Original subtitles

- Morning, Sheppard. - Hey.

- Bayliss. - Hey.

What brings you here so early and bright?

Luke Ryland, the first day of what we hope will be a speedy trial.

Ending with a conviction.

Ending with a death sentence.

Any guy who killed two women over the internet deserves to fry.

Which courtroom are we in?

I'm looking. I don't see it over there.

What do you mean there's no courtrooms available?

What can I tell you? Crime is a growth industry.

The city puts more cops on the force, they make more arrests,

we've got the same amount of court space.

So we waste a day sitting around waiting for another trial to end.

Or we toss the case back to the assignment judge, get a new date.

Hey, Detective, nice pants.

We gotta go, we're trying to close that Belvins murder.

Come on.

I'll be seeing you in a couple weeks.

Morning, Bayliss. Sheppard.

What brings you here so early and bright?

- Luke Ryland. - The internet killer?

I thought he already went to trial.

Ryland, Ryland. Courtroom two.

We've got a courtroom, what we don't have is a defendant.

Where's Ryland?

Jail wagon, forgot to bring him over.

- Forgot? - Blame pre-trial services.

So have them go back, and get him.

Okay, but that'll take a few hours.

Well, we gotta go, you know?

I mean, we're this close to closing the Belvins murder case.

Get a new trial date.

See you in a couple weeks.

Sorry I'm late, how's it going?

- It's not. - Why not? We've got a courtroom.

We've got a judge, we've got a defendant, what are we missing?

- State's Attorney. - Danvers isn't here?

Yeah, he got hung up on another trial.

Your Honor, may I ask how long we're gonna wait for Mr. Danvers?

Not a moment longer, Counselor.

This court is adjourned.

Defendant will be taken back to pre-trial detention until a new date is set.

Judge Devilbiss, I'd like to point out to the court

that today is the 184th day

of Mr. Ryland's imprisonment without trial.

Now, Hick's rule states that if a defendant is held

for more than 180 days without proceedings,

it is a violation of his rights.

Based on Maryland v. Hicks, I move for the immediate dismissal of all charges.

Barring any evidence that this defendant has waived Hick's I see no reason not to dismiss.

Defendant is set free.

I mean, I didn't hear right, did I?

The son of a bitch got off.

This son of a bitch is going free.

Be seeing you, Detectives.

Damn!

Homicide.]

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

during the course of this trial, testimony will be given

in the form of questions and answers.

Evidence consists

of both the questions and the answers coupled together...

- Danvers, we gotta talk. - Ssh!

- Ryland walked. - What?

His lawyer invoked Hick's.

Hicks? It hasn't been 180 days.

No, it's been 184.

Mr. Danvers.

Yes, Your Honor.

Does the conversation you're having in any way

relate to the state of Maryland versus Drell?

No, ma'am.

Then I will ask you to refrain from speaking while I do.

Yes, Judge Aandahl.

- This is your damn fault. - My fault?

Yeah, you should have been in the right courtroom.

I was in the right courtroom, I was prosecuting the Symex murder!

It's not my fault Aandahl took so long instructing the jury.

It's not my fault the state won't spend the money to hire more prosecutors.

It's not my fault I haven't had a day off

or a full night's sleep in three months.

Stop whining, Danvers, you screwed up!

- Tim, relax. - Don't tell me to relax, Rene.

This is your case.

- You're the primary on this case! - I know that.

The killer's about to walk free.

Y'all just taking this in your stride.

- I'm not taking it in my stride. - Neither am I!

My office will appeal the ruling.

We show cause, we might get the Court of Appeals to overlook the Hick's rule.

So meanwhile, Ryland's back on the street.

And if he kills again, then what, huh?

The blood of the next woman who dies is on your hands, Danvers!

Yeah? Why don't you go close the Belvins murder, you asswipe?

- Whoa! Whoa! What are you doing? - Bayliss!

- Danvers! Jesus, you okay? - Yeah.

Come on. You all right, huh?

What are you, nuts?

Hey!

Teresa! What are you doing here?

