The Devil Wears Many Faces

126

Starsky and Hutch are newly partnered. While investigating a pick-pocketing ring, they come across a Fagin-like character that makes Hutch’s skin crawl. Out of nowhere, they also get dragged into investigating the disappearance of a Federal Agent. Does the devil walk amongst us?

 

Includes the Dobey family, Huggy a first meeting with ‘Lijah. (Written in 2020, updated 2024.)

---

Chapter One

“Hey, partner,” Starsky said, as he struggled to open the door of Hutch’s latest ‘classic’ and climbed into the battered wreck of a car. It was almost as difficult to close the door as it had been to open it and Starsky huffed with effort as he slammed it shut. He still didn’t get why Hutch seemed content to ride around in something that barely qualified as a car but it was one of his new partner’s little idiosyncrasies and he was trying to learn to live with it.

Hutch returned his greeting: “Hey, partner.”

The two detectives looked at each other and their faces broke out into broad grins. They’d been partnered as detectives for five weeks now and the novelty still hadn’t worn off. They just couldn’t help smiling as they started each shift. Their spontaneous joy came from achieving a goal they had set together during their time at the Bay City Police Academy, where they’d met and quickly become firm friends despite the seeming differences between them. Much to the amazement of most of their peers, they had just clicked and before they left the academy to become uniformed rookies they had decided that they would train to be detectives and try to get partnered as soon as possible. That hope had finally been realised five weeks ago and so here they were about to start a day shift and looking forward to whatever the day might bring them.

Hutch turned the key to start the engine and they headed off downtown to do a trawl through the neighbourhoods in their assigned inner city section. They were looking out for low level crimes from the hypes, truants and homeless that occurred each day on their beat and troubled the more law abiding citizens of Bay City. Starsky called in to Dispatch to let them know that they were on duty.

“So,” Starsky asked, “What’s the word for today?”

He and Hutch had started a game at the beginning of the week: word of the day. The driver got to choose the word and they both had to try to use it in an appropriate conversation during their shift. Yesterday’s word had been ‘thunked’.  Hutch had protested it wasn’t proper English but it wasn’t his turn to choose so he’d had to put up with it and Starsky had won. Now, it was Hutch’s turn to choose.

“I don’t know…how about ‘outrageous’?”

“That’s too easy! I could use it right now!”

“No, you couldn’t. How?”

“Isn’t it outrageous how that pickpocket over there just stole that fancy suit guy’s wallet?”

“Are you just making up a sentence or did you see that happen?”

“Pull over, dummy. I saw it happen and it looks like he might be trying to get another one. That thin youngster in the black jacket. See. He’s working the crowd round that performer. How about we go stop his outrageous behaviour?!”

Starsky pointed to the perp and then jumped out of the car.

Hutch sighed loudly as he quickly followed his partner. Lunch would be on him again today. He hoped he had enough cash on him to cover it. He walked up the street then crossed over to approach from the right while Starsky crossed over and approached from the left. Once they were either side of the crowd, who had gathered to watch a young dark-haired woman juggling, they pounced. Hutch grabbed one arm, Starsky the other.

“Hey, what gives, I ain’t done nothing, man!” the young man protested. He was wearing dirty clothes that were one size too big. Either he’d got them like that or he’d lost a lot of weight recently. He looked scrawny, malnourished.

“What do we have here?” Starsky asked, as he fished in the suspect’s pocket. “My, you do seem to have an outrageous number of wallets here!”

“Starsky, knock it off,” Hutch protested then turned to the perp and said, “You’re going to come downtown with us and see if we can get these wallets back to their real owners.”

Starsky smirked, knowing he’d both thoroughly crushed the bet and managed to irritate his partner as well. It was going to be an excellent day and it had only just started.

“What’s your name, kid?” Starsky enquired.

The boy’s answer was sullen: “Lenny. Lenny O’Reilly.”

“And how old are you, Lenny O’Reilly?”

The kid sniffed and answered reluctantly: “Fifteen.”

As Hutch put the cuffs on Lenny, Starsky approached an overweight business man standing in the crowd watching the juggler and flashed his badge at him.

“Excuse me, sir? Have you lost your wallet?”

The man looked flustered and began patting his pockets.

“Oh my goodness, officer. Yes, it seems to be missing.”

“What’s your name?”

“James Barton.”

Starsky looked through the wallets, checking for the driver’s licences and contact details. As he opened the fourth one, he said, “Yes, it’s here. I’m afraid we’ll have to ask you to come down to the Bay City Police Department at the Parker Centre to make a statement then you can have your wallet back. Ask for Detective Starsky or Hutchinson when you get there.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you, officer. I’ll do that.”

The crowd that had been watching the incident with open curiosity started to drift away. The juggler had come to the end of her show, bowed and already disappeared by the time Starsky had finished talking to Barton so there was nothing to hold their interest anymore. While Starsky had been checking out the name of the owner of that particular wallet, Hutch had walked across the road with the young man and opened the back door of the car so that he could push him inside. Starsky jogged over and joined him.

“Not a bad start to the day,” Starsky observed. “One collar already and we’re only half an hour into our shift.”

Suddenly, there was a hissing sound from the alleyway, a few yards from where they had parked, and a head peeked round the corner and a hand waved at them. It was a very elderly looking transient.

Starsky looked Hutch, asking, “Whaddya think?”

“I’ll go check what he wants. You keep an eye on light fingers here.”

Hutch strode quickly towards the alleyway and the homeless man backed away a few steps. He had grey hair and a grey moustache and was wearing lots of layers of clothing despite the weather still being quite warm. His under garment reminded Hutch of a monk’s robe.

“What can I help you with?” Hutch asked gently.

“Wait, for the day of the LORD is near: it will come like destruction. The end is nigh,” the old man intoned.

Hutch was tempted to roll his eyes but managed not to and tried to recall a memory from his Lutheran upbringing.

“That’s from Isaiah, isn’t it?” he guessed.

“Very good, young man.”

“Was there something you wanted…?” Hutch left a pause, inviting the old man to offer his name.

“’Lijah,” the old man supplied. “Bit like the other major prophet. We’re in the end times, young man.”

“Well, it does feel like it some days,” Hutch agreed. “Was there something you wanted my help with?”

“No, no. No help.”

Hutch sighed. “Well, ‘Lijah, you called me over so you must have wanted something?”

“You really a cop?” the old man asked.

Hutch pulled out his badge. “Yes. I’m Detective Hutchinson. Now what can I do for you, ‘Lijah.”

The old man peered at the badge and eventually seemed satisfied.

“I got something you’ll want.”

“Oh yes and what’s that?”

‘Lijah peered nervously around him and then slowly pulled something out of his pocket. Hutch’s hand moved nearer to his gun but he didn’t draw it as the old man seemed harmless enough. With a trembling hand, the elderly man handed Hutch a black leather wallet. Or at least that’s what Hutch thought it was at first. When he flicked it open, he found he was looking at a Federal Agent’s badge.

“Where did you get this, ‘Lijah?”

“Found it one block over, in the alley behind that club with the picture of the red flower over the door.”

“The Red Tulip Bar?”

“Yeah. More like The Red Devil Bar…full of sinners, that place, and Charles saw the devil there once. Been waiting for an angel to come along so I could hand it over.”

Hutch closed the badge holder and looked at the old man, assessing him.

“You could have taken this to a police station and handed it in,” he observed gently.

‘Lijah took a nervous step backwards and shook his head. “No, I don’t go indoors. Too easy for the devil to find you there. Just thought someone should know about the fallen angel.”

“Where you found this: did you see anything else?”

‘Lijah shook his head. “No, nothing. It was under a bin. Nothing else.”

Hutch believed him. “Thank you for handing this over. You can go but if I need to talk to you again, ‘Lijah, where do I find you?”

“I’m always around. Me and my friend, Charles, like it on the streets round here. People throw away cans and bottles that we can get money for. It’s a good spot.”

The old man started to shuffle away.

“Wait,” Hutch called.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two dollars and offered them to the old man. ‘Lijah hesitated, looking almost too proud to take the money, and then reached out thin, shaky fingers to take the notes.

“God bless you, son.”

Hutch nodded at him. “If you ever need help, ‘Lijah, my name’s Hutch.”

The old man nodded and then hurried away. Hutch walked back to the car to find his partner waiting impatiently.

“What was all that about?”

Wordlessly, Hutch opened the badge holder and showed Starsky over the roof of the car. Starsky whistled.

“Samuel Watkins. Wonder when and how he lost it? You heard anything about a missing Fed?”

“No, not a word.”

Starsky asked, “Did the old guy tell you where he found it?”

“Yeah. One block over, behind the Red Tulip Bar. His name’s ‘Lijah – the old guy.”

“Think he had anything to do with whatever happened to Watkins?”

“No, I don’t think he saw anything either. I think it’s like he said, he just found it. He obviously spends his days round here looking for things to sell and things to use.”

Starsky trusted his partner’s assessment. “Well, we’d better go take a look around.”

“Yeah.”

They both climbed in and drove up one block, parking near an alleyway that backed onto the Red Tulip Bar, a well-known hangout for all sorts of unsavoury characters.

As they went to get out, Starsky said, “What are we gonna do with Lenny here?”

“Handcuff him round the window frame,” Hutch suggested.

Starsky wound his window down and then reached behind him to do the same with the one in the back. Nothing happened. He climbed out and opened the car door and tried the window handle again.

“Hutch! Your back window is stuck!”

Hutch frowned. “Let me try this side.” He opened the door roughly and tried the handle without success. He looked up to find Starsky looking at him accusingly. He raised a finger, warningly, “Don’t say whatever you’re thinking of saying!”

“Why won’t you go see my Uncle Al? He can get you a car that looks as awful as this one but at least the windows would work!”

Hutch ignored him and dragged Lenny out of the car. He undid the cuffs that were holding the young man and then looked for something to attach him to. There was nothing suitable in sight. With a frown, he cuffed one clasp around the silver wing mirror.

“Hey, you can’t leave me here like this! That’s not right.”

Hutch glared at him. “Shut up and stay put! We’ve just got to check something and then we’ll take you to the station.”

Lenny glared back at him but wisely didn’t say anything else.

As the two detectives walked up the alleyway, Starsky observed, “That’s not going to hold him for long.”

“Well, we’ll just have to be quick. You check up the left side, I’ll check along the right.”

They walked briskly along, eyes seeking out any signs of foul play: bullet holes, blood, clothing or anything that looked out of place. The alleyway was like most others: bits of paper and rubbish blowing around, puddles just beginning to dry from the overnight rain, old bits of wooden crates, and large refuse bins used by the club and the other business on that block. Hutch opened the first one and peered in. He moved a few boxes but nothing immediately sprang out at him.

Starsky had reached the back door of the bar and pointed out a hole in the wall that looked like it might have been caused by a bullet but there were no signs of shell casings anywhere. Hutch opened the second dumpster and was forced back by the smell. Covering his nose, he pulled at a few bags and papers and revealed a bloodied jacket.

“Damn it. Starsky, I think I’ve got something.”

Starsky came over and joined him as Hutch held up the jacket. It was from a grey suit, the sort worn by most of the Feds that they’d come across. There was a hole in the shoulder and a lot of dried blood around the tear. Hutch laid it over the edge of the bin and moved a few more items to see if there was anything else obvious. At least there wasn’t a body, which might mean the Fed was still alive for the moment.

“Looks like he was hurt pretty bad. Did he escape or was he taken away?” Hutch wondered quietly.

“We’d better go call this in.”

“Yeah,” Hutch agreed as he stepped back from the dumpster.

He looked grimly at Starsky, who nodded back at him. They both hoped that the agent would turn up alive somewhere. They hurried back down the alleyway, coming to an abrupt halt when they found Lenny and the whole front door of the car were gone. Hutch just stared at his car in shock.

“At least you got ventilation now!” Starsky commented and received a punch on the arm for his observation.

The two of them quickly got into all-business mode: Hutch informed Dispatch where they were and that they needed a forensics team sent out to their location then he asked to be patched through to their captain, Dobey.

As he waited for the call to come through, he said plaintively, “What am I going to do about my door? I can’t drive around without one, it’s illegal, but I can’t afford to pay for one till after payday…and it’s supposed to rain tonight. My car will get soggy! I can’t ride around in a soggy car!”

Starsky refrained from pointing out that it didn’t seem to bother him that his car was filthy and filled with rubbish and that rain might actually help clean it up a bit. He could tell Hutch was really upset and took pity on his friend.

Instead he kept his thoughts to himself and said, “My Uncle keeps a few spare parts like doors and mirrors. How ‘bout we call in after work?”

Hutch smiled his thanks to his partner as Dobey’s voice came over the radio: “Zebra Three, this is Dobey.”

“Captain, this is Hutchinson. We’ve found a badge and a jacket that we think belongs to Federal Agent Samuel Watkins. It looks like there’s been foul play. Can you inform the Feds?”

“Yes, I’ll do that now. Wait there until you’ve spoken to them and to me. I’m on my way down now.”

“Thanks, Captain.”

Starsky sat on the hood of Hutch’s car. “How long d’ya think this is going to take? I’m starving.”

Hutch shook his head. “You’re always starving! Look, I’ll stand guard over the alleyway till everyone else gets here. Why don’t you grab us some drinks and you can get a sandwich or something? I saw a café down the block.”

“Good idea,” Starsky flashed him a grin and set off jogging.

Hutch sighed as he looked at his much abused car and then headed up the alleyway to await the arrival of all the other interested parties and the return of his always hungry partner.

*****

It was early afternoon, and the two detectives had just finished ringing around the owners of the stolen wallets to come and collect them and give statements as to when and where they thought they had lost them, when Dobey called them into his office. There were two Federal Agents waiting within: one was a tall thin man with pale skin and red hair that Dobey introduced as Agent Reeves; the other was a shorter dark-skinned man called Thomas.

Reeves introduced himself as the Agent in Charge and shook hands with both detectives. Thomas was introduced as one of Reeves’ team and Watkins’ partner. He didn’t look much older than Starsky and Hutch.

Dobey started the conversation: “These gentlemen are here about Agent Watkins.” He indicated to Reeves that he should elaborate.

Reeves nodded at the Captain and began: “Agent Watkins has been missing since yesterday. He didn’t show up for work this morning. He’s not been seen at his apartment building. At the moment, the last person who saw him was Thomas, here, and that was when they finished their shift yesterday.”

“We’re interested in how you came to find his badge,” Thomas added. “We understand that a transient handed it in.”

“Yes, that’s correct,” Hutch said.

“Well, we’ll want to speak to him and find out what he knows,” Reeves stated.

“We don’t know how to get in touch with him,” Hutch said firmly, “And, in any case, I’m sure he had nothing to with whatever happened. He didn’t see anything. He just found the badge when he was looking for things to sell that other people throw away.”

“Well, we’d like to assess that for ourselves.” Thomas sounded less than calm. “We’re going to leave no stone unturned. Watkins is my partner and I need to find him.”

