J.T. wakes up the next day to another unsettling coincidence. The car delivered to his home as a "loaner" while his damaged truck is being repaired is a green Jeep Cherokee, just like the one in the file. Unnerved, J.T. decides to take the day off to investigate further. After discussing the list of suspects with Sikorski, he asks his physician friend, Dan, to test the blood on the bullet found in the briefcase. He asks his buddy Tim Sanders, publisher of the local newspaper, to have his staff examine the crime scene photo for signs of tampering and check the paper's files for information on Roy Bremmer. He asks Brad, a professor of material sciences, to examine the mysterious briefcase.

While J.T. is photocopying the file for Sikorski, he notices another story on the back of the newspaper clipping. It reports that a woman and her dog were killed today, when a historic old tree fell on their home during a storm. The sun is shining; there's not a cloud in the sky. Maybe this is a hoax, after all. But if it is, it's not one arranged by Carl. After Sikorski picks up Carl for questioning, J.T. sits in on the interrogation. He realizes Carl may be strange, but it becomes clear he isn't responsible for a hoax...if this is a hoax.

As J.T. leaves the police station, a storm is brewing. Spooked, he heads out in search of the old oak tree, hoping to save the woman and her dog and, perhaps, alter his own fate. As the storm surges into town, he tries to convince Mandy Murphy that her life is in danger. At first she thinks he's crazy, maybe dangerous. But when J.T. pulls her out of the way of the falling tree, he becomes her hero.

More important to J.T., however, is that the future might not be carved in stone. He enlists Carl in his investigation, assigning him the task of studying the science behind this strange phenomenon. Heading home, he's greeted by a bouquet of flowers from Mandy Murphy and by Tim Sanders, who has the scoop on Roy Bremmer, a crime boss from Chicago — secretive, well-connected and utterly ruthless. But an even bigger scoop comes from Claudia. After Sanders leaves, Claudia breaks down. She knows Bremmer. In fact, she's married to him. She has spent the last two years on the run from him — and now she has led him and his jealous fury directly to J.T. and Jesse.