" All quiet today?" " Keeping it like that, boss." "We rule where we stand." "Police sitting on all corners over these parts." " Likely because we been dropping bodies." " Yeah, they do like that." "But, you know, tomorrow some other nigga'll stop a bullet somewhere else... and then they'll go stand on a new spot." "Boy Marlo closed up shop." "Word is, he wholesaling his packages for now." "He don't have no crews out here at all?" "How about his avenue corners?" "Nigga give up quick, didn't he?" "Damn, I was just beginning to respect the little motherfucker for showing heart." "All right, listen." "When them police roll out, y'all step in there and take my corners." "I'm on it, B." " Cheese steaks from Bill's." " Nah, I did that Tuesday, man." "Fuck it then, you pick." " No, fuck me." " What?" " Mope in the truck." " What about him?" "Think I locked him up." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "Avon what's-his-face?" "Big player from the projects." "He was the target on that detail..." "I worked a couple of years back, the one I told you about." " Motherfucker's out already." " Why, what'd he pull?" "Oh, six, eight years." "Who the fuck can remember?" "And he's out in two?" "Maybe I got the years wrong." "My point is, guy's an asshole." "Locked him up, is all." " Pit B from the market." " See, now you're thinking like police." "Change in plan." "Bell, you recognize." "Second target is a Marlo Stanfield... who's apparently warring with Bell for the West Side corners." " What about Kintel Williamson?" " That case is on hold for now." "On hold?" "We just managed to ID the cell phones on two of his people." " Be that as it may..." " I mean, why not take a few more weeks... so we can put together what we got on Kintel, you know?" "We send the case to grand jury and then we start up this West Side case." "Otherwise, we wasted more than two months..." "Change of target comes to us from the Commissioner and the Deputy Ops." "The Department is in a reactive mode... trying to get the murder rate down by any means necessary." "Kintel was dropping bodies two months ago." "Today, it's the West Side that's got the bosses spinning." "Look, I know y'all thought it was nothing for me to sit on that roof... day after 90-degree day... dodging swarms of cicadas and shit, but, damn, this is fucked up!" "And all the assets work I did on Kintel, his cars, his cash flow... just put that in a drawer?" "Someday, I wanna work for a real police department." "Just to see how the fuck they do it, you know?" "McNulty." "In my office." "Hey, Prez, can you run something out for me?" "What?" "I need to know who rented this room in the downtown Hilton, Thursday before last." "Who rented the room?" "Address, credit card details, whatever you can pull." " How's it fit with the case?" " It's hard to say just yet." "Hey, my man." "I'm done mowing." "So?" "I figured I'd use this to edge the weeds around the fence." " It's gas-powered." " Means I gotta prime it." "You ain't gotta school me but once." "Get some water before you go back out there." "All right." "You been going hard at it." "You keep showing up at the spot, I'll keep putting you on." "Good, 'cause I ain't got nothing else." "You walked back through them old doors, didn't you?" " Tried to." " Yeah." "I had took you for gone." "Man, parole officers, employment agencies." "Shit, I just felt like I was an interruption to their lunch break." "No family?" "None besides my grandmother." "She put me up in her basement." "That's plenty to ask of the old girl right there." "You could use somebody to talk to besides your grand-moms." "What about one of them social worker types?" "I hooked up with one dude." "He was cool." " But, I wasn't ready." " You look like you're ready now." "I mean, you found an ear to bend, you wouldn't have to talk to me." "Shit, I know you gonna get tired of looking at my ugly-ass grill." "Drink that too fast, you'll cramp up." " You're asking?" " I am." "Lieutenant, I didn't..." "Because I got no problem changing targets if that's what the bosses tell me to do." "Unless it's personal, like when Kima got shot..." "I don't care where we spend our time and money." "Bell, Williamson, whoever." "It's all just police work to me." "And I understand that people above my pay grade... have the right to make decisions that are theirs to make." " And if they're wrong?" " Then they're wrong." "And time will tell, won't it?" "Now, I'm asking you for the truth." " You went to Colvin behind my back." " I'd have gone to the devil himself." "Which way you were standing, Lieutenant, had not a fucking thing to do with it." "You piece of shit." "I did it 'cause it had to be done." "Just like it had to