What am I doing here? Why weren't you at the airport?

You told me flight 105 at 315.

Flight 315 at 105, numbskull.

Oh, I am so sorry.

Don't sweat it.

How you doing, handsome?

God, it's good to see you.

You know, Dad never told me about his being promoted to captain.

Not a word.

If you hadn't have called, I would have missed the entire ceremony.

- You got it? - Yeah.

He's going to be so surprised you're here.

What have you been up to?

Well, I put down new linoleum in the kitchen.

Bought a new old car.

- I quit the FBI. - What?

Yeah, the bureau was getting hinky with a local murder case.

Suddenly, the greater good didn't seem so great.

I handed in my badge.

- What are you doing now? - Nothing.

Homicide, Lewis.

Uh-huh. Yeah. I got it.

- Hey, Falsone, you free? - Yeah, what have you got?

Murder in Pigtown.

It's my favorite, let's roll.

Billie Lou and I have been married three times each.

So we want to keep the wedding party small.

Just her, me, the witnesses and the priest.

- The priest? - Father Pompelli.

He's a friend of Billie Lou's dad.

Wait, she can't be married Catholic if she's been divorced three times.

Annulled three times.

Well, that's got to be some kind of record, huh?

Yes, the woman has been unlucky with men.

Until now.

Big doings today.

Chief's promotion, Munch's wedding.

Hey, I hear Munch asked you to be his best man.

Yeah, you know, I got to tell you,

I'm kind of glad old Munchkin didn't invite the rest of us

to his matrimonial shindig, you know?

Don't get me wrong, you know, I wish him and Billie Lou truckloads of happiness,

but, you know, you've been married, you know what I'm talking about.

You know, you get up in that church,

and the rabbi or the preacher or whatever,

they start talking about how these two people should be together

and how swell it is that they're going to be sharing their lives

and how men and women ought to be two by two.

And I'm thinking, "We had a shot at what you call wedded bliss, and we blew it."

I blew it, you blew it, most people we know blew it.

And I look at that couple walking up the aisle, and I think to myself,

"Man, you know, they got as much chance

of surviving a nuclear holocaust

as they do staying happily married."

Huh.

Bayliss. Bayliss.

Yeah, Chief.

- It's a big day, huh? - Yes.

Captain Giardello.

So they tell me.

You look good, Gee.

Gee.

I would tell you how I got that nickname, Gee.

I was a rookie.

Eager, naive.

And my first day out in the street,

I walked onto a crime scene,

and the only thing that came out of my mouth was, "Gee."

I remember another rookie stumbling into my squad room.

Full of innocence, full of himself.

Yeah.

I watched you grow from a boy to a man, Bayliss.

I watched you do excellent work, oh, there were some mistakes.

I don't know what you're talking about.

- Ed Danvers. - Oh.

He's threatening to take you before the department trial board.

Oh, screw him, little midget.

No, Bayless. No.

On this day, I'm being elevated to captain.

It's a day I've worked hard for.

It's a day I've waited for with great anticipation.

I don't want anything to happen to spoil this day with unpleasantness.

So I'm going to ask you to apologize to Ed.

Now I'm going to put it to you in the form of a request

in the hopes that you'll do me this favor in honor of my promotion.

I can't.

Bayless.

I can't, sir.

Then I have to withdraw my request,

and put it to you in the form of an order.

I refuse.

- My order? - Yes.

I'm going to give you until this evening

to reconsider.

After that,

the Furies will be unleashed.

Ciao.

You know, seven years ago,

I walked in here with a file box and a lot of idealism.

I had a clear vision

of justice, of morality.

And no matter what has happened to me, whatever's happened around me,

I still have that.

Maybe, but on this job, I've seen people change,

and sometimes for the worse.

And those that change the most are the ones who don't admit it.

Victim's name was Johanna Foster McQueen, female, white.

Driver's license says late twenties.

- Johanna? - Johanna.

Joe Mama?

Stabbed at least ten times.

Someone was trying to make a point.

You sure you read her ID right?

She looks closer to 40.

Here.

