After killing Annette McElroy, Trig wakes without nightmares or obvious remorse. He goes through his morning routine, reads the newspaper coverage of the Buckeye Trail murder, notes that police have withheld the paper found in the victim’s hand, and concludes he can continue. Encouraged by how normal he feels, he decides to keep working his larger plan of killing innocents in the names of the people he blames for Alan Duffrey’s death.

At lunch, Isabelle Jaynes tells Holly Gibney that Annette McElroy was almost certainly one of the murders promised in Bill Wilson’s letter. Izzy reveals that police found the name Letitia Overton in Annette’s hand and are trying to locate her, while Holly agrees to quietly ask a recovery contact about anyone using the name Bill Wilson in AA or NA circles. Their conversation clarifies that the killer is not targeting the supposedly guilty people directly, but innocent substitutes.

Trig drives to Breezy Point, finds two vulnerable men behind the Washee-Washee laundromat, and murders Dov Epstein and Frank Mitborough. Frank briefly recognizes him from recovery meetings, but Trig kills both men, leaves the names Philip Jacoby and Turner Kelly in their hands, and returns to work believing the randomness of his victims will protect him. Later, Holly visits bartender John Ackerly, who agrees to listen for useful talk in meetings and points her toward a roaming recovery regular called Reverend Mike.

While Holly is finishing her errands, a phrase in a bathroom stall triggers an insight: the killer’s count may refer to the twelve jurors, plus the judge and prosecutor from Duffrey’s case. She calls Izzy, who has already been diverted to the Washee-Washee crime scene, and explains the theory. Izzy then contacts Letitia Overton in Florida and confirms that Letitia served on Alan Duffrey’s jury; Overton also recognizes Turner Kelly as another juror and thinks Philip Jacoby may have been one as well, confirming the pattern.

That evening, Trig attends an AA meeting in Upsala and is unsettled to see Reverend Mike there. Trig remembers that he may once have told the Rev that someone he lost died in lockup, which could connect him to Duffrey if Reverend Mike recalls it. To control that risk, Trig arranges a private counseling visit with the Rev and begins thinking that killing him may be necessary before Trig pauses his campaign.