, singing with Betty and the band, then eating with them afterward. The biggest surprise is that Betty wants to set Barbara's poem "Lowtown Jazz" to music and record it, and has invited Barbara and Holly as guests to the Mingo show. The excitement overwhelms Barbara, and after trying to remember what she wrote in Betty's book, Barbara suddenly bursts into tears.

Later, Detective Izzy Jaynes intercepts Roxanne Mason, assistant to the county's assistant district attorneys, during her coffee break. By pressing Roxanne about Alan Duffrey's case, Izzy gets confirmation that the fingerprints presented as if they were on child-porn magazines were actually on the Mylar bags connected to Duffrey's comic books. That admission supports Izzy's growing belief that Cary Tolliver did not frame Duffrey alone and that Doug Allen's office helped hide or distort exculpatory evidence, making Allen a likely major target if the killer understands the case.

In Omaha, Kate McKay gives another high-energy stop on her A Woman's Testament tour while Corrie Anderson works in the greenroom. Corrie notices a hand-addressed envelope supposedly from the mayor's office and becomes suspicious because of recent threats and because she feels something bulky inside. Security deputy Hamilton Wilts, now alert, spots that the mayor's name is misspelled, uses a protective mask, and carefully opens the envelope. The letter contains powder, forcing Corrie to leave the room and wait while Kate finishes speaking.

The powder is quickly identified as Bacillus anthracis mixed with silica, turning the threat into an attempted murder case and forcing Kate and Corrie to stay in Omaha instead of taking time off in Des Moines. The enclosed card insults Kate and warns that "HELL AWAITS THE DECEIVER," making clear that someone is escalating from harassment to lethal action. In a separate scene, the sender is revealed as Chrissy Stewart, who had disguised herself as an usher, delivered the envelope while Wilts was distracted, and then returned to a cheap motel convinced she and her brother are carrying out God's will against Kate.

The next morning, Kate tries to recover her nerve by joking with Corrie and inviting her out for baseball and beer, but the anthrax scare has clearly shaken both women. Back in Buckeye City, an unrelated but ominous coda shows off-duty cop Dean Miter getting into a bar confrontation with a firefighter. Dean throws a punch with a shot glass in his hand, badly mangles his fingers on impact, and effectively ends his pitching days.