"All right, all right." "Listen up, everyone." "I know most of you are wondering how the hell in the world Russ Vandenberg got promoted to Detective First Grade." "I've been wondering the same thing myself." "So, given the hook I have down at One PP," "Commissioner Reagan." "Careful, I'm taking names." "The commissioner, he gave me this." "It's blank, Reagan." "It's not blank, it's invisible ink." "What it says is that though the proud people of Russ's Dutch heritage have been around New York since day one, but they've actually been underrepresented amongst the ranks of the NYPD." "Which could be a problem if, say, you need someone to hold back a flood by sticking a finger in a dike." "So, the commissioner has personally instituted an affirmative action program and Russ" " is our official poster boy." " Yeah!" "To Detective First Grade Russ Vandenberg." " Proost!" " Proost!" "Thanks, man." "Congrats." "Ellen?" "Why don't you come in?" "I'm gonna wait out here." "For what?" "Russ." "He won't return my calls or texts." "What's wrong?" "You know anything about AA?" "The 12 Steps?" "I know enough." "Steps eight and nine are:" "Identify who you hurt because of your drinking and make amends."" "Right." "And that's what you want to do with Russ tonight?" "An innocent woman is in prison on account of a questionable collar we made." "He needs to help me set it right." "He's had a few to drink, he's celebrating." "You're never gonna get what you want out of him tonight." "We have to set this right." "Me and him." "And you will." "Maybe tomorrow." "Okay?" "Not tonight." "Now let me drive you home." "Come on." "So, you've given us, what, five places you don't want your retirement party." "Six, if you count go-kart racing in Jersey City." "Garrett just threw that one in 'cause he knows you like to go there." "I don't want a retirement party." "You got to." "Think of all the guys you'd be letting down." "It's just one of those things you got to do." "I don't want to retire." "It is what it is, you might as well go out with a bang and an open bar, right?" "I'm afraid I'm not gonna be as easy as that." "Travis." "It's mandatory." "The eve of your 63rd birthday." "It's a civil rights violation, if it came to that." "Not that it's gonna come to that." "Well, then, you're making an exception." "Come on, how many exceptions have I given you?" "What do you mean?" "It means you're long over your limit." "Well, name one." "This, for one thing." "I get razor bumps." "But I never asked for a doctor's note." "Name one real exception." "Travis, you do not want to walk out the door kicking and screaming." "What if it was you, Frank?" "What if they tossing you to the curb, what, because of some date on your birth certificate?" "Not an issue for me, I'm not a cop anymore." "Then it is an issue." "You're a good top cop because you can still walk miles in a cop's shoes." "He knows we cut corners." "We talked about it, agreed not to bring up the problem with the case unless anyone asked and no one did." "And this directly led to this Cerise Paxton's conviction?" "Yes." "She had a long record already." "Russ painted it as one of those you know she's guilty of something" things." "He wanted that murder collar, he was in a hurry up the ladder." "And you?" "I was drinking a quart of vodka a day and eating oxys like peanuts." "I needed him to cover me." "There's not a cop in the world, at least none that I know, who are gonna give up their entire career over one questionable collar." "You would." "If the person went away for a murder they didn't commit." "Look, you want my advice?" "If you really want to press this, you're gonna have to talk to Internal Affairs." "Maybe they'll listen." "I don't want to jam Russ up." "I just want to make this right." "I don't think you can get one without the other." "Okay, Danny." "Thanks anyway." "Hey, I called dibs on the last jelly donut." "You can't call dibs." " Can, too." " Says who?" "Says her." "And who died and made her boss?" "Welch, come on." "Finders keepers." "Don't be a dick." "Guys, it's just a donut, let's not make a beef of this, too." "Rookies should be seen and not heard." "You okay?" "Welch, what up?" "Shave cream?" "What?" "You put shave cream in my donut?" "No, it must have just gone bad." "Donuts don't go bad." "This means war." "Morning, Baez." "Comfortable?" "Sergeant Bannon, Internal Affairs." "I..." "I need a couple minutes." "Well, the boss ain't in." "Why don't we go in his office?" "So where'd you take Ellen Turner last night?" "Witnesses put her in your car leaving the racket for Detective Vandenberg." "Witnesses?" "People saw