Summary Retired Judge Anderson lives with his daughter and son-in-law. The judge, who may be suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's disease, is increasingly paranoid and tormented. One day, the daughter asks the son-in-law to take the judge for a drive. Both agree. As the son-in-law drives through open country with the judge in the back seat, they notice a car behind them getting ready to pass. The son-in-law slows down. As the car comes alongside, the judge suddenly whips out a revolver and fires three times point-blank through the window. The other car careens wildly into a field, tearing up grass and small trees before it comes to rest against the stump of a huge ancient tree struck by lightning years earlier. The incredulous son-in-law drives to the nearest town and calls for help. Dan August and his crew come out and find the driver of the other car dead from the judge's bullets. The judge admits to sneaking the gun because he was sure he was going to get "whacked," and firing at the other car in self-defense. But the dead driver is unarmed and there is no gun in his car or on the ground nearby. Almost everyone assumes that the judge has completely lost his mind and will spend the rest of his life in an institution for the criminally insane. He doesn't get that far, dying by hanging at the end of Act Three. But August realizes someone DID have something to gain by the judge's death, and launches a new search for the gun. When he finds it in the dead tree, he realizes the judge was murdered after all and starts hunting for the killer.

• Crime
• Drama