Hmm. Must have led a rough and tumble life.

Check out these needle marks.

And this.

Goes hand in hand.

- Anyone else in the house? - Nope.

Witnesses?

Got a neighbor that likes to talk,

she's got nothing but background.

All day, all night, they got people going in and out of there.

"They"?

Her and her husband, Shane.

Shane McQueen is his name?

Yeah, it should be Shane McLowlife.

- They do drugs? - Do drugs, sell drugs.

You think maybe she was killed by some drug dealer Shane screwed over?

It's too soon to postulate, ma'am.

Thanks for your time.

If you ask me, he murdered her, Shane.

He's a lowlife, I tell ya.

"Postulate"?

Miss McQueen.

Miss McQueen!

Yes.

Baltimore City Police, ma'am, can we come in for a moment?

No.

Ma'am, we gotta talk to you about something.

I don't open this door for nobody.

We need to talk to you about your daughter-in-law, Johanna.

Go ahead, tell me.

It's not the kind of thing you want to scream through the door.

- She dead? - Yes.

Okay, thanks. Goodbye.

No, Mrs. McQueen, we need to ask you about her death.

- You see, she was murdered. - Murdered?

- Yes. - Stupid bitch.

We need you to come identify the body.

No, I can't get around, I'm in a wheelchair.

- Maybe your son can come. - Shane's out of town.

- Where is he? - Alaska.

Maybe some other relative?

She's got a sister, she teaches in a Catholic school

up in Philly.

What's the sister's name?

Marry Catherine, I think, last name's Foster.

Mrs. McQueen, do you have any idea who might have murdered Johanna?

Talk to her druggie friends.

- We'd like to talk to your son. - Like I said, he ain't here.

As much as I'd like to believe you,

I'm going to have to ask you to open up this door,

- so we can come in, and talk to you. - No!

Look, open up the damn door!

I got a shotgun in my hand.

Now look here, we're going to come back here with a warrant,

and you're going to let us in.

You get a warrant, then.

Until then, get yourself lost.

All right, look. Get us a radio car.

Come down here, keep an eye on old Shane

in case he decides to take a powder.

Then we need to get a warrant signed by a judge, pronto.

Yeah, we still need somebody to eyeball the body.

I'll go back to Johanna's house, and look for an address book.

Get a lead on the sister.

Sorry about your loss.

We're gonna need you to come down, and identify the body.

As soon as possible. Thanks.

- Hey. - Hey, I located the sister.

She says she'll get in a car, and drive down right away.

Uh-huh, and Shane is not at his mama's house.

Maybe he is in Alaska.

Yeah, and I'm the Nanook of the North.

- Hey, Stivers. - Yeah.

Got anything on Shane or Johanna McQueen?

Yeah, I know them, small-timers. Use more than they sell.

You got any idea where Shane might linger?

Used to be Cross and Light Streets, but I don't know.

Well, maybe we'll get lucky.

Maybe his habits haven't changed.

Hey, it's the blushing bride. Have fun at your wedding.

Thanks, boys.

Mrs. Munch.

"Mrs. Munch."

Billie Lou Munch.

Has a ring to it, huh, baby?

Actually, my full name now will be

Lillian Louise Pardene Kushman Petrovsky McCoy Munch.

Yikes, that's going to be hard to monogram.

Did you sign the papers?

Right here.

What papers?

Since I don't subscribe to Billie Lou's religion,

the Church has made me promise to respect

her obligations to raise our kids Catholic.

Your kids? Well, are you guys--

No.

So I figure, why fight the Vatican?

A patriarchy that's been virtually unassailable for 2,000 years.

Don't get me started about the mysterious death

- of Pope John Paul I-- - John.

Yes, dear.

Hey, partner, got a call, slam dunk.

Corner boy kills corner boy. Gets caught holding the gun.

Let's head over to Fayette Street, and wrap this baby up.

No, no, you-- you go ahead, Rene.

Still stewing about Luke Ryland?

Me too.

Gives me the dry heaves knowing a guy like Ryland's out on the street.

What can we do, right?