be done two years ago when we were first detailed." "Stringer was the target then, he's still the target now." "Lieutenant, you know, as bosses go, you're better than most... and I know you went out of your way to get me off that boat." "I know that, but now we're back on the right man." "Detective McNulty." "When the cuffs go on Stringer, you need to find a new home." "You're done in this unit." "Your count right?" "Yeah, went almost to Richmond for this here batch." "Yeah, I'm holding." " You did like we say, right?" " Yeah." "Give him that." "We're gonna need another 60 more in a couple days." " 60 more?" " You know how we do." "So, don't be crying, Bernard." " You must have left something out." " Fuck, no." "I got the part ones from every sector, every post." " We're down about 2%." " No, where exactly are we down?" "Larcenies and burglaries are steady." "But shootings and agg assaults are both down." "Drug arrests, too, but I guess that won't look so good." "I mean, where geographically are we down, in the district?" "Well, the posts near the designated drug zones are up, almost all of them." "That ain't pretty, but everywhere else it's down." "In some places as much as 4%." " Bosses gonna love you." " It's too soon to take any credit." "This might be, what you call that?" "A statistical aberration." "You ain't gonna let them know that your little experiment might be working?" "Not yet, no." "But I'll tell you what we are gonna do." "Starting next week, I want you to pull one car out of service... in the quiet posts in every sector, all three shifts." "We'll take those nine guys... then use them and double up on the high crime posts." "If we handle less of it... we ought to do better with the crime we got, right?" " Can I get two Trac disposable phones?" " They're on special." " Four for $180." " Just the two." "The late show out at Westview is 8:45." "We could make that if we don't make the whole damn run today." "Seem to me one phone is as good as the next." "Only a fool would drive all over the world when there ain't no need." "Keep on with that shit and I'm gonna leave your ass in Baltimore." "I don't trust no man on the road by hisself, okay?" "I'm not stupid." "Stupid-ass fucker." "Commissioner!" "How goes it?" "It went a lot better before the Mayor's cabinet meeting, I can tell you that." "He rip you?" "Says we need to finish under 300 for this year, regardless of how it happens." " Now, I tried to tell..." " Erv, let me ask you." "Where do you guys stand on this Witness Assistance thing?" "What?" "Overhauling the city's Witness Assistance Program?" "Nobody from the Mayor's office called you... regarding this problem of witnesses getting killed?" "I got a call from Chief of Staff a week ago, yeah." "But all he said was I should try not to have any more witnesses get killed." "But overhauling the program?" "Unless someone wants to spend a lot more money... there's not a whole hell of a lot my people can do." "And you haven't talked to the Mayor directly on this?" "You're not gonna fuck me on this?" "As it is, I got the Mayor's teeth in my ass." "Your name does not get mentioned." "Mayor didn't say a word to me." "Thanks." "... is nothing." "This is DC 's number one, WPGC 95.5." "Where the fuck we at now?" "Just buy four or five, Bernard." "Do it like that and it'll go twice as quick." "I want a Shrek Slurpee, Bernard, and some Krispy Kreme." "All this from one disposable cell phone, huh?" "And a dead one, too." "It was used by Marlo's people and picked up off the ground by Kima's CI." "Problem is it's just raw data." "We need to firm up... what we know about Marlo's operation with surveillance and CI info." "On the other hand... if we had a burner that we knew was used by one of Stringer's players... we could use what we know about that organization... to make all kinds of connections." "Get us one good phone, we'll give you the network." " That's the good news." " And what's the bad?" "It's all historical." "We can give you the network, no problem... but by then it's a week old and they've dumped their phones." "And how we get a wire up on that, I haven't figured out yet." "Well, see that you do, Detective." "Oh, yeah, you keep this job, I'm gonna gain some serious weight." " Just the two?" " Just the two." "Nigga, you ain't never heard of buying in bulk?" "You could be saving them people all kind of money." "Better still, spending it on me." " Why you got a gun, Bernard?" " Oh, you ain't heard?" " Avon's home, so we tooling up." " You ain't the only one on parole." " You riding my last good nerve." " And that ain't the only thing I can ride." "Just get me back to the interstate." "Big white bag, got the big white bag." " Which