Matt parks outside Jason’s high-security condominium and slips in through a side door, hoping to catch Sam there unannounced. The doorman intercepts him and calls up to Jason’s penthouse, and Matt is granted access.

Jason greets him warmly and introduces his girlfriend, Lilac. When Jason mentions Sam, Lilac reveals that Sam recently visited Jason, which unsettles Matt. After Lilac leaves, Jason reports that Sam called him while heading to the police station. She had met a woman named Bonnie through a serial killer forum who claimed to have information about the Butcher—and Bonnie was recently murdered.

Matt is angry that he knew nothing about this. The conversation escalates into a heated argument about Matt’s treatment of Sam, with Jason revealing that Sam saw Matt with Karen at a restaurant. The two men are ready to fight when Sam arrives. She interrupts to announce that the police have confirmed that the Butcher murdered her mother and are reopening the old cases.

Edward reflects that he has not felt this good in 20 years. He didn’t intend to kill Gloria, but after sex, she talked incessantly, irritating him until he snapped, punched her, and then strangled her to death.

The narrative shifts to a flashback four months earlier. Edward finds his wife Marisol at the kitchen table, staring into space and unresponsive. That evening, she falls into a trance and murmurs that Edward hurt their daughter Lucy and is responsible for her death. He leads her to the piano and makes her play Beethoven. When she finishes, he smashes her head into the piano’s corner and stages the scene to look like an accidental fall down the stairs. His status as a former chief of police ensures that no one questions his account. His only regret is that he will never taste his wife’s cooking again.

Matt, nervous and tense, serves Sam tea at his house. He opens up about missing his grandmother, feeling unhappy with his life, and being a selfish boyfriend. Crying, he proposes marriage and offers her his grandmother’s ring. Sam rejects the proposal, saying it is too late.

Despite her words, they begin kissing and have sex on the kitchen table. During the act, Sam tells Matt that she does not love him the way she should. He grows desperate and begs her not to leave. The encounter begins to feel wrong to Sam, and she tells him to stop. Matt does not hear her and continues. When she insists and begins to panic, he grabs her wrists, wraps his hands around her throat, and squeezes until she loses consciousness.

News headlines about a new serial killer, dubbed Butcher 2.0, dominate the Seattle media. Edward watches the coverage while playing checkers with a new resident at Sweetbay Village.

The narrative shifts to a flashback in June 1987. Edward has been watching Sarah, a teenage McDonald’s employee, for a week. He waits for her shift to end, approaches her at the bus stop, and uses his police badge to lure her to his car under the pretense of needing help. Once she is in the car, he renders her unconscious with chloroform and drives toward his remote cabin, anticipating what he will do to her.

Back in the present, Edward plans to kill his checkers partner by exploiting his heart condition with a drug interaction. He makes a winning move.

Alone at home, Sam tries to convince herself that Matt did not rape her, but she recalls that he refused to stop when she told him to and choked her unconscious. Seeking a distraction, she reads an article about Butcher 2.0, which recaps the history of Rufus Wedge being killed by a task force led by Edward.

She tries calling Sanchez but cannot reach him. She calls his home and speaks with his wife Vanessa, who mentions that Sanchez met with Edward that afternoon and that the police may ask Edward to consult on the new Butcher cases. When Vanessa asks about wedding plans, Sam reveals that she and Matt have broken up.

Edward refuses to go to the police precinct when a young detective comes to retrieve him. An hour later, Sanchez arrives at Sweetbay Village with cannolis and coffee and formally asks Edward to consult on the new Butcher cases. He confides that he believes they are hunting the original killer, not a copycat.

Before leaving, Sanchez asks why Edward instructed the original medical examiner to omit the detail about the victims’ missing hair from official reports. Edward feigns ignorance, but Sanchez reveals that he has already spoken to the examiner, who confirmed Edward’s instructions. Had the hair detail been included, they could have identified Sarah Marquez as a Butcher victim and realized Wedge was the wrong man. Edward grows defensive and delivers a lecture on the imperfections of police work. After Sanchez leaves, Edward thinks of him as a good detective and muses that everything is coming together.

Matt drives to the Seattle Police Department, intending to turn himself in for killing PJ Wu. He asks for Detective Sanchez, and when he mentions his grandfather is Edward Shank, he is sent up immediately. On the fifth floor, he notices a whiteboard concerned with the Butcher 2.0.

In an interrogation room, Sanchez reveals that the police are about to announce they are hunting the original Beacon Hill Butcher and that Rufus Wedge was innocent. Matt realizes that his grandfather is the target. He decides not to confess to killing PJ, reasoning that his life will be ruined anyway once Edward is caught. Sanchez mentions that Edward has been brought in as a consultant and took the news about Wedge surprisingly well. Matt leaves relieved, resolving to atone for PJ’s death and win Sam back.

Matt arrives home to find his grandfather in the kitchen cooking champorado. He demands his spare keys back, and Edward surrenders them. They argue when Matt reveals that he gave the family champorado recipe to Sam, and Edward insists that Sam is not family.

Matt confronts Edward, asking if he killed Marisol. Edward admits he “put her down” because her mind was deteriorating and he wanted to spare her from a care facility (293), confirming he struck her head on the piano. Matt screams that he hates his grandfather and hopes he gets the death penalty. He grabs Edward by the hair and raises his fist, but Edward smiles and encourages him to hit him, showing no fear. Crying, Matt says he wishes his grandfather were dead. Edward replies that he will be dead soon, but asks whether Matt wants him to die before revealing the truth about Lucy. Matt agrees to listen.