Except move on to the next case.

Did I say something funny?

You just sounded like Frank.

- The almighty Pembleton. - Yeah.

You can't believe how many times Frank and I

chewed over a case, spat it out,

tried to get that nasty taste out of our mouths.

We'd weigh the value of every life lost.

Tried to figure out what it all really means, you know, this whole life thing.

- He was your partner. - Yeah.

He was your best friend.

No, Frank didn't have best friends.

I worked with him for six years.

And we spoke maybe two times since he left here, that's it.

You know, and he quit here once before.

He got on his high horse, he rode on out of here.

So I thought, you know, he'd come back this time too.

But he's really gone for good now.

And you need his advice.

Yeah.

Give him a call.

Hmm.

Yeah, maybe I'll call.

I'm sorry I'm not Frank.

I'm sorry I'm not someone you can talk to.

What are you talking about? I can talk to you.

Yeah, I know, but it's different.

I mean, you loved him, didn't you?

Yeah.

I did.

I loved him.

So you said it was a slam dunk, huh?

- Yep. - Good, good.

I could use a little righteous justice about this time.

I'll drive.

- Frank hated when I drove. - Okay.

You're moving to Property Crimes?

Right.

You're not going to be in Homicide anymore?

You go where the vacancies are.

Al Giardello out of Homicide.

This is the end of a millennium.

Aren't you going to miss it, Dad?

- Sure, but-- - Well, they do good work in Property Crimes.

- What do you mean by that? - Nothing, nothing.

Just they'll keep you busy.

You okay?

It's this uniform.

I'm not used to wearing it.

You better get used to it.

Reminds me of when I was on the street as a patrolman.

I was always so proud seeing you in dress blues.

You know, there's nothing like walking a beat.

I used to know every criminal in the neighborhood on a first-name basis.

Big Sammy, Tony Two-Ties, Carl the Jew.

The shopkeepers.

Old Man Tortelli used to give me that baked bread

I used to bring home for you and your mama.

Good times.

Here's to good times.

Here's to these good times.

I ain't seen Shane in a couple days.

You aware of any business transactions of his

that might have gone sour recently?

I don't know what you mean.

Look, we're Homicide, we don't care about anything else.

Shane's never gonna win any awards with the Better Business Bureau,

so, yeah, there's a lot of guys who might have gone

to the house looking for him, done the wife bodily harm.

Of course, she's no prize, neither.

Stealing drugs, whoring around behind his back.

She's been nailing his best friend, Teague Ford.

Where does Mr. Ford live?

Over on West Street, Montgomery.

Well, thank you very much, Mr. Richert, you've been very helpful.

Tell it to my parole officer.

So, I guess, now's the time to go pay Mr. Teague Ford a visit.

What the hell kind of name is that, anyway?

Teague? Teague.

First, we gotta go back to headquarters.

- What for? - Gee's promotion.

Damn.

It's almost time.

How do I look?

You look ready.

I feel like a fool.

I think I wanted this promotion, because it's there.

Because Russert and Gaffney got promoted over me.

Because it's time for Black men to rise up.

It's my ego that wants this promotion.

But your heart doesn't.

No, the higher I go up in this building,

the further I get away from the streets.

I know the streets of Baltimore.

The avenues and the alleys, every corner.

I don't want the bird's eye view.

You know, at lunch, we were waxing nostalgic about the old days.

But, Dad, the old days weren't happy or quaint.

This city was poor, broken.

It hated us because of the color of our skin.

And that enraged us.

So it burned.

What's changed?

Even more reason for me to stay on the streets.

I'm needed down there.

- So? - So?

I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint a lot of people.

You always do.

But let me tell you something.

I've never been prouder of you than I am right now.

Ain't that a kick in the head?

- What? - Well, we go to all our troubles to rearrange our lives.

We go out and buy Gee, expensive, going-away presents and all,

and he ain't even going away.

Where I come from, that's called inconsiderate.

You didn't buy him a present.

Yeah, well, now I'm glad I didn't.

- Lewis. - What?

Falsone, someone's here to see you.

