"Yeah, Lester." " Where are you at?" " On Monk in East Baltimore." " Who's on Marlo?" " No one right now." "Marlo's been the hardest to follow." "Too paranoid." "Too much counter-surveillance." "Well, peel off Monk and head out Broening Highway to the marine terminals." "Map 44, grid G-as-in-George 10." " 44." " Affirmative." "This is a fresh one." "If they're going all the way out there, it might just be..." " Damn right." " On it." "23-06 to all units on this detail." "New 20 is map 44." "Grid G-George 10." "That's 44 G-George 10." "Flood that grid and look for suspect vehicles." "23-12. 10-4." "Take me a while." "I'm up Northeast." "You want me to stay on Cheese?" "Negative." "New 20 is a priority." "Think we're on the main stem." " Yeah?" " McNulty." "It's on." " Yeah?" " Oh, hell, yeah." "All right." "When you walk through the garden" "Gotta watch your back" "Well, I beg your pardon" "Walk the straight and narrow track" "If you walk with Jesus" "He's gonna save your soul" "You gotta keep the devil way down in a hole" "He's got the fire and the fury" "At his command" "Well, you don't have to worry" "If you hold on to Jesus' hand" "And we'll all be safe from Satan" "When the thunder rolls" "But you gotta help me keep the devil" "Way down in the hole" "In the bottom of the hole" "In the hole In the hole" "Way down in the hole" "In the hole In the hole" "In the hole In the hole" "Way down in the hole" "OK, whatcha got?" "We rolled around until Bobby spotted Chris Partlow pulled up on a lot two blocks from here." "So we sat on him until Marlo posted." "They talked for a minute, then Marlo bounced." "And Chris goes to the warehouse gate alone and a coupla white boys open up." "He's inside now?" "Entrance is around front, it's the only working gate." "Everything else is rusted up." " Who's watching the front?" " Two units." "They're on foot, a block away, with a clear view of what comes in or out." "So what do we do if Chris rolls out?" "Let him go." "Partlow is muscle." "He's here to make sure it looks right." "And if it does, Monk or someone else'll come on down." " Cheese, too, maybe." " So this is a re-up." "Fuck a re-up, son." "This, here, in the middle of nowhere..." "Miles from anywhere these mopes meet..." "This is re-supply." "Other than Chris, anybody else that goes in there, if it's a Stanfield lieutenant, he's coming out dirty." "Follow them back to town." "If he doesn't know you're on 'em, see where he takes you." "If he catches a scent, fuck it." "Pull 'em over, jack 'em up and get the dope." "And Leander, you want to snatch the man's cell before he has a chance to erase anything." "The case is in the phones..." "Though we're gonna need a title three to take a look at them." "Where are you going?" "Time to 'fess up." "We straight?" "I said we straight, right?" " Them guns was mine." " Which guns specifically, Mr. Hill?" "Whatever guns them cops took out the truck last year." "They mine." "Even though I ain't touched that iron." "Ain't you got to do the bit." "With your limited priors, Mr. Hill, you're exposed to two, three years, tops." "You'll be well compensated for the time, I'm sure." "No good to us no how." "You on three legs." "Familiarize yourself with the make and model of the weapons you left in the truck, Mr. Hill." " The details matter." " I get shot up an' then this shit." " Y'all ask a lot, don'tcha?" " You can't hack, go down Wal-Mart." "And see if they take care you while you laid up for a while." "C'mon, nigger." "Jeez." "In the department, you take one in the line they give you light duty for as long as you need," " then you get to name your next assignment." " Marlo runs a tighter ship." "Open it." "Six icebox, 20 each." "You count, we wait." "You no count, we go to lunch early." "23-14 to 23-06." "Suspect number three is in." " You sure?" " Been following the damn truck for a week." " Should know by now." " Copy that." "Ticks have six legs or eight?" "Must have been a readjustment." "London was a sweet posting." "I can't lie." "My only regret is I didn't get the full three-year tour." " Thanks." " It's no reflection on you, man." "Shit, Gus, they even sold the building in Kensington." "We bought that sucker for nothing 50 years ago, and now Chicago sells it off for a couple million pounds." "Capitalization, they call it." "These newspaper chain guys just don't give a fuck, do they?" "Any idea where they're gonna drop you now that you're back in Charm City?" "No, I got no idea yet." "Klebanow wants to have lunch, so I guess it'll come at me soon enough." "Up for something now?" "Depends." "I gotta problem." "I need