one is he again?" " Broadus, street name of Bodie." "He used to be in the low-rises." "Had a Tower later on." "Big white, got the big white." "How many more minutes you think he's got on that phone?" " Fuck this, let's hit the bar." " Lester needs a phone, man." "No, there's an easier way." "I'll show you tomorrow." "Come on." "I'm buying." "Big white bag, got the big white bag." "She just wants me to be happy, you know?" "And I mean, I do the same for her when I can." "Like this thing with the police detective." "Brianna says she wants me to go downtown with her and..." "I don't know, hear the man out about D." "And I know there ain't nothing to it, but she is all upset, you know?" "And I tried to tell her what you told me." "But, she say she wanna go down there and talk to him herself, I guess." " You told her about the cop?" " What?" "About the detective." "What you told me, you told her?" "It's her son, right?" "I mean, ain't she got a right to know what's going on?" " Look, I just thought..." " What?" "Why the fuck you gonna get her all upset over some bullshit?" "Here we are a fucking year later, everybody forgot about the shit... you go running your mouth about nothing at all?" " But, String..." " What, and she gonna believe that shit, too." "I mean, what moms is not gonna believe her son didn't kill hisself?" " String..." " Huh?" "She gonna take that shit... go half-crazy with it." " I just..." " You just what?" "Sorry!" " When you tell her that?" " About a week ago, I guess." "When is she gonna go see the cop?" "Think she gonna talk to a lawyer first, ask him how to play it." " Who, Levy?" " I guess, whoever." " The lawyer." " Levy?" " I guess." " Oh, you didn't ask that?" "And this fucking Royce just lets it slide." "I mean, I go to him, right?" "Not to make points, just to do the right thing... what does he do but blow smoke up my ass." ""I'm glad you came to us with this, Tommy." ""Oh, I'll light a fire, don't you worry." "We gotta move on this."" "I never thought he'd have the balls to just fuck the dog on it." " And you were doing the right thing." " Fuck, yeah." "What?" "You went there hoping that Royce would disappoint." "You want to know that you're better, that you deserve his chair." "If I lie down on this couch, do you charge by the hour?" "Thanks." "You're not naive." "Neither am I." "A man doesn't run for office without being a bit self-righteous first." "Self-righteous?" "Me?" "So, what are you gonna do now?" "Call a reporter or two, rip the Mayor, maybe on background... maybe go on the record, I don't know." "Rip him now?" "With the primary next September?" "Tommy, no one's gonna remember a dead witness a year from now." "Better if you go to Royce, confront him, not angrily... give him a chance to explain or maybe take action." "If he does do something, then a problem got fixed... and you can feel special for helping." "If he doesn't, you sit tight." "I don't know." "Maybe you document your meeting in a letter... expressing your concern and regret." "Then you're set if the next witness gets killed." "Win-win." " Unless you're the witness." " I know, you're right." "But he's taking on a two-term incumbent." "It's all gonna be ugly from here." "All right." "Yeah, it's cool." " Need another 30 by Monday, all right?" " All right." "Yeah." "Forgot this." "Bitch, everything I say, you hear backwards." "Stupid motherfucker." "Got them T's, white and bright!" " One for $3, two for $5." " Blue tops, got them blue tops!" "I got them T's." "White, bright, one for $3, two for $5." " I got this, man, $5." "New." " No, thank you, man." " It's only $5." " No, thank you." "Fuck you, then, man, fuck you." "Fuck you." "I got them..." "I got them." "I got them T's." "Red tops, red tops, got them red tops!" "Rockefeller, got some Rockefeller, hey!" "Hey, seller man, what you got?" "Got the long white T's for the young ones." "You ain't got no candles?" "I'm looking to buy candles... and toilet paper for the shit-bucket, too." " You be back here tomorrow?" " I can't leave." " I leave, somebody grab my stake." " I'll be back tomorrow." "Yo, Johnny." "What's up, Bubs?" "Shit, Johnny, man." "Just been chasing the pipe, you know?" "Shit's got me all digging and scratching in my arms." "You know, it's cool." "All right." "Come on, man, you need a break, all right?" "I'm serious, man, you need a break." "Come on, man." "No, man, look around you." "It's a soldier's paradise, man." "I'm a Viking, Bubs." "Are you a Viking?" "Fuck, not again." " You two coming?" " Major said to bring them down here." "He didn't say shit about playing nursemaid to a bunch of goddamn animals." "Push it back." "Get back, push it back." " Should we cuff