Says she is the sister of the murder victim.

Johanna and I, we were the only two left.

So even though we lived in different cities, we stayed in touch.

We'd talk every single Saturday.

And she'd come up to visit on holidays.

A year ago, April, I had a conference in San Francisco,

and Johanna came along.

We had great fun together.

I see.

Sister, what can you tell us about her husband, Shane?

They've been together about a year.

I haven't met him yet.

Is he here? I'd like to talk with him.

We're hoping he's on his way.

Did she ever say anything about her relationship with Shane?

Only that they were having the usual first-year ups and downs.

From what I understand, they were separated a lot because of his job.

His job?

He's an architect.

Designs office buildings all over the world.

- Hong Kong, Paris. - Alaska?

What's the matter?

Nothing, sister. Can we have a second?

Meldrick?

Excuse us.

You know what?

I got a feeling that she doesn't know

anything about what her sister's been into.

The drugs or anything.

Well, I agree.

It's going to be hard to give her the sordid details.

Do we have to? I mean, come on, look at her.

She's been living her life serving God, doing good works.

Protected, you know?

Do you want to be the one to shatter all that,

and tell her that Johanna was a lying, thieving crack whore?

I don't want to, but I gotta.

Yeah, but if she doesn't know anything about her sister's life,

what is she going to tell us about the murder?

Lewis! The staff has just called from the crime scene.

Says you boys might be interested in going over.

- Victim's name is Teague Ford. - Teague? Damn.

- Stabbed to death? - Yeah. Yeah.

- And she's got a suspect, Shane McQueen. - We're there.

What about her?

Okay, sister, thank you very much for coming down.

We've got all we need at this point.

Thank you so much for coming so quick.

And we'll keep you posted as the case develops.

I'll be staying at the convent

over at St. Stan's until the funeral.

When you talk to my brother-in-law, would you ask him to phone me?

- Yeah, uh-huh. - Absolutely.

Thank you, sister.

See, I told you we should have told her the truth about her sister, man.

She's going to find out soon enough.

Let her live the lie a few more hours.

- Hey. - Hey.

- Hey. - Hey.

I heard about what happened with Luke Ryland.

- That's a doggone shame. - Yeah.

Especially knowing how important it is to you.

You know, your first red ball,

your first real case since the beatdown.

I'll see you upstairs, Tim.

Why do you keep doing that?

Doing what?

You know, bringing up the beatdown every time you get a chance.

Because it happened, Bayliss.

And no amount of wishful thinking

or good karma is going to change anything.

You're such an ass.

- I'm an-- You calling me an ass? - Yeah.

I didn't kick Ed Danvers down a flight of stairs, did I?

Hey, hey, hey, hey.

You remember the James Felder murder?

- Yeah. - Right, right.

You didn't want me involved in the investigation,

because you thought that I'd get a little too wrapped up in certain cases,

that I can't let go of the past, that I can't let go of the past.

You hear of Adena Watson?

That's this chump's first case.

It's deader than dead, and he's still trying to clear it.

You see, you're doing the same thing, Meldrick.

You're not letting go, the Sheppard beatdown, that is ancient history, man.

No, no, no, let me just tell you the difference here.

Sheppard almost got me killed.

Now, that's an ugly fact, plain and clean.

And I got a right to my feelings about that.

But you, on the other hand, you've been around this dump for several years,

and you still ain't learned the key to good murder police, which is this.

"Whatever you see, whoever's around you,

you keep them away, you keep them at a distance."

But not you, you come up on a crime scene,

the first thing you want to do is put a chalk outline around yourself.

Well, you comin'?

Father Pompelli, I really appreciate

- you taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this. - My pleasure, John.

- Hello, Billie Lou. - Hello, Father.

- This is Laura Ballard, our maid of honor. - Pleased to meet you.

- And, of course, you know Al Giardello. - Yes, of course.

Shall we begin?

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today

to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony.

John Munch and Billie Lou McCoy

have come here today through the grace of God

and the blessing of their love for one another.

They are carried by the love of their families, friends,

and their commitment will not be shaken.

