Retired San Francisco cop Brad Lyon is settling into a quieter life with his wife Ashleigh in Virginia’s mountain country, where they collect and create teddy bears. But even here, stuff happens.

The peace of the Shenandoah Valley is shattered when an intruder breaks into the Lyon home and makes off with their antique Farnell Alpha teddy bear—one of the most celebrated stuffed animals in history, and also Brad’s gift to Ash on their twentieth wedding anniversary.

Afterward, life seems to be getting back to normal—until a trio of Japanese gangsters inexplicably shows up in town, and then the local museum director is found dead. Even though it all seems a bit fur-fetched, Brad knows he’s got a 187 on his hands—that’s California penal code for murder.