them, Sarge?" " No, cut them loose." "The fuck we tell you about fighting down here?" "Only rule is no fighting, no cutting, no shooting!" "Y'all still fuck it up." "Next time you make me come down here, see if I don't call for a 10-38." "Just so you know, dickhead, that's an ambulance." "Break it up, break it up, break it up." " Did I wake the baby?" " You would know if you did." "3:00 in the morning." "Nice of you to check in." " I went out after work to unwind." " Yeah, you look unwound." "Well." "I figured you had everything under control on the home front." "What the fuck is wrong with you?" "What's with the sarcasm?" "How come you can talk to everybody else but me?" "Do you really want to know?" "I'm listening." "I miss us." "Do not blame that baby." "Do not do it." " I'm not blaming anybody." " I didn't do this by myself." " We discussed it, all of it." " We talked about it, yeah." "But..." "I didn't have as much to say about it as you." " And why not?" " Because you..." "You wanted this." "I just..." "I didn't want to disappoint you on it." "Well, I don't think I could be more disappointed than I am right now." "You need to go." "How much you got?" "Quiet overnight?" "Midnight shift had to toss a crew that was casing the place." "Other than that..." "Too many damn children." "What do you need lookouts and runners for if the shit is legal?" "A lot of them have been cut loose by the dealers." "It's like one of those nature shows." "When you mess with the environment... some species get fucked out of their habitat." "Did you just use the word "habitat" in a sentence?" "I did." " Letting your lookouts go, huh?" " My runners, too." "Shit, what's the point?" "So, here you are making money hand over fist... and you're too damn greedy to take care of your workforce." " I don't need them." " But they need you, right?" "You was all they had when you couldn't work a corner... except for touts and runners... then it was cool to have them cut school and work out." " Okay, new tax initiative, my brother." " Say what?" "If you wanna sling in Hamsterdam after today... you and every other knucklehead, you each got to kick in $100 a week." " Oh, so you trying to get paid, huh?" " Not me, not for me." "Get the cash up, I'll be back." "Green tops!" "What's up?" "Green tops!" "Got the green tops." "But it ain't something I'm gonna go to jail for, right?" "I mean, it ain't nothing like that, is it?" " That one?" " No, it was more black than silver." "This one, I think." "I can see y'all got some real ugly shit planned for me." "I can see it." "You just bumped up against a clever police is all." "Course, he gonna try to shame you with the dead girl... or some mess about children looking up to Omar and his sawed-off." "All he can do... especially since you backed down what he had for a witness." "He working you with guilt, boy." "Yeah, but that fat man gave me a itch I can't scratch, Butchie." "Oh, everybody in this world does what they going to." "Me, you, the police." "Everybody in this world got their own place." "And a man in your line of work start worrying about how other people see you." "Playing to other people instead of to hisself, he gonna get dead." "I still feel like I owe something, Butch." "I had a uncle down Carolina, he dead now... but I remember he was grieving real hard... real hard over chasing his ladyfriend away." "So, he put himself to punishment." "Took a knife to his little finger, then his ring finger." "With them all bloody on the table, he pulled up short." "For the rest of his life..." "I remember him saying, "The bitch wasn't worth more than a pinkie."" "But it was too late then." "You can try that if you got a mind." "I don't know, Butch." "A little something less dramatical." "You feel me?" "You told Brianna she could go downtown with this?" "D'Angelo's her son, how was I gonna stop her?" "Look." "Look, there's no harm done if she keeps her mouth shut and just listens." "No, it's fucked up." "There ain't no call messing with Brianna with this bullshit." " What can you do?" " I don't know." "File a complaint against the detective or some shit." "I don't know." "Harassment?" "Look, this is the same motherfucker that had Avon's case." "Same motherfucker that's coming at me in my print shop, talking shit... and now, he coming at Brianna with this bullshit?" "A complaint's not going to do anything." "And the fact is... if the cops are saying her son might not be a suicide..." "Brianna's gonna hear this out, regardless." "I suppose Avon should know about it, though." "Yeah, well, I'll handle that." " Not much slinging going on here." " Western boys are sitting on the real estate." "Yeah." "All right." "All right." "That'll work too." "All