Do you, John Munch, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?

I do.

Do you, Billie Lou McCoy,

take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?

I do.

Now repeat after me,

"I, John Munch,

take you, Billie Lou McCoy,

to be my lawfully wedded wife."

I, John Munch, take you, Billie Lou McCoy, to be my lawfully wedded wife.

"I, Billie Lou McCoy, take you, John Munch,

to be my lawfully wedded husband."

I, Billie Lou McCoy,

take you, John Munch,

to be my lawfully wedded husband.

"To have and to hold, to honor and obey,

in sickness and in health,

from this day forward till death do us part."

To have and to hold,

to honor and obey,

in sickness and in health,

from this day forward till death do us part.

"With this ring, I thee wed,

with my body, I thee worship,

and with all my earthly goods, I thee endow."

If anyone can see fit

why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony,

speak now or forever hold your peace.

I now pronounce you man and wife.

You may kiss the bride.

You must be wrong. My sister is a good soul.

Well, we're not sure how long she's been involved in this nonsense.

I mean, maybe it's only been since she married Shane McQueen.

As kids, Joanne and I were like two peas.

How could our lives have ended up so differently?

How could I not have known about her distress,

not have heard it in her voice during those calls?

We spoke every week.

Well, she was probably putting her best foot forward so you wouldn't worry.

Sometimes when you love somebody,

- you know, you want to think the best of them. - Yes.

We'll let you be.

Would it be possible for me to see Shane McQueen?

Ah, sister, in all honesty,

I don't think you want to put yourself through that.

Joanne loved him.

At least for a while, they shared a bed, a life.

It might help me to make sense of all this if I could at least meet him,

talk a little, offer him my forgiveness.

- You want to forgive the man? - Yes.

Sister, with all due respect,

the man is a piece of crap.

This has less to do with who he is than who I am.

With what I believe about the frailty of man,

about the love of God.

I'll take you down there, sister.

Thank you, I'll get my coat.

"Forgiveness." That's a hell of a concept, huh?

You should ask Sheppard about that.

The dishes are done.

That sauce was good.

Yeah.

I make a mean pesto.

Where's your sister?

Oh, she's on the phone.

What do you think?

It's a domestic squabble.

That couple in there, they don't get along.

Well, I guess, I'll be headed home.

So what have you got tomorrow?

Oh, well, I take Teresa to the airport

and, well,

after that, I'm not sure.

Mike, there's only so many times that you can visit the National Aquarium.

Yeah, yeah, I know.

So what are you going to do with yourself?

Dad, I've spent my entire life trying not to be like you.

Here I am.

You say you belong to the streets.

So do I.

Now I just have to figure out a way to get back there.

I can help.

Yeah, I know.

- Good night, Dad. - Good night.

Drive carefully.

Take your hands off of me!

You wait till I get back, you bitch!

Get off of me!

I'm going to kill you, you bitch!

- My God, sister! - Sister! Sister!

Jesus.

Sister, can I [indistinct]?

Hello, Shane.

I'm Mary Catherine. Would you mind if I come in?

Hey, Ryland.

What do you want?

To warn you.

I'm going to be watching all day, every day.

Just waiting for you to screw up.

I hope you like New Orleans, then, because that's where I'm moving.

I hear the chicks down there are beautiful.

Friendly.

Easy.

The best part is, if you don't come along,

you can still see everything I'm going to do on the internet.

- Munch. - Meldrick.

I see it's business as usual, crappy.

What are you doing here? It's your wedding night.

I know that, wasn't that me, standing next to Billie Lou,

saying those two words I've said so many times before?

"I do."

Yeah, uh-huh, and those other three times that you said those words,

didn't you spend the night with your bride?

Sure, but in order to break the pattern and avoid divorce,

I figure I'd stay away from her, maybe, you know, get a load on.

Something happened.

Your powers of detection are astonishing.

- You had a fight? - No.

Then what?

Are you sure he's asleep?

About six or so weeks ago,

I agreed in a moment of imbecility

that I wouldn't have sex with Billie Lou until our wedding night.

