While driving to meet Terry Poszier in New Hampshire, Hilland experiences a sudden tire blowout and wonders if Edward is right about “the Dark Side […] trying to stop [Hilland]” from investigating Smith (79). At a hotel, Terry confirms a six-year relationship with Smith; she knew Smith had been married before but believed his story about his wives leaving him. She reports that he claimed to have invested in LaForza, a custom SUV company in Escondido, California, where he now works. Terry learned that Smith planned to marry another woman, Diane; when confronted, he claimed that he needed a façade for the FBI. She recounts disturbing sexual demands from Smith and, angered by his lies, agrees to help Hilland.

An agent calling from Cleveland provides more details on Smith’s brother, Michael. The family owned several apartment buildings, and after their stepfather’s death, Michael introduced Smith to young female tenants; however, he later returned to warn them that Smith was dangerous, that his wives had disappeared, and that the family had lied to police. On a phone call afterward, Hilland tells Edward that he was able to corroborate his information about Michael, and Edward warns him that Smith knows he is being investigated and says that Hilland should prepare to go to California.

In Southern California, an agent begins surveillance at LaForza, tailing Smith and his new wife, Diane. The agent notes Smith’s high-pitched voice, grandiose stories, and a lack of chemistry with Diane. Hilland instructs the team to be on the lookout for any evidence of “deviance.” At home, the case pressure leads to an argument with his wife, Alex, who forbids any mention of John Smith in their house.

Hilland continues with background interviews. A former supervisor describes Smith as a gifted engineer who wore women’s blouses, jewelry, and a distinctive woman’s watch. He does not believe Smith wore these clothes as a form of gender expression; rather, he implies that it was a sexual fetish. His wife recalls Smith’s fixation on their daughter, Kathleen. Another former boss corroborates the women’s clothes, calls Smith a pathological liar, and recounts Smith racing to Ohio for a family emergency in 1979, returning shaken.

Kathleen McDonald, now an adult, shows Hilland a distinctive watch. She recalls that around her 16th birthday, Smith gave her the watch, telling her that it belonged to his dead wife. She now gives it to Hilland as evidence, remarking that she was so disturbed by what Smith told her that she never wore the watch. Janice Hartman’s sister, Dee, says that she helped Smith choose that same watch as a gift for Janice. Dee also reports that Smith tried to force her to touch him when she was 12, but Janice intervened. She last saw Janice driving off with Smith in her 1974 Mustang after their divorce. A friend of Janice’s named Kelly recalls him stalking Janice after the divorce, describing a dangerous high-speed pursuit on back roads, and calls him “pure evil.” Hilland believes that Kelly knows more about Janice’s death, but she is too terrified of Smith to talk.

In April 1999, Hilland visits Edward again. Edward advises patience and predicts a long interview where Smith might reveal something. He repeats that Michael has knowledge and says to mention Smith’s grandmother. Holding the watch, Edward identifies Janice, says a close female relative helped pick it for her, and perceives that Smith gifted it again to a younger girl, matching Kathleen’s story. He repeats the image of a victim found in a box, a “Lady in the Box,” suggesting that it could be Janice. On May 2, 1999, Hilland travels to Escondido. At daybreak on May 5, with tactical support staged, Hilland and Mary Gallinger approach Smith and invite him to talk about his missing wives.

Hilland and Gallinger bring Smith to a Holiday Inn suite command post, alerting the nationwide teams to begin their interviews. Profilers monitor the interrogation from an adjacent room. Hilland begins with calm small talk before transitioning into a discussion of Smith’s history with Fran. Gallinger confronts Smith about his house and girlfriend in Connecticut, but Smith minimizes the relationship. Hilland produces divorce paperwork that Smith had filed and withdrawn, pressing him on Fran’s anger when she discovered it. Smith blames her sister, saying, “None of this would have happened if it weren’t for Sherrie” (117). Seeing Smith’s rising fury, Hilland presses him on this remark, but Smith regains his composure and claims that Fran left on her own and is probably dead. He denies ever “los[ing] control.”

In the third hour, Hilland plays the 1991 recorded call in which Smith told Sheila that he had lied to police and said it was “too late to help them [Janice and Fran]” (120). Smith is unfazed. Hilland reveals that agents are simultaneously interviewing his relatives, friends, and coworkers. Smith looks shaken as a note slides under the door with Michael Smith’s new statement: a rumor that Janice was buried in a box under the garage floor at the family’s Grace Lane property. Hilland tells Smith that there has been a development.

Hilland confronts Smith with Michael’s warnings to female tenants and the rumor about Janice being buried in a box under the garage; Smith denies any knowledge. Meanwhile, other interviewers have learned that Smith told people that Fran died of cancer; they also describe his mother, Grace, as uncooperative. Hilland escalates, presenting the knife found in the Milford attic, recounting Janice Miller’s story about the attic, and outlining the Bridgeport sex worker murders, showing a composite sketch that resembles Smith. Smith remains evasive.

After seven hours, a profiler watching the interrogation predicts that they are running out of time to learn anything. Remembering Edward’s advice, Hilland speaks about Smith’s recently deceased grandmother, Ethel. Smith’s composure breaks, and he begins to cry, saying that his life has become a nightmare. When Hilland reaches out to reassure him, the physical contact snaps Smith back to a controlled state. He feigns a heart attack, but paramedics find no cardiac event. As they prepare to transport him to the hospital, Hilland stops them, warns Smith that surveillance will now dominate his life, and holds up Janice’s green-faced watch. Hilland vows that the next time they meet, Smith will be in custody.