U.S. Attorney’s Office

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is represented in the novel’s federal investigation by Assistant Attorney Scott Duncan, who works alongside DEA personnel as the authorities pursue a case linked to Club Jaguar. Its role is presented through interrogation, a proposed cooperation deal for Adam, and the later effort to separate possible defendants and witnesses. The investigation places the office at the intersection of suspected prescription fraud, the search for Adam, and the government’s attempt to secure evidence against the club’s operators.

Role in the Federal Investigation

At Mike’s first interrogation, Special Agent Darryl LeCrue identifies Duncan as the liaison between the DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. That pairing establishes the office’s presence within a joint federal inquiry rather than as an isolated prosecutorial actor. The scene introduces the institutional pressure Mike faces: he is questioned by federal agents while the investigation is still trying to determine what Adam knows and where he has gone.

The suspected drug operation is connected to prescriptions bearing Mike’s name. According to Hester Crimstein, investigators have dozens of prescriptions they regard as fake, and Club Jaguar’s use of pharmacies in different locations—including in-state, out-of-state, and online pharmacies—has complicated the alleged scheme. The federal theory, as Hester relays it, is that Adam stole Mike’s prescription pads. She says the authorities have a fair amount of evidence, although they have not disclosed everything they know.

Adam as a Potential Witness

The investigation’s objective is not limited to building a case against Mike. Hester tells Mike and Tia that the authorities want to find Adam and have him turn state’s evidence against Club Jaguar or whoever runs it. They present cooperation as a possible route to leniency, describing Adam as a child who might receive only a slap on the wrist if he assists them.

Hester recounts that she first denied Adam knew about the parties or Mike’s prescription pads, then asked what the government’s offer would mean for sentencing and charges. The authorities were not ready to specify those terms. The exchange makes the proposed deal both a prosecutorial tactic and a source of uncertainty for Adam’s parents: the government is seeking testimony, but the possible consequences of cooperation remain undefined.

Case Assembly and Outcome

By the final interrogation, LeCrue and Duncan have been trying to put the case together. Investigators have separated Rosemary, Carson, DJ Huff, and others connected to the club, hoping to cut deals and file charges. The scene suggests a broad effort to turn the group’s divided interests into evidence, while the exact charges and the outcome of that effort remain unstated.

Mike and Adam sit together in the interrogation room for hours without answering questions. Hester refuses to let them speak, leaving the government’s attempt to obtain information unresolved at the point the novel closes. The office’s function is therefore defined less by a completed prosecution than by the pressure of a developing case: it seeks cooperation and charges, while the central father-and-son pair withholds a response.