The day after Simon’s release, Teddy Hammer files wrongful death lawsuits against Simon and the hospital. To Simon’s bitter amusement, he is being sued for $10 million when he has only $5,000 to his name. Simon shuts down his law practice, and Paula tells him not to visit their children. He meets Lassiter and theorizes that the killer swapped poisoned cookies for his gift. They narrow a list of hospital employees to 10 suspects. Simon says he will hack the hospital’s personnel files, but Lassiter refuses to help.

Simon asks Chub to find a hacker. Chub balks until Simon reminds him he used a favor with Landy to steer an FBI investigation away from Chub’s operation. Chub agrees to ask Spade to make the connection.

In late May, Simon meets Landy at a hotel. She reports that Matilda Clark now lives with Jerry Korsak, but that pursuing them is a dead end. Simon gives Landy his 10-name hospital list and asks her to search FBI databases. They spend the night in separate rooms.

On the first Saturday in June, Simon hikes Hawksbill Mountain in Shenandoah National Park. At the peak, he considers jumping, deciding to keep it as an option if he cannot clear his name and is sentenced to prison.

Simon meets Zander, a hacker referred by Spade. He hires her to obtain personnel files for his hospital suspects. Zander explains that her incarcerated boyfriend, Cooley, can also assist. The next morning, she delivers the files, but they contain nothing incriminating. She adds that Cooley located a black-market source for thallium in Singapore and offers to order some for Simon, who declines.

They agree the poisoning likely came from someone inside the hospital. Zander offers to keep investigating.

On June 17, Simon files a petition to probate Netty’s will; his idea is to create chaos for Teddy Hammer and the Korsaks coming for her money in his wake. In a hearing before Judge Pointer, Tony and Mary Beth Larson testify that they watched Netty sign it. Judge Pointer admits the will to probate and appoints Clement Gelly as administrator.

Teddy Hammer immediately announces he will contest the will on grounds of undue influence. From the back, Wally Thackerman watches in silence. Simon remains emotionally detached from the proceedings.

One night, Loretta Goodwin, a hospital nurse, shows up at Lassiter’s office looking for Simon. Lassiter calls Simon in. Loretta says she doubts Simon is guilty and points to her concerns about Oscar Kofie, an X-ray technician. She recalls seeing Kofie leaving Netty’s room when no X-ray was scheduled.

Loretta also shares an account of a staff party where Kofie displayed detailed knowledge of poisons and insisted Simon was not the killer. Simon remembers seeing Kofie in Netty’s room. Lassiter promises to protect Loretta’s identity. Both Simon and Lassiter are aware of the legal danger Loretta is putting her hospital into if Kofie is determined to be responsible.

Simon asks Zander to investigate Oscar Kofie. She retrieves his hospital employment file. Simon then tracks down Matilda, who now goes by Maddie and works at a car rental agency. That evening at a pub, he insists he did not kill Netty, and Matilda says she now believes him. She explains that at Jerry Korsak’s and Teddy Hammer’s insistence, she made the anonymous call that stopped the cremation. Simon realizes this action clears them as suspects, as the call led directly to the discovery of poison. He tells Matilda he suspects an inside job at the hospital.

Zander tells Simon that Cooley is trying to hack Kofie’s digital accounts. Later, Simon meets Loretta in the hospital cafeteria and presses her for more details on Kofie.

Simon underscores the hospital’s potential liability and asks Loretta to watch for anything useful. She agrees to gather information discreetly and report back through Lassiter.

Late one night, Zander calls Simon with a breakthrough: Kofie’s prior employment records. Simon then takes his children on their annual vacation. During the week, Zander texts urgent updates. She has mapped a pattern of suspicious deaths at hospitals where Kofie previously worked, indicating a serial poisoner. She has also recovered a file fragment that mentions a Scranton lawyer, Victor Mulrooney.

Simon alerts Lassiter, who learns Mulrooney is bound by a strict nondisclosure agreement. Simon decides to go to Scranton immediately.

On July 18 in Scranton, Simon meets Victor Mulrooney, who cites the NDA but points Simon to Alan Teel, a former partner seemingly not bound by the agreement because he left the firm before the NDA went into effect.

Teel describes his firm’s investigation into two thallium poisoning deaths at a hospital. He recounts breaking into Kofie’s apartment and finding a collection of poisons in locked toolboxes. Kofie is clearly a serial killer who enjoys watching his victims die slowly. Teel explains that, instead of reporting Kofie, Mulrooney negotiated a secret, multi-million-dollar settlement with the hospital and let Kofie walk free. Disgusted, Teel quit practicing law.

From his motel, Simon updates Lassiter and Landy. The next morning, Teel agrees to testify in Simon’s case under protection at a closed hearing. He hands Simon a thumb drive containing his former firm’s complete investigation file on Kofie, including video of the discovery of the poisons.

On the drive back to Braxton, Landy calls to say the FBI is opening an official investigation into Kofie. Back in town, Simon gives Zander a sanitized summary of what he learned so she can backstop it digitally.

The next morning, Landy arranges a meeting for Simon with Assistant US Attorney Carmen Riddle and FBI Supervisor Shelia Wycoff. Simon lays out the evidence linking Oscar Kofie to multiple thallium deaths. He admits he used a hacker to obtain records and shrugs off the personal risk.

He urges them to bypass local police, move fast, and involve the hospital to prevent more poisonings. He predicts agents will find Kofie’s poisons in locked toolboxes in his apartment and invites them to his upcoming hearing.

On August 16 in a closed Virginia Beach courtroom, one week before Simon’s sentencing, Judge Shyam hears testimony. Alan Teel, under a pseudonym, describes Kofie’s past crimes and the Scranton cover-up. FBI agent Wycoff testifies that agents arrested Kofie after a raid on his apartment yielded numerous poisons, including imported thallium.

When prosecutor Cora Cook offers some resistance to the idea that the jury got it wrong, Judge Shyam cites several real-life wrongful convictions overturned via DNA evidence—all examples of juries finding innocent people guilty. The judge apologizes to Simon, vacates the guilty verdict, and dismisses all charges with prejudice. Finally free, Simon weeps. Landy drives him toward the Outer Banks as he calls his children to tell them he is innocent.