right." "Yo, Shamrock says we should take some of our people... down to Hamsterdam and sell off there." "At least, until these narcos roll up off some of these corners." " Come on." " Yeah." "Yeah." "Come on." " Car stop, maybe?" " Why not?" " Hey, motherfucker." " Got it right here, yo!" "Get that pink top, yo." "Not yet, you fucking rodent!" "Y'all can't do this, man." "We headed to Hamsterdam." "You come off that car again... you headed to Bon Secours emergency room." "You hear me?" "Yo, Officer, we got immunity from y'all." "We going to the free zone." "What the fuck's a free zone?" "Package for sale." "I'm saying, straight up." "Why you think we was headed there in the first place?" " Get down." "Headed where?" " Hamsterdam." "Suck my dick!" " Hey, y'all wanna see a wagon?" " Fuck y'all!" "Will you shut the fuck up and cut this shit out now?" "Like you said." "That's your receipt." "$244 for the hoop comes back to me... rounded to $250 for my gas money." "This repays me." "And the rest of this?" "Use it to pay them hoppers for the week." "Whether you use them or not, you pay this money out." "This shit is like unemployment insurance." "Every employer gotta pay in." "If I find out anybody been holding out... then he's out of here, back in the street getting his head busted." "The least you all can do is look after your own people a little bit." "What are you, a fucking communist?" "23-04." "Need a couple of 10-16s to Fayette, west of Vincent." " That's right around the corner from here." " 10-4." "Units responding." " What the fuck happened?" " Car stop." "I got a g-pack from beneath the passenger seat." "Yo, we was on our way to Hamsterdam." "The man say we don't get no hassle coming in or going out." "What's up?" " What the fuck is Hamsterdam?" " Lying-ass police!" "I can't let you do this." " Carv, they got a g-pack." " On the way to the free zone, they did." " You know the rules." " Yeah, man..." " and I was trying to tell these people..." " Just shut the fuck up." "... to any unit at the scene at Fayette and Vincent." " Yeah, boss?" " You got a situation there?" " I can't believe this bullshit." " Yeah, bullshit is right." " I told you to shut the fuck up." " Yo, man, you gave us y'all fucking word!" "You know you did, man." "This is some fucking bullshit." "Y'all some fucking liars, man." "Carv, will you please tell me what the fuck is going on here?" "Major said he's on his way." "Carv?" "Oh, man." " You sure that's the one?" " Reesie say that was the one." "Who am I to say different?" "Tell him I ain't gonna pay till it proves itself, though." "I told him that already." "He say $1,500 for his troubles." "Damn." "Conscience do cost." "I seen him, Bernard." "You hadn't even gone past the damn door... and he threw all them papers in the trash." " You lying now, I could tell." " You is the only one who gives a fuck... and if you hadn't been the stupidest motherfucker that I ever gone out with... you just would have bought a whole bunch of them things at once." "I only need like six more." "We be done in like a half an hour." "How about we make one more stop, you get six of them shits... and I suck your dick for the next 20 minutes." "Got you." "Oh, fuck." "Oh, fuck you all." " Shit, I worked a double, man." " Yeah, right." " Bunk, line three." " All right." "Tack it to the board, Mike, you know the rules." " Detective Moreland." " Heard you looking for something." "Let me get some of them Trac phones activated." "Eight of them bitches." "This one's for Sector Two." "Sector One, I'm using that empty low-rise housing on Winchester." " Sector Three, the old Koppers plant." " And it's legal to sell here?" " Sector Three, the old Koppers plant." " And it's legal to sell here?" "It's not legal." " We just look the other way is all." " How?" "How can you?" "Look, I know it hurts your head to think about... but before you decide to lose your mind on this... take a moment, ride around to my corners, my worst drug corners." "Edmondson and Brice." "North and Pulaski." "Hollins and Payson." "They're empty." "All of them." "District-wide, my crime is down 5%." " But do the bosses know?" " No, the bosses don't know shit about it." "Look, this is just a District Commander taking initiative on his own." "Jesus Christ!" "I knew it was a matter of time... before I bumped into somebody from downtown about this." "And I know your natural impulse is to take what you saw back downtown with you." " But I got to ask you..." " You legalized drugs!" "Look, this is a tactical deployment." "We just wait for everything to get settled down here in these three zones... and then we move." "Look, we make a big show of locking everybody up and then we shut it