Elderly widow Eleanor Barnett hires Simon Latch and reveals she secretly holds over $20 million in stocks and cash.

Simon calls a tax attorney friend and learns that Congress has temporarily eliminated the federal estate tax for one full year.

Simon secretly drafts a new will for Netty naming himself sole executor and trustee, and has neighbors witness the signing while Matilda is away at lunch.

Netty's estranged stepson Clyde Korsak storms into Wally Thackerman's office, places a gun on his desk, and physically assaults him.

Netty crashes her car while driving drunk with a canceled insurance policy, seriously injuring herself and two other people.

In the hospital, Simon has Netty sign a power of attorney and an advance directive granting him full legal control over her affairs.

Doctors declare Netty brain-dead, and Simon reluctantly agrees to remove her from the ventilator; she dies shortly after.

An autopsy reveals Netty died of thallium poisoning traced to ginger cookies Simon purchased and had Matilda deliver to the hospital.

A grand jury indicts Simon Latch for the first-degree murder of Eleanor Barnett.

Chub purchases Simon's law office building, giving Simon enough money to post his bail bond and walk out of jail.

Court-appointed conservator Clement Gelly discovers that Netty's estate is worth only about $630,000, exposing her claimed fortune as a complete fabrication.

Matilda testifies for the prosecution at trial, stating that Simon secretly drafted Netty's will, hid it from her, and charged unusually high fees.

The jury finds Simon Latch guilty of murder in the first degree.

Charge nurse Loretta Goodwin visits Lassiter's office and describes X-ray technician Oscar Kofie behaving suspiciously near Netty's hospital room.

Judge Shyam vacates Simon's guilty verdict and dismisses all charges after testimony and evidence link Oscar Kofie to multiple thallium poisonings.

Simon Latch, a struggling small-town lawyer, sees a chance to escape financial ruin when elderly widow Netty Barnett reveals her secret $20 million fortune and asks him to replace her current lawyer's exploitative will. He secretly drafts a new will naming himself sole executor, but his plans collapse when Netty dies of thallium poisoning traced directly to cookies he purchased. Arrested and put on trial despite a lack of direct evidence, Simon is convicted largely because the story of his greed is too compelling for the jury to resist. Fighting for his life after the verdict, he tracks down evidence pointing to Oscar Kofie, a hospital X-ray technician with a hidden history of serial poisonings. The FBI arrests Kofie after raiding his apartment, and the judge vacates Simon's conviction and declares him an innocent man.

The headline events of Simon's scheme, murder charge, trial, and exoneration.

Simon lies to his secretary Matilda that Netty may be mentally unstable, isolating her from the case to protect his secret plan.

Simon meets Netty at Starbucks and reads her current will, discovering it contains a hidden $485,000 cash gift directly to Thackerman himself.

Simon hires unlicensed private investigator Spade to dig into Netty's background and verify her claimed financial assets.

Netty's financial advisor Buddy Brown calls Simon to confirm that Netty is a long-time client, convincing Simon the fortune is real.

Simon and Paula tell their three children, Buck, Danny, and Janie, about the impending divorce, leaving the family devastated.

Simon steers Netty away from burial and toward cremation during one of their regular lunches, arguing cremation is better for the environment.

Simon withdraws cash, pays off his entire gambling debt to Chub, and announces he is quitting sports betting for good.

Using the power of attorney, Simon searches Netty's house for financial records and finds a small hidden notebook that appears to confirm her holdings.

Clyde's brother Jerry Korsak arrives unannounced at Simon's office, claims close ties to Netty, and demands details about her will.

Teddy Hammer, the Korsak brothers' attorney, obtains a court injunction halting the cremation and forcing a full autopsy on Netty's body.

After police trace the poisoned cookies back to him, Simon hires prominent criminal defense attorney Raymond Lassiter to represent him.

Deputies arrest Simon Latch, process him, and place him in a jail cell after the grand jury returns a murder indictment.

