The Whistler

Lacy and Hugo arrange another meeting with Greg Myers. Myers shows them pictures of McDover meeting with someone who Myers thinks is Vonn Dubose. Apparently, they meet every first Wednesday of the month at one of McDover’s condos by the golf course. They have pictures of her entering and then a man arriving who’s dressed like a golfer and carries a satchel. An hour later, he leaves, carrying the bag, but it’s clearly much lighter than when he arrived. In addition, Myers has detailed reports of the judge’s travel with her girlfriend. They spend an enormous amount of money traveling around the country, probably buying valuables they can use to launder the cash.

On the Friday after she collects cash from Dubose, Claudia McDover climbs aboard her private jet, greeting her girlfriend, Phyllis, with a kiss, and they fly to McDover’s New York penthouse. They spend the weekend buying gems, gold, and rare coins—what Phyllis calls “portable wealth”—and finish by shopping for expensive shoes and giggling together over an expensive dinner.

Hugo arrives late to a BJC meeting. He explains that he was on the phone with an anonymous informant who wants to meet them that night on the reservation near the casino. He and Lacy meet the informant outside an abandoned building near midnight. The informant tells them that bad things are going on at the casino, and the judge is the least of it. He refuses to say any more.

As Lacy drives back home, Hugo complains that his seatbelt keeps coming unlatched. At that moment, an oncoming truck swerves into their lane and strikes them head-on. During the collision, Hugo’s airbag fails to activate, and his seatbelt doesn’t restrain him, so he’s thrown through the windshield. The driver of the pickup gets out, wearing a football helmet and knee pads. His nose is bleeding. A second truck pulls up, and the driver of the first truck climbs in. The driver of the second truck finds Hugo and Lacy’s phones—including the burner phone with Myers’s number on it—and takes them. He then gets back in his truck, and the two drive away. A short time later, the truck stops at a country store and filling station. The driver buys ice, rubbing alcohol, and beer. Frog Freeman, the owner of the store, sees the passenger holding a bloodstained cloth to his face.

Hugo dies on the way to the tribal medical clinic. The tribe’s constable, Lyman Gritt, calls Lacy and Hugo’s boss, Michael Geismar, to report Hugo’s death. He asks whether Hugo and Lacy were on the job that night. Geismar tells him they were but doesn’t give him any details. Constable Gritt wants to talk to Lacy, but she’s still unconscious, so he must wait.

Clive Pickett, the sheriff of Brunswick County, receives a call from Frog Freeman, the owner of the filling station. After hearing about the collision, Frog made the connection between it and the two men in the truck the night before. He emails a copy of his security camera footage to the Sheriff.