Lacy Stoltz is a lawyer for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct (BJC). She doesn’t carry a gun or solve crimes; she just investigates judges accused of misconduct. She and her partner, Hugo, are on their way to a meeting with an anonymous informant in Saint Augustine, Florida. Lacy and Hugo have worked together on a few cases. Lately, Lacy has been doing all the driving while Hugo catches up on his sleep, exhausted; he and his wife, Verna, have a one-month-old baby—a champion screamer who seems to cry just for the heck of it. Lacy is close to Hugo’s wife—they’re shopping and gossip buddies—and if Hugo had ever been the least bit inappropriate in his and Lacy’s relationship, Verna would have heard all about it. Lacy has sometimes even stayed over at their house to sit up with the baby while Hugo and Verna sleep.

Hugo rouses himself and asks Lacy to tell him more about who they’re meeting. She explains that she has been talking to someone code-named “Randy,” who claims to have information about a Florida judge engaged in illegal activity but hasn’t given her any details yet.

Lacy and Hugo meet the informant at the Saint Augustine Municipal Marina.