someone..." "A veteran reporter, quiet, subtle, discreet, good with details, careful to cover his tracks..." "I don't care how far we go back, Gus, no way I'm gonna kill your wife for you." "You know Scott Templeton?" "City GA." "The guy talking to the homeless killer?" "Not really." " He got hired after I went to London." " It's better you don't know him." "No opinions one way or the other." "No, no, I'm not saying anything." "I'm not." "I just need fresh eyes on the fella." "Just a careful look." " One of Whiting's pets, isn't he?" " I said discreet." " I hope you're wrong." " Course you do." " It sticks." "Dag." " Course it sticks." "It's barb wire." "Sticking's what it's s'posed to do." "Come on." "I ain't got all day." "Hurry up now." "Grab the aluminum strips there first off." " How am I supposed to get back over?" " Climb the damn fence." "Do a better job of it second time, I expect." "Grab them steel pipes quick before we get spotted." " Robert." " Hey." " Welcome home." " Thanks." "I need a global printout on everything under Scott Templeton's byline." "All of it, every edition." "Hey, I'm a fan." "23-14." "Monk is westbound onto O'Donnell." "Cheese Wagstaff is on the way in." "Also, there's a truck leaving, the one we saw back on the loading dock." "That'd be empty." "They've offloaded, it's all in the warehouse now." "Bobby and me will stay on Monk." "Karen'll follow Cheese out, you guys stay on the gate." "Forgetting for a moment our little problem of the serial killer, we came in promising a double-digit drop in violent crime." "Right up on the gubernatorial primary, and we're looking at another record high." "Michael, this department has been crippled by the budget cuts." "For a year now, we haven't had the manpower or the tools." " You have them now." " Now." "But this thing is a ship." "A super-tanker." "We can't just turn it around like that." "More foot patrols." "More cars on the street." "Get a handle on it, dammit." "See, that's what doesn't work." "More cops where people can see them." "More cops on the pavement, more cops riding past, more cops showing the flag so that you guys can say you're being tough on crime." "Respectfully, sir, what works is committing to building a real deterrent." "We take the time to retool, to teach our people not to chase stats," " but to do actual police work." " Who pulled your string, deputy?" "I was told by our mayor at the outset that there would be no more Band-Aids, no more stat games..." "Then we got hit with the school budget." "And lost some of the time we needed to address the systemic things you're talking about." "Understood." "We will work back on those, and we will support that kind of reform, if not from City Hall then from Annapolis, if need be." "But now, deputy, right now, my boss needs the crime to go down." "Not three years from now." "Not even a year from now." "He needs a ten per cent drop in the next quarter... or no one is gonna be in a position to reform anything." "Be creative, gentlemen." "Deputy." "A detective's outside for you, says it's urgent." "Sydnor and I developed a source and ran fresh surveillances on Marlo Stanfield." "And we believe we're about to catch his people very dirty." " What?" " We wrapped on that Clay Davis thing and instead of shutting Major Crimes down, we took a couple weeks and got back on Marlo." "With the right warrants, he's about to fall." " How the fuck..." " There's no time, Cedric." "In an hour or so, I'm gonna need..." "Yeah?" " Lester..." " What's up?" "We pulled up Monk." "Dirty as a motherfucker." " Mm." " Eight keys of the raw." "No, he jersey-rolled a stop and when we tried to pull him over, he went rabbit on us." "We ran him down on Lafayette, by the overpass." " You got the phone, right?" " Yeah, man." "I got it." "Good work." "It's down." "I need teams to arrest Marlo Stanfield, Chris Partlow, and Cheese Wagstaff." "I also need someone from our SAO to get on the horn to Baltimore County for an S-and-S warrant on a Middle River warehouse." "And, oh, yeah..." "Bunk Moreland has a warrant on Partlow for a separate homicide." "He held that back so we could do this business here." "Anything else you've neglected to tell me, Detective Freamon?" "No, sir." "I think you're caught up." " Hello?" " Ronnie, dear." "Hey..." " Are you sitting down?" " Why?" "Down, down, down, down!" "Let me see your hands!" "Get down!" "Get on the floor!" "He was trying to erase shit when we tackled him." "Secure this location until we have written search-and-seizure." "Shit's on TV, yo." "With a street value of almost sixteen million dollars in heroin, and charges