At the airport, Holly calls Jerome before flying to Iowa City for Kate McKay’s security job. Holly tells Jerome the trip must stay confidential because there may be a serial killer at work in the city, but Jerome already knows key details from Buckeye Brandon’s crime coverage, including the jurors’ names left with victims linked to Alan Duffrey’s trial. Holly explains how Izzy brought her into the case through Bill Wilson’s letter and Michael Rafferty’s murder, then asks Jerome to show John Ackerly a photo of Rafferty’s appointment book entry for “Briggs,” hoping John may recognize the name from recovery meetings. Jerome agrees, glad for a distraction from his stalled writing.

After Holly lands, Izzy texts that “Bill W.” has killed again. Izzy tells Holly that Fred Sinclair was found shot four times in a Porta-John near John Glenn State Park by a Boy Scout, and that a note naming juror Steven Furst was recovered at the scene. Although Rafferty was killed with a different gun, Holly argues that Rafferty and the other murders still point to the same man: Briggs used a different weapon to make Rafferty’s death look like a robbery. Holly also suggests the killer may be leaking details to Buckeye Brandon on purpose, because he wants jurors, the judge, and the prosecutor to feel guilty. Izzy heads out to the park, and Holly warns that the murderer is speeding up because he sees his killings as a mission.

While waiting for her bags, Holly speaks first with Barbara and then with Corrie Anderson. Barbara confirms that Jerome will check the Briggs lead with John and jokes that strange cases always find Holly. Corrie says Kate wants Holly in place quickly because the stalker has sent another image: a photo of Kate and Corrie together with the word “lesbians” written across it in red lipstick. Sitting alone in baggage claim, Holly deliberately thinks through both dangers facing her. On one track, she studies Bill Wilson’s alias, Rafferty’s “Briggs” appointment, and the possibility that the killer wants to be known or even caught. On the other, she considers Kate’s stalker, who has already escalated from bleach to anthrax and may turn to a gun next. Because of that risk, Holly retrieves the locked case for her own unloaded handgun and rents a more powerful Chrysler so she can shadow Kate’s movements effectively.

The narrative then shifts to Trig at work. Outwardly, Trig behaves like a competent professional, but inwardly he is certain arrest could come at any moment. Trig worries about every mistake he may have made, including leaving Rafferty’s appointment book behind and failing to consider whether there might be cameras near the park restroom where Fred Sinclair died. When Trig reads Buckeye Brandon’s lurid post about the latest killing, his panic intensifies, yet the fear produces a darker effect: Trig admits to himself that murder has become addictive. Although Trig still frames the killings as righteous punishment for Alan Duffrey’s conviction, Trig now wants to hurry and kill as many targets as possible before police stop him.

At lunch, Jerome meets John Ackerly and shows him the appointment-book photo, but John cannot identify “Briggs,” though he does recognize another recovery nickname, Cathy 2-Tone. Their conversation turns into a story about how John first met Holly, when Holly coolly cornered a debtor in John’s bar and forced him toward restitution without backing down, which deepens John’s admiration for Holly’s nerve and judgment. John says he normally keeps meetings off-limits, but he is willing to help this time because Briggs may be both a drunk and a murderer, and because the request comes from Holly. In the final shift, Holly arrives at the Radisson and meets Corrie outside, but from a nearby rented Kia, Chrissy Stewart watches the newcomer with cold resolve. Chrissy decides that Holly’s presence changes nothing because Chrissy still believes Kate must be stopped “at all costs.”