you." "You saying they didn't?" "What's this about?" "Her son says she didn't come home last night." "And then she left a message, also last night, for IA, said to expect her at 8:00 this morning, said it was urgent." "She never showed up." "So, you tell me, what's this all about?" "Don't know." "Gave her a ride home." "I used to know her, we talked about the job." "That's it." "That's it?" "Yeah, that's it." "I mean, did I watch her walk in the door?" "No." "I drove off." "She say she was planning to meet someone?" "Any plans at all?" "Not that she told me about." "What does that mean?" ""?" "I'm just looking for something helpful." "Well, I swear to you, I'm trying to be helpful." "I don't know how much you know about former Detective Turner, but she's lead kind of a complicated life." "Yeah, I gathered that." "Okay." "Has this turned into a missing persons case?" "Not yet." "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time she didn't make it home." "If you know what I'm saying." "But I'll reach out and see if I can find her." "Let me know if you find anything." "Because changing the law would have to go through the state legislature and attorney general's office." "Albany block your number?" "More or less." "Dad..." "Run it by some of your friendlies, see if you can get any traction." " I can tell you..." " Try first." "Kind of like a stay of execution." "Mandatory retirement is hardly the same as execution." "It is to some guys." "It is to Travis Jackson." "It would be to me." "Maybe you two need some perspective." "Or maybe Albany does." "How so?" "Maybe the law's out of date." "I mean, 63 today is not the same age as it was 50 years ago." "Okay." "For argument's sake, what should be the mandatory retirement age?" "Whatever I say it is." "Okay, now we're getting somewhere." "Well, higher than 63." "See what you can do?" "I can already see what I can do," " and it's not much, but I..." " Sorry." "Hi, Erin." "I didn't know you were gracing the fourteenth floor." "We're trying to find a way to keep all cops under his thumb past the age 63." "Well, you got company." "Frank, Travis Jackson's filing an age-discrimination lawsuit against the NYPD." "I already said she didn't call." " Text?" " No." "When was the last time you talked to her?" "I don't know." "After school," " or maybe before." " What are you trying to hide here, Richie?" "Come on." "There's something you're not telling us." "Look, she came home." "She went out again later, but she came home." "She did come home." "Okay, what else?" "Russ came by." "Detective Vandenberg came by?" "Yeah." "Why did you lie to Internal Affairs about that?" "He and Mom had a fight." "Something about some woman they put away, Mom thinks wrongly." "A fight fight, like a physical fight?" " He put his hands on your mom?" " No." "Russ would never." "Just yelling." "He took off." "About ten minutes later, Mom did, too." "Why do you feel like you have to protect Russ?" "I'm not protecting him." "He didn't do anything." "Whatever you're doing." "He's never been anything but great to me, and-and I thought maybe if I did him a solid, he'd come around again more." "He used to come around when your mom was on the job?" "All the time." "That better be Mom." "It's Detective Vandenberg." "Hey, Russ." "You seen my mom?" "Russ." "Hey, it's Danny Reagan." "Listen, Ellen's been MIA since last night." "No, no, what's gonna happen next is you and me are gonna sit down and talk privately." "Where are you?" "All right." "Yeah, I'll meet you there in an hour." "Coogan's, yeah, one hour." "All right." "What kind of truce?" "Any kind." "I don't like walking around here, waiting for a lousy surprise." "We get enough of that out on the street." "What'd you have in mind?" "We take them out for drinks after our tour." "We bury the hatchet." "Matter of fact, what is the hatchet?" "What do you mean?" "I mean, who started it?" "Us or them?" "Him." "He put sushi in your locker." "Right, okay, all right, well, we got him back already." "Not her." "I don't know if she's all in." "She's just a rookie." "Officers Reagan and Janko." "Yeah." "Sarge?" "Sergeant Bond, Fleet Services." "I want to thank you for volunteering for the NYPD Green Vehicle pilot program." "Volunteering for...?" "A smaller carbon footprint starts with a single step." "Sorry, I... we didn't..." "Didn't give it a second thought when we heard about the opportunity." "Vehicle's out in the back lot." "Let's go get acquainted." "'Cause if we called Welch out, we'd likely have IA down on all of us." "This sucks." "All units, 10-53, drivers in dispute." "Intersection 20th and 