against high-level traffickers who were going to put this poison on the streets of this city..." "Do this mean I still gotta take that charge for y'all?" "..hard work, determination and perseverance by our police department." "And while I am told that this investigation is continuing, it is my understanding that there is at least one murder warrant associated with this drug organization, which is believed to have been responsible for many of those bodies found in vacant row houses more than a year ago." "We did not give up on that investigation just as we do not give up trying every day to address ourselves to the task of making this city safe and vibrant again." "Let me just say to all others responsible for the drug trade's assault on the welfare of this city, a day like this is coming for you." "Oh, you are so butch." "I have seen what drugs have done to Baltimore." "Drug dealers do not just destroy individuals." "They destroy families." " Don't forget the communities." " They destroy entire communities." "Today the mayor of Baltimore, our state's attorney, our police department, and our communities are saying," ""We have had enough." Thank you." "Deputy." "Alma Gutierrez, Sun papers." " Care to comment?" " It's a good day for the good guys." "Could you be a bit more substantive?" "Last time the Sun had me in its pages," " you had me doing things I didn't do." " Regarding?" "Something about me stabbing someone in the back." "Look it up." ""A source of information" ""identified the transmission of photographs via cellphone."" "Fuck do that mean?" ""Source of information."" " They sayin' somebody talkin'?" " Who the fuck even know?" "I wanna talk to the lawyer." "And you caught a murder, too." "Says the same shit on yours, huh?" ""From information received," ""investigation led to DNA analysis of the victim."" " They got you on DNA?" " My hair, I expect." ""Information received." More of that snitchin' shit." "I'm sayin', where the information come from?" "Only people know about the deed is us right here." " Snoop knew." " Shit." "What about your young 'un Michael?" "Maybe it was him ran his mouth." " He got picked up, right?" " I did that thing for him." "Why would he talk about it an' put hisself in?" "He been tested on the streets." "Maybe he act different in the rooms downtown." "Boy been throwin' up all kinda backtalk 'bout shit." " Buck' wild about this 'n that." " Like what?" "Cryin' about how Junebug and his people got lit up." "Cryin' about how Omar in the street runnin' his mouth, callin' for you to step to..." " Omar say what?" " Nuthin'." "Omar tried callin' you out by name." "But, shit, it wadn't nothin'..." " What he say about me?" " Nuthin', man." "Just talkin' shit." "He use my name?" "In the street?" " Talk, motherfucker." " He just, ya know..." "Say that you need to step to and that..." "I dunno, he just runnin' his mouth some." " He call me a punk?" " It was bullshit, man." " You ain't need that on your mind." " What the fuck you know about what I need on my mind, motherfucker?" "My name was on the street?" "When we bounce from this shit here, y'all gonna go down to them corners, let them people know." "Word did not get back to me." "Let 'em know Marlo step to any motherfucker." "Omar, Barksdale..." "Whoever." "My name is my name." " Don't see the boy snitchin'." " Neither do I." "But you ready to bet your future on that?" "Ya see that, McNulty?" "Ya see it?" "One detective, working the file, running a few things down and bang..." "He's got an arrest." "Shit, now that Chris Partlow's locked up, we might have some witnesses coming forward on those cases in the vacants." " Clear 'em all on paper." " We got the one is all, boss." "One today, more tomorrow." "And from what?" "From the Bunk just workin' a file." "Business as usual." "But you..." "With your overtime and your cars and your surveillance detail and your bullshit, where the fuck are you on your red ball?" "Nowhere." "Killer stopped calling." "Stopped killing, too." "I admit it." "I'm nowhere." "From everything we've given you, fire should be shooting out your ass, but no, there you sit like a genital wart." "C'mon, McNulty." "Show me something." "So what are you gonna do now?" "Keep half a district worth of manpower on the street, chasing bullshit?" "It'll wind down." "No more killing, no more disappearances, no more calls." " Marlo is in cuffs." " Fuck Marlo." "Fuck you." " What's going on in Klebanow's office?" " Planning meeting." " Pulitzer submissions." " This early?" "The important thing is that we build on this through the end of the year, with no fall-off of