down." "I'm sorry I had to fuck you up on that arrest." "And I'm sorry you had to see me give that runt back the g-pack." "That was ugly, I know." "But I'm just trying to save what's left of my district any way I can, if I can." "And the longer I have before I have to brief the bosses about this deployment..." "We got all we needed from the car stop, Major." "Don't sweat it." "Let me get a word with my old Commander." "I don't know, Major." "Whenever you bust this place up, they'll go back to their same corners." "Besides, you were never much on making a big show." "If this doesn't work, Jimmy, I mean, it's just back to usual." "I'm out the door on pension anyway." "Jimmy, I need more time." "I need to be able to rely on you and your people to keep this close." "Bosses don't know, huh?" "Fuck the bosses." "You the man who called?" "I did." "You witnessing or what?" "I'm afraid I'm blind." "Legally." "Something you need to see, though." "Glock .40, I believe." "I suppose you ain't going to tell me who brought this here, right?" "Like I said, I'm blind." "I thought you might know, though." "You can tell him from me..." "I'm hoping he might need this in court some day." "Man, narcos might come back." "They might." "But until they do, this your corner to hold." " What about Marlo's crew?" " Look, Avon's home... and you on a Barksdale corner." "You feel me?" " Avon ain't here now." " You got muscle." "Don't worry about that, little man." "Hey." "The burner of young Bodie Broadus." "Still has minutes left." "Speed dial?" "Caroline." "You wouldn't have an extra room at your place, would you?" "Just for a night or two till I can get my shit together." " Ain't no fixing it?" " It's fixed pretty good, I think." "Thanks." "Credit card was a business account listed to a Theresa D'Agostino." "Yeah, that's her." "What kind of business?" "Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee." "Billing on the card goes to a business address in northwest Washington." "I called the switchboard and she's listed." "D'Agostino doesn't sound much like a West Baltimore name to me." "Me, either." "Truth is, I don't know what I want." "I know I'm looking for something, but I can't even tell you what it is." " I understand you found work." " Ain't no payroll job, but it'll do." "You ain't here for a job or the GED program." "So, you looking to join the church?" "I just..." "I've had this feeling for a long time... and it's like I'm standing outside myself... watching me do things I don't wanna do, you know?" "Just seeing me like I'm somebody else... but never, ever being able to stop the show." "I'm tired." "It's Cutty, right?" "No, man." "Dennis." " She's left, huh?" " She's out of the office." "I figured that, 'cause I'm supposed to meet her, actually." "Tonight, yeah." "Right, exactly." "Well, I was going to pick her up and take her to that, but I'm running late." " Her plans may have changed." " Yeah, yeah, I know." "Where is that exactly?" "I'm not real familiar with that part of..." "It's on the corner of 15th Street and..." "Okay." "Too many damn scheduling conflicts, unfortunately." "But we have put it on the agenda for the next meeting... of the Coordinating Council on Criminal Justice." "You're sentencing it to committee?" "Mr. Mayor, we're probably only talking, like, a few hundred thousand to start." "I'm not saying we should create new identities for these people... send them to New Mexico like the Feds." "We just need to get them out of harm's way." "Let me tell you something, Councilman." "I can't lay my hands on several hundred thousand dollars... that's not already spoken for." " Mr. Mayor, I was not..." " What would you have me do, Councilman?" "Should I divert the money that's already been budgeted... for snow removal from the First District this winter?" "Or how about I reduce trash pickup to once a week citywide... put the witnesses up at the Hyatt Inner Harbor?" "I'm not trying to be difficult." "Tommy, come on." "The city in the financial situation it's in?" "Very few friends in Annapolis." "We've done all we could do with this matter for now." "Okay, then." "Well, thanks for your time." "Gentlemen." "Ah, what the fuck." "I don't know, boss." "If there weren't so many fucking kids down here..." "I might be okay with it." " Baltimore police." " Baltimore?" "Baltimore, Maryland." " Can I get a Jameson?" " Bushmills okay?" " That's Protestant whiskey." " The price is right, isn't it?" "Make it neat." "Excuse me." " Hey." " Hey." " What are you doing here?" " Just asking myself the same thing." "You drive all the way down here... to look at me from across the room and then leave?" " That's kind of creepy." " You looked occupied." "Him?" "Honey, that's