12th." "12 David, show us responding." "Hey!" "Hey, back off from each other!" "Back off!" "Back off of each other!" "Get out of my face." "Get out of my face." "Drop the bat!" "Relax!" "Y'all can't be real cops." "Yes, we are." "What, driving that thing?" "Hey!" "Our car!" "Where's his medallion?" "!" "Come on!" "Get off the car!" "Listen, he needs medallion." "Get off the car!" "Back up!" "Back up, back up!" "Sit down." "Central, 12 David." "Requesting a 10-85 forthwith at this location..." "We argued, yeah." "What she's asking me to do is nuts." "Okay, but is it nuts and the right thing or just nuts?" "Risk losing my shield for some career criminal doing another stint in prison?" "It's a manslaughter rap." "I didn't convict her." "I mean, I didn't sentence her, neither did Ellen." "You gathered the evidence, you built the case, you testified." "That's what we do." "100% legit?" " What, the collar?" " Yeah." "I'll stand behind it all day long." "Well, Ellen's not standing behind it." "She thinks it's slanted." "Ellen was pretty slanted herself most of the time." "She got sober." "And I'm happy for her, but it doesn't mean she gets to go through our cases, looking for good deeds she can do." "What's her beef?" "Come on." "Danny." "Do you want me on your side?" "What's her beef?" "Cerise Paxton had a mole." "Here." "Okay." "When I showed the eyewitness a photo array," "I forgot to ink little moles on the other five filler photos." "So, yeah, you want to stretch a perp's rights all the way to Alaska?" "It could be considered a slightly slanted ID." " And that's it?" " That's it." "And not for nothing." "Cerise Paxton has a record going back to age 12." "There's not a day in her life where she did not break some law somewhere." "Yeah, so if she's not guilty of that, she's guilty of something else." "Tell me you never say that to yourself." "Reagan." "Are you kidding me?" "All right." "I'll, I'll meet you there in a half an hour." "Harbor just fished Ellen's body out of the East River." "Hey." "Hey!" "You're coming with me." "You went around me and you jumped the gun." "Jumped the gun?" "The date's a week from now." "You knew the retirement age when you came on the job." "I also knew I was gonna die when I was little." "It doesn't mean I planned my own funeral." "Come on, Travis." "I have earned my right as a citizen, as a man, as a cop who hasn't lost a single step." "Look, I made an appeal to Albany." "Don't hold your breath and you know it." "Just give it a chance." "My family has been in this country since the 1840s." "I was ten before they passed the Civil Rights Act." "Any breaks I caught in life," "I caught while I was swimming upstream." "And now I'm 62." "I'm not about to start to just going with the flow, understand?" "No, I don't understand." "You're a smart man on a fool's errand." "It's..." "It's nothing against you, boss." "I believe you're gonna do everything you can, but rocking the boat is not your style." "I am a good cop..." "No, more than good, and more valuable for all the years I've been one." "I have earned this right to fight." "You have also earned the gratitude and respect of this department." "Are you gonna throw all that away with a lawsuit against this department?" "Well, if I've earned it..." "I guess it's up to me how I spend it." "You don't want to listen." "I did listen, but listening isn't always agreeing." "If that's all, Commissioner." "Yeah." "Dismissed." "There's no wounds or evidence of trauma that would indicate a struggle or a jump from a bridge." "Okay, so what?" "There was an empty eight ounce flask found in her coat." "She stopped drinking." "Maybe she started again, used the liquid courage to take the plunge and swim to the other side." "You know that?" "Not until the tox panel comes back, no, just adding two and two." "She was real committed to AA." "Then I gladly stand corrected." "At any rate, air and water temperature what it was, she'd have slipped unconscious in under three minutes." "Painless?" "Pretty much." "Give us a second, okay?" "You okay?" "Not really." "Just, thinking of her going off like that." "Listen, here's what you're gonna do." "You're gonna go to Internal Affairs and tell them everything." "About what?" "About what Ellen was up to, about your argument, about everything." "You think I had something to do with this?" "It doesn't matter what I think, all right?" "You were with her last night, which they were lied to about." "She wanted something from you that you weren't gonna give which you fought about." "That speaks to opportunity and motive both." "Screw you, Reagan." "Russ." "Go get out ahead