Rachel Clement was the owner of a hotel named the Pioneer Lodge in Nightmute, Alaska. She arranged a room for detectives Will Dormer and Hap Eckhart to stay in, and when they arrived told them she could tell they weren't from Nightmute due to their unsure walk. They asked if the restaurant was still open, and she told them it was. However when she came to take their order, Dormer told her he had lost his appetite and went to his room.
The next night Rachel was listening to a news report of Hap Eckhart's death, when she was interrupted by Dormer. She said she wasn't used to that sort of thing happening in Nightmute, and hoped she was nice to Eckhart before he died. Dormer assured her that Hap liked her. The next day a man visited, saying he was Dormer's new partner. She told Dormer this, and then John Warfield called asking to speak to the detective. She passed the call on.
Several nights later someone complained about the noise from Dormer's room, so Rachel went up to investigate. She saw that Dormer was trying to block out the light, so she tried to sort out the blinds for him. While she did, Dormer told her about Wayne Dobbs, a child murderer who was guilty but didn't have enough evidence connecting him to a murder. He told her that he planted evidence on Dobbs, and internal affairs investigated it, and Hap was going to give evidence against Dormer. Rachel told him that she couldn't judge, as she had moved to Alaska to escape from something back home. She told him it was all about what he thought was right at the time, then what he was willing to live with. She then stayed the night in Dormer's room.