Starsky put out a hand in a placating gesture. “We understand that you want to find out what’s happened to your partner. We want to help you. We just don’t think the old guy has any more information.”

Reeves looked at him and narrowed his eyes, asking, “Would you recognise this ‘old guy’ if you saw him again? Where does he usually hang out?”

Hutch sighed and shook his head.

“Forget the homeless guy. Why don’t you tell us why Watkins was near the Red Tulip Bar when he went missing? What was he working on? How would you like us to help with finding him?”

“You can start by not obstructing our investigation!” Thomas practically shouted.

Reeves put a steadying had on the shorter man’s arm, before saying, “Our team’s been investigating a drugs ring. The drugs come in from Mexico and end up on the streets here and in Los Angeles. We think the local buyer is a man called Benny and that he conducts his business out of the Red Tulip Bar. Agent Watkins and Thomas, and another pair of agents, have been following Benny. Watkins and Thomas, here, had been relieved for the night and both headed home. We don’t know how he ended up near the Red Tulip Bar again. When he didn’t report into work this morning, we started looking for him.”

“Is the Red Tulip Bar under surveillance 24 hours a day?” Hutch asked.

Reeves shook his head. “No, we’ve been watching the players not the bar. We decided it was a better use of our resources.”

“Wish we had been watching the bar,” Thomas said in a bleak way.

“The man you think is the buyer? He wasn’t at the bar last night then?” Hutch asked.

“No. And we don’t think the latest shipment has arrived yet so the dealers weren’t there either. Another team have been watching out for the Hernandez Brothers’ arrival but there was no activity last night,” Reeves informed them.

Dobey leaned back in his chair. “What can my men do to help the investigation?”

“We’d ask all your officers to keep an eye out for Watkins. It’s imperative we find him as soon as possible. I’d like to be informed directly of any sightings. I believe my department has faxed a photograph over. Otherwise, I’ll get back to you, Captain,” Reeves said. “We’ve got other agents coming in to see if we can track Watkins’ movements straight after his shift. We may need your assistance with upping surveillance of the players in the drugs ring and possibly the bar to twenty-four hours a day. Obviously, if anyone in your department comes across relevant information we would ask you to pass it on to us. We’ve already interviewed the bar staff but not got anywhere. No-one saw Watkins. At least that’s what they say.”

Thomas leapt in: “Which is why we need to explore every possible piece of information and that includes interviewing the homeless guy. What’s his name and where can we find him?”

Dobey looked at Hutch enquiringly.

The blond shrugged as he replied, “Sorry, can’t help you with that.”

Thomas looked as if he was about ready to grab Hutch and shake him. Reeves herded him towards the door before that happened. He turned back to Dobey.

“Perhaps, Captain, you could put some pressure on your men to give us the name and usual location of the transient. We will be back before end of day shift for the information.”

With that, the two agents walked out of the room and shut the door. Dobey raised an eyebrow at his detectives.

“It’s not wise to rub the Feds up the wrong way,” he pointed out.

“Captain,” Hutch protested, “they’re just looking for a needle in a haystack. Sounds like they’ve made a right mess of their operation so far and want to take it out on anyone that crosses their path. The homeless guy didn’t know anything. I’d stake my life on it.”

Dobey looked at Starsky. “You agree?”

“Whatever my partner says goes for me too,” Starsky said quickly.

Hutch gave him a grateful glance. Starsky nodded back.

Dobey sighed. “Well, all right, get out of here and try to stay out of the Feds’ way. They’ll be gunning for you.”

As they left the office, Starsky noticed Hutch was looking slightly worried.

“What’s up, partner?”

Hutch walked over to his desk and stood frowning.

“Do you think the Feds will go looking for ‘Lijah? He doesn’t like being inside. It’ll frighten him.”

Starsky smiled inwardly. He’d known since he first met Hutch that the blond went out of his way to look out for other people – it was one of the reasons that they had become friends at the academy –  but it was only since they’d become partners that he had begun to realise quite what a big old softy he really was. Hutch presented a hard exterior but really he had a way of getting himself tied up in knots if he felt he’d failed to protect the people who needed his help.

Aware that Hutch would be worrying about his new homeless friend, Starsky suggested gently, “Hey, I think we need a break. We haven’t had lunch yet. Let’s go get something from downstairs before we head out again. Once we‘ve eaten we could go check on ‘Lijah, if you want.”

“All right. I guess I could eat.”

“Good, ‘cause it’s your turn to buy, don’t forget.”

Hutch groaned.

As they walked down the stairs, to the ground floor, Starsky said, “At least they don’t charge outrageous prices in the canteen.”

“Starsky, so help me…” Hutch grumbled.

Starsky looked at him with such a pointedly innocent face that Hutch couldn’t help smiling and shaking his head.

As they reached the ground floor, Hutch said, “By the way, thanks for siding with me in Dobey’s office.”

“No problem and I meant it, partner, whatever you say is good enough for me.”

Hutch patted his back and grinned. “Same thing goes for me, partner…So what do you want to eat?”

“Surprise me,” Starsky said. “I’ll grab a table for us.”

As Hutch headed to the food bar, Starsky called after him: “Just make sure it’s not rabbit food, okay, partner?”

 

Chapter Two

The next day, Starsky arrived bright and early at his partner’s new home on the canal. As he climbed out of the driver’s seat, he looked around appreciatively: he thought Hutch had found a nice place for himself. The cottage itself was what his Aunt Rose would call cute and Starsky enjoyed seeing the ducks swimming along on the canal. He kept meaning to bring something with him to feed them. Maybe one day he’d remember.

“Hey, partner, how ya doing this morning?” Starsky asked, as he walked into Hutch’s place to let him know he was there, ready to collect him for work.

It was his turn to drive and he was looking forward to being behind the wheel and enjoying the feel of the Torino as it powered through the city streets. He hopped on the counter and watched in undisguised fascination as Hutch finished the last gulp of his weird protein, sea-kelp and who-knew-what-else milkshake and placed the glass in the sink. Starsky didn’t know how Hutch could drink that stuff but it certainly seemed to keep him healthy.

“I’m okay. You?” Hutch asked, as he unplugged the blender and gave it a quick rinse to get the worst of the gunk off.

“Just great,” Starsky said.

“You know. I’ve been thinking about Watkins.”

“What about him?”

“Well, doesn’t it seem a bit odd to you that the guy ends up back at a place that a known drug dealer hangs out? I mean, he’d gone off shift. He wasn’t supposed to be tailing anyone. Why’d he go back there? There’s something odd going on?”

“Yeah, and if the Feds were following one of the players, surely they’d have had someone inside the bar to watch the deal go down or am I missing something?” Starsky wondered.

Hutch looked thoughtful. “Something’s off about this whole thing. Did Watkins see something he shouldn’t have? Or was he doing something he shouldn’t have been doing?”

“Don’t know but we’d better get going. Move that butt of yours, partner, or we’re going to be late. I was here early for once so you can’t blame me!” Starsky said, as he climbed back down off the counter and then followed Hutch as he went to grab his brown leather jacket and slip it on over his blue shirt and holster.

“Your new door working all right?” Starsky asked.

They walked past Hutch’s car, which for the moment sported three beige doors and one off-white one, and headed towards the red and white Gran Torino.

“Yeah, it’ll do for now,” Hutch said. “Your Uncle said he’d look out for one that matches better. Thanks for taking me there.”

“No bother.”

“It was kind of him to say I could pay him at the weekend.”

“Well, he knows you’re good for it…’Sides I know where you live!”

Starsky hopped in the driver’s side of his car and started the engine. Hutch pulled his door shut as Starsky began to reverse away from Hutch’s house and the canal. They drove along in silence for a bit. The brunet glanced at his buddy a few times and saw he was clearly still brooding. About the Feds or something else? He had the look of a dog chewing on a bone that he had no intention of letting go of.

“So the word for today?”

“I’m not really in the mood to play today,” Hutch muttered.

“Well, you ain’t got a choice. It’s my turn to choose and the word is Starsky.”

Hutch looked surprised and asked, “Why is the word Starsky, Starsky?”

“Hey, you won already. Lunch is on me.”

They’d arrived at a red light so Starsky was forced to stop and wait. He could feel his partner’s eyes boring into him so he turned towards him. Hutch gave him an enquiring look. Starsky shrugged but gave an explanation anyway.

“Don’t think I didn’t see you counting out all your dimes in the cafeteria yesterday to pay for lunch and I know you gave your last bills to that homeless guy. Payday’s not till tomorrow so lunch today is on me.”

As the light turned green and Starsky drove on, Hutch patted his arm. “Thanks, buddy.”

“You’re welcome…’sides if I win, it would be no good. I’d ending up starving to death ‘cause you got no cash.”

“That’s very true.” Hutch smiled at him. “We can’t have you starving to death. I’m only just getting you broken in as a partner, I don’t want to start with someone new.”

“Hey, I’m breaking you in, Blintz!”

“Sure you are, Gordo!”

*****

The first call of the morning was to investigate a domestic disturbance. It had taken up forty minutes of their time but now they were back on the road heading towards the precinct to catch up on a couple of reports that should have been on Dobey’s desk on Monday evening. Even though the woman they’d been called out to had a nasty black eye, she hadn’t wanted to press charges so they’d just given her husband a warning. There wasn’t anything else they could do under the circumstances. It was clear to the two of them that Mr Foster had been drinking but he’d sobered up a bit by the time they’d arrived and had promised he wouldn’t get drunk again. They both hated domestic violence calls as they both knew they could get really nasty fast. No doubt they would be called out again to the Fosters at some point in the not too distant future.

With that thought floating round his head, Starsky sighed.

As if he’d been reading his thoughts, Hutch sighed too and said, “Bet we’ll be back there again soon.”

“Yeah.”

The traffic was slowing down as they came up to some traffic lights and Starsky glanced around the sidewalks surrounding the area. He spotted a juggler on the other side of the street. He felt sure she looked like the same one they’d seen the day before. Once again she had drawn quite a crowd.

“Hey, isn’t that the juggler from yesterday?” Starsky asked.

Hutch followed Starsky’s finger. “More to the point, doesn’t that kid over there look like Lenny?”

Starsky agreed: “Looks like him…You don’t think?”

“Yes, I do…They’re working together. She provides a distraction and he picks the pockets of the crowd. Pull round the corner, Starsk. We’ll come up behind them on foot. Do you want Lenny or the girl?”

“I’ll take Lenny. Just in case you lose your cool with him ‘cause of your car door!”

Hutch ground his teeth. “Don’t remind me!”

Starsky pulled the car over and the two of them quickly got out. They crossed over the street and headed towards a point opposite the crowd. Nodding at each other, they focussed on each of their targets and walked towards them. At the last second, Lenny spotted Starsky and took off running with the brunet hard on his heels. The juggler pretended not to notice what was going on. Hutch stood in front of her and pulled out his badge.

“Miss, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

The girl stopped juggling and put her striped bean bags into the basket beside her on the ground.

“What’s the problem? I can move on if I’m not supposed to be here.”

Hutch turned to the crowd and waved his badge. “Nothing to see here, folks. Show’s over. Move along, please.”

There were a few muttered protests but gradually the crowd dwindled and moved away. Hutch glanced up the street to see how his partner was getting on. In the distance, he could see Starsky had got hold of Lenny and was dragging him back towards them. He turned back to the girl, who had gathered up her hat full of coins and shoved that into the basket as well.

“I’ll move on,” she said, as she bent down to pick up her basket.

“Put that back down, please,” Hutch ordered. “As I said, I need to ask you a few questions.”

The girl lowered her basket back down to the ground, reluctantly, and stood with a sullen look clouding her otherwise pretty face. Hutch reckoned she couldn’t be much more than sixteen. Her jeans were scruffy but her trainers and shirt looked fairly new.

“Do you know Lenny O’Reilly?” Hutch asked.

The girl’s eyes froze for a second then she quickly shook her head. “No, don’t know anyone by that name.”

“He was here working the crowd for wallets. My partner’s just bringing him back now. Is he going to say he knows you?”

“No.”

“And yet he was working the crowd yesterday just where you happened to be juggling? Pretty coincidental.”

“I don’t know nothing about that,” the girl protested.

“Well, we’ll see. What’s your name?”

“Sarah.”

“Sarah what?”

“Just Sarah.”

Starsky came striding up, pushing Lenny in front of him. “He was fast but I was faster,” he puffed. “He’s got quite a collection of wallets again. Think he’s trying for pickpocket of the month.” Lenny was wriggling in Starsky’s hands and studiously avoiding looking at the girl. “Who’s our friend?” Starsky wanted to know.

Hutch said, “This is Sarah. She says she doesn’t know Lenny here.”

“I don’t know him,” Sarah stated.

Starsky gave Lenny a little shake. “How ‘bout you, Lenny? You know Sarah here?”

“Nah, never seen her before.”

“Told ya. Can I go now?” Sarah asked sulkily.

“No, I’m afraid you’ll have to come with us,” Hutch said. “Turn around,” he ordered as he pulled the cuffs from his back pocket.

“What are you cuffing me for? I ain’t done nothing!”

“At the very least, you are violating the city code for busking. It has to be done in a public place where it doesn’t cause an obstruction or danger to the public. A sidewalk isn’t considered safe,” Hutch said. “That’s enough to take you in for now.”

He slipped the cuffs on Sarah and then bent down and picked up her basket. The two detectives led the two youngsters over to the Torino, opened the doors, pulled the seats forwards and pushed the two youngsters in the back, taking care not to let them hit their heads as they got inside. They pushed the front seats back in place and Hutch put the basket in the middle of the car. Then he looked at his partner across the roof. Starsky raised an eyebrow, silently. Hutch nodded. They weren’t supposed to take two prisoners in one car but they both wanted to see if there was any sign that the kids knew each other. Without a word passing between them, they communicated this thought and then the two of them got into the car. Starsky started the engine as Hutch informed Dispatch that they were on their way in.

“Will I have to pay a fine?” Sarah asked.

“Yes,” Hutch said. “Or your parents will. Do you live with your parents?”

“No.” Sarah sighed and looked out of the window.

“So how long you been juggling, Sarah?” Starsky asked conversationally.

Hutch pretended to look out of his window whilst surreptitiously keeping an eye on the two kids in the back of the car from the reflection in the mirror.

“I learned about a year ago.”

“How long you been putting on a show like that?”

“I only just started trying to do it in front of people. I didn’t know I needed to do it in a certain place. If I promise to stick to parks from now on, you could let me go, couldn’t you?”

Starsky ignored the question. “How old are you, Sarah?”

Hutch saw the small glance she gave Lenny out the corner of his eye. She answered quietly, “I’m eighteen.”

Hutch looked at his partner briefly then spoke to Lenny. “How old are you, Lenny? Really.”

Lenny looked out of the window. “I told you, fifteen.”

“Your parents going to tell us that when we ask?”

