1. Fish in a Barrel

In Cherokee City, Georgia, the mutilated corpse of a young boy, Frank Peterson, is found covered in saliva and human bite marks. Local detective Ralph Anderson quickly identifies strong evidence pointing to Little League coach Terry Maitland, including testimony from multiple witnesses and security camera footage. Ralph, whose own late son was coached by Terry, is enraged, and has him publicly arrested at a Little League game. Terry insists on his innocence, and his wife, Glory, promptly calls their family lawyer, Howard Salomon. Alec Pelley, a private investigator hired by Salomon, tracks down evidence that Terry was at an out-of-town conference at the time of the murder, including news footage of Terry speaking at the conference and Terry's fingerprints at the venue.

Both sides are left with extremely decisive but contradictory evidence. Salomon is certain Terry will be vindicated, but Terry is left in jail waiting for his arraignment. Meanwhile, the Peterson family disintegrates, with Frank's mother, Joy, suffering an emotional breakdown that escalates into a fatal heart attack. A hooded figure with a grotesquely deformed face lingers outside the Maitlands' house, and Glory finds her younger daughter suffering from apparent nightmares of a man in her room telling her "bad things".