of this." "Look, if you're not gonna go there and tell them the truth, I'll do it myself." "He really drinks peppermint schnapps?" "Legend has it." "What's this?" "It's a peace offering." "Let's call it even." "How'd it go today?" "About as humiliating as you were hoping it'd be." "What do you say?" "Truce?" "You mean it?" "Quit while we're all ahead." "What do you say?" "Done." "Wait." "Might be a rookie, but I wasn't born yesterday." "What?" "It's a Mickey." "You think?" "They're offering you a truce out of thin air by bringing you a drink with who knows what in it?" "It's peppermint schnapps." "Wow." "You almost had me." "You really think we would give a fellow cop a drink with a Mickey in it?" "Well, now that I think about it..." "It might've been a war to you, but it was just a stupid feud to us." "We would never do that, man." "And you, shame on you." "Truce cancelled." "Screw both of you." "The governor at the time vetoed pushing the retirement age without hesitation, and since then, no one has even questioned it." "Certainly not this governor." "The state puts all police departments in the same basket." "So while a later retirement age may work for a big city, it may not for a small town with a force of three to four cops, who are already entrenched, and not in a good way." "Any other way in?" "It's not happening." "Certainly not in the short term, and especially not on the wholesale level." "Retail?" "To what end?" "Just to please Chief Jackson, but piss off the thousands of guys that toed the line and then retired without filing suits?" "Then there's that." "Don't rock the boat." "What?" "Nothing." "Is this about the chief or you?" "How could it be about me?" "Your own retirement." "What about it?" "The fear of it." "I don't fear it." "I am looking forward to hanging out at the hardware store, pestering the owner about the placement of the surveillance cameras." "Nice dodge." "Thank you." "And you're sure you're not just trying to protect Russ?" "Russ doesn't need protecting from me." "Not typically." "Not ever." "There's nothing to say about Russ except he had my mom's back, and mine, too, and he's the last person who would do her any harm." "I hear you." "Can I ask you a question?" "Of course you can." "Was she drunk?" "The toxicology..." "The test where they would be able to determine that, it hasn't come back yet." "But you think what?" "It really doesn't matter what I think." "Come on." "Please?" "They found an empty flask on her." "That's it?" "A flask that would be used to hold liquor in it, and it was empty." "That flask has been empty for nine months." "What do you mean?" "That was what she took her last drink out of." "She always had it on her." "Said it was her way of keeping an eye on her devil." "Check this out." "A visitor's pass from Bedford Correctional from three days ago." "Ellen visited Cerise Paxton." "Why, do you think?" "Yeah, she came to see me." "Said she wanted to get me out of here." "She tell you why?" "Said she thought she and the other one set me up, so..." "You think that?" "Don't matter what I think." "What this about?" "She was found dead yesterday, that's what it's about." "Well, you know I couldn't have done it." "Did you get word to anyone on the outside that she thought that the real killer was still walking around free?" "Stupid woman." "She talked foolish." "If she really to help me, she should've brought me chocolate and herb." "Come on." "Did you get word to anyone on the outside?" "What do you think, we got cell phones?" "Answer the question." "Or your manslaughter rap is gonna become accessory to cop killer." "Yeah, I got word." "Now, look, if Chollie Tosh find out I held out on him," "I be praying they never let me out." "Chollie Tosh." "He the one who committed the murder you're in here for?" "You must really think I'm stupid." "Where can I find him?" "You can't." "Him lay up in a different crib all of the time." "You do realize that corrections officers don't take kindly to cop killers either, right?" "Now, you can act all tough all you want, but I promise you this." "They find out who you're covering for, you're gonna pray that Tosh finds you first." "Look, Sunup and Sundown always know where he at." "That's all I know them as." "He and she." "Sunup and Sundown." "Desmond Hill and Rita Brown." "Alias Sundown and Sunup." "Nah, Mon." "You certain?" "Them no bother to me." "We didn't ask if they bothered you, just if you'd seen them." "Both." "Or neither." "Whichever you like." "Good day." "Yeah, good day to you, too." "Well, that's strike 12." "Well, let's go see the super." "He's got to have those