Lance Corporal Harold W. Dawson and Private Louden Downey are suspects in the murder of a fellow Marine, Private William T. Santiago, at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As the play opens, the two suspects provide overlapping accounts of the night of Santiago’s murder. The men entered Santiago’s room just before midnight, whereupon they bound and gagged Santiago. The Naval Investigative Service prepared the men’s signed statements on their behalf.

Sam Weinburg enters the office of Lieutenant Daniel A. Kaffee, a disaffected navy lawyer, to tell him about “a lady lawyer from internal affairs” (8). Weinburg admits that he cut a few corners in a previous case, so he asks Kaffee to cover for him if Internal Affairs asks any questions. However, Kaffee insists that Internal Affairs doesn’t concern him.

The “lady lawyer” to whom Weinburg referred is Lieutenant Commander Joanne Galloway, a hardworking, determined lawyer who works for Internal Affairs. She meets with Captain Isaac Whitaker, who complains that she’s caused him grief with several old cases. Even though Dawson and Downey have confessed to the murder of Santiago, Galloway wants their confessions rejected because of mistakes during the investigation.