Hutch caught the small sideways glance that Lenny gave Sarah.

“Ain’t got no parents.”

“Where do you live then? Foster care.”

Lenny snorted. Hutch saw Sarah nudge him ever so slightly.

“Nah, I live with my…Uncle.”

Starsky glanced at Hutch. Neither of them liked what they were hearing. By now, they’d arrived at the Parker Centre building. Starsky pulled Lenny out of the car and Hutch helped Sarah out. They took the two kids into the booking sergeant.

“Hey, Harris, we got one Lenny O’Reilly for you. Fifteen years old. Charge of petty larceny for pickpocketing.” Starsky handed over the wallets that Lenny had been carrying on him today. “You’ll find a list of victims from yesterday under Case Number 509-213. There’s a statement from a Mr Barton, who had his wallet lifted yesterday and I saw this kid take it.”

“Okay,” Harris said. He called an officer over to take Lenny and start getting him processed. “What about her?”

“We’re just going to have a chat with Sarah about violating the Bay City code for busking.”

Hutch moved towards the elevator, gently guiding Sarah of front of him. She was putting on a brave face but he could tell she was not as assured as she pretended. Eighteen. He doubted it.

Starsky hung back and, when she was out of earshot, said to Harris, “When O’Reilly makes his call, let us know who comes to get him, okay?”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Thanks.”

Starsky jogged to catch up with his partner and the three of them entered the elevator and headed up towards the floor with their squad room. They took Sarah in and sat her next to Hutch’s table. Hutch took off her cuffs.

“You want a drink?” the blond asked her in a friendly voice.

She looked at him suspiciously then answered softly, “Yes, okay. Thanks.”

Hutch started to head out to the drinks machine in the hall when he realised he didn’t have any coins left in his pockets. He looked at his partner. Starsky thrust his hand in his pocket and brought out a handful of coins, which he dropped into Hutch’s outstretched hand.

“There you go, partner. Get me one too while you’re at it…and a candy bar.”

Hutch shook his head. “You can’t be hungry already!”

Starsky shrugged and grinned at him. Hutch collected two cans and two candy bars from the machines and handed them out to Sarah and Starsky before getting himself a cup of water. He sat down at his desk and hunted out the correct booking form from his desk.

“Okay. I need your full name.”

Sarah took another bite of her candy bar before saying, “Sarah Smith.”

“Address.”

“Hotel Rochford.”

“You live in a hotel?”

“Yeah.”

A muscle in Hutch’s cheek twitched but he didn’t say anything, just continued taking the girl’s details down.

“You live on your own?”

“Yeah.”

“You got a social security number?”

“N-no. Not yet.”

“Birth certificate?”

“Er…it’s at the hotel.”

“You sure you don’t know Lenny? If someone’s making you distract the crowd so he can steal, you should tell us. You get caught again the pair of you. You’ll both be charged next time.”

Sarah looked away. “I don’t know him.”

“You really eighteen? We’ll be checking…”

Sarah looked panicked for a minute. “I told you, I’m eighteen. Now, how much is this going to cost?”

“The fine is ten dollars.”

“I got that in my basket. Can I pay now? And then can I go?”

“Yeah, if you’ve got the money, that’s fine.” Hutch waited while the girl took out the change from her basket and counted it out to the right amount. As she got up to leave, Hutch asked, “You need a lift home?”

“No, I’ll be okay.” She looked like she wanted to say something more but then decided against it and headed out of the door.

Starsky’s phone rang. He picked it up with a flourish and said his name. “Okay, I see. Thanks, Harris…Can you let us know when he arrives to pick up the kid?…Oh, and Harris? What address did he give?…Okay, thanks.”

Starsky put the phone down and looked at his partner.

“Well, the kid called for his guardian to come collect him. Some guy called Artie Solkin…and the address he gave was the Hotel Rochford.”

“Same as Sarah.”

“Maybe we got a pickpocketing ring running out of that hotel,” Starsky mused.

“Yeah. You ever heard of the place before? Or this Artie guy?”

Starsky shook his head. “Nah. You know what, partner, I think we should head downstairs to where we can see Lenny being collected and see who the guy is. See if he collects Sarah as well.”

“Yeah, good idea. I’ll let Harris know we’re on our way down.”

As soon as he put the phone down from calling Harris, Hutch followed Starsky out of the squad room and down to the ground floor. They placed themselves in a little office, which had a view of the front steps. Starsky promised to bring the clerk, whose office it was, a coffee and a Danish pastry the following morning, if she’d let them look out of her window. They didn’t have long to wait. A taxi pulled up and then waited as a man climbed out and glanced up at the Parker Centre and grimaced.

He was a strange looking individual: small, probably not much over five foot in height, and looked to weigh around a hundred and sixty pounds. He wore a dirty white shirt and stained grey trousers yet sported a smart crimson jacket, the type a hotel bellman would wear, with gold braids on the shoulders. On his feet he wore black and white two tone shoes. The overall effect was to create a slightly sad, slightly jaded figure.

Suddenly, Sarah appeared from somewhere and walked towards him.

“Looks like Sarah waited for him to come and get Lenny so she could get a ride as well,” Starsky said.

Artie looked as if he was talking angrily to Sarah and she was trying to explain to him what had happened. Without warning, Artie backhanded her across the mouth and she dropped her basket and nearly fell over. Hutch stiffened and looked like he was ready to bolt from the room. Starsky laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Easy, partner. Nothing we can do…yet.”

Artie said something to the girl, who was now crying, and pushed her towards the taxi. She climbed inside and he spoke to the driver then straightened his jacket, pulled himself up as tall as he could and walked into the building.

A few moments later, Artie came out of the building with Lenny. He had his arm around Lenny’s shoulders in a protective embrace. As they got closer to the taxi, Artie’s hand moved down the boy’s back almost as if he was caressing him and the boy stiffened but didn’t move away. The two of them got into the taxi and it drove away.

Starsky looked at his partner. His look said it all but he verbalised his thoughts anyway: “That guy looked all kinds of wrong.”

Hutch swallowed. “We definitely need to follow up on this one, Starsk.”

“Yeah…my thoughts are with you. Let’s go see Harris and see what information we got on Lenny and do a little digging into this Artie character. See if he’s been in to collect other kids charged with petty larceny. Then we can go see if Sarah’s all right…after all we’ve got to check her birth certificate, don’t we?”

Hutch smiled and placed his hand on his partner’s shoulder as they turned away from the window.

“Great idea.”

“Thanks, Maggie.” Starsky gave the pretty redhead a wink. “A Danish will be waiting on your desk in the morning…maybe I will be as well.”

Maggie laughed. “Just the Danish, please, Detective Starsky. I’m spoken for!”

“Damn. All the good ones always are,” he said.

He gave her a little wink as he left. She waved him away with a laugh and blushed a little.

 

Chapter Three

It was after lunch by the time, the two of them had checked into Artie Solkin’s history. The Sergeant at the Booking Desk had seen him a couple of times before and recalled that he’d been collecting other kids who’d been booked on similar charges to Lenny. Starsky called Detective Services and asked them to find all cases where Artie Solkin had been the responsible adult collecting juveniles charged with misdemeanours. He also asked them to see if he had a rap sheet and what his background was.

The information that came to them showed Artie had collected three other kids in the past six months, who had all been caught for petty larceny. On his rap sheet, he had two counts of aiding and abetting the delinquency of a minor. There was also a juvenile record in his name: which showed that he’d been in the foster care system, where he’d been disruptive, eventually landing in a group home and then juvie after a series of misdemeanours, such as petty larceny and assault without battery.

As they drove across town towards Hotel Rochford, they crossed a junction that was a few blocks away from the Red Tulip Bar. Hutch was peering out of the window and noticed a commotion going on down one of the side streets. He recognised the red hair of Agent Reeves.

“What the hell? Starsk, turn the car around and take Marshall Street.”

Starsky did as Hutch ordered without asking for reasons. The tone of his partner’s voice was enough to tell him it was important. As they rounded the corner, he saw what had got Hutch’s attention. Reeves and another five agents had rounded up a large group of homeless men and were in the process of frisking them and it seemed about to cuff some of them. Hutch was out of the car before the Torino had fully stopped.

“Agent Reeves! What the hell are you doing?”

Hutch ran his eyes over the group of transients and was upset to see ‘Lijah was among them. The old man’s eyes were wild and he was mumbling to himself. He looked terrified. Hutch tried not to let his feelings show or let anyone see that he had recognised any of the transients.

“Detective Hutchinson. We are investigating the disappearance of a Federal officer and one of these gentlemen may have relevant information. Not that I need to explain my actions to you but we are going to ask all of these citizens their movements for the last few days and see if any of them have noticed anything suspicious.”

“Why can’t you question them here? You’re frightening some of them and they haven’t done anything wrong. You’ve got no justification for taking them in.”

Hutch had thought Reeves was the reasonable one out of the two agents he had met earlier. He was wrong.

Reeves stepped right up into his face and spoke with a deadly calm: “This is a Federal matter, Detective. I will decide who I question. You will get out of my way or you’ll find yourself getting into hot water. Maybe you should concern yourself less with vagrants and more with arresting criminals.”

Starsky was by his friend’s side in an instant and put a restraining hand on Hutch’s arm, even though he would personally like to deck the man in front of him.

“Come on, Partner, leave it.” As soon as he’d persuaded Hutch back a few steps, Starsky said, “We will be making our feelings known about what you’re doing here and your threats and that’s a promise, Agent Reeves.”

Reeves stalked away and the two detectives watched helplessly as half a dozen of the men were pushed into black cars. Agent Thomas appeared to have calmed down from when they’d seen him in Dobey’s office and had the grace to look as if he thought what they were doing wasn’t necessarily right. An agent started to cuff ‘Lijah but his fevered mumblings got louder and more confused.

Another agent walked past and yelled: “Leave him, Barnes. We won’t get any sense from that one! He’s loony tunes.”

Starsky swore he could feel the warmth of Hutch’s outrage at the agent’s statement: there was a palpable wave of emotion rolling off his partner. He was therefore very relieved when Hutch bit his tongue and stood silent as the cars gradually drove away. The few transients that had been left behind, for one reason or another, shuffled away. They looked anxiously over their shoulders at the two detectives. One of them hovered a few feet away, clearly worried about ‘Lijah but not sure what to do to help him. Starsky tried to smile reassuringly at him.

When the government cars were out of sight, Hutch hurried over to ‘Lijah. The old man was wringing his hands and mumbling indistinguishable words.

Hutch spoke softly to him: “They’ve gone now, ‘Lijah. You’re safe now. It’s me, Hutch. Remember me from yesterday?”

‘Lijah gradually quietened, calming under Hutch’s soothing tone, and his eyes regained some focus. He looked at Hutch.

“The devil’s got Charles. He took him away.”

“That’s your friend, isn’t it? He was taken by the agents for questioning?”

‘Lijah nodded sadly. “Will the devil let him come back?…Or is he gone for good?”

Hutch patted his arm gently. “He’ll be all right, ‘Lijah. They’ll let him go in a couple of hours.”

‘Lijah started to look tearful. “It’s the end times. The devil’s roaming free…Can’t fight him. Too strong for the likes of me.”

Hutch spotted a small greasy looking café further down the road. It had a couple of empty tables outside and looked the sort of place where they wouldn’t complain too loudly about having homeless people sitting outside as long as someone was paying for the drinks. He glanced at Starsky and nodded his head towards the café.

Starsky smiled at him. “All right with me.”

“’Lijah, can we buy you a cup of coffee? Will you let us do that?”

‘Lijah looked confused for a minute. He was unused to kindness and didn’t know quite what to make of Hutch’s offer.

As if seeing Hutch with fresh eyes, he suddenly said, “I saw you yesterday, young man, didn’t it? You said you’d help if I needed it. Hutch. Your name’s Hutch.”

“That’s right. Can I buy you a coffee, ‘Lijah?”

‘Lijah nodded and let Hutch lead him along the sidewalk.

Starsky spoke to the other transient who had lingered behind: “Fancy a coffee, friend? No catch. We’re just sorry for the trouble.”

The man, who was a few years younger than ‘Lijah and dressed a little more normally, nodded. He warily followed Starsky down the street.

“My name’s Starsky. My partner’s called Hutch. What’s your name?”

“Monroe.”

“Nice to meet you, Monroe.”

The two of them reached the café and joined Hutch and ‘Lijah at a table. A waitress with dyed blonde hair and a cigarette hanging out of the corner of her bright red mouth came out and stared at them with undisguised hostility.

“What do you want?”

Starsky spoke to the man next to him: “Monroe, you want a coffee? How about a sandwich? You hungry?”

Monroe’s voice was tentative: “Hot chocolate? C-c-can I have a ham sandwich?”

Starsky turned to the waitress. “We’ll have three coffees and one hot chocolate. Bring plenty of cream and sugar, please, and we’ll have ham sandwiches for four.”

“Okay,” the waitress said sourly, as she wrote on her pad.

Starsky ignored the sour expression and gave her a blinding smile and said, “Thanks, sweetheart, we appreciate the service. Not everyone would be so kind.”

He’d hoped to take her by surprise and jog her out of her bad mood. He wasn’t disappointed. She smiled at him and seemed to relax a little and accept that she had customers that needed serving even if two of them were homeless.

“You’re welcome, honey. I’ll be right back with your order.”

Monroe sat nervously tapping his fingers on his legs and looking like he might bolt any second. ‘Lijah put his head on one side and peered at Hutch with a puzzled expression.

“What is it?” Hutch asked.

“You didn’t tell them I found the fallen angel’s badge.” It was a statement.

Hutch looked slightly embarrassed. “No, I didn’t. You told me you didn’t see anything and I believed you.”

‘Lijah nodded. “I told Charles about you. I told Charles about the fallen angel…Charles said he heard him fall.”

“What?”

The conversation was interrupted by the waitress coming back with a tray full of mugs, four small plates and a large, square plate full of sandwiches. She smiled at Starsky, as she unloaded their order, and handed him the bill. He grinned at her and handed her some dollar bills.

“Keep the change, beautiful.”

“Thanks, honey. ‘Preciate it.”

As soon as she was out of earshot, Hutch spoke to ‘Lijah: “What did Charles hear?”

‘Lijah was chewing a sandwich so couldn’t answer straight away. Starsky noticed Monroe was looking like he was in heaven as he sipped his hot chocolate. Starsky counted his blessings and decided to only have one sandwich and leave the rest for Monroe and ‘Lijah to eat. When ‘Lijah finished his first sandwich, Hutch asked his question again.

“Sometimes Charles sleeps up near that place where the devil hangs out. He heard someone shooting a gun night before last. Next day, I find the angel’s badge. Must’ve been the devil.”

“But he didn’t see anything? Didn’t see who fired the gun?”

