Episode two of Happy Face ended with a mystery man seeing the newspaper story about Keith's confession. Who is he? We find out in episode three.
While Melissa is worried about the effects of the kids finding out their grandfather is a serial killer, Hazel and Max are pretty chill; the kids at school think Melissa is really cool for appearing on tv to talk about Grandpa. She tells them not to call him “Grandpa.” Hazel tells her that Keith’s art sells online.
Meanwhile, Dr. Greg lets Melissa know that he would like for her to work with Ivy as a consulting producer for their investigation of Keith. Ivy has put together a board with photos and tips that have been called in, she wants Melissa to hear some of the tips. Melissa agrees to hand over Keith’s unopened letters to Ivy. We see one of the envelopes has a “Find God Here” logo sketched on it.
Melissa and Ben attend a dinner party at Dr. Greg’s house, during which his publicist tells Melissa she should write a book. The other guests are discussing how brave Melissa is for talking, and Dr. G’s wife says she didn’t get to talk about the “gnarly stuff” having to do with cats. Melissa tells them about some barn kittens that showed up. She says Keith squeezed one to death, then tied the others to a clothesline by their tails.
The guests are shocked, did her Mom not know what was going on? “How did you grow up normal?” A short time later, one of the guests pulls Melissa aside and tells her that her own brother murdered someone. Melissa is sympathetic, and tells her not to blame herself.
Ivy and her assistant are looking at letters, and find a tip – a woman claims she has proof that Keith killed Heather.
We see the mystery man travelling in his van with his dog, listening to self-help tapes as he drives. Then he listens to a recording of Keith’s trial for killing his girlfriend Louise, during which her son gives a victim’s statement and physically attacks Keith.
The man knocks at Melissa and Ben’s door with his dog Buddha at his side, and Max opens it. He says his parents aren’t home, but his sister is, and he brings food for the dog, making the man wait outside.
Keith and some other inmates are watching Melissa’s interview on Dr. Greg’s show, and he is not happy when Melissa denies still loving her father. Another inmate comments that Melissa is hot, and Keith threatens him.
He calls Melissa on his cell phone, and basically tells her she is selfish for making HIS story all about her (what an ego maniac). He tells her not to worry, she’ll get what she wants: “Elijah’s needle in my arm.”
When Melissa hangs up, she calls the prison and reports that Keith has a secret cell phone. She asks Dr. G if he really thinks she should write a book about her killer father to entertain people, and he says it might help clear her head.
Ivy calls the truck driver, thinking he had met Keith, but he says no, he knew Elijah. He said he has a recording of a song Elijah wrote, and that Ivy may want to listen to it. When she does so, it sounds like a confession song, including the lyrics “I know I said I didn’t do it, but the truth is that I did.”
When Melissa and Ben get home from the dinner party, she sees Max sitting outside with Buddha, then the man comes over and she sends her son inside, fearful, telling him to have Ben call the police. The man speaks to Melissa angrily, he tells her he is happy things are turning out for her, but “How dare you put her picture on tv!” It turns out he is the son of Keith’s murdered girlfriend Louise, and his name is Ash. She tells him she is going to call the police, and turns to yell for Ben, but he leaves, leaving a happy face emoji drawn in the condensation on the door.
Melissa and Ivy travel to Texas to visit Elijah with Tyler, a camera/sound man. Melissa blurts out that she has heard Elijah’s song and asks him to explain, but he is shaken up and leaves, muttering something. Later in the car, Tyler clears up the sound and says Elijah said that Heather wrote the song, not him. Melissa knows where the screwed up: they have to look into Heather and get to know her, they didn’t even talk to her family.
Hazel is trying to sell Keith’s drawing online, with the support of her friends. The cute boy she spoke with earlier offers to let her use his PayPal account. Later, she finds out that the drawing sold.
Melissa and Ivy visit Heather’s mother, apologizing. She says Heather changed after meeting Elijah. She started lying, stealing, smoking weed, and sometimes had bruises. They show her the lyrics to the song, but she sends them away. Later, they meet with Heather’s friend Jackie, who confirms that Heather did write music. She says Elijah seemed supportive, he even set her up with a producer who helped her record a demo. Elijah doesn’t know anything about the demo, and the producer is dead. He says he plagiarized her song at a therapy session. He claims he and Heather were basically friends with benefits, and remembers that the last time he saw her, she smelled like grapefruit…which is exactly what Keith said.
Keith is busted for having the phone, and put in solitary. When his food tray is brought to him, the plate conceals another cell phone, and he makes a call. He asks for a new phone, then says, “There is something else you can do for me.” Uh-oh.
In the car, Tyler is looking online and finds an op-ed piece Melissa, claiming she had an abortion at age 15. Melissa has a panic attack and asks Ivy to pull over. She thinks the info came from her ex Brandon, and she wants to call them. At that moment, she and Ivy notice the neon sign across the street on a church. It reads “Find God Here”, and it looks just like the drawing on Keith’s letter. The talk to the pastor, and he remembers Keith coming in , asking him to pray for him. A few months later, he saw Keith’s picture in the paper in a story about the Happy Face Killer. Then he drops a bombshell: Keith had a teenage boy with him, he was in his early teens and had shaggy hair. Melissa knows who it was, it was her brother Shane.