billy halleck, an arrogant and morbidly obese lawyer in connecticut, has recently fought an agonizing court case in which he was charged with vehicular manslaughter. while driving across town, his wife heidi had distracted him by giving him a handjob, causing him to run over an old woman who belonged to a group of traveling gypsies. the case is dismissed at a preliminary stage thanks to the judge and chief of police, who are both close friends of billy's. however, as billy leaves the courthouse, the old woman's even more elderly father, taduz lemke, strokes billy's cheek and whispers one word to him: "thinner". the word, and the old man's behavior, startle billy.