‘Lijah sipped his coffee. “The devil was here today. Charles didn’t say nothing but I could tell he seen him…Seen the devil before, you know…He wears many faces, that old devil. Sometimes, he comes as he is. Stands out plain. Sometimes, he tries to hide his nature but it always shows through in the end…Charles says he even dresses like an angel sometimes but he’s the devil all right.”

Starsky exchanged looks with Hutch. Was ‘Lijah starting to ramble or was he trying to see tell them something?

Monroe had eaten one sandwich but looked afraid to take more. Starsky pushed the plate towards him. The man took another one quickly and ate it, watching Starsky with big eyes. Starsky got up and went into the café. He came back a few minutes later, carrying two paper bags.

“Here take half each, you can finish them off later if you’re not hungry now,” he suggested, as he handed a bag each to the two homeless men.

“Thank you, young man,” ‘Lijah said courteously.

‘Lijah placed the sandwiches carefully in the bag and shoved it into one of his large pockets. He finished off his coffee and started to get up to go. Monroe shoved the last of the sandwiches in his bag and nodded at Starsky.

“Always a little red,” ‘Lijah said cryptically.

“Sorry, ‘Lijah, you’ve lost me there,” Hutch said.

“The devil…whatever face he wears, there’s always a little red peeks out…Saw the red today, I did…Hope he lets Charles go. I’ll miss my buddy if he don’t come back…but it’s the end times…” He was still muttering as he and Monroe crossed the road and parted company, disappearing into different alleyways.

“Have you got any idea what that was all about?” Starsky asked, as they headed back towards the car.

“Not a clue.”

“Well, we’d better carry on with what we were going to do and think about what ‘Lijah told us later.”

Starsky turned the car around and headed it towards Hotel Rochford. He parked at an angle in front of the rundown old building, which looked as bad as they feared. It was one of the really cheap and uncared for properties that seemed to be scattered around this end of town. Some of the windows on the ground floor were painted black. There was sign that read: $2 a day. It looked like a dump.

“Hotel ‘Roach would be a better name,” Starsky suggested.

A group of youngsters had been hanging around outside the hotel: when they saw the two men getting out of their car, they scattered.

“Nice to feel welcome!” Starsky remarked.

“Must be something wrong with the way we look,” Hutch quipped. “Or maybe they don’t like your car.”

“Well, if that’s the case, they got no taste.”

Once inside, they walked up to the check-in desk. A middle aged man was sat there reading the sporting pages of the paper. He barely looked up as they came in.

“We’d like to see Sarah Smith.”

The man coughed and put down his paper. “Don’t think I’ve got anyone here by that name.”

Hutch took out his badge and showed it to the man. “We’re just following up on an incident that Miss Smith was involved in this morning. She’s not in any trouble. We just need to speak to her.”

The man eyed them speculatively and decided it wasn’t worth the trouble to disagree with the two cops in front of him.

“Well…okay, she’s on the third floor, room five.”

“Thank you.”

As the two of them walked away, Hutch nodded at the stairs to the right of the desk and said softly, “I’ll go up this way. You take the elevator. Just in case, our friend rings her and she decides to disappear.”

Starsky nodded in agreement and pushed the call button as Hutch started walking up the stairs. A few moments later, they met on the third floor and knocked on Sarah’s door.

In response, there was a subdued, “Who is it?”

“It’s Detectives Hutchinson and Starsky. We’ve come to check your birth certificate,” Hutch said.

He listened to the sounds coming from inside the room. It sounded like a drawer being opened. Then the door opened slowly until they could see half of Sarah’s face. She thrust a piece of paper at Hutch and ducked back a little. Hutch looked at the certificate and showed it to Starsky.

“Eighteen then but only just.”

“Yes, I told you. Is that it?”

“Can we come in?”

“What for?”

“We just wanted to check you are all right. We thought we saw someone hitting you as you left the station this morning.”

Sarah bit her lip. “I’m okay. Can I have my certificate back?”

Hutch handed it to her but slipped his foot into the door before she could close it. He could see the edge of a nasty bruise under the eye she was trying to hide.

Speaking very gently, he said, “If you want to press charges, we saw what happened.”

“No…it’s okay. I’m fine…just a misunderstanding.”

Hutch’s voice was gentle as he said, “If he’s hurting you…making you do things…we can help you. You just need to talk to us.”

Sarah shook her head. “No, he doesn’t usually…I mean…I’m a girl so…He doesn’t usually bother me.”

Hutch pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to her. “If you ever change your mind…or you’re in trouble and you want our help, give me a call.”

Sarah slipped the card into her pocket.

Starsky said, “We found out Lenny lives here too, Sarah. We know you know him. Where can we find him?”

Sarah sighed. There was no point pretending she didn’t know Lenny anymore. “Lenny’s in one of the rooms on the second floor.”

“And Artie?”

A look of disgust crept onto Sarah’s face. “I don’t know…He’s got a room on the second floor too but he’s not in it much…He might be with Lenny…Depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“On who his favourite of the week is.” She looked at the detectives. “Is that it? Can I go now?”

Hutch removed his foot. “Yeah…take care of yourself, Sarah.”

The youngster closed the door and Hutch looked at his partner.

“Let’s go find, Lenny.”

The two of them walked in an uneasy silence down the stairs to the second floor. There were ten rooms in total and the door to the fourth one stood open. Starsky nodded his head towards the opening.

“Shall we start there?”

Hutch nodded, placing his hand close to his gun as they neared the door. The two of them peered in cautiously and saw the man they were looking for slumped in a battered old leather chair. A young boy, probably just in his teens, was curled up on the bed asleep.

On closer inspection, Artie was as odd looking as his clothes had suggested when they’d seen him earlier. He had a bulbous nose, which was red and indicated he drank too much hard liquor, and badly cut hair, which he clearly smothered with some sort of black grease to make himself look younger. Unfortunately, it just made him look like a slippery weasel.

“Are you gentlemen looking for me? How can I help?”

Starsky was the one to respond: “I’m Detective Starsky, this is my partner, Detective Hutchinson. We’re looking for Lenny. Following up on his case. Making sure that you will be bringing him to court for his hearing.”

“Yes, poor foolish Lenny…I’ve told him he shouldn’t be a naughty boy but you know what kids are like. I do my best to look after him.”

Hutch felt his skin crawl. There was something unsettling about Artie. He looked harmless enough on first glance but there was a way his eyes watched them that reminded Hutch of a cobra. The tone in his voice was simpering, oily, laced with something unpleasant. Hutch couldn’t wait to get away from him.

Starsky spoke again: “We need to see Lenny now.”

Artie leaned forward and shook the shoulder of the boy on the bed. “Zig. Go find, Lenny, there’s a good boy.”

The little boy sent a startled glance towards the detectives and then shot out the door. He returned a moment later with Lenny in tow.

“Are both these boys in your care?” Starsky asked.

“Yes, I’m Lenny’s Uncle. I’m babysitting Zig for his brother while he works.”

“Shouldn’t Zig and Lenny be in school?”

“It’s a holiday today.”

“How many minors do you have in your care, Mr Solkin?”

“Well, now, I don’t think that’s any of your business, Detective. I give the boys a home and they’re happy…Aren’t you boys?”

Zig and Lenny both nodded but, whereas Zig seemed happy enough, both men noticed Lenny kept his eyes firmly down and looked uncomfortable. Artie reached out a hand and fingered the boy’s sleeve in a proprietary manner. Hutch fixed Artie with a stare that would have melted an iceberg.

“You’ve collected several different minors from the police department in the last year. They can’t all be your nephews, Solkin.”

Artie sniffed and wiped a hand over his thick lipped mouth.

“I’ve got three nephews. I give them a home and they in turn do odd jobs for me around the place and they keep me company,” Artie’s words crawled out of his mouth and slithered onto the floor. “It’s nice to have company. The other boys I collected ‘cause their families asked me to. We’re all friends here at the Rochford.”

“What kind of odd jobs, do you do, Lenny?” Hutch asked.

“Oh, the boy has a way with his hands. He helps me out around here, mending things, making things. All my nephews are useful like that.”

“Shut your mouth, Solkin, I didn’t ask you, I asked Lenny,” Hutch’s tone was sharp. Artie filled him with revulsion and he was struggling not to show it.

The boy looked from Hutch to Artie and back again.

“What my Uncle said…Odd jobs. You know.”

Artie smirked and nodded his head. “See and it’s Mr Solkin, if you don’t mind, Detective. Now, if you have any other questions for Lenny, I’m sure they can wait till his court appearance. I think it’s time you were on your way.”

Hutch’s fist clenched and unclenched and he felt Starsky take a step closer to him.

“Boys, we don’t need anything else from you at the moment. Why don’t you run along?…We’d just like a word with Mr Solkin before we go.” Starsky suggested, trying to pre-empt Hutch from losing his temper in front of witnesses.

The boys hurried out of the room and Hutch took another step towards Artie and leaned over him threateningly.

“We are going to be watching you, Mister Solkin. You lay another hand on Sarah Smith and we’ll have you in custody before you can say assault. You send another kid out to steal wallets, we’ll charge you as an accessory and with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. You’ve got form in that area.”

Artie shrugged. “I’m on the straight and narrow now and I try to keep the boys that way too. I’d never ask anyone to do anything illegal and you can’t prove that I would.”

“That may be true,” Hutch responded with a voice that clearly showed he didn’t believe a word Artie had said, “But we’re going to seriously cramp your style. Everywhere you go, we’ll be there. Every time one of your kids gets collared and you have to collect them that will be another chain linking them to you…I’m going to spread the word to keep an eye on you and your boys. I hope you slip up soon and do something really stupid. I can’t wait to put you behind bars where you belong.”

Artie dug the dirt out from under a fingernail and tried to look unconcerned but a little sheen of sweat was appearing on his brow and Hutch knew that he had finally got to him. He was about to say more but he felt Starsky’s hand on his shoulder, warning him not to go too far. He straightened up and headed for the door without a backwards glance.

The two of them hurried out of the hotel and out into the sunshine. The Rochford had felt like a black hole, swallowing up light and happiness from anyone who entered. They were both glad to be outside, breathing fresh air.

“You all right, partner?” Starsky asked.

Hutch ran a hand over his face. “Sorry, Starsk. I know I lost it a bit in there…I hate any cases that involve kids.”

“I know you do, pal.”

“I can’t stand seeing them being hurt or used…and that man…the thought he might be…he makes me feel physically sick.”

“Me too.”

Hutch looked at his partner with a bleak expression on his face. “You think all those kids hanging around…?”

“Hard to know,” Starsky said. “Maybe tomorrow we’ll have a word with Social Services and see if they know about this place. See if there’s anything they can do.”

Hutch nodded in agreement. “You were right about the name Hotel ‘Roach. Solkin’s definitely a cockroach.”

“I think a ‘roach would be a step up.”

“You believe in evil, Starsk? Only looking at Artie, I remembered what ‘Lijah said about the devil wearing many faces.” Hutch shuddered.

“Yeah, some people make me believe in evil…Hey, partner, shift’s nearly over. Why don’t we head over to Huggy’s and wash the stink away with a few beers,” Starsky suggested.

Hutch’s face brightened a little. “Sounds good…And thanks,” Hutch said.

“What are you thanking me for?”

“For not giving me a hard time about letting…him…get to me and for making sure I didn’t completely lose it.”

“That’s what partners are for.”

Starsky gently cuffed his partner gently round the head then hopped into the driver’s side of the car. Hutch walked around to the other side and climbed in beside him.

With an exaggerated sigh, Starsky said, “I suppose the beer’s on me as you’re broke?”

“Nah, let’s see if Huggy’ll put it on a tab for us and I’ll pay him next time we go in.”

“Worth a try…I’m starving, I think I’ll have a burger as well.”

Hutch rolled his eyes. “Do you ever stop thinking about food?”

As the car sped along the city streets towards Huggy’s place, Starsky appeared to give the matter some thought. “Nah. What can I say?…I like food and it’s on my mind a lot…almost as much as-”

“-Starsk, don’t say it! There’s such a thing as too much information, even between partners!”

Starsky snorted and Hutch found himself chuckling. After the unsettling meeting with Artie, it was nice to be laughing and putting all thoughts of that particular monster out of mind…at least for a little while.

 

Chapter Four

When they arrived at Huggy Bear’s Bar and Grill, the place was heaving. They could hear Huggy in the kitchen, having a disagreement with one of his staff. It was pretty unusual to hear Huggy raise his voice: he was usually the most laid back person they knew. Starsky raised his eyebrows at Hutch, who shrugged back. They ordered a beer each from the girl behind the bar and grabbed the last two seats at a little table near the pool table. A few minutes later, Huggy appeared carrying plates of food. When he saw them, he winked at them and quickly served the waiting customers before making a beeline for their table.

“What it is?”

“We could ask you the same thing, Hug. Problems?” Hutch enquired.

Huggy sighed. “My cook persuaded me to give his sister’s boy a try as a kitchen help. He’s nearly set fire to the place twice already tonight. You can see it’s hopping in here. I could do without the worry of a fire!”

“Well, we’ll let you get back to it then,” Starsky said.

Huggy paused. “You cats hanging around for a while?”

“Can do, if you want,” Starsky assured him.

“Got something you might want to know but it needs to be a little less crowded…too many ears.”

Hutch nodded. “We won’t go without catching you first,” he promised.

As Huggy went back to serving customers, Starsky stood up. “I’ll go order a burger. What you having? You can have whatever you want as long as it’s under six dollars. I’ve used all my cash up today and I don’t think I’ll ask Huggy about starting a tab tonight. He might lose it.”

“Yeah. Sorry about you having to pay for ‘Lijah and Monroe earlier. I should have done that as it was my idea. I’ll pay you back.”

Starsky sat back down. “Nah, don’t bother. I was glad to do it, buddy. Watching them made me realise how lucky I am.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“So what’ll it be?”

Hutch realised he was hungry and the smell of other people’s French fries were very enticing. “Can I have a club sandwich and fries? Got enough for that?”

Starsky grinned and stood up again. “Yeah, no problem as long as it’s a chicken club and not a lobster one!”

Starsky chuckled at his own joke. Hutch rolled his eyes.

“Funny! You’re hilarious, you know.”

Still chuckling, Starsky swaggered away towards the bar and accosted the girl who was helping Huggy. By the time he’d finished ordering, she was grinning from ear to ear and Hutch was sure he’d seen her pass her number to his partner. When Starsky came back, he was carrying two more beers and a small bag of peanuts.

At Hutch’s enquiring look, he said, “Just to keep me going till our food arrives. Might take a while with this crowd.”

Hutch snorted. “You’re hopeless!”

Starsky shrugged and shoved a handful of peanuts in his mouth. He didn’t bother offering any to Hutch. He knew what the answer would be. The two of them gradually let the stresses of the day melt away as they chatted and ate their meals. When the pool table became free, they played a couple of games. It was getting quite late by the time the crowd started to thin out a little and knowing that they had work again tomorrow, they decided to go look for Huggy. They caught his eye and went and sat on a pair of stools at the far end of the bar. Huggy came over and joined them. He got down to business.

