Mickey Haller takes on the case of Julian La Cosse, a tech operator who ran an encrypted escort service and was present in Gloria Dayton's apartment the night she was strangled. Gloria — a former client living under a false identity — left standing instructions for Julian to contact Mickey if anything happened to her. The evidence is already stacked against Julian: he admits grabbing Gloria by the throat during an argument. But Cisco uncovers a fire set 43 minutes after Julian claims he left, suggesting a second person entered and staged a cover-up. By episode's end, Mickey's house is vandalized and there's a live snake on his bed — a warning delivered before the arraignment.

The episode establishes the season's central tension between Mickey and Detective Bishop, whose career was derailed by Mickey in a flashback public defender case and w ...