coverage." "Exactly." "Scott, we need to start looking at where the response to the problem can be criticized." "The "gotcha"." "I know." "At this point, we can't tell what category we'll enter with this, but in public service, especially, greater weight is given to stories that result in changes to policy, or new legislation." "So covering the reactions to our stories is as important as the stories themselves." "Until New Year's, we want to hammer at whatever changes or discussions or actions result from your coverage of the homeless." "And graphics matter." "Our presentation must be clean and professional when it goes to the committee." "You guys really think this has a shot at a Pulitzer?" "I do and it does." "Being on the Pulitzer board for a couple of terms," "I've seen the process up close." "There's a way of doing these things." "Time-honored." "Knowing how is why they pay me the big bucks." "All right." "What do we want to say exactly?" "With our coverage." "What do we want to say about homelessness?" "I mean, it's bad." "It's very bad, granted." "But isn't it actually symptomatic of a much greater dynamic..." "We want to rediscover a world that for too long has been ignored." "Examine the tragedy underlying these murders, the neglect..." " The Dickensian aspect." " Exactly." "Alma, dearest." "This quote from Daniels, "It's a good day for the good guys."" " He couldn't come up with anything better?" " He wouldn't play." "Says we took his name in vain last time we used it." "When was that?" "When we had him back-stabbing Burrell at City Hall, remember?" "Do you want me to call Daniels at home?" "Try him again?" " We're past deadline, Gus." " I'll cut the quote." "All right." "Drink with me, Jimmy." "This is what you wanted, man." "Then why do I feel like shit?" "Postpartum depression, son." "It's the journey, not the destination..." "We got Marlo Stanfield." " What about the serial killer?" " Marlo is he." "Daniels wanted me up there at that press conference." "Up there with all the rest of those preening motherfuckers, congratulating themselves on a job well done." "Part of the problem, all of them." "Yet when the bracelets come out and the dope is on the table..." "We've still got the surveillance teams." "The districts still have guys watching the homeless, undercovers dressed as homeless..." "That shit'll end." "It always does." "Well..." "If you ain't gonna celebrate with me, you're gonna at least chauffeur my drunken ass home." "Shardene better be awake, too." "Cause I do believe Lester Freamon's in the mood for love." "Yo, I'm tellin' you, it was Kenard." "Murder police been to his crib three times tryin' to catch up with him." "Bullshit." "Omar got kilt by them Pimlico boys." "They ran up on him with three AKs an' jus' blazed away." "Yoo-hoo." " What up, soldier?" " I don't know." "You tell me." "I mean, everybody locked up, right?" "Damn..." "Yeah." "Cause-a that shit, I'm-a need you for some serious business tomorrow, man." " Anyone I know?" " Big Walter." " Big-nose Big Walter?" " Nah, skinny Big Walter, the one be right there in front of the Cut-rate on Calhoun and Riggs all the time." " He witnessing'?" " Marlo say he need to get got." "So it is, what it is." " You got a problem with that?" " We straight." "No need to bring your iron." "I got a clean nine for you with shaved numbers." "I'll pick you up tomorrow night." "You a'ight?" "Yeah, yeah." "A'ight." "In the last five years, the United States has given 15 billion dollars to fight HIV and AIDS around the world." "But only part of it goes to Africa, where there's a huge epidemic of HIV and AIDS." "I mean, ten per cent of the population of the world lives in sub-Saharan Africa, but 70 per cent of the new AIDS cases are there." "In Kenya, one in seven people have HIV and AIDS, and in Zimbabwe, one in four people have it, according to the article in the New York Human Rights Law Review." "Plus, the US Surgeon General has said that there are 22 million people with HIV and AIDS in those African countries." "In the next ten years, more people will die from AIDS in these countries than all the wars in the 20th century, including World War II, the deadliest war..." "How's it feelin', Bunny?" "I tell ya, if I had that boy's gift to talk, I'd have really caused a stir." "Look at him go." "Don't sell yourself short." "He's got your way of makin' an argument." "Lucky for him, though, he looks like his stepmama." "And AIDS In Africa said US money can make a huge difference in Africa where even very small amounts can go a long way." "There seems to be an agreement that the money should be spent in two