Never Flinch

Buckeye City Police detective Isabelle “Izzy” Jaynes meets Lieutenant Lewis Warwick. Lewis asks her to look at a letter that was sent to him and Chief Alice Patmore. The sender, who calls himself Bill Wilson, vows to kill 13 innocent people and one guilty person as “atonement” for the death of another innocent person. The letter references the Blackstone Rule, which states that it is better to let 10 guilty people go free than punish one innocent person. The innocent person who died is likely Alan Duffrey, who was killed in prison. Cary Tolliver recently confessed to framing Duffrey. Tolliver has terminal cancer and thus is unlikely to face consequences for the crime. Lewis tells Izzy to investigate Duffrey. Izzy notes that Bill Wilson is the name of the man who founded AA in 1935, which may be a clue.

Izzy meets her friend Holly Gibney for lunch. Holly is a private detective with the Finders Keepers detective agency, and she has worked closely with Izzy on previous cases. Izzy shows Holly Bill’s letter. Duffrey and Tolliver worked for the same bank, and Tolliver framed Duffrey for possession of child pornography to secure a promotion.

Holly reviews insurance forms for a case. Her friend Barbara Robinson, another member of the Finders Keepers private detective agency, calls and invites her to see Sista Bessie, a singer. Holly reluctantly agrees, and they both note that they have not seen Jerome Robinson—Barbara’s brother and another member of Finders Keepers.

Izzy and her partner, Tom Atta, go to Kiner Memorial Hospital to find Cary Tolliver.

Holly emails Izzy some thoughts on the letter, noting that the writer uses proper grammar, used the phrase “CC,” and misspelled “Lewis” as “Louis.” Holly realizes she is supposed to see a lecture by Kate McKay on the same date as Barbara’s concert.

Izzy and Tom try to get Tolliver to tell them who might have been close to Duffrey. Tolliver is severely ill, and he describes how he framed Duffrey, ignoring Izzy. Tolliver confessed to Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Doug Allen before Duffrey’s death. Tolliver tells Tom and Izzy to talk to some coworkers from the bank.

In May, Trig parks on Anyhow Lane by the Buckeye Park. He “talks” to his father, who is dead, and his father’s voice criticizes him. Trig convinces himself to walk the trail to look for a victim, still nervous after sending his letter to the police. Trig finds a woman walking with her dog, asks her to look at a map, and shoots her in the head twice. Trig leaves the dog and places a scrap of paper on the body, bearing the name Letitia Overton. His plan requires killing multiple people, four of them women. Fleeing, Trig sits in his car and thinks about the dead woman, who is part of his “atonement.”

Kate McKay is in Reno, Nevada with her assistant, Corrie. McKay is on a book tour, lecturing across the country. Her two trademarks are a large Borsalino hat and a two-handed beckoning gesture.

Carrie goes to get a newspaper and notices a red-haired woman in the hotel. In the hospital later, Corrie wonders if she will be able to see again. She idolized Kate as a student and later became her assistant. The first tour city was Portland, Oregon, where Corrie dyed her hair blonde, like Kate’s.

The red-haired woman pulled Corrie into an alley, calling her Kate, and splashed acid in her eyes. The woman quoted a bible verse about women being subservient, then left.

In the hospital, doctors rinse out Corrie’s eyes. A detective, Mallory Hughes, asks Corrie about the red-haired woman, but Corrie does not remember much. The woman splashed Corrie with bleach, thinking Corrie was Kate, which Kate attributes to the Borsalino Corrie was wearing at Kate’s insistence.

Mallory leaves, and Kate tells Corrie she wants to use Corrie as an example at the lecture. She tells Corrie to mess up her hair and widen her eyes, intending to use the picture as evidence of the struggle of standing up to hate. Corrie agrees, but she is not sure how she feels about Kate’s readiness to exploit the situation.

Mallory calls and says they found a red wig, which could lead to an arrest. The image brings back the trauma of the assault, but Corrie remembers her father saying: “The bastards don’t get to win” (41).

At the lecture venue, Kate gives Corrie pepper spray. She then begins the lecture, eliciting boos and cheers from the audience. Kate shows the photo of Corrie, at which the booing stops, and the cheers become gasps. Corrie comes out on stage briefly, feeling relieved when Kate lets her leave.