“So I’ve been hearing some chatter. Not sure if it falls in your domain but I don’t know who else I can tell.”

“Chatter about what, Huggy?” the blond asked.

“About a missing Fed. About maybe a turkey seen around a dive called the Red Tulip Bar that ain’t your usual criminal type. Might even be someone whose supposed to be on the good guys’ side.”

Starsky leaned in close. “A dirty cop?”

“Not a cop from what I hear. One of the suits.”

The partners exchanged looks. “Any names?”

“No. No names. Just heard the suit’s been paid to look the other way on certain activities.”

“Anything else?”

Huggy looked around to check that there was no one close enough to hear. “Heard there might be an injured suit hiding out at the marina. Can’t go home ‘cause the dirty suit ordered a hit on him.”

“Thanks, Huggy,” Starsky said, “We’ll look into it.”

Huggy frowned. “You better look into it carefully. Dirty suits, injured suits. That’s some heavy stuff going on there. You be careful.”

Hutch nodded and patted Huggy’s arm. “Yeah, Hug. We’ll be careful. Don’t worry.”

“Heard from another source the suit got a friend owns a boat called The Daisy Chain. It’s moored at the Bay City marina. Maybe you’ll find him there.”

Huggy nodded at the two of them and then went to start clearing the slowly emptying tables and begin the job of closing down the bar for the night.

Starsky said, “If it’s true and it’s someone in Watkin’s own department, who do we trust?”

“Me and Thee, I guess.”

“You think the two of us can handle corruption on a Federal scale? What about Dobey? Think we ought to let him in on it so we got back-up if this thing goes south?”

Hutch thought for a minute then he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. This could be pretty big, Starsk. I think maybe we should let him in on what we’ve heard and get his advice. I trust him.”

“Yeah, I do too…We were supposed to be on a later shift tomorrow. Think it’s safe to talk at the office or should we try to catch him at home?”

“Let’s catch him at home before he leaves for the office. How about I stay at your place? We could catch a few hours’ sleep and then head over to see him early. What do you think?”

“I think that sounds like a good plan,” Starsky said. “Come on, I need my beauty sleep.”

“There won’t be enough hours to help you and your face!”

“Ha ha.”

Starsky pretended to swipe at Hutch’s head then threw an arm around his friend’s shoulders as they left the bar.                 Huggy had heard the end of the conversation and shook his head fondly as he watched his two young friends heading out the door. He hoped they wouldn’t get themselves into more trouble than usual.

*****

It was a little after seven thirty in the morning when the two detectives drove up to the Dobey’s home and parked outside. A little hesitantly, they walked up the path and knocked on the front door. They’d never been to their captain’s house before and they didn’t know how he would react to the intrusion into his home. A friendly looking lady answered the door.

“Yes? How can I help you?”

They showed their badges to her and Starsky explained: “Sorry to disturb you, Ma’am. We were wondering if we could have a word with Captain Dobey before he leaves for work. I’m Detective Starsky and-”

“-Oh, of course and you must be Detective Hutchinson. I’m Edith. Please come in and I’ll find Harold for you.”

As Edith Dobey hurried upstairs, Hutch raised an eyebrow at Starsky and whispered: “She knows who we are. Do you think that’s a bad thing or a good thing?”

As they waited in the hallway, a little girl came out of the kitchen and stared at them. She looked about three.

Starsky squatted down and said, “Hi sweetheart, I’m Dave. What’s your name?”

“Rosie,” the little girl answered shyly.

Just then Dobey and his wife appeared at the top of the stairs. Dobey did not look happy to see them. He was still doing up his tie as he and his wife walked down the stairs.

“This had better be important,” he said gruffly.

Before they could answer, Edith interjected: “Of course, it’s important, Harold. They wouldn’t be here otherwise. Why don’t you take them in the den and I’ll bring coffee for you all?”

“All right, my dear,” Dobey said, mellowing a little.

As Edith took Rosie off into the kitchen, their captain led the two detectives into his den and took a seat on the comfortable looking leather chair.

“So what’s so important that you couldn’t wait to see me at the office?”

“We’ve had a tip that the missing Fed might be hiding down at the marina,” Hutch explained.

“Well, that’s good news,” Dobey said. “I’ll let Reeves know.”

Starsky shook his head. “About that, Cap. We’d rather you didn’t contact him until Hutch and I have had a chance to talk to Watkins.”

“Why’s that?”

Hutch took a deep breath. “Well, Captain, the thing is we’ve also heard that there’s a crooked Fed who’s put a hit out on Watkins.”

“What?!” Dobey couldn’t have sounded more surprised.

There was a knock at the door and Edith came in carrying a tray with three mugs of coffee. She was followed by Rosie, who was very carefully carrying a bowl with a couple of cookies in.

“Rosie really wanted to help me so she’s carrying the cookies,” Edith explained.

Starsky crouched down again in front of the little girl. “Thank you, Rosie, that’s very kind of ya,” he said. “Can my friend, Hutch, have one too?”

Rosie nodded solemnly and took a step closer to Hutch and offered him a cookie.

“Thanks Rosie.” Hutch smiled at her and she smiled back.

“Well, I’d better make sure Cal is ready to go to school. I’ll leave you to it.” As she headed out of the door, Edith paused and turned. “How about you boys come and have dinner with us one evening?”

Harold nearly choked on his coffee. “Edith!” he spluttered.

“What, dear?” Edith asked innocently. “You’re always saying what fine young men they are. I’d like to get to know them better.”

“Edith! I said no such thing!”

Starsky recovered first. “Thank you, Mrs Dobey. That would be very nice.”

“Call me, Edith. Why don’t you come to dinner this Sunday? ‘Bout six?”

Hutch was trying to catch his partner’s eye to stop him but it was too late. Starsky replied for both of them. “Thanks for the invite. We’ll be here at six.”

Hutch looked at the ceiling and tried not to catch Dobey’s eye. Starsky was too busy making faces at Rosie, which was making her laugh, to notice the strained atmosphere.

“Well, good,” Edith stated. “We’ll see you both on Sunday. Come along, Rosie.”

As the door closed behind her, Dobey sighed then suddenly he was chuckling. “What Edith wants, Edith usually gets,” he said fondly.

Hutch breathed a sigh of relief: glad that Starsky hadn’t just committed career suicide.

“Now,” demanded Dobey, as he returned them to the business at hand, “tell me what your source said.”

Hutch filled him in on Huggy’s message and added, “…So we want to talk to Watkins and see if he is really hiding from his own department.”

Dobey scratched his chin and looked thoughtful. “All right. You see if you can locate him and find out what the real deal is. I won’t say anything to Reeves until we know more. I want you in my office by midday…preferably with an answer as to what is really going on.”

“Thanks,” Starsky said. “We knew we could count on you, Cap.”

Dobey managed to frown and look gratified at the same time. He had tried getting Starsky to call him captain or sir. After five weeks of trying, he’d finally decided, it was never going to happen so he’d begun to let it slide. Truth be told, he quite liked Starsky’s informal name for him and it was nice to know the two young detectives trusted him. He levered himself out of the chair and led them to the front door. Opening it, he nodded at both of them.

“Get to it, both of you…and be careful.”

Starsky grinned at him. “Of course, Cap. We wouldn’t want to run the risk of missing out on Sunday dinner.”

Dobey grimaced and closed the door.

Hutch slapped his partner on the back. “You certainly like to live dangerously, Starsky!”

Starsky grinned even wider. “Worth it! I bet Edith’s dinner’s going to be great.”

As they walked towards the car, Starsky heard Hutch mutter: “He never stops thinking about his stomach!”

*****

It was still early when they arrived at the Bay City Marina. It was a beautiful morning, with just a few wispy clouds in the bright blue sky. Summer was trying to hang on, even though Fall was edging its way into the world, and there was still a little warmth in the sunshine. There was a light breeze making the ropes and tackles covering the masts on each boat, whether large or small, rattle and jangle. It was a pleasant sound.

The two detectives found the harbour master’s office and asked for the location of The Daisy Chain, saying that the owner had been a witness in an accident and they just had some follow up questions for him. As the man looked up the dock number for them, Starsky managed to look over his shoulder and get the owner’s name. Ben Travis.

They walked along the wooden quays until they came to the one leading down to where The Daisy Chain was moored. She was a small motorised boat with a white hull and a chain of daisies painted across the stern. As they got closer, they spotted a young man just coming out of the two berth cabin onto the deck. Trying not to look as if they were staring at him, they made their way closer.

When they reached the boat, Hutch called out: “Mr Travis? We’re from Bay City Police Department. We’d like to ask you a few questions.”

Both of them showed their badges and Travis looked at them nervously. For a minute, he looked as if he might try to start the engine and run but then he jumped down from the hull onto the quayside next to them. He had sandy coloured hair, an open face with a few freckles around his nose.

“What’s this about?”

Hutch looked around to check there was no-one within ear shot. “We’re here about a friend of yours. Samuel Watkins.”

“Who?”

Starsky took a step closer and spoke softly: “Look, we know you got no reason to trust us but we understand that Watkins is in trouble. We’d like to help if we can.”

Travis looked uncertain. “I don’t know…”

Hutch tried to reassure him. “We’ve reason to believe that there’s a dirty Federal Agent gunning for your friend. We want to help keep him safe. Is he here?”

Travis hesitated a moment longer, trying to judge whether he could trust them or not. Deciding they seemed genuine, he gave in. “Yeah, Sam’s here. You’d better come on board.”

He clambered back on to The Daisy Chain and led both detectives down into the cabin area. Watkins was lying on one of the two beds. He looked as if he was in his early thirties, had short brown hair with a bit that stuck out at the front, hazel eyes and a freckled face, which at the moment was unnaturally pale. He was wearing blue sweat pants and a loose fitting t-shirt and his left arm was being supported by a high sling that looked as if it was tied that way to keep his shoulder immobile. He was holding a gun in a trembling hand. He looked terrified.

Hutch held out a placating hand, as he explained, “We’re here to help. I’m Detective Hutchinson. This is my partner, Detective Starsky. We’re with the Bay City Police Department.”

Watkins looked them both over with suspicion. “Who sent you guys? Why are you here?”

“To help you, if we can,” Starsky said, “but we need to know exactly what is going on?”

“Why should I trust you?” Watkins tried to sit up, wincing as he did so. The gun drooped a little.

Hutch spoke: “How about we tell you what we know so far and then you tell us where we’re wrong or right and then you can tell us what happened to you and why you’re hiding?”

Watkins looked at Travis, who nodded at him. Watkins’ expression softened slightly and he decided to put his gun down on the bed, keeping it close just in case. He winced again and Travis rushed to his side, puffing up the pillows to help him sit a bit straighter. When he’d finished, he perched on the same bunk as Watkins. Sitting next to each other, it was easy to see a family resemblance between their two faces.

“You two related?” Starsky asked.

“Yeah, Travis is my cousin.”

Hutch sat down on one end of the unoccupied bunk while Starsky chose to sit on the steps leading up to the deck. Hutch cleared his throat.

“For us, this thing started on Wednesday morning when a homeless man handed in your badge and we found your bloodied jacket in a dumpster behind the Red Tulip Bar. Our captain reported the discoveries to your department and Agent Reeves and Agent Thomas turned up at our office. They told us that you and your partner had been tailing a buyer as part of a drugs ring operation.”

Clearly anxious, Watkins leaned forward as he interrupted Hutch: “How was Thomas? Is he okay?”

Starsky answered, “Worried about you, I think, but otherwise okay.”

“Good.” Watkins leaned back against his pillows again.

Hutch carried on: “Reeves told us that your team were staking out the players but not the bar itself. He wanted to know who’d handed in the badge but I’m afraid we didn’t tell him that.”

Starsky added: “Because I think we’re right no homeless people had a hand in your disappearance?”

Watkins nodded confirmation.

“Yesterday, we came across Reeves and your team rounding up homeless people from the neighbourhood around the Red Tulip Bar but, unfortunately for them, they didn’t get the man who’d handed in your badge,” Hutch informed him. “We’ve spoken to him again and a friend of his told him he heard a shot near the bar on Tuesday night.”

Watkins nodded again.

“Was it your shoulder that got hit?” Starsky asked.

“Yeah…Travis got the bullet out for me and patched me up.”

“You need to see a proper doctor. I’m worried that wound’s going to get infected,” Travis muttered, looking a little pale as he recalled his attempts to get the bullet out.

“I can’t go to a doctor till I know it’s safe.” Watkins nudged his cousin’s shoulder with his good one. Travis sighed.

Hutch told the pair the last piece of information they had been told: “Last night, a friend of ours passed on some chatter he’d heard about an injured Fed hiding out down at the marina and that he was hiding because a dirty Fed was trying to kill him.”

Watkins and Travis shared a panicked look.

Starsky was quick to say, “Don’t worry. We haven’t told anyone, except our captain, about what we heard. You can trust us and you can trust him. But if we’ve heard about where you are, it won’t be long before word gets round.”

Hutch took up the conversation: “So we’re here to find out what’s really going on and how can we help you?”

Watkins looked at Travis and asked: “What do you think?”

“Tell them everything you told me. You’re not going to be able to sort this out on your own. You need help.”

Watkins sighed. “I guess I just have to hope you guys are on the level because I’m in deep trouble and I don’t know who to turn to.”

“You can trust us,” Hutch reassured him, “What happened that night? Why’d you go back to the bar?”

“Thomas and I have an informant called Jarvis. He’s normally reliable. A few weeks ago, he told us he’d heard a rumour that someone in our agency was looking the other way on some activities related to the drugs coming in from Mexico. Taking bribes from the Hernandez Brothers to not pass on information, being slow to set up operations to track the drugs coming in, and not looking too closely into what was going down here in Bay City. We didn’t know what to do about it so we told our superior and kept our ears out for information until we could find out more.

When the operation was set up to catch the Hernandez Brothers delivering and Benny receiving the goods, we thought it must just have been a rumour. We’d been following Benny for almost a week, waiting for a sign that a deal was going down. Tuesday night, we’d just swapped over with another team of agents and Thomas and I headed home. I dropped him off first and was almost at my place when I had a message through from our office to say Jarvis had asked me to meet him behind the Red Tulip Bar at midnight. I asked the office to ring Thomas and get him to meet me.”

Starsky and Hutch exchanged looks.

“What?” Watkins asked.

“Well, neither Reeves nor your partner mentioned any messages from your informant,” Starsky let him know.

Watkins frowned. “Well, I guess someone lured me there but it obviously wasn’t Jarvis. There was no sign of him when I got there. Suddenly, the back door of the bar opened and before I knew it, someone was shooting at me…hit me in the shoulder and I fell down. I managed to fire back and clipped his leg, I think. I only saw him for a matter of seconds but I think it was Luis, a known associate of the Hernandez Brothers. He dragged himself back into the Bar. I presume he went for help to finish me off. He probably didn’t think I was up to going anywhere. I was bleeding quite a lot so I took my jacket off to get at my shirt and tear off enough material to pad my wound and then I made a run for it. Two blocks over I managed to grab a cab and got him to bring me here to the marina. It was the only place I could think of that people in my department might not know about.”