ways - medical treatment and for education and prevention." "However, there is not an agreement on how much money will be needed and what programmes..." " When do we bounce?" " I'm working on bail reviews." "Cheese maybe... on a high surety bond, if he wants to put up his mama's house." "Monk, the same." "But with the murder warrant, there is no bail for Chris, and most likely, there's no bail for you, as the charging papers portray you at the top of the conspiracy." "How can they say that when I ain't go near no drugs at all?" "The full affidavit says they developed a source of information..." "Bullshit." "A source of information who told them that you communicated with each other using photographic transmissions on cellphones." "Coded transmissions." "Ain't nobody know about the code except me, Chris, Monk an' Cheese..." "An' we all locked up behind this." "No one else even have a phone." "Not even Snoop." " No one 'cept the supplier." " You trust the supplier?" "Well, someone knew and someone told." "Now they've got your cellphones, and they're going for a title three." "So they was on our cellphones..." "No, the affidavit says the source told them the date of your re-supply, they followed Monk and others to the warehouse, followed him out, and found the drugs." "They're going to get their title three and they're saying that by examining Monk's phone, your phone, and the others, they're going to prove the conspiracy." "You see?" "They weren't on a wiretap, but now they're using the phones and photographs to link you all together." "So who knew that there was a re-supply?" "Who knew what you all were up to yesterday?" " Snoop." " And you trust her?" "Who else?" "Known sex offenders, Southern district." "Three possibles." " You want us to sit on them?" " A day or two." "Yeah." " If nothing shows, then we'll move on." " OK." "Dead and homeless." "Jack Street in Brooklyn." "Christeson's down there." " Strangle?" " Sounds like a beating, actually." " Red-ribbon tied around the wrist?" " Actually, it was more of a burned sienna and it was lashed around his dick." "Fuck do I know?" "Get down there." "Jay, this doesn't sound like..." "Waste of your time, huh?" "What you have seen here today is indicative of the progress that city schools are making under this current administration." "Now I know the governor has had some harsh things to say about Baltimore schools, but I find that to be cynical and disappointing." "The 15-point jump in third-grade test scores is a trend that can't be ignored." "But we've seen third-grade scores rise before, Mr. Mayor." "And it doesn't seem as if any gains in that grade can be sustained into fifth and seventh-grade scores." "Kathy, you know, we are committed to substantive change in Baltimore." "The...the kids that you saw today in this city-wide debate, they are achieving at a high school level and... disproving any negative stereotypes about the city school system." "Could you excuse me for a moment, please?" "Major Colvin." "Just Colvin." "You know, I always wanted to say how sorry I am how things turned out." "There wasn't anything I could have done with your experiment in the Western district." "There wasn't anything that anyone could have done with that." "Yeah, well, I guess, Mr. Mayor... there's nothing to be done." "Mr. C, you know the mayor, too?" "Dag." "I can't believe I'm talking to you, Gus." "After that shit you pulled." "That's how you all do." "Slam somebody an' then come back the next day like it never happened." "It's jus' bidness, Nerese." "It was your turn to read about yourself." "Now, if Carcetti's governor and you become mayor... is Bond gonna run against you or is he done?" " What do you think?" " After the Clay Davis farce... he smells like he's done to me." "There's rumor that Keiffer wants the job, too." "I'll deal with that as it comes." "Mm-hm." "What about this Daniels fella?" "You think he's ready to run the cop shop?" "It's kinda ugly the way he put a knife to Burrell like that." "I mean..." "I read that and wondered where the hell you people got it from." "What do you mean?" "I was behind Burrell until the moment I wasn't." "And if he had somebody back-stabbing him at City Hall, I'd've heard about it." "Daniels wasn't even on my radar." "Daniels didn't undercut Burrell?" "At the end, after his name was floated, Daniels went around saying he didn't want the job." "Talk about it." "Well, he's been beat pretty good, but I've got neck bruising too, so it could be an attempted strangle." " No ribbon?" " Nope." " Bite marks?" " Not that I can see." " This fuckin' guy stinks." " He probably