surveillance tapes by now." "Yeah." "You know, maybe we shouldn't show them as a pair anymore." " Why?" " You know how it is with couples." "Sometimes you like one, but not the other one." "I don't know." "Maybe we should alternate 'em, you know?" "I'd say we start with Sundown." "He looks like somebody people would want to get back at." "I was thinking Sunup does." "You think?" "Yeah." "Not so much." "Police!" "Drop it!" "I said drop it!" "Put it down." "You first." "Drop it!" "Put the gun down right now." "Gun." "Okay." "Hey." "Hey!" "Look at me." "Look at me." "There are no cameras in this elevator, okay?" "So unless you want to end up dead, like your girlfriend, you're gonna tell me where I can find Tosh right now." "Where is he?" "!" "Hotel 8." "Motel 8?" "Which one?" "Which one?" "!" "Hotel 8." "Hey." "Hey!" "He's gone." "Deputy Chief Jackson regrets he can't make it in here." "What's that mean?" "He's up to his ears out at SOD headquarters and can't make time to come in."" "So he's ducking a request from this office." "Or he's just got too much on his plate to come all the way in from Floyd Bennett Field." "Do you want me to clarify it as a direct order?" "I want to clarify it as an appointment for an apology... from me." "How do you want me to word that?" "I don't." "Sir?" "He said to me, rocking the boat was not my style." "He didn't mean it as a compliment." "It's not exactly an insult, either." "I was raised by a Roman Catholic, with a cop for a father, schooled by Jesuits, then by the Marines, and then I joined the NYPD." "The creed of every significant relationship and organization that informed my life... could be boiled down to toe the line, obey the rules..." "And don't rock the boat." "You're the boss." "The boss isn't supposed to rock the boat." "The boss is supposed to steady the boat." "So I should always do what I'm supposed to do." "Try him again and tell him clam pies from Zingoni's Pizza will be joining the meeting." "Tampering with food and drink items?" "Falsifying official department records?" "Internal Affairs takes this kind of behavior very seriously." "Do you understand that?" "Yes, sir." "Copy that." "Just for the record, the tampering with the drink accusation was false and... proven to be so." "Your last name ain't Kryptonite to me, Officer Reagan." "You understand that?" "I got it." "Got it?" "Copy that, boss." "So here's what's gonna happen, and I already cleared this with your CO." "Reagan, you're riding with Patimkin." "Janko, you're riding with Welch." "For the next 30 days." "We got no room for Hatfields and McCoys in this department, and you are all dispensable, and you are all interchangeable." "Do you copy that?" "Copy that." "Yes, sir." "I'm gonna go change." "You notice how she didn't respond to any of his barks?" "Notice he didn't bust her on it?" "She's an IA mole?" "My partner's a rat." "Well, your partner, now." "Nothing we can do about it." "Nope." "Just got to eat it." "What do you mean it's not a Hotel 8?" "Well, when did they change it to Kwik Stay?" "Danny..." "What do you mean they didn't?" "Okay, maybe I got some bad information, I don't know." "Reagan?" "Thanks." "What?" "!" "He wasn't saying Motel 8."" "Then what was he saying?" "He was saying Hotel Hate," with an H."" "A transcription from a deposition from a Tosh foot soldier, just last month." "Look." "Where he goes when things get hot is an old bus garage in Red Hook." "They got the kitchen and cots and all of that"." "Did he name the crib?" "Quote, Tosh, he calls it 'Hotel Hate' 'cause he hates it when he has to hole up there"" Right." "But if the guy gave it up," "Tosh would know, and he'd stay away from the place." "He's a C.I., he testified in a sealed courtroom." "Okay, do we have an address for the place?" "894 Wolcott Street." "Okay, let's track down this C.I." "Your detail's ready out front, ride time out to E.S.U. Headquarters is about 40 minutes." "Is he still in his office?" "Lieutenant Gormley's giving his staff notice that you're heading out there." "Thank you." "I've allowed a half-hour on site and given the mayor's office notice that you may be late to the reception." "Maybe we could we make it a standing notice?" "Afraid not, sir." "Boss, he's not there." "Chief Jackson is out on the field with his men getting ready to hit a location." "Where?" "Waiting on word." "What's the operation?" "A raid." "Jackson said, quote," "I want to go out at 90 miles an hour with my hair on fire."" "They're forcing me out next week." "Turning 63." "You'll be missed." "Not as much as I'll miss this." "Hold on." "Mind if I'm the first man in?" "Be my