Hutch wanted to know: “The message that was from Jarvis, did it ask for just you or both of you?”

Watkins thought for a moment. “Both of us, I think.”

“But that could have been just to not make you suspicious. I mean Thomas didn’t turn up, did he?”

“It has to be a fake message,” Watkins said firmly, “Thomas is my partner and my best friend…No, Sam would never betray me or the department.”

Hutch couldn’t help smiling. “Your partner’s called Sam? Isn’t that your name too?”

Watkins couldn’t help chuckling. “I know, ridiculous isn’t it?” His face grew serious as he looked at both Starsky and Hutch. “He wouldn’t betray me.”

“Then it’s got to be Reeves or whoever his superior is, don’t you think?” Starsky said.

Hutch agreed: “It’s looking more and more like it. We’ll need to do a bit of digging…I think we need to get you away from here and probably Travis too. It might not be safe for him to stay here by himself, if someone wants to find you badly enough,” Hutch suggested.

Starsky nodded and looked at Hutch. “What are you thinking? Huggy’s?”

“Yeah, I think that would be the safest place.”

“Pack up some clothes enough for a couple of days,” Starsky told them both, “and we’ll get you out of here to somewhere safe.”

As Travis shoved clothes for both of them into a couple of bags, Watkins said, “Do you think you could get word to Thomas. Let him know that I’m alive.”

Starsky nodded. “Yeah, we can do that.”

 

Chapter Five

Starsky and Hutch were sitting in Dobey’s office when there was a knock at the door and Agent Thomas opened it. He seemed to be on his own, which was good news as far as the three members of BCPD were concerned.

“Come in, Agent Thomas,” Dobey said. “We have an update for you.”

“Agent Reeves not with you today?” Starsky asked.

“No…He sent me to see what you had to say…Look, about the other day, I’m sorry I got so frantic. I’m just worried about my partner.”

“That’s all right, son,” Dobey said. As Starsky got up and moved to sit on the arm of Hutch’s chair, the captain suggested, “Why don’t you sit down?”

When Thomas was settled, Dobey said, “We have an official report for you and then I think my men have an unofficial report for you.”

“Okay.”

“So officially, we received a tip saying that a wounded agent had been spotted down at the Bay City Marina.”

“At the marina? That’s where my partner’s cousin keeps a boat. Any luck finding him?”

“A thorough investigation was made. I can say that Agent Watkins is definitely not at the marina.” In his mind, Dobey added the word ‘now’ and hoped that his Heavenly Father would forgive him for the very careful wording of his official report. There was a man’s life to protect and that seemed to be the greater truth for the moment. “We’re sorry we don’t have better news for your department but we will keep looking. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to take these reports to the Chief of Detectives. I will be gone about fifteen minutes.” Dobey picked up a pile of reports and stood up. As he headed towards the door, he said, “If you’re not here when I get back, Agent Thomas, I hope you hear good news soon.”

Then he made his way out of the office, closing the door firmly behind him. Thomas looked at the two detectives, clearly confused by Dobey’s sudden departure.

Keeping his voice low, Hutch said, “Sam asked us to tell you he’s alive and well and hopes to see you in Santa Fe.”

Thomas breathed out a huge sigh of relief. If Sam had told these two to use the words Santa Fe, the message must be from him. “Oh, thank God. Is he okay? Really?”

“He’s got a shoulder wound but he’s okay. A friend of ours is looking after him and Travis.”

“So he was at the marina then? With Travis?”

“Yeah but we thought it might be safer for both of them to be somewhere else.”

Thomas nodded. “I won’t ask to see him…it’s probably better if I don’t yet, in case someone follows me. Did he say who tried to kill him?”

“He went to the Red Tulip Bar because he was told there’d been a message from your informant, Jarvis, and he asked the office to call you to meet him there.”

“I never got that message,” Thomas confirmed.

Hutch asked, “Can you find out who was in the office when you came off shift and who would have had access to be able to call through with that message?”

“Yes, I can try and find out who was in Tuesday night. We all have to sign in so there should be a record.”

“Do it carefully. Someone has already tried to kill your partner. They might go after you next if they think you’re digging into this.”

Agent Thomas nodded.

“Watkins said your informant, Jarvis, had passed on some talk of an agent being paid to look the other way. He thinks it’s related to the drugs ring operated by the Hernandez Brothers. Especially, as he thinks it was a guy called Luis who shot him. You got anyone you suspect? Watkins said you’d passed that information onto Reeves and no-one else,” Starsky said.

Thomas sighed. “I don’t want to think it’s Reeves. He’s been a good boss and he’s been with the department forever. But we didn’t pass that information on to anyone else…I guess it could be his boss but he’s not really hands-on in investigations…Reeves has more say in how we run ops…I don’t know…It’s hard not knowing who to trust.”

“Well, you can trust us…and when the time comes to move on this, you can trust Dobey to call in the right people and get this sorted out,” Hutch said firmly.

“Thanks…and thanks for keeping Watkins safe. I’d better get back to Reeves and tell him the sighting at the marina has been investigated.”

“We’ve got someone who may have seen the crooked agent at the Red Tulip Bar. We’ll look into it and let you know if we find anything out.”

Thomas got up to go. “Thanks. This is my direct line and my home number,” he said and passed a card to Starsky, who put it in his pocket.

Hutch handed Thomas a similar size card. “Those are our direct lines here, our home phones and the number of a friend of ours where we can be reached in an emergency.”

“Thanks.”

As Thomas left Dobey’s office, the two detectives headed back to their desks. They were planning to do a little paper work before they headed out again. Hutch was looking at all the information Detective Services had collected on the Hernandez Brothers and Starsky was reading the BCPD file on Benny.

A perky strawberry-blonde haired woman came into the squad room and spoke to the detective nearest the door. “I’m looking for Detectives Starsky and…Hutchinson.”

Hutch waved his hand. “That’s us. What can we do for you?”

“I’m Gail Knight from Child Services. I understand you have some concerns about a Hotel Rochford and some of the teenage children living there?”

Hutch grabbed a chair from another desk and motioned Gail to sit down.

“Yes, that’s right. We were wondering if the Hotel’s on your radar. We’ve had several cases of petty larceny in the last year where the juvenile in question gave that hotel as his address and the guardian or responsible adult who collected him was the same man in each case, one Arthur Solkin.”

“Known as Artie to his friends, that’s if he had any,” Starsky added. “And when we visited yesterday, there were a number of teens hanging around who probably should have been in school.”

Gail pulled a file from her voluminous bag and started flicking through it.

“Well, we did a spot check in that area eighteen months ago and found four truants and two runaways. It might well be time for another check-up. If I can arrange it with my department, would officers from this division be available to help?”

Hutch stood up. “Let me introduce you to my captain and I’m sure he can get something organised for Monday.”

The two detectives accompanied her into Dobey’s office and filled him in on the pickpocket they had picked up yesterday and their encounter with Artie Solkin. After several phone calls and discussions, it was arranged that there would be a joint operation on Monday at 0930.

*****

Just after lunch, the phone on Starsky’s desk rang. “Detective Starsky. How can I help?”

“It’s me, Agent Thomas.”

Starsky checked there was no-one else in the squad room before indicating to Hutch that he should come closer so he could listen to the call as well. He held the receiver at an angle as he spoke: “So you find anything out?”

“Yeah. Reeves was the only one in the office on Tuesday night.”

“I see.”

“There’s more. He called all of us into his office a few minutes ago and informed us of an op he’s setting up for tomorrow night. The Hernandez Brothers have been seen in Bay City and an informant has said that there’s a buy going down tomorrow night. The only thing is Reeves said he had two informants give him two different locations so he’s splitting our team in two and trying to cover both.”

“Has he asked for back-up from BCPD?” Hutch asked.

“Even as we speak. He’s going to ask your captain for one undercover team to supplement our numbers: he wants you two to work with him and me to cover Warehouse 27 on Mill Road while Barnes, Garcia, Mitchell and Bernstein cover the Red Tulip Bar.”

“Sounds like a set-up to me, wanting the three of us on the team he’s leading. Sounds like he might know we’re on to him,” Starsky said.

Hutch agreed.

“So what do I do?” Thomas asked.

“You carry on as if everything is normal,” Starsky said, “and we’ll speak to our captain. I think it would be good if we had our own backup waiting at Mill Road. If the plan changes at all, we’ll let you know. Can you get away this afternoon?”

“Yes, I should be able to. Why?”

“Why don’t you meet us at Huggy Bear’s Bar and Grill around 1600? Then we can fill you in on what our captain says.”

Hutch said, “Until then, be careful.”

“Thanks.”

“And make sure you’re not followed,” Hutch added.

“I’ll be careful. See you later.”

Starsky put the phone down and the two of them went to knock on Dobey’s door. He called for them to come in and, when they pushed open the door, indicated they should take a seat as he was still talking on the phone.

When the conversation finished, Dobey said, “Well. That was Agent Reeves asking for your help with a drugs bust tomorrow night.”

“Agent Thomas just rang and told us he was going to ask for us,” Hutch said. “Captain, Thomas has found out that Reeves was the only agent in the office on Tuesday night. It’s definitely looking like he set Watkins up. He may even have been hoping to rid of get Thomas too.”

“We think Reeves wants all of us in one place so he can set up a bad bust,” Starsky added, “he’s probably roped in the Hernandez Brothers to bring in extra fire power so he can take out a nuisance agent and a couple of nosy cops.”

“What we’d like to do, is let him think we don’t suspect him and go along with the op he’s put in place. Of course, we’ll need you to arrange back-up for us, Captain,” Hutch explained. “A lot of it but well out of sight of Reeves and the drug dealers.”

Dobey thought for a few seconds and then said, “No.”

“No?” Starsky and Hutch asked at the same time.

“It’s too dangerous. I am not putting my men in harm’s way in a situation that has very little room for controlling the participants. Lots of scope for someone getting injured badly or worse.”

Starsky went to interrupt but Dobey held up a hand to stop him. “Just listen for a moment, please, Detective. This is not my first rodeo. I have a plan in mind. If Agent Reeves is dirty, I want him out of the picture and the Feds to get a nice clean bust tomorrow. If the Hernandez Brothers get spooked, the Feds will just have to start their operation over. It can’t be helped. But if Agent Reeves isn’t dirty then we’ll be doing him a favour by proving it one way or the other.”

The two detectives looked at each other and nodded slowly. Hutch was the one to ask the question: “What do you suggest?”

Dobey wiped a hankie over his face. “I suggest we get Watkins to call Reeves and tell him he wants to come in but he’s afraid that there’s someone on the take in the department; that he knows that the call by his informant was a set-up and he doesn’t know who to trust. That way we can get Reeves to come to a location of our choice and we can control the environment. And we’ll need to do it tonight…so we need to get a full proof plan thought out and executed in just a few hours. Think Watkins will go for it?”

“Yes, sir,” Hutch said.

Dobey picked up the phone and called two more senior detectives to come into the room. He explained the situation to Wilson and McGinty and the five of them set about planning the location, where each man would be stationed and for Starsky and Hutch to call Watkins and see if he was happy to play along. They decided on the pier as the ideal location for the meeting. There were enough places for the detectives to watch without being seen. Watkins would wear a wire and Dobey also insisted that they all collected and wore bullet proof vests, just in case, it came down to a shoot-out.

As Wilson and McGinty left the office, saying, “See you at six,” Starsky stood up and said, “We’ll go get Watkins ready. Thomas is due to meet us at four so we can let him know the plan, Cap.”

“All right…and I’ll see you at the Pier at six…and keep your wits about you.”

“We will, Cap,” Starsky said.

“Only Edith will be mad if you don’t make it to dinner on Sunday,” he said, gruffly.

Both detectives knew what their captain was really trying to say.

“Got ya back, Cap. We wouldn’t want Edith mad at ya,” Starsky said with a grin and followed Hutch out of the door.

*****

Watkins, Travis, Starsky and Hutch were sitting in a little room upstairs at Huggy’s when there was a knock on the door. They were expecting Agent Thomas but couldn’t afford to take chances. Travis and Watkins scooted into the bathroom, while the two detectives took their guns out and stood either side of the door.

When they were in position, Hutch asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Thomas.”

Hutch opened the door slowly and checked. Then he let him in.

“You weren’t followed?”

“No, I took a very circuitous route here so I think I would have spotted a tail. Reeves thinks everything’s set for tomorrow night so I don’t think he’s bothering to keep tabs on me at the moment.”

He looked around expectantly and his face broke into a grin when he saw his partner and Travis emerging from the bathroom.

“Sammo! Good to see you, buddy. Travis thank for looking after him.”

Watkins gave his partner half a hug with his good arm. “Good to see you too, buddy.”

“You all right? How’s your shoulder?” Thomas sounded concerned.

“It’s fine. It won’t slow me down none.”

“You up for playing bait tonight?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah, I can’t go on hiding for ever. I just want to get back to my normal life.”

“What’s the plan?”

The three of them filled Thomas in on what was going to happen.

Then Starsky suggested they all had something to eat before they went on duty, and added, “Hutch and I will eat downstairs because we often hang out here and nobody will think anything unusual about us being here. Leave you guys to catch up a bit. Give us your orders and we’ll get Huggy to bring them up here for you. Then at five thirty, Thomas you go ahead to the pier and get in position. Watkins, you’ll call Reeves and ask him to meet you at six thirty so he doesn’t have too much time to think about it and then you sneak your way downstairs. We’ll meet you in the back alleyway and head off in Hutch’s car.”

“I’m afraid, you’ll have to stay here until this over, Travis,” Hutch stated, “But we’ll ring you as soon as it’s over and let you know when you can go back to the marina.”

Travis nodded. “Good luck to all of you. Hope it goes smoothly.”

“Thanks,” Starsky said, “So do we.”

*****

Everyone had taken up their positions. Dobey was sat in a van at one end of the car park near the pier. He was keeping in touch with Thomas, Hutch and McGinty by radio. He had a technician with him, who was going to record everything picked up from Watkins’ wire. Wilson and McGinty were stationed on the pier, out of sight just a little way from The Lobster Pot. The café was open until 1930 this time of year as the nights were still quite light and there were a few folks around wanting food and refreshments. Starsky and Hutch were sitting in Hutch’s car at the other end of the car park and Agent Thomas was lurking around the corner of the café in case Reeves took Watkins towards the steps leading down to the beach.

Ten minutes before 1830, Watkins walked into the café and ordered a coffee and made himself comfortable at a table in one corner, where he could see the door but not be visible from outside. Two minutes before the set meeting time, a black saloon car pulled into the car park and parked in a space close to the pier. Two men got out: one was Reeves; one matched the description of Luis. They walked towards the pier. When they reached The Lobster Pot, Reeves went inside and Luis hovered outside.