Corrie calls Officer Denise Rowley with the Spokane Police Department, the next city Corrie and Kate will visit, and listens to the cheering from the greenroom. Corrie feels exploited and unsafe.

On the way to Spokane, Corrie tells Kate that an armed police officer will escort them in every city visit. Kate is not happy about this precaution, but they receive a letter with a photo of Kate and Corrie at their hotel with a note threatening to harm Kate.

Trig does not have nightmares about killing the woman. He waves to his neighbor, Melanie Travers, and her two children. He reads a newspaper and learns that the woman he killed was Annette McElroy. The newspaper does not mention the scrap of paper with the name Letitia Overton that Trig left on the body, and Trig plans to kill another innocent.

Holly and Izzy eat lunch inside, noting that they both got COVID-19 vaccines. Izzy has found the real Letitia Overton but does not know how she is connected to the murdered woman, Annette McElroy. Holly agrees to investigate the case in secret.

Two unhoused men, Dov and Frank, drink behind a laundromat. Trig finds them and shoots Dov. Frank tries to escape, but Trig shoots him multiple times. Trig places the names Philip Jacoby and Turner Kelly in Dov and Frank’s hands.

Holly talks to a bartender, John Ackerly. Ackerly goes to NA and AA meetings and says he can ask around about people who might be upset about Duffrey’s death, starting with Reverend Mike. In the bathroom, Holly sees graffiti about the12 days of Christmas, has an epiphany about the case, and leaves Izzy a message to call her back.

Izzy ignores Holly’s call to investigate Frank and Dov’s deaths at the laundromat. Lewis thinks they are connected to Annette’s death, and Tom and Izzy interview Marie, the laundromat attendant. Marie did not see anyone, and Tom does not investigate the bodies but sees scraps of paper in their hands.

Izzy calls Holly, who reveals that the letter’s reference to 14 people amounts to the 12 members of a jury, a judge, and either a prosecutor or Tolliver. Holly predicts that Letitia was on the jury that convicted Duffrey.

Trig goes to an AA meeting and plans to wait a week before killing again. Reverend Mike is at the meeting, and Trig regrets telling Mike that he was upset about Duffrey’s death. Planning to kill Mike, Trig tells Mike he is struggling with making amends and needs guidance. They plan to meet at Mike’s house on May 20, and Trig asks Mike not to tell anyone about his struggle.

Izzy calls Letitia, who confirms that she, Philip, and Turner were on the jury that convicted Duffrey for possession of child pornography. Letitia feels bad about the conviction, but she does not know the other jurors’ names. Izzy and Tom find the other names, and Izzy feels bad for the jurors, who will likely feel more guilty knowing Bill killed innocent people because of the jury’s decision.

Corrie arranges Kate’s tour events in Denver, including off-duty police escort “Bull” Durham. Kate has a tantrum about losing her date at The Mingo in Buckeye City. Program Director Donald Gibson invoked the “extraordinary circumstances” clause to give Sista Bessie the venue on May 31, when Kate was supposed to lecture. Corrie suggests fighting the swap, but Kate does not want to look like a white woman shutting down a Black woman’s show. Corrie suggests claiming Kate gave Sista Bessie the venue.

Izzy and Holly get lunch, and Izzy hesitates to tell Holly too much about the case. Holly admits that Buckeye Brandon has exposed a lot of details of the case on his podcast. Izzy confirms that “Bill Wilson” is killing innocents and planting the jury members’ names from Duffrey’s trial. Either Tolliver or Allen is the “guilty” person.

Sista Bessie, or Betty Brady, calls Barbara to ask her to sign her copy of Barbara’s poetry collection, Faces Change. Barbara is stunned and agrees to go to Sista Bessie’s rehearsal.

Barbara goes to an old warehouse and meets Tones Kelly, Betty’s tour manager. Inside, Betty is rehearsing, and other musicians gradually join her. Henrietta, Betty’s agent, tells Barbara how much Betty loves Faces Change. When Betty spots Barbara, they tell each other how talented the other is.