guest." "Go, go!" "Commissioner." "As you were." "Sir." "Carry on." "Sir." "Carry on." "Chief Jackson." "How are you doing?" "Better than the bad guys." "How's the leg?" "Just nick in the leg." "It's more than a nick." "Lucky." "Nah." "Just good at my job." "And very lucky you didn't cowboy your way into a permanent retirement." "Detective Reagan had my back." "And can you tell him thanks if you see him before I do?" "I'll do that." "Nice to have a Reagan have my back when it counted." "90 miles an hour with your hair on fire?" "That's how I roll." "So it's official, right?" "Yes." "Truce." "The Treaty of the Twelfth Precinct." "Signed and sealed." "To be fair, that IA dick did have a point." "You start getting tangled up in the one-upping with the pranks and the practical jokes, you're bound to take your eye off the ball." "Easy there, Girl Scout." "I'm just saying." "I'm so glad you see it that way." "Richie." "Hey." "Hey, Detective." "You can call me Danny." "Okay." "Danny." "What's up?" "I just wanted to come by and see how you're doing." "Brought you this." "New game in the stores." "Figured you might like it." "Thank you." "Was this your mom's?" "Well, I wish, but no." "Hey, Russ." "Hey, Danny." "I'll get the last load, you start putting it away?" "Copy that." "Thanks for stopping by." "You bet." "What's this?" "Well, I came clean with IA, which got me modified pending investigation." "Sorry to hear that." "Yeah." "It is what it is." "I've been there." "So I talked to Richie, and we decided I'd move in with him." "Wow." "Kind of help get us both back on our feet." "Look at you." "In the spirit of making amends..." "Kid needs a parent." "And you're the guy who was willing to step up." "That door was open, yeah." "Good for you." "Really." "Thanks, Danny." "I'll see you around." "I think I should be allowed to make a statement." "Is there a record of this?" "What do you mean?" "Do you fill out any kind of account or report after the fact?" "If you're gonna throw a punch, there'll be paperwork." "Otherwise, no." "I'm not joking, Frank." "You want to say something for the record?" "Yes." "That I'm retiring under protest, and seeking remedy through legal action against this department, charging age discrimination." "Thank you for your service, Chief." "Let's go." "I'll walk you out." "You are leaving under protest, and threatening a lawsuit." "I will escort you out of the building." "Let's go." "Sir, your elevator is out." "Since when?" "Since now." "You'll have to use the main." "Sorry." "We're gonna have to take a little walk." "I came here on my own steam." "I can leave the same way." "By the by, if you're suing the NYPD, you're suing the wrong people." "The retirement mandate comes from state law." "You need to be suing Albany." "We're looking at that." "So are we." "You are?" "Yes." "I'm having Legal look into what we have to do to remedy cases like yours." "Are you now?" "Yes." "Ten-hut!" "Just go with the flow for once, will you?" "The first thing you miss when you leave the job is the action." "What are you gonna do when you retire from One PP, Dad?" "Just retire." "Ha!" "Fat chance." "You wouldn't last a week." "Come on." "Isn't there something you've always secretly wanted to do?" "There is." "What?" "Operative word... secretly." " I love my second career." " Yeah?" "What's your new career?" "Being patriarch of this family." "What exactly does that entail?" "Don't encourage him." "Using my vast experience and accrued wisdom to point out where you all are falling short." "What about you, Dad?" "I'm gonna go into the retirement business with Mr. Jimmy Buffett." "What?" "What?" "I'm serious." "You realize there are millions of baby boomers right now cashing out, and they're gonna want a retirement village of their own." "What better place than Margaritaville?" "Mr. Buffett get back to you on all this?" "He doesn't know about it yet, but..." "I'm getting my ducks in a row." "What about you, Mom?" "What do you want to do?" "I'm gonna read every book" "I haven't had time to, and take wine-tasting classes... two a day." "Wine o'clock." "Wildlife veterinarian for the National Parks Service." "That's cool." "Read an article in National Geographic when I was about ten, never forgot it." "There you go." "Come on." "What about you?" "What'll you do when you retire?" "Besides just being a burden to my children?" "I thought that was a hobby." "Not that you're not good at it." "Thank you very much." "One thing I know for sure." "On Sundays, I'll be right here, and I'll hope all of you will be, too." "== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man."