Dobey spoke to his waiting detectives, warning them to be on their toes.

Dobey heard Reeves say: “Agent Watkins. I’m glad to see you. Are you all right?”

“I’ll live but I’d like to know what the hell is going on. You said on the phone that you had some idea of who tried to kill me? Is it safe for me to come out of hiding yet?”

“Yes, I know who’s responsible. You don’t need to worry about that anymore. Let’s go back to the office and you can file your report and I’ll fill you in on what’s been happening while you’ve been in hiding.”

“I ought to let my partner know I’m all right. I’d like to phone him as soon as we get there.”

“No need,” Reeves lied, “I’ve asked him to meet us at the office. Shall we head off now?”

Dobey watched through his binoculars and saw Watkins and Reeves walk out of the café. He ordered Wilson, McGinty and Thomas to carefully move up their positions and keep the men in sight. As soon as the two agents got outside, Luis stepped up close behind Watkins. To Dobey, it was clear he was holding a gun to Watkins’ back.

“What’s going on?” Watkins asked.

Reeves’ cold voice answered: “We’re going to take a little ride, Agent Watkins, and then all your problems will be over…as will mine.”

As the three of them walked towards Reeves’ car, the watching team took actions. Hutch started the car engine. Wilson and McGinty walked away from the pier as if they were going towards a parked car. Reeves paid them no mind.

“Why? Why are you doing this? Why are you working with scum like Luis?” Watkins demanded.

“The Hernandez Brothers pay a lot better than the Federal Government. I was tired of being paid peanuts. Tomorrow’s shipment getting through is going to be the last one I’m paid for then I’m going to take early retirement and move away. You and your stupid informant were trying to mess up my plans. So I’m removing you from the equation.”

They had reached the car. Watkins said, “You won’t be able to stop Sam investigating if you kill me. He’ll find out what you’ve done.”

“Yes, well, I’m sorry to say that poor Agent Thomas is going to get caught in the cross fire tomorrow during a botched drugs bust so it doesn’t look like anyone will be any the wiser.” Reeves opened the back door of the saloon, “Now get in.”

Reeves had said quite enough for Dobey’s purposes, he gave the order to his men to move. Hutch revved the engine and quickly drove across the car park, coming to a stop at an angle in front of the black saloon, stopping Reeves’ car from going anywhere. Wilson, McGinty and Thomas came running towards Reeves and Luis with their guns at the ready. Starsky and Hutch jumped out of their car, guns aimed right at Reeves’ heart.

“It’s over, Reeves, drop your gun,” Watkins said.

Reeves considered for a split second and then, realising there was no way he could outshoot five guns, sighed and dropped his gun to the ground. Watkins kicked it towards McGinty, who picked it up and stepped forward to cuff the agent. Luis shook his head and dropped his gun to the ground, putting his hands in the air. Starsky stepped up and cuffed him and led him round to the back of Hutch’s car.

Dobey walked over to the group and patted Watkins on his good shoulder.

“Well done, son. That took a lot of nerve. You and Thomas come along to our department and we’ll get this whole mess sorted out.”

“Thank you, Captain Dobey. Thank you for all your help. We owe you all a lot,” Watkins said, as he waved in the direction of the different detectives, including all of them in his comment.

“Nice clean operation, everyone,” Dobey said to his detectives. “Well done. Let’s get these two booked and then write up your reports. After that I want you to go home and enjoy your weekends.”

Wilson and McGinty led Reeves away to their car. Dobey nodded at them and then walked back to the van so he could get back to the office with the recording of Agent Reeves and contact his own superiors and Reeves’ superiors. Starsky and Hutch grinned at each other for a job well done as they watched a very happy Thomas and Watkins talking nineteen to the dozen as they headed towards Thomas’s car. The two young men were clearly glad to be back together as partners and that was a sentiment both detectives could understand all too well.

 

Chapter Six

“Hey Hutch, look what I got,” Starsky called out as he came striding into Hutch’s cottage. He was carrying a paper bag and holding a red yoyo in one hand.

It was Saturday afternoon. Both detectives had had a well-deserved lie-in that morning but had arranged to go for a jog that afternoon.

Hutch finished putting his running t-shirt on before asking: “Starsky, aren’t you a bit old for a yoyo?”

“No, dummy, it’s not for me, it’s for Dobey’s son, Cal. Didn’t know what he’d like so I figured you can’t go wrong with a yoyo.”

“That’s a nice thought, buddy.”

Starsky put the yoyo on the square dining table and pulled an object out of the paper bag. “I got this for Rosie. Think she’ll like it?”

It was a soft toy in the shape of a horse but coloured with rainbow stripes. “I think she’ll love it. Think we ought to get something for Edith.”

“Yeah, we can pick up some flowers on the way back today or tomorrow before we go for dinner,” Starsky said as he put the horse and the yoyo back in the bag and left it on the table. “So where are we going for our run this afternoon? Beach or park.”

“Let’s go to the park. You’ll want ice cream if we go to the beach and it’s not the right weather for ice cream.”

Starsky shook his head. “There is no wrong weather for ice cream, pal, but we can go to the park if you like.”

They left the house and drove to the park in Starsky’s car. They jogged around the edge of the park and then cut across the middle of it. They were just heading back to the car when Hutch suddenly stopped. It took Starsky a couple of seconds to realise that his partner wasn’t by his side. He jogged back to where Hutch was standing. The blond was watching a crowd on the other side of the park.

“What’s up, partner?”

“Tell me that’s not Lenny and Zig over there,” Hutch demanded.

Starsky peered into the distance. “Not sure…Maybe. Want to get a closer look?”

“Yeah…If it is them, it might be good opportunity to talk to them away from Solkin.”

The two detectives made their way across the park. As they got nearer to the back of the crowd, they could see that the people had gathered to watch Sarah juggle. They exchanged looks. Lenny spotted them and froze. His jacket was bulging, looking like he had items stuffed in his pockets that weren’t his. He didn’t run but looked anxiously to see where Zig was. Zig was just working his way round the side of the crowd. He was whistling a little tune and dancing as he came along. Hutch walked up to Lenny, who started backing away.

“We’re not on duty, Lenny. We’re not going to bust anyone today.”

Lenny stared at him anxiously. Zig came over and stood next to the older boy.

He smiled nervously at Hutch and said, “Hi Mister.”

“Hi Zig. How are you today?”

“All right.”

The crowd started to wander away as Sarah finished her juggling and packed her basket up. She walked over to the two boys and the two detectives.

“I’m in a public place. You can’t charge me with anything,” she said.

Hutch held up his hands in mock surrender.

“Hey, we’re not on duty. Just out for a run in the park. Right, Starsk?”

“Yep. Just out enjoying the park and my friend here was just about to buy me an ice cream. Would you like one too?”

Hutch looked surprised and glanced around. Trust Starsky to spot an ice cream cart at a hundred paces. He sighed.

“Yeah, ice creams are on me if you’d like one.”

The kids all looked at each other uncertainly. Finally, the thought of free ice cream won them over. Hutch bought four cones. Sarah and Lenny had vanilla. Starsky and Zig chose bubblegum flavour. Hutch winced at the bright colour and tried not to think about the sugar and chemicals he was probably letting the kid consume. Or should that be kids? He shook his head fondly at his partner and pocketed his change. The five of them found a patch of grass to sit on and settled down to lick their cones, all except for Hutch.

“I can’t believe you’re not having one, Hutch,” Starsky said, disbelief clear in his voice. “How can you resist ice cream? Sometimes, I just don’t understand you.”

Hutch shook his head again and ignored his partner. He turned to Sarah.

“It’s a nice day for juggling in the park but what happens when winter rolls around? You got anything else lined up to earn some money?”

Sarah shook her head. “No, not yet…I mean I don’t know what I’ll be doing yet.”

“You mean you don’t know what Solkin’s going to get you to do yet?” Hutch said softly. “Do you want to work for Solkin, Sarah? Or do you want something better for yourself?”

Sarah looked away. When she turned back, she said, “It’s just a stop gap until I get enough money to move to a better place. I don’t have to give Artie much so I’m saving some.”

“Sarah!” Lenny hissed. “Shut up. Artie wouldn’t like you talking to cops.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not here and it’s a free country…You don’t like him anymore than I do, Lenny.”

“He’s all right, he’s been good to me, given me a place to live.”

“What happened to your folks, Lenny?” Starsky asked.

“I ain’t saying nothing else. Thanks for the ice cream but I gotta get back. You coming Zig? Artie’s waiting.”

Zig was still eating his cone but Lenny tried to pull him up by his elbow.

“Leave him be, Lenny. I’ll bring him along when he’s finished.”

Lenny glared at Sarah and then stormed off. She sighed.

“Lenny’s been with Artie a long time. I think he’s got him brain washed. Zig, here, is too young to know what’s going on really. He’s got his older brother trying to look out for him. Jango’s got a job at least so he and Zig’ll be all right.”

“How did you do at school, Sarah? Got any qualifications?” Hutch enquired.

“Some.”

“Well, if you ever try to get a proper job, I’d be happy to give you a reference if you need one.”

Sarah frowned. “What’s in it for you?”

“We all need a helping hand sometime. I just can’t stand seeing you anywhere near that creep and if you decide you want to get away from him, I’d be happy to help you.”

Sarah looked away again and didn’t say anything.

“I’ve finished my cone, Sarah,” Zig announced.

“Well, we’d better head home then, Zig,” Sarah said. “Jango will be home soon.”

She got up and dusted herself down. Starsky and Hutch stood up too.

“Thanks for the ice cream,” Sarah said.

“Yeah, Mister. Thanks for the ice cream,” Zig said, hopping on one leg. “You’re real nice, Mister.”

Hutch patted the boy’s head and smiled at him. “Bye, Zig. Look after yourself.”

As the two youngsters walked away, Hutch turned and looked sadly at Starsky.

“You can’t rescue every kid, pal. I know you want to but you can’t. Try not to get too involved.” Starsky’s understanding smile belied his warning.

“I know, Starsk. I know. It’s just…”

“Cases with kids…I know. They get under my skin too. Just be careful or you’ll end up torn up by this one.”

Hutch nodded.

“Come on, pal. Time to go.”

Hutch suddenly grinned. “Race you back to the car! Last one back buys the beers at Huggy’s tonight.”

He took off at speed. Starsky followed slowly: his stomach was full of ice cream and he didn’t feel like running anymore.

*****

It was Sunday evening. Dobey opened the door to let his two detectives in. Hutch was clutching a bunch of white tulips in his hand and Starsky was carrying a brown paper bag. The captain noted that Hutch was wearing a very smart white shirt and tie. Starsky looked as if he had at least put a newish pair of jeans on. He was pleased that they’d made an effort on his family’s behalf.

“If those are for Edith, you’d better take them through to the kitchen,” he suggested to Hutch.

Hutch nodded and followed the direction of Dobey’s finger. The captain invited Starsky to follow him into the living room. Rosie was sitting on the sofa and she smiled when she saw the brunet.

“Hi Pumpkin, me and my friend Hutch got something for you,” Starsky said, as he sat down beside her. He pulled the horse out of the bag and handed it to her. Rosie squealed and jumped on his lap to give him a hug around his neck.

Starsky grinned broadly. “Glad you like it. What you going name him? Or is it a her?”

“It’s a girl like me. I’m going call her Rosie.”

“Great name!” Starsky said.

Dobey coughed slightly and said gruffly, “That’s very kind of you, Starsky.”

“No problem, Cap. Just saw it and thought of Rosie.”

Just then Hutch returned from the kitchen.

“Don’t forget to thank Uncle Ken too,” Starsky said.

Rosie jumped off Starsky’s lap and ran to Hutch, who bent down so she could hug him. He picked her up and carried her over to the sofa and sat down. Rosie settled herself in between the pair of them and seemed to have completely accepted them as new friends. Hutch let her trot her horse up and down his arm, which made her giggle.

A few seconds later, a lanky young boy came into the living room and stood looking at them shyly.

“And this is my son, Cal,” Dobey introduced him and placed his hands on the boy’s shoulder. His tone was one of a proud father.

“Hey, Cal, nice to meet you,” Hutch said as he offered his hand to the boy, who shook it very solemnly.

“Cal, we got something for you too,” Starsky said. “Take a look in the bag.”

Cal picked up the brown bag and opened it carefully and pulled out the red yoyo.

“Cool. Thanks. Look, Daddy, it’s a yoyo.”

“That’s very nice, Cal. Thank you both. It’s very kind of you to bring the children presents.”

“Maybe after dinner, we could try out some tricks with it,” Starsky suggested. “I used to be pretty good with a yoyo. What about you, Hutch? You got yoyo skills?”

“No, I always end up with the string wrapped around my fingers.”

Starsky snorted. “Well, your Uncle Dave will show you some of his skills, Cal…I know Uncle Ken can do a good magic trick with a coin. If you ask him nicely, he might reveal his secrets to you. Although you know magicians are sworn to secrecy. It’s part of the magician’s code.”

Cal looked at Hutch with a quizzical expression on his face and came a bit closer. Hutch pulled a coin out of his pocket and made it disappear then produced it from behind Starsky’s ear with a flourish. Rosie squealed with delight and Cal clapped.

Hutch smiled and whispered to Cal, “I’ll show you how to do that if you like.”

Cal nodded vigorously.

Just then Edith appeared and announced that dinner was ready and invited everybody through to the dining room. She’d prepared a huge ham, boiled potatoes, sweet corn and salad. Before Dobey carved the ham, he asked Cal to say grace for the meal and everyone bowed their heads. As the meal progressed and conversation started to flow more easily, Hutch found himself warmed by the feeling of being part of a family again: something he had been missing for a long time. Starsky caught his eye and smiled at him, as always, unconsciously picking up on his friend’s thoughts and feelings. Dobey watched them both and the way they interacted with his children and was glad that Edith had invited them to join them for dinner that evening. At the Police Department, they were quickly proving their worth as detectives and, here this evening, they were showing that they were indeed fine young men.

*****

On Monday morning, six black and white cars, a red and white Gran Torino, a minibus and a green Cadillac descended on the Hotel Rochford. The youngsters hanging out at the front of the building were herded up and their identities checked by the police, social service and truancy officers that arrived as part of the joint task force looking into truancy, runaways and criminal activities. By the time they finished, they had found: three truants; a runaway, from a little town just outside Bay City, who Artie had found and inveigled into joining his motley family; and four kids, including Lenny, with stolen property – two of the younger ones panicked and fingered Artie as having paid them for their larceny.

There were a lot of older teens and young adults, who had lived at the Hotel for several years and were no doubt former pickpockets for Artie, although there was no way to prove that at this point. Some of them were probably still doing jobs for him as they had no other visible means of employment. With enough evidence to arrest Artie for aiding and abetting the delinquency of a minor and harbouring a runaway, Hutch took great pleasure in reading Artie his rights and then cuffing him. He handed him over to Starsky, with a relieved look, and allowed his partner to lead the odious man from the room.

