All the Sinners Bleed

Carla goes through Cole Marshall’s phone and discovers that his last text message was from a woman named Dayane Carter, asking him to meet up; apparently they were seeing each other, although Cole also had a different girlfriend. Dayane works at the fish house as well. Additional facts begin to accumulate. Jasper has an alibi for Cole’s murder. Cole attended not Holy Rock but First Corinthian. Cole also was not really part of Ricky Sours’s neo-Confederate group, although he was friendly with some of its members. Now, Titus wants his deputies to find Elias and Dayane so that he can question them. Meanwhile, Trey investigates bank records and discovers that Tom is the corrupt officer who has been giving tips to Jasper.

Titus gets a phone call from someone speaking with a distorted voice. The speaker discusses Bible verses, then admits to killing the children. The killer also claims that God didn’t save the children due to the Curse of Ham from Genesis, wherein Black people are allegedly cursed by God to be enslaved or otherwise tormented. The killer then threatens to come after Titus’s “flock” before hanging up. Cam is unable to trace the number, and Titus notifies the state police about the phone call.

Titus visits Tom, who is still on administrative leave, to confront him about taking bribes from Jasper and to fire him. Also, Titus now realizes why Tom was so quick to shoot Latrell: because Latrell probably knew that he was illegally working for Jasper. However, that case won’t hold up in court, so Titus settles for simply firing Tom. Tom claims that he needed money, which is why he accepted bribes from Jasper, but Titus points out how many overdoses have been occurring in the community and counters that Tom was willing to put other people’s lives in danger to improve his own life in comparatively meaningless ways like buying new cars.

Albert asks Titus to accompany him to Gene’s funeral the following day. At first Titus declines, but Albert emphasizes how important it is to him, so Titus acquiesces. Darlene calls Titus, and they decide to meet on the night after the funeral. Titus tells Darlene about Kellie and claims that the relationship has been over for a long time.

Dr. Kim confirms through DNA testing and dental records that the most recent body discovered is that of Cole Marshall. She also finds synthetic fibers on Cole’s body that match fibers from the children buried under the willow tree. Nobody can find Elias, but Carla finds Dayane and brings her to the station. Dayane is not happy about being interviewed because she’s supposed to be at work. She confirms that she was seeing Cole romantically and that she used to meet him in a designated spot, where she also planned to meet him on the night he was killed. She claims that he never showed up. However, she reports the timing of events incorrectly, so Titus knows that she’s not being completely honest.

Titus believes that the third killer used Dayane to lure Cole to the trees so he could kill Cole, similar to how he paid Darnell to drop the box off at the police station. However, Dayane seems afraid to give up the person’s identity and refuses to cooperate further, even though Titus points out that the third killer will probably kill her too if she knows who he is. Titus lets Dayane leave, but on her way out, she says that his “flock” is in danger, and he then tells Carla to get Dayane back because the flock comment resembles the comments made in the killer’s recent phone call.

Titus brings Albert to Gene’s funeral, which is held at Emmanuel Baptist Church. This is only the second time Titus has been there since his mother’s burial. Titus notices that the church has no central air conditioner and instead uses window units, despite making a lot of money in the collection plates. Meanwhile, the pastor, Reverend Jackson, keeps buying new cars every year. After the burial, Reverend Jackson explains to Albert and Titus that he and the church think the garden that Albert ran with Gene should be discontinued so that they can sell the land for the church. Titus calls the reverend a crook because he has been embezzling funds from the collection plates. His father tells Titus to watch his mouth, and the reverend dismisses Titus’s opinion on the basis that Titus never comes to church.

Titus and Albert return home and see blood on their front door. Titus tells his father to call 911 from inside the car while he investigates. A dead lamb has been nailed to the door, indicating that the third killer is escalating his actions. Titus makes a mental note to check whether the petting zoo is missing a lamb and find out if they caught the perpetrator on their cameras. Police cars arrive, and officers help investigate. Albert wants to stay home despite the killer’s taunts, but Titus tells Darlene not to visit him at home for a while for safety’s sake.

The narration switches briefly to the perspective of a man named Preston Jeffries, a farmer who goes to work in a field and discovers something awful. Meanwhile, Trey concludes that the “shoot” that killed Latrell was “good,” or not illegal. Dr. Kim has identified four more of the children found underneath the willow tree, all of whom were from different states and went missing a few years prior. Later, Titus goes to Preston’s farm to investigate the latest body and discovers that the murder victim is Elias Hillington. Elias was also tortured and mutilated. The statement “THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THIS SAVAGE PLACE” (254) has been carved into his chest. A snake comes out of his mouth, and the other officers start chanting Bible verses, but Titus does not join in because he believes that the “devil” in this case is just a human. Elias’s body is sent to Dr. Kim, and Titus returns to his office. He believes that the adopted child raised by Elias is the third killer, but he can’t think of a local person who matches the grown child’s age and physical description.

Scott Cunningham arrives at Titus’s office to demand that Titus give this serial-killer case over to the state police. Their conversation is interrupted by Titus’s phone buzzing with an email from Dr. Kim. She has discovered something important through DNA analysis of fibers that the killer left on the bodies. Titus then asks Scott to tell him the truth about his half brother. Scott seems confused and says he doesn’t have a half brother. Titus shows him the email, which reveals that the killer’s mom is the same as Scott’s mom; Scott shares DNA with the killer, but Scott is not the killer. Scott is furious and warns Titus not to question his mother. Titus says he is definitely going to question her.

Titus visits Scott’s mother, Polly Anne Cunningham, at Blue Hills Plantation, which the Cunninghams have owned for centuries. In this place, Scott’s ancestors killed enslaved people rather than allowing them to be freed at the end of the Civil War. Titus considers the history of violence on this property as he approaches it. A Black woman whom Titus doesn’t know answers the door, and her name tag reads “Natalie.” She apparently works for Polly Anne, who is in a wheelchair most of the time. A Black man named Crutch works there as well.

Titus learns that the adopted boy who was raised by Elias and Mare-Beth was Polly Anne’s biological son, whom she gave up. Before the boy was born, Polly Anne married Horace Cunningham and soon learned that Horace was actually gay. Given the social stigma against his sexual orientation at the time, Horace only wanted to marry her as a public guise of heteronormativity. She and Horace had sex in order to produce children, and they both eventually agreed to pursue separate romances while maintaining a household and raising children together. Although the Cunninghams mostly practice segregation and racism, Polly Anne states that she does not share their prohibitive views of people from different heritages who choose to have romantic relationships. She had some Black friends and boyfriends, and eventually became pregnant by one of them after Horace died in the late 1980s. Horace’s parents and extended Cunningham family bullied Polly Anne into giving the child up for adoption, which she did, although she now regrets it and feels guilt over what happened to him and what he in turn did to others. The Hillingtons named the child Gabriel, after the angel.

Titus leaves and asks Trey to bring Denver Carlyle in for questioning. Jamal asks Titus to cancel Fall Fest, where the neo-Confederates are planning to have a parade, and informs Titus that his congregation might organize a protest against it. Titus does not make Jamal any promises about canceling this event.