At Adobo, Matt Shank is in a bad mood. The restaurant is understaffed, his day manager has been late twice, and PJ wants to speak privately. Matt assumes that PJ will ask for another advance on his pay to cover gambling debts.

Instead, PJ tells Matt that his behavior has created a hostile work environment. Staff members find him unapproachable and feel he doesn’t listen. PJ points out that Matt didn’t seem concerned after PJ’s car accident, and he dealt harshly with day manager Lauryn Kinney, who is dealing with an abusive ex-husband and a custody battle. PJ warns that Matt will lose good employees if he doesn’t change.

Matt leads PJ into the back alley. Enraged, he pokes PJ in the chest, and PJ pushes back with surprising force. Matt punches him in the jaw. PJ falls backward, his head slamming into the pavement with a sickening thud.

Matt begins to panic because a previous bar fight resulted in an agreement with the assistant district attorney: Any future assault charge would carry a minimum one-year jail sentence. When he tries to rouse PJ, he discovers blood pooling beneath his head from a jagged rock underneath. After a final moan, PJ goes still. Matt checks for a pulse and finds none.

Terrified of losing everything, Matt decides to hide the body and hefts PJ into the nearby dumpster. A prep cook emerges with trash, and Matt claims he sent PJ home. He offers to throw the trash into the dumpster to cover the body. He realizes that trash pickup is the next morning and calls his grandfather. He says he’s messed up badly and needs help.

Jason waits on Sam’s porch with takeout tacos and wine when she returns from dropping Bonnie at her hotel. They settle on the living room floor, eating and watching football. Sam recounts her meeting with Bonnie, and Jason questions whether Bonnie is trustworthy, pointing out that it’s suspicious she traveled from Sacramento only to withhold the most critical detail. He urges Sam to verify her story and reminds her that everyone has an agenda.

Jason asks about Sam’s current book project. Sam explains that she’s struggling to present the Seattle PD’s case against Rufus Wedge as potentially flawed without seeming accusatory. Jason suggests she discuss it with Edward, but Sam promised Bonnie that she wouldn’t reveal anything until Bonnie is ready to talk to Detective Sanchez.

Jason points out what’s at stake: If Wedge was innocent and another person is the real Butcher, then Edward’s task force shot an innocent man. That would tarnish the Chief’s reputation and, by extension, damage Matt’s business prospects and his upcoming television deal. Jason reminds Sam that Matt will never forgive her if she harms his career. Sam realizes he’s right—Matt’s success means more to him than anything, and the more successful he becomes, the more distant they grow. Jason tells her that she needs to put herself first, as Matt does.

Edward arrives at Adobo after Matt’s frantic call. The staff has gone, and the restaurant is dark except for the kitchen. Edward asks what happened but then interrupts to say that he already knows: Matt killed someone. He tells Matt to get to work. They remove the body from the dumpster and take it back to Matt’s house.

Edward produces a chainsaw and instructs Matt to dismember PJ’s body. Matt recoils, saying that he can’t do it, and he should turn himself in. Edward counters that even if Matt avoids prison, the publicity would destroy his restaurant and television deal. Reluctantly, Matt gets to work. He spends the next hour and a half dismembering the body, vomiting partway through. When he finishes, PJ’s remains fill three garbage bags.

Edward tells Matt to load the bags into his supply van—he’ll dispose of them himself. He instructs Matt to return to the restaurant, search everywhere for PJ’s keys, which aren’t in his pocket, and spray down the alleyway with bleach. Matt asks where Edward is taking the body, but Edward replies that he doesn’t want to know.

Before leaving, Edward tells Matt to thoroughly clean the garage with bleach—and smiles, noting he keeps bleach there for times like this, revealing this isn’t the first body he’s helped dispose of.

Sam meets Sanchez at a coffee shop in Ballard, outside Seattle. Sanchez shows her a California driver’s license in the name Bonnie Tidwell, and Sam confirms that it’s the woman she met. Sanchez reveals that the name is likely false—he remembers questioning a woman named Joyce Kubacki the morning after Sarah’s murder.