just business." " This ain't my kind of crowd." " Definitely not." "Yeah, well, I made a mistake, so I better go." " 428?" " You live in this town." " Why book the room?" " I live across town." "As late as these things go, that's a DUI away." " Give me two hours, McNulty?" " What am I gonna do for two hours?" "Dream on it." "Water fresh?" "You keeping them cool?" "You got squeakers nesting squabs." "Taking care of the young'uns." "I like seeing that." "Yeah, Marlo, he's real loyal." " I can't kick him off that nest." " This is good work." " This is really good work." " Police coming off them corners." "I seen." "Gonna keep my name off the package for a time, gonna keep wholesaling." "You know, step back a bit." "Barksdale gonna think we weak, not coming out to claim what's ours." "The police leave them corners, he's gonna be back out there." "I know he will." " Your turn, girl." " It's about time." "For real." "For starters... its memory holds the last 10 calls made and received by the user." " That's enough to give us a signature." " Signature?" "The phone number's unique to an individual." "That way we can identify the user when he switches to another phone." "Sorry, I'm late." "Woke up in the wrong town." "Anyway, we ran the tolls on those numbers... and we came up with a rather interesting pattern." "Check this out." "This is the pattern of a closed communication network." "Something you'd expect from a drug organization." "This particular one so far involves..." " 15 distinct burners." " 15." "And none of them list subscriber information." " You can do that?" " With these burners... with this particular company, you don't need subscriber information." "Our data shows that over 92% of the calls... were made within this network, with the average call lasting less than a minute." "Again, suggestive of drug trafficking." "Now, this user here, he serves as a clearing house." "He receives calls and initiates interactions." "He coordinates the show." " Nice if that was Stringer." " Now, this is the best part." "This is something that Prez discovered when he was playing with it." "It has a speed dial feature." "Meaning, someone took the time to program the phone." "Hell, that's probably the only way these corner boys can remember all the numbers." "What with these phones being dumped every few days or so." "I'll bet all the other phones in the network are set up the same way." "Well, I've heard enough." "We should start writing for the wire." " When can we get up?" " Get up on what?" "They're dumping phones every couple of weeks on average." "By the time you get a wire up on that, the phones are dead." "The whole network shuts down simultaneously." " Do we have a plan?" " Not yet, we don't." "But, for now, if I could get a couple more of these dead phones... it'd probably help corroborate the theory for the affidavit." "Kima, maybe you could ask those Western boys to pick up what they find..." " on the ground for the next few days." "Huh?" " Yeah, sure." "Damn, boy, you smell like sex." " You didn't take a fucking shower?" " I was late for work." " Forgot my Newports, didn't you?" " Oh, shit, man, I did, yo." "Let me do these chips and then I'll go get your cigarettes." "3- 1 on shooting of this number one male." " We're gonna need 10-100 down here." " Copy that..." "I'm on my way." " Roger, 700." " Back so soon?" "I thought you guys had enough of our happy district yesterday." "Just need a favor." "Lester wants you to scoop up... any discarded cell phones you find on Barksdale corners." "You want Barksdale's license plates." "Tag numbers and all?" "Whatever, sure." "'Cause I saw big man riding in a truck the other day." "Missed the tags, but if I see him again..." " Stringer?" " No, the other guy." " What other guy?" " Big boy, the one we locked up." " Avon." " Avon Barksdale?" "Jesus, Herc." "He's at Jessup, down for four or five at least." " What, we all look alike to you?" " Lf you don't believe me, fuck it." "No fucking way." "But the fact remains, we would not be returning this service weapon... to this officer without help from the citizens of Baltimore as well." "And on that note, I think our Mayor would like to say a few words." "Thank you, Commissioner Burrell." "I just want to take this opportunity to commend our department... on successfully resolving this case... and to wish Officer Dozerman a speedy return to duty." "Officer Dozerman, the citizens want you to have this back... and to thank you for your service in defense of our city." "And I especially want to thank all of our concerned residents... who called in to the hotline." "We would not be here today..." " Lester." " Lieutenant, you gotta see this." "Big joke."