Washington Journal reporter Iris Kane publishes a front-page story framing Simon as a greedy lawyer who murdered his wealthy elderly client.

Matilda tearfully tells Simon she is quitting and moving to Florida because the stress and loss of clients have made her job impossible.

In Scranton, Simon meets former lawyer Alan Teel, who reveals that a hospital paid millions in a secret settlement to cover up Kofie's previous poisonings.

Simon's deception begins early, with deliberate lies to his loyal secretary Matilda and a secret meeting where he uncovers just how deeply Netty's current lawyer has already exploited her. He hires a shady private investigator to verify the fortune and receives enough apparent confirmation to commit fully to his scheme, even as his personal and financial life deteriorates around him. After Netty's death, aggressive legal maneuvers by the Korsak brothers' attorney force an autopsy that implicates Simon, and a front-page news story ensures the public convicts him long before any jury does. His support system disintegrates as Matilda resigns, leaves town, and ultimately testifies against him, leaving him alone after the verdict. His only path to freedom runs through Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he finally learns the truth about a covered-up history of serial poisonings that holds the key to his innocence.

The supporting events that shape Simon's downfall and his desperate post-verdict investigation.

Simon reads Thackerman's self-dealing will and, rather than being repelled, decides to model his own scheme directly on it.

Simon secretly meets Netty at his office after hours to reveal to her the hidden $485,000 bequest Thackerman wrote for himself.

Spade reports that Netty's financial advisor now works at a wealth management firm requiring a $25 million minimum investment, strengthening Simon's belief in the fortune.

Paula tells Simon she wants sex but not with him, then proposes an open arrangement until their divorce is finalized.

A stranger at the pub introduces himself as an FBI colleague and warns Simon that Chub's illegal gambling operation is under active federal scrutiny.

Netty develops pneumonia during her hospital stay and is placed on a ventilator as her condition rapidly and irreversibly deteriorates.

An anonymous caller dials 911 to report Netty's death as suspicious, halting Simon's plan to have her cremated immediately.

Detective Barr visits the Vietnamese restaurant where the ginger cookies were purchased and a waitress identifies Simon as the buyer.

Judge Pointer sets Simon's bail at $300,000, requires him to surrender his passport, and appoints Clement Gelly to oversee Netty's estate.

Alone on a mountain hike, Simon considers jumping from the peak, deciding to keep suicide as a final option if he cannot clear his name.

Landy shows Simon surveillance footage of Matilda secretly meeting Jerry Korsak at a hotel, revealing their hidden romantic relationship.

Simon confronts Matilda, who admits she made the anonymous 911 call that stopped the cremation at Jerry Korsak's insistence.

Hacker Zander maps a pattern of suspicious patient deaths at multiple hospitals where Oscar Kofie previously worked, suggesting a serial poisoner.

Alan Teel hands Simon a thumb drive containing his former firm's complete secret investigation file on Kofie, including video of the discovered poison cache.

FBI agents raid Kofie's apartment, seize locked toolboxes containing multiple poisons including imported thallium, and arrest him for murder.

Simon's moral collapse begins the moment he reads Thackerman's self-dealing will and decides to copy it rather than condemn it, setting every catastrophe that follows into motion. Personal crises accelerate alongside his scheme, as his marriage formally ends and an FBI warning about his gambling introduces new legal peril he narrowly escapes. Netty's sudden decline and death trigger a cascade of revelations—an anonymous tip, traced cookies, and a bail hearing—that rapidly transform Simon from a scheming opportunist into the prime suspect in a murder investigation. After a guilty verdict strips him of everything, Simon faces his darkest moment before an illegal investigation uncovers Matilda's secret ties to Jerry Korsak and exposes a pattern of serial hospital poisonings pointing to Kofie. A thumb drive of buried evidence finally gives the FBI what they need to arrest Kofie and restore Simon's freedom.

The pivotal decisions and discoveries that steer the story toward tragedy and then toward truth.