evacuated." " What?" "He left and he came back?" " No, he shit himself." "It's not my guy." "Sorry, rook." "He's all yours." "Does the governor think that's a problem, that it's something that needs to be addressed?" "Hold on a sec." " Got the military records from the Marines?" " Three weeks at least, they said." "Sorry about that." "Hey, Steven, I got a little problem." "Well, it's common in men your age." "I need to get into Walter Reed." "I gotta talk to a vet down there." "The fella that was with our homeless vet when he saw that firefight, the one Templeton was writing about." " Why do we want to go back on that?" " I just want to talk to a guy." "Homeless fella gave me the name, said he's an inpatient down there." "After the Post series blew up Walter Reed's shit?" "If you tell them you're a journalist, you're dead to them." "I know." "You know somebody down there, right?" "Not at the hospital." "A neighbor of mine is with AW2." " What?" " The army's Wounded Warrior program." "She could get you in, if you're not actually writing a piece." " I'm not." " Well, what are you doing, Gus?" "Scratching an itch." " I do miss the shift-change parties." " No, you don't." "You never missed a fucking one of them." "That was one sweet bust you people put on Marlo Stanfield." "My number, right?" "I mean, it definitely smells like a Lester Freamon wiretap." "I watched the news, all that dope on the table." "I swear, Carv, I was fully erect." "Your dick got hard?" "How could you tell?" "Cause the head was poppin' out of the back of your neck." "Seriously, it was a wiretap, right?" "Seriously, I couldn't fuckin' tell you if I knew, Herc." "What're you saying?" "My phone number wasn't shit?" "What do you want me to fuckin' say, Herc?" "You're the tits." "Without your little contribution, the whole fucking city slips into the Chesapeake Bay." "Better?" " So you grew up there?" " Mm." "When did your family move to Baltimore?" "Reginald." "You down there?" " Yes." " Come to the steps." "Got a coupla things for you." "Soap, deodorant and the like." "Appreciate that." "Usin' the washing basin to clean up." "And to pee in." "Don't worry, I rinse it out." "I was wonderin'..." "I got this anniversary comin' up at the meetin' place." "Sometimes kinfolk come along and show support." "I was wonderin', maybe you could..." "It's hard for me to make plans with my schedule at the hospital." "We got a little celebration after." "Thinkin' I could cook us some dinner." "I mean, wouldn't be a fancy thing, mac and cheese, like that, but I guarantee it'll be good to you." "We'll see." "OK." "My sister." "She good people." "Been through a lot, though, you know?" " Levy." " 'Scuse me?" " Levy." "The lawyer." " I know who he is." "I'm not looking for any lawyers." "I'm following the money." "Follow the lawyers." "Levy, Bronfman, Silverstein, Cray..." "All those guys who take the high-end drug work." "They don't just make money off the criminal fees." " How's he..." " The lawyers?" "They're the ones who make a path for all this street-corner money." "They showing' all these kingpin motherfuckers how to send it overseas, bring it back, invest the shit." "They the ones who these ignorant ghetto motherfuckers always listen to when it comes to cash money." "And Levy, man, he got the most grease." "So Levy routes it through who?" "Anyone who got a project or a game in need of cash." "Developers, people lookin' to capitalize, elected folk like myself." "Shit." "There's a lotta people need a dollar now an' then." "And the lawyers take their cut." "On both ends, though I got to say... he gonna let you rob one of his clients only so much." "I mean, once you get a Barksdale or a Joe Stewart on the hook, you want to go deep on they ass." "Levy'll let you get a taste, but he won't let you run wild." "Cause once you get past these motherfuckin' lawyers, you can really play the pimp." "This one time, I had this fella named Bell hooked up on this Howard Street condo thing." "Got him so that he wasn't running' his shit past the lawyer." "Boy, I tell you, we bled that motherfucker." "Lawyers, huh?" "Oh, most definitely, detective." "Me?" "Shit, I'm just small potatoes." "Just a workin' politician from Walbrook Junction, tryin' to make his way from this world into the next." "What else can you give me on Levy?" "Nothin' other than what I have." "I ain't up in his business or nuthin'." " I just takin' what he throws." " Bullshit." "You got something solid or I'm on my way to the US Attorney." "You ain't nuthin' but a shakedown artist." "How's this?" "Levy got someone at the courthouse." "Oh, hell, yeah." "Levy been