Pressed about why she’s asking, Sam admits that Bonnie contacted her through a serial-killer website and met with her recently. Sanchez is alarmed but listens as Sam explains Bonnie’s claim: She knows the Butcher’s real identity because he tried to kill her two days after Sarah’s death.

Sanchez reveals that a background check shows that Bonnie Tidwell has no history before 1988, suggesting Joyce changed her name after fleeing Seattle. Her life since has been ordinary—working as a commercial photographer, two divorces, no criminal record.

Sam recounts Bonnie’s story, but Sanchez remains skeptical, asking why Bonnie never reported it and why she’s coming forward after 26 years. The detective agrees to track Bonnie down, though he doesn’t believe Rufus Wedge was innocent. He maintains that whoever killed Sarah and attacked Bonnie—if Bonnie is telling the truth—was a different killer, not the Butcher. Sam makes him promise to keep an open mind, and he asks the same of her.

Matt is rattled after a late night with Fresh Network producer Karen Burgundy, where he came dangerously close to cheating on Sam. His day manager Lauryn asks about PJ’s absence; Matt feigns concern and says he’ll call PJ’s parents.

Matt then meets with Karen and her colleague Bernard. They’re enthusiastic about featuring Edward Shank for his commanding presence and want to include Sam to generate romantic drama. Matt is noncommittal but agrees to consider it. The meeting leaves him feeling triumphant, convinced he’s on the verge of stardom and that he was right not to turn himself in.

Edward rides a retirement community bus to Tulalip Casino with fellow residents. While the other residents head into the casino, Edward turns away, planning to find a young woman. His mind drifts to a memory from August 1983. In a bar on a reservation, he met a 15-year-old girl named Agatha, who approached him for drinks. Using an alias and claiming to be a traveling salesman, he bought her whiskey, and she offered to have sex with him for $200.

He took her to McDonald’s, where she ate hungrily, then lured her toward a remote wooded area with promises of a friend’s cabin and extra pay. She agreed, excited by the prospect of regular income. Four hours later, Edward was back in Seattle with all traces of Agatha removed from his car, the song she had chosen still playing on the radio.

Sam reads a Seattle Times article about two bodies found in the Seattle area: a young woman discovered in the woods near Marysville, and a 45-year-old California woman found behind a restaurant in Capitol Hill. Police ruled both deaths homicides but stated that they weren’t related.

Sam calls Detective Sanchez, who confirms that the older victim is Bonnie Tidwell. She was stabbed once in the chest with what appears to be an ice pick and died from blood loss. He explains that the other victim was a 17-year-old from Tulalip, last seen leaving the casino with an older man. She had been raped with a blunt object and strangled. He then reveals a confidential detail: Her left hand had been severed cleanly below the wrist. When Sam raises the Butcher connection, Sanchez admits he’s starting to think she might be right.

Sanchez mentions he’s heading to Matt’s restaurant about a missing persons report for PJ Wu. Sam is shocked—Matt never mentioned it. Sanchez explains that PJ’s parents filed the report and that he offered to handle it since he knows Sam and Matt.

After hanging up, Sam processes Bonnie’s death and the loss of ever learning the Butcher’s identity. If he’s between 60 and 80 years old and still active, she needs expert insight. She resolves to speak with Edward Shank.

Matt arrives at Adobo to find Detective Sanchez waiting at the bar. He ducks into his office to compose himself before greeting him. Sanchez explains he’s there about the missing persons report for PJ Wu. They sit down, and Matt lies, claiming he sent PJ home after a disagreement about punctuality and suggesting PJ may have skipped town due to gambling debts and problems with his estranged wife.

Sanchez accepts the story for now and asks to interview other staff members. Relieved, Matt agrees and retreats to the kitchen, his mind on what his grandfather did with PJ’s remains.