While Lenny and three other kids were arrested and put into the black and whites by uniformed officers and driven away, the truancy officer and Gail Knight and her assistant dealt with the paperwork for the truants, piling them onto the minibus, and took down the details of the responsible adults.

As Starsky led Artie out of the front door of the Rochford, he and Hutch became aware that the rest of the youngsters, who were probably working for Artie but against whom they had no evidence, were crowding together and getting vocal and aggressive.

“Where are you taking, Artie?” demanded one of the more assertive older kids they had interviewed.

“We’re taking Mr Solkin in for questioning. Stand back, guys. You need to let us do our job,” Starsky said, trying to walk his way steadily through the crowd to the car, with Artie by his side.

“He ain’t done nothing.”

“We need him!”

“I ain’t gonna stand here and do nothing!”

The phrases being spoken were a jumble as lots of voices all spoke at once. The young adults and kids’ faces were a mixture of emotions: some of them looked relieved; some of them looked angry; some of them looked desperate; some of them looked scared; and some of them looked resigned.

Suddenly, a youth with wild eyes lunged towards one of the uniformed officers, who had just moved closer to try to help Starsky with his prisoner, and grabbed his gun, yelling at Starsky, “You let Artie go!”

The next few seconds seemed to last both a lifetime and be over in a flash. The younger kids scattered as the youth waved the gun around wildly. Hutch drew his gun and told the young man to freeze while Starsky tried to swing Artie around so that he was in front of him, trying to get the kid to realise that he could hurt the person he was trying to save, if he wasn’t careful.

Starsky said firmly, “Come on, kid, put the gun down before you hurt Artie by accident or one of your friends. No-one wants anyone to get hurt.”

Hutch took a step forward so he could cover his partner and asked the youngster to put the gun down and his hands in the air. Seemingly oblivious to Hutch, the youth lowered the gun and aimed straight at Starsky.

Hutch registered the kid’s finger twitch as his own gun barked and an echoing roar came from the Smith and Wesson. At the same time, there was a blur of movement as a small figure jumped in front of the youth with the gun and tried to grab it from his hand. Then there was an eerie silence.

In the following seconds, Artie screamed and clutched at his arm, the youth with the gun dropped it and looked around in shock and confusion, and the small figure carried on moving forward, propelled by the momentum of his leap. Hutch just had time to register that it was Zig before the kid landed face first on the dirty sidewalk.

Hutch knew instinctively that the kid was dead. He also knew it was his bullet that had hit him. He stood there in frozen horror as Starsky lowered Artie to the ground and rushed to retrieve the gun and put the unresisting youth in cuffs. He handed him off to one of the uniformed officers still at the scene. The kid was in shock and didn’t look like he was going to try to resist.

Starsky walked over to the figure on the sidewalk and checked for a pulse. He lifted Zig’s body gently and saw the bullet had hit him straight through the heart. Sarah appeared at his side.

“Is Zig dead?”

Starsky nodded. “I’m sorry, Sarah, yes, he is.”

Sarah tenderly brushed at Zig’s hair and some of the teens stole closer, shocked by the sight of Zig lying on the ground unmoving. Sarah started to cry.

Starsky cast a worried look at his still frozen partner before grabbing the radio and asking for an ambulance and a coroner’s wagon. He asked to be patched through to Dobey and filled him in on what had happened. Dobey said he would be there as soon as he could and warned Starsky that IA would probably want to interview both of them at the scene, along with the uniformed officer whose gun had been grabbed.

Finally, Starsky was able to go check on his partner.

“Hutch?”

It was clear to Starsky that his partner was in shock, when the blond barely registered his presence. He just stood there staring at the small body on the ground. Gently, Starsky took his friend’s gun and re-holstered it for him then he took his arm by the elbow and led him towards the side of the car away from the victim and the crowd. He opened the passenger door and guided Hutch until he was sitting down. As the paramedics arrived, Starsky placed a hand on his partner’s shoulder and answered questions and directed them and his fellow officers from the side of the car.

When he could see that the paramedics were treating Artie and one set of officers knew to travel with him to the hospital, he turned his attention back to his partner. He knew IA would be on the way and wanted to get Hutch in a state to talk to them.

He squeezed Hutch’s shoulder and asked softly, “How ya doing, pal?”

Hutch blinked a few times and then shuddered, drawing in a ragged breath. “Starsk?”

“Yeah, buddy. You back with me?”

Hutch looked up at him. His colour looked better than it had a few minutes ago but his blue eyes were shadowed with pain.

“Yeah, I’m okay. What do you need me to do?”

“All under control, Hutch, but IA will be here shortly to take our statements. SOP for this kind of incident. Think you can handle it?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m okay…What about Solkin? Is he dead?”

Starsky lowered his voice: “No such luck, partner. Just a flesh wound. They’re about to take him to the hospital, I think.”

Hutch suddenly moved, pushing past Starsky, and heading towards the paramedic unit. Starsky was hot on his heels. Artie had just been loaded in the back of the unit and a police officer was climbing in next to him to accompany him to the hospital.

Hutch leaned into the back of the vehicle and hissed at Artie, “This. Is. All. Your. Fault.”

Artie tried to move away from Hutch but the space behind him was limited.

Hutch’s voice was tight with barely repressed hate as he continued: “You should be dead, you miserable son-of-a-bitch, not that kid…I will never forget what you’ve done to these kids…I will never forget what you made happen today. It’s going to be my life’s mission to make you pay for all the misery you’ve caused.”

The officer in the back of the unit moved so that he was in Hutch’s line of sight.

“Detective Hutchinson. That’s enough. I think you’d better go now,” he said, a mixture of nervousness and sympathy clear in his voice.

Hutch’s hands became fists but then he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and a connection that reminded him who he was and that Artie wasn’t worth losing his job over. He drew a steadying breath and looked at the officer, finally recognising him as someone he knew.

“Yeah. It’s okay, Mike. I’m going. Just don’t let this scumbag out of your sight, okay?”

“You got it,” Mike said, breathing a sigh of relief. He’d seen Hutch angry before but he’d never seen him like this. He was glad he wasn’t on the receiving end of that speech or the look of pure hatred that Hutch gave Artie as he turned and moved away.

Starsky waited until Hutch was out of earshot and then he leaned in towards Artie, saying, “If I were you, I’d find a new place to live when you get out of jail. Better still find another city to live in.”

Artie scowled and turned away. Starsky moved out of the way so that the paramedic could get in and helped close the doors so he didn’t have to look at Artie or his ridiculous red jacket anymore. He looked for Hutch and saw him standing to one side, watching the coroner’s wagon that had arrived and was dealing with Zig’s body. Starsky figured it was best to leave him for a moment.

As the coroner wheeled the bagged figure away, Hutch couldn’t help thinking how small it looked and swallowed hard. He took another steadying breath and went to join Starsky, who was talking to Dobey and two officers that had just arrived and that Hutch assumed were from IA. He was glad his captain was there to offer his support. He just needed to get the interview over with and then maybe he could go home and start to try to get his brain wrapped around what had actually happened today.

 Epilogue

“You sure you don’t want me to come in and keep you company?” Starsky asked. He could tell Hutch was barely holding it together: he’d been too controlled with IA; had been too overtly cheerful when he’d handed over his report at the station and said goodnight to Dobey, assuring him that he didn’t need any time off and would be in as usual on Tuesday; and now he was too quiet. It was like watching a dam with a crack in it that you knew was just about to break.

“I’m fine, Starsky. Just tired. I’ll get an early night and pick you up for work in the morning, okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Hutch opened the car door and started climbing out.

“Hutch?”

Hutch paused. “Yeah?”

“If you want to ring me later…I’m around, okay?”

“Yeah…thanks. I’m fine though. You don’t need to worry about me, partner. Have a good evening. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hutch finished climbing out and closed the door. He hurried into his house without looking back.

Starsky started to reverse the car up the lane that ran beside Hutch’s house but stopped. He was torn. On the one hand, he could understand Hutch wanting privacy to let out his feelings. On the other hand, the death of a young person, even in a justified shooting, was bound to be eating away at his sensitive partner and Hutch ought to talk about it. With Hutch hating seeing kids hurt, he was going to be taking this very badly.

Starsky recalled the first time he had shot an enemy combatant in ‘Nam. Starsky had felt numb at the time. Later, in nightmares, the soldier’s face came back to him: only then showing what his brain had recorded, but at the time he had barely noticed, that the soldier was just a kid. Probably the same age as lots of the brothers of the guys in his squad. Eventually, Starsky had talked to an older man in his battalion about it and had gradually let go of the guilt he’d been feeling.

Maybe Hutch would talk to someone about what he was going through…but maybe he wouldn’t. Then again, he and Hutch talked about most things in the end, even if it took a few days to get round to it. He just wondered why his partner hadn’t wanted to talk right now. If it was because the incident was too raw and he wasn’t sure exactly how he was feeling, then that was fine: Starsky would wheedle it out of him eventually. He’d probably be able to get Hutch to pour out his heart sometime over a beer at Huggy’s place.

Then Starsky had another thought. What if his partner felt embarrassed about what he was feeling and that somehow Starsky would think less of him for having those feelings?

If that was the case, then he felt compelled to let his friend know that wasn’t true. Maybe he thought Starsky wouldn’t want to hear him talk about this one incident that he would assume paled into insignificance compared with what his partner had been through in ‘Nam. Maybe he thought he was being weak.

Starsky knew that Hutch would be angry with himself for letting Artie get to him. He also knew Hutch would be blaming himself for what had happened with Zig and would go over and over in his mind as to what he could have done differently: that would in turn lead to him going down into a dark place he would struggle to get out of without help. Starsky had seen the bottom of that pit and he didn’t want that for his friend.

No, Hutch needed him whether he knew it or not.

His decision made, Starsky turned the engine off and climbed out of the car. He locked the door and started walking down the lane.

*****

Hutch opened his front door and closed it behind him, sagging against it for a second as all his energy seeped out of him. He heard Starsky driving away and was both relieved and sorry. Maybe he should have taken his partner up on his offer to keep him company. But he felt so awful, he knew he wouldn’t be good company and didn’t want to inflict his bad mood on Starsky. “No, it’s better I to try to deal with what happened today on my own and then try to forget it and get back to normal…Is that even possible?” Hutch wondered.

“Oh God, why did it have to happen? Why?”

He took a deep breath to try to calm his rapidly beating heart, which was thumping in his chest so loud and fast he could feel it throughout his entire body. The intensity of it scared him. He took another breath and tried to relax a little. It didn’t help.

With his heart still pounding, he shrugged off his jacket and hung it up on the hook on the back of the closet door. As he pulled the elastic on his holster and lifted his gun, he realised his hands were shaking. He hung the gun up quickly: glad to be rid of it.

“Why did Zig have to get in the way?”

Tears pooled at the corner of his eyes, threatening to fall. He wiped them away with the back of his hand and walked towards the kitchen to get a beer. He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of Coors then walked over to the sink to open it, throwing the lid in the ceramic bowl. He saw his glass from this morning sitting there waiting to be washed.

This morning seemed like a lifetime ago.

Hutch felt like his world had been divided into the life before he’d killed a kid and the world after. He was now the person responsible for a young boy not making it to adulthood. He was also responsible for Jango having to spend the rest of his life without his little brother.

“I’m so sorry, Zig. I’m so sorry, Jango.”

Hutch’s heart beat even faster and his head started to throb. The bottle dropped from his shaking fingers into the sink, without him even noticing, as he suddenly found he was replaying the scene from earlier in his mind. It was like watching a movie on slow play. Every horrific detail impressed into his long term memory. The sights and sounds tormenting him while he could only watch unable to change a thing. Would it always hurt this bad?

Tears started to fall down his face and, all of a sudden, he felt arms around him, drawing him into a warm embrace. He tried to speak but nothing came out of his mouth.

He heard a whisper in his ear, “Let it all out, pal. Don’t try to fight it. I’m with ya. Let it out, Hutch.”

Hutch could only think: “Starsk, thank you for coming back,” and then he was sobbing in his friend’s arms.

*****

While Hutch went into the bathroom to wash his face, Starsky went and got two beers from the fridge. He figured he and Hutch deserved them. He paused and then got Hutch’s whiskey from out of the cupboard where he kept it and grabbed two small glasses. Maybe tonight they needed a whiskey chaser as well. He set the bottles and glasses on the coffee table and settled down on the couch. Hutch finally reappeared and came and sat next to him, avoiding looking at his partner.

“All right? Feeling better?” Starsky asked.

“Yeah,” Hutch said wiping a hand over his face with embarrassment. He picked up a bottle of beer and took a sip before saying, “I guess you’re wishing you had a partner who wasn’t such a mush-brain. Sorry for putting you through that, Starsk.”

Starsky looked at his partner, who was still avoiding his gaze, “Hey, Hutch? Look at me. Don’t you dare put words in my mouth. Before you tell me what kind of a partner you think I want, why don’t you ask me?”

Hutch swallowed. “All right. What kind of a partner do you want?”

“I want a partner I can trust on the street. I want a partner I can trust to tell me the truth. I want a partner who’s not afraid to share everything he’s feeling…and someone I can trust when I need to share how I’m feeling…even if it gets mushy.”

“Oh.”

“Can I trust you, Hutch? Really trust you?”

Hutch nodded. “You know you can, Starsk.”

Starsky’s eyes were as dark as Hutch as ever seen them. “With everything? Even the snotty, mushy, cry-your-eyes-out stuff? ‘Cause it was your turn today but next time it might be me. You gonna be there for me for that?”

Hutch swallowed again and said softly, “’Course I am.”

Starsky nodded, at last satisfied that he had got through to his partner. “Good. Then stop feeling embarrassed and let me do my job of being your partner, partner.”

Hutch had to smile at that. “Okay…Thanks, Starsk.”

“You’re welcome, you big lug. Now, enough wallowing. How ‘bout we order pizza in and watch whatever game is on?”

“Sounds great.”

They drank in silence for a few minutes and then Starsky said, “You ought to join one of those Big Brother schemes, Hutch.”

“Really? I don’t know. Do you think I’d be any good with kids?”

Starsky looked incredulous. “Well, if you ain’t good with kids, I don’t know who is! I think you’d be great, buddy. There’s some kid out there who’s just waiting to have a big brother like you. Think about it.”

Hutch nodded. “All right, I’ll think about it, Starsk.”

Starsky clinked his bottle against Hutch’s and proposed a toast. “Here’s to the best partners in Bay City, partner.”

“To the best partners in Bay City, partner,” Hutch echoed.

They both took a swig of beer and grinned at each other. Although today had been tough, the novelty still hadn’t worn off and tomorrow they would be back out on the street, watching each other’s backs just the way partners should.