“A reasonable amount of trouble is good for business.”
Samantha “Sam” Rose Johnson is a tough, cynical, licensed private detective with an exceptional eye for detail and an understanding of criminal law, including the fact many people consider criminal an adjective when speaking of the justice system with respect to people of color. She is what some people would describe as hard-boiled; she believes in nothing she can’t identify with her five senses. Born in Chicago in the early ‘70s, when white flight was changing the Sangamon neighborhood her mother had recently moved into, Sam never met her father, a 66-year-old white man from San Francisco who had met and fallen in love with her 34-year-old mother. Sam’s anger and resentment toward him continued to grow even after he died when she was 7. In high school, Sam modeled sporadically but soon decided she wanted to go to law school. She joined the United States Army Military Police Corps to get money for college. While in the Military Police Corps, she received Air Assault Training as a member of the Special Reactions Team. After her tour, Sam attended the University of Illinois at Chicago to finish her Bachelor’s and then Northern Illinois University for her Juris Doctor. Having worked with private detectives during her internship and brief employment with a law firm, Sam knew she could do the job better than most. She decided that was a better direction for her. After a year in the field, she developed her signature phrase, “straight up bitch…comma optional.”
“Most people, you know, if you give them the chance, they would choose to do the right thing...only life doesn’t always give them that chance.”
Diana Gabriela Martinez is Sam’s assistant and investigator-in-training. Diana was born and raised in New York City to parents who immigrated from Puerto Rico. Her father and mother both worked blue collar jobs and spoke little English, instilling in all their children the importance of education. While attending a local community college for Criminal Justice, Diana became involved in a relationship that went bad. Diana was determined to move away from New York and contacted a cousin who lived in Elgin, Illinois; she moved there, hoping to completely change her life. Diana applied for a bartender/waitress position at Tequila Teqilia, Sam’s club. When Sam interviewed her and saw the courses she’d taken in New York, including Substantive Law and Criminology, Sam asked Diana if she would rather work at her detective agency. Diana is tough like Sam, but less cynical and angry. She has a quick wit and a strong sense of compassion. Sam is training her to become an exceptional detective and eventually obtain her own license so that they can build an agency together.
“I didn’t have to go to Vietnam to know there was injustice in the United States, but what I saw there did make me realize I could do something about it back home.”
Bruce Francis Halverson is Sam’s most reliable criminal defense attorney client. Bruce was born and raised on a farm in upstate New York. He was drafted into the Vietnam War, completing two tours and rising to the rank of Colonel as a pilot. While he was in Vietnam, he decided that law school was his passion, having seen much that disturbed him about both the war and the military. Primarily a criminal defense attorney, he is an excellent litigator on behalf of every client and an advocate for social justice in his professional and personal life. He and Sam share an admiration for each other’s toughness, insight, and intelligence. Bruce is substantially responsible for Sam’s growing reputation as an exceptional criminal defense investigator. Although Sam is not always sure how to take the compliment, he often tells her she is his Paul Drake.
“The criminal justice system should never be seen as the answer to the difficulties created by systemic inequities in our society, but neither should it be seen as a tool to reinforce them. Misdirected anger can perpetuate those problems - anger is an energy that, when properly directed, can be a force for positive change.”
Rebecca “Becca” Anne McDonald is one of Sam’s few personal friends, as well as her business partner in Tequila Teqilia. Rebecca grew up in Elgin where her father was a police officer and her mother was on the city council. Although her parents didn’t always agree, and their work-related arguments sometimes got heated, she saw through their relationship a respect and understanding she emulates in her own marriage. She joined the Elgin Police Department and soon thereafter met her husband and gave birth to two healthy baby boys. While responding to a suspected burglary call, Rebecca was shot in the shoulder by a suspect. While recovering in the hospital, she decided to retire from police work. Sam and Rebecca knew each other from brief encounters in their professional lives, but as their partnership developed, their friendship grew. Though Sam does not let anyone get too close, Rebecca knows that Sam needs someone to keep her from going too far to the dark side.