Emmy Clifton attends the funeral of her mother, Myrna Joy Clifton, who recently died from Alzheimer’s just six weeks after the death of Emmy’s father, Gerald Clifton. Emmy is surrounded by family, including her son, Cole, a deputy; her brother, Tommy, and his wife, Celia; and her estranged older sister, Jude Archer, a retired FBI criminal psychologist. As acting sheriff, Emmy faces pressure in her campaign to permanently win the office her father held for 63 years, especially with an upcoming debate against her rival, Brett Temple. 

At the cemetery, Emmy’s ex-husband, Jonah Lang, arrives late and stoned. Emmy also has a brief, strained conversation with her estranged best friend, Hannah Collier, whose husband is in prison for murdering Gerald. 

Later, while driving from the funeral with Jude and Cole, Emmy hears gunshots from the quiet residential neighborhood of Clifton Gardens. She immediately speeds toward the source: the home of Detective Allison Vickery. While Cole stays outside to secure the perimeter and call for backup, Emmy and Jude enter the house. Inside, Emmy finds Allison unresponsive on the kitchen floor with visible injuries. Suddenly, another shot rings out from the second floor. Emmy rushes upstairs to find that Jude has been grazed in the temple by a bullet. The women notice blood dripping from above, and moments later, someone falls through the ceiling from the attic.

Emmy recognizes the severely injured person as Allison’s 16-year-old daughter, Mandy. She has a critical gunshot wound to her head. Jude and Emmy perform CPR until paramedics arrive and manage to revive Mandy after she flatlines. 

Emmy instructs officers to find Allison’s husband, Bill Garrison. Bill is Mandy’s stepfather and is known to have “a temper.” Emmy tells Jude that Bill’s family are “North Falls people,” meaning they’re “wealthy, connected, and mostly untouchable” (30). 

As the scene is secured, Clayville Police Chief Reggie Wilder—Allison’s former boss and lover—arrives. Reggie becomes aggressive when he’s denied access to the crime scene. When he assaults Emmy, she grabs the baton from Brett Temple’s belt and slams it into Reggie’s bad knee. Cole reports that Bill is currently coaching a baseball game at a nearby park.

At the local ballpark, Emmy confronts Bill. He reveals that Allison filed for divorce two weeks ago and had also filed a restraining order, forcing him to move into the Lazy Eight motel. When Emmy informs him of Allison’s murder and Mandy’s shooting, Bill appears devastated and immediately blames Reggie. 

Emmy calls her cousin Taybee Clifton-Clifton, a divorce lawyer, who confirms that she was representing Allison. Taybee confirms what Emmy already knows: Allison had endured years of severe physical abuse from Bill and had tried to leave him multiple times. 

Upon returning to the crime scene, Emmy is met by agent Sherry Robertson from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Sherry reveals that investigators found the murder weapon, which was Allison’s own Glock, and $300,000 in cash hidden in the attic.

Emmy and Sherry analyze the crime scene. They conclude that the killer acted with premeditation, using Allison’s own gun. Their reconstruction suggests that the attacker shot Allison’s hand near the front door. Allison then fled into the dining room, through the swinging door, and into the kitchen to grab a knife before being fatally shot in the chest.

Upstairs, Emmy and Sherry determine that Mandy was shot and then managed to hide in the attic by climbing a makeshift ladder of shoe cubbies inside a closet. Sherry warns Emmy that the large sum of unexplained cash in the attic will inevitably lead to speculation that Allison was a corrupt officer. As they process the scene, Cole arrives with the only known witness: Drake Saddler, the young man who drove past the house moments before the shooting.

Emmy questions Drake. Initially hesitant, he admits that he saw Mandy with Wesley “Woody” Woodrow at the house several times over the last two weeks. A member of the Rawley family, Woody is a drug trafficker who works for his family’s criminal organization. Drake reveals that two days earlier, a distraught Allison came to him seeking confirmation of who had been visiting Mandy. Separately, neighbor Coach Bell had already warned Allison that she had seen Woody with Mandy at the front door. It was that warning that prompted Allison to speed to the notorious motel called the Dew Drop Inn and threaten Woody at gunpoint. 

Emmy interviews Mandy’s best friend, Talia Wilkinson, with her protective mother, Valerie, present. Talia confirms that Mandy was secretly seeing an older man but says it wasn't Woody. She also reveals that Mandy was happy about Allison divorcing her stepfather and that she had recently fallen out with their other friend, Skylar Guthrie. With Bill, Reggie, and Woody as her main suspects, Emmy returns to the station.