buyin' papers for years and sellin' 'em to whoever needs an early look." "And don't think there ain't no real money in that." " A prosecutor?" " I don't have a name." "Truly I don't, but it seems to me, you start lookin' at the people hangin' around the grand jury, you'll find I'm right." "Now I know I've said enough to buy my case back." "You know, you could buy a round, too." "I get you?" "Nah, feels good, Hubert." "You dig in there, you got a mind to." "You admiring my hand, sir?" "Oh, call me Gus." "It's hard to get out the habit." " That's pretty damn lifelike." " Yeah." "Prosthetic digits." "Five of 'em, individually controlled." "I got my key grip." "And my power grip." "My precision grip." "And my index point." "These new models got a thumb that rotates, which makes all the difference." "Used to be you just had this one grip, right here for everything." " You got your..." " Not yet." " Brave new world." " Yeah." "Do you mind if I..." "The AW2 lady says you weren't writing' no story." "No, I'm just verifying details of one we already printed in my newspaper." "Profile of your buddy." " Terry." " Mm-hm." "Yeah, he come down visit me every coupla weeks." "He takes that Peter Pan bus down from Baltimore." "Walks a couple of miles down Georgia Avenue from the Silver Spring terminal." "He's having some trouble, as you know." "Did you read the article?" "Yeah." "Man who wrote it got some stuff right." "Terry was pissed, I tried to play it off, make him good with it." "What did the story get wrong?" "Well, that day wasn't no Black Hawk Down thing." "You know, when shit went bad, after I lost my hands, them Habudabi motherfuckers weren't even around after the shit went off." "That's how they do." " How you doin', marino?" " Outstanding." "Let me ask you this." "Could Terry have exaggerated?" " Mm-mm." " Why not?" "If he got wound up, say." "Uh-uh." "You lie about combat because you weren't there." "And Terry was." "Two tours." "He's got stories if he wants 'em." "Just not on that day." "He ain't lie, y'all did, sorry t'say." "Kima, what the fuck are you taking about?" "I'm sayin' you made a mistake letting McNulty run your people from one case to the other." "Why?" "What's the big deal?" "Their run sheets, office reports." "McNulty covered them, right?" "So fuckin' what?" "They did police work." "They did good fuckin' police work, in fact." "Your guys..." "You coach 'em good, Ellis." "Let them know when IID comes callin' that their answer is they didn't know anything about it, that they did what they were told, they turned in clean run sheets, and they don't know what anyone else sent upstairs for staff review." "Know about what?" "When you spoke up on Colicchio... how did that feel?" " Like shit." " You OK with it?" "It was a forced move." "Tony lost it." "He was around the bend." "But are you OK with it?" "..Q Jams." "The most hip-hop and R  B. It's your girl Neke here." "We got our peoples in the street." "They big, they fat, and they gorgeous." "What up, Porkchop?" "What's up, Neke, it's your boy Porkchop..." "We just gonna sit?" "I should cut it." "With what they charge at the pump, don't make sense to idle." " You can go." " Where to?" "Sayin' you can leave the car with me." "You rent by the night, right?" "I ain't seen no medium of exchange." "Look, when you done, leave my short on the street where I pick you up at." "Mm-hm." "Oh, my God." "Look at this." " Bubs." " Walon, man." "This here's my boy Fletcher." "Newspaper writer been followin' me 'round." "You're welcome to sit in." "But I have to ask that you respect the privacy." "No note-taking, no recorders, what you hear today stays in the room." "Not a problem." "I'm just here with Reginald." "Reginald?" "Reginald?" "I'm his fuckin' sponsor and I don't believe I ever got a Christian name out of him." " Reginald." "Hot shit." " See what you done?" " What, man?" " Come on." "My name is..." "My name is..." "Reginald." " Round the way they call me Bubbles." " Hey, Bubbles." "I'm a drug addict." "Celebratin' my anniversary." "My people couldn't make it here tonight." "I left a trail of fire behind me." "Time gonna make it right with them, I guess." "That's right, it will." "Same thing get me right with myself." "Coupla days ago, I took a walk down in Druid Hill Park, right when the sun was goin' down." "You know how that time be like, with the sun throwing' shadows an' all." "Got me thinkin' 'bout when I was a young man, sittin' in that park." "You know, watchin' the girls, smokin' on a little herb, drinkin' a cold beer." "Y'all know where this is goin'." "I had this moment where, you know, I was