The Whistler

“There’s a man rotting away on death row an hour from here who was framed. The man responsible for the crime is probably sitting on his boat right now, a boat much nicer than mine.”

Myers is pointing out that justice has not been done. The guilty profited while the innocent suffered. Myers notes that the person responsible for murdering Son Rozko and Junior’s wife has profited far more by his crime than Myers did for his more minor offense. The implication is that the greater the corruption, the more likely the perpetrator is to succeed.

“‘So [Greg Myers is] a crook?’ Geismar asked. Hugo said, ‘He’s certainly a convicted felon, but he’s served his time, paid his dues, and is now an upstanding member of our bar, same as the three of us.’”

None of the people outside the BJC is pure of motive. Myers is motivated, as he always has been, by greed for part of the whistleblower payout. To do their jobs and exact justice, Lacy and her associates must work with people for whom justice is secondary to self-interest.

“Both Hugo and Verna came from large, sprawling families with countless aunts, uncles, cousins, and no shortage of drama and conflict. Lacy often envied the security that came with such a clan, but she also felt thankful she didn’t have to bother with so many people and their problems.”

The author explores the theme of a woman identity outside the context of a relationship with a man. This is significant because it reveals that Lacy is comfortable with herself: She’s self-contained and self-defined yet still enjoys the company of men and appreciates the importance of community. The author reestablishes this later in the novel: “The truth was that, at the age of thirty-six, Lacy was content to live alone” (78).