As you might suspect, I've been anticipating nightfall

with rising expectations.

We get back to our place, we got our clothes off, we got in bed.

- Expectations fail to rise. - Worse.

I'm in the World Series.

Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded.

I swing before she pitches the ball.

Ouch.

But she's still got two more strikes.

Not at my age. Pour.

Ah, look what the wind blew in. How you doing there, Timmy?

Hey, John, you got a second?

Seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, months, years.

Come take a walk with me.

Keep that warm for me.

It's a grand old building, isn't it, John?

Yeah, it's grand, if you like a leaky roof

in a men's room with a backed-up toilet.

Think of all the men and women who walked in and out of this building

over the last 85 years.

Not just cops, but everybody.

All of them with their lives involved in some sort of crime.

Robbery, fraud, missing persons, homicide.

Criminals, victims.

I'm getting a chill.

You know who I started thinking about today?

Gordon Pratt.

Gordon Pratt, that little weasel who shot Bolander, Felton and Howard?

Yeah.

What the hell are you thinking about that little scumwad for?

Well, when he got released, Pratt was found shot to death,

and I was put in charge of the investigation.

And a swell job you did, too.

I never really closed that case, John.

That's what I mean, if somebody shoots three of our own,

they deserve to have an unavenged death.

- You really believe that? - Yes.

You believe that he deserves to die?

- Yes. - And that his murderer should go free?

Yes.

Huh.

You know, when I got shot,

my whole perception of the universe

just completely changed.

But when I shot that homeless guy, that Larry Moss,

suddenly I knew what it was like to take another person's life.

Suddenly I was just like the person

who killed Adena Watson.

See, Frank said that I would never be a good homicide detective,

because I didn't have the killer's instinct.

Frank was wrong.

You know, I always suspected you.

Of what?

Killing Gordon Pratt.

Why in God's name, after all this time,

you dredge up Gordon Pratt out of the muck?

I don't know,

it just came to my mind.

Good night, John boy.

What do you want?

To tell you that I'm sorry.

Truly sorry for what I've done.

Apology accepted.

Okay.

Well, get Luke Ryland, Tim.

Yeah, I know.

These things, they just take time and patience.

Of course, being a murder police,

I've learned one inescapable truth.

Justice is a bitch.

See you.

I start my vacation tomorrow.

That's right, where are you going?

Paradise Island.

Ah, geez, that sounds nice, Paradise Island.

Sure sounds a hell of a lot nicer than Baltimore.

I start my vacation, too. I'm going to the Towson Mall.

Hey, Ballard.

You know, with Terri gone and Stu gone,

we're both going to need partners.

That's right.

Homicide. Lewis.

Yeah.

Uh-huh.

All right. Got it.

Hey, Sheppard, you busy?

No, why?

I got a murder over on 4th Avenue.

And what, you want applause?

No, I'm just wondering if maybe you want to join me on the case.

Be my partner.

That's not funny, Lewis.

I'm being serious.

Why is it that nobody ever can tell the difference

between when I'm being serious and when I'm joking around?

You really want me to come?

Not if it's going to take any more begging.

- I'm there, let's go. - Let's go.

Hey, Lieutenant.

I just got off the phone with Ed Danvers.

You worked out things with him, right?

Yep, yep, came to my senses on that one.

Spring cleaning?

Yeah, just getting rid of a few things here I don't need anymore.

Good, it's good in May

to sweep things clean.

Yeah.

Let me just say something, sir.

This is where I've always wanted to be.

Homicide, thinking cops,

not a gun, this.

Luke Ryland.

Looks like justice finally caught up with him.

No witnesses, no fingerprints, no shell casings,

no clues of any kind, no leads of any sort.

Whoever killed Ryland sure knew what he was doing.

He or she.

Yeah.

If I could just find this thing, I could go home.

You won't find what you're looking for.

What? Why not?

- It's a mystery. - Huh?

Life is a mystery. Just accept it.

Yeah, well, that's what's wrong with this job.

It ain't got nothing to do with life.