wantin' to feel that way again." "I remembered, what y'all said, if the urge was to come, call a group member up and talk." "First thing I called Walon up, him bein' my sponsor an' all, turns out he's on a ride with his motorcycle club." "So I pulled out that sheet that got passed out." "Dialled a few numbers, couldn't get an answer." "I left a coupla messages, but nobody called me back." "You didn't call me." "Cause I would have got up with you, Reginald." "You can believe that." "Obliged." "Well, anyway..." "I didn't get high." "A'ight?" "See, I knew if I did I wouldn't get that good feelin' back that I was daydreaming' on." "That's right." "It got me thinkin' about a friend of mine." "Boy named Sherrod." "I been carryin' his passing' for a long while." "Like that memory I had about those summer days In the park." "Thinkin' on that make me smile." "With Sherrod, it's more of a hurt." "But not as..." "Not so bad like it was." "Ain't no shame in holding' on to grief." "As long as you make room for other things, too." "It's all right." "So thank you for listening." " Thank you for lettin' me share." " Thanks for sharing." "Where my gun?" "In the trap." "You get it when we set up." "A detective is here to see you." "Greggs, I think she said." "What?" "What's the matter?" "How you all even know if Walter behind everybody gettin' jacked?" "I mean, ain't y'all ever wonder if he even deserve any of this shit?" "Deserve got nuthin' to do with it." "It's his time, that's all." "Yo, pull over in that alley right there." "I gotta piss sumpin' fierce." "You better piss in that cup right there on the floor." "Man, I'm gonna need ten cups." "Yo, pull over, Snoop." "What now, motherfucker?" "You shy?" "Smart nigger." "You always was." "How you know?" "Y'all taught me." "Get there early." "Why?" "What I do wrong?" "Chris locked up behind somethin' he done for you." " You downtown with the police." " I ain't say a word." "Yeah, that's what you say." "But it's how you carry yourself." "Always apart." "Always asking' why, when you should be doin' what you told." "You was never one of us." "You never could be." "How my hair look, Mike?" "You look good, girl." "They're sayin' the only OT that anyone has been seeing has been through getting detailed on the homeless killings." " They say that's the case." " And no wiretaps up?" "I asked about that." "And I'm hearing, off-the-record kinda, that it was a wire." "And it makes sense, cause that's how Lester works." "He gets hold of a number and works it to death." "Where he would get the number, I have no idea." "But a wiretap is hours, and you say no one is making any money." "Fuckin' department's more fucked up than even I remember it." "Where you been at, Mike?" "You gotta see this." "There's a serial killer, but he only be killin' other serial killers..." " Yo, yo." "We about take a ride." " You ain't got no whip." "Just gather your stuff, both of y'all." "Come on, we gotta move quick." " Come on." "Let's go!" " OK." "But that means..." "All the calls to the newspaper." "The photographs of the missing man." " We have a wiretap." "McNulty has a..." " On a cellphone." "Jesus Christ." " He wouldn't dare." " What's the number?" "It's on the paperwork." " Come on." " Where?" "Evidence control." "I always thought you were bullshittin' 'bout havin' an aunt out here." "She expecting' him." "An' what's in this box." "It's nice here, huh?" "Let's go, Bug." "Wish I was going with you." "You gonna have your own room." "She probably got one of them plasma TVs, too." "Them joints is wet." "Let's go." "OK, give that to Aunt Carla." "Tell her there's more behind it when she finds the need." "A'ight?" "Make sure she cop you some fresh things, too." "I don't need you going to a new school lookin' all..." "Come on, now." "A man don't be shedding' no tears." "Go on, Bug." "Bring it up front for reseal when you're through, would ya, sir?" "Thanks, Auggie." "Auggie." " Glad you landed OK." " Yeah." "Beats workin'." "Why here?" "Why you wanna mix with they kind, man?" "They give me work." "Who you talkin' to?" "I know what they be doin' in there, Duke." "I could still hang with you then." "You know I'm too hot." "You remember that one day, summer past?" "When we threw them piss balloons at them terrace boys." "You remember?" "Just before school started up again." "Y'know, I took a beatdown from them boys," "I don't even throw a shadow on it." "That was the day y'all bought me ice cream off the truck." "You remember, Mike?" "I don't." " See you round, Mike." " See you, Duke." "Shut up, dawg!" "Scroungin' mutt." "Fuck that!" "Give me a cigarette!"