"Can I have another?" "Thanks." "Mm." "God, I hate that guy!" "Who's that?" "D.W. Harrack, the smug bastard on the right." "He's a muck-raking hack." "He hates crime; he hates criminals and he hates cops that don't hate them as much as he does." "But he likes that cop." "Yeah, Munser." "He's head of the anti-gang unit." "He's a real door-kicker." "Harrack's writing a book on him... soon to be a major motion picture, I'm sure." "While you and I toil on obscurely." "Yeah, doing whatever it is we do." "You know people are starting to talk." "Yeah?" "About what?" "About us." "The reports I write, the testimony I give." "Swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but, right?" "Sometimes I don't." "Sometimes it's just a fantasy." "I was thinking maybe I should be doing a little less... for the police." "You know." "For me, you mean?" "I... um... yeah." "Are you breaking up with me?" "What?" "Don't do that to me." "I got a peanut in my hair." "Okay, listen, listen." "It's not like I don't appreciate the additional income, it's just..." "You help me clear cases." "Yeah, but it's not without trouble... for you." "I like clearing cases." "I know." "Me too." "You know it's my day off, right?" "All right." "Why?" "I'm two minutes out." "Just lock it up." "Why is he here?" "Because he is." "Suspicious death." "Vic's name is Conner Reyes, married, father of two." "He works at the muffler shop down the street." "Any witnesses?" "No, he was in the convenience store buying some milk, whatever, he steps out and a minute later another customer finds him lying over there." "Okay, so why am I here?" "Because it's the middle of Chicago, it's winter and he's about two miles from the mostly frozen lake." "So you know I'm stumped." "What does the lake have...?" "Because he was drowned." "Drowned?" "In Africa there are these little birds that hang around elephants and eat the lice off their skin." "The elephant gets a clean back and the bird gets a meal." "It's a symbiotic relationship." "Kind of like me and Murphy." "But lately I was beginning to think maybe I wasn't a helpful bird after all." "Maybe I was the louse." "So it's not inconceivable Mr. Reyes ran afoul of the offended party who put his head in the toilet." "No time for that." "A bucket in the back of a car or a truck, dispatching him to make some sort of gruesome point?" "This may not be supernatural at all Harry." "Yeah, just some run of the mill psycho." "And would that be refreshing?" "Sadly, yes." "So if Murphy asks for your help..." "I think I've helped her too much." "I think it's time to faze myself out." "Hey, Lieutenant, I've been trying to call you." "Do you have anything on the drowner?" "Yeah." "Conner 'Sticky' Reyes." "Ten years ago he was deep into the Russian mob." "He was arrested for aggravated but pleaded out." "Listen, there's some..." "Did he flip on someone?" "If he did maybe someone got even." "Who do we have hooked into?" "Munser probably." "Yeah, probably." "Go ahead, give him a call." "Look, I really need to tell you something, okay." "Is there an autopsy report?" "Uh, no, not yet, but Butter sent these photos." "Holy hell." "Look, Capt. Hacket has a visitor, all right..." "Reyes was branded." "Yeah." "Good memories you'll admit." "Okay tell me, does that look Dresden-esque to you?" "Boss, I really need to tell you something, okay?" "Hey, hey, hey, hey." "That's what I was trying to tell you." "Hey!" "Hey dad." "Hey kid." "Rough night, huh?" "Yeah." "So, what brings you up from the Sunshine state?" "You miss the sub zero temperatures?" "You remember Clidgeon Oliak?" "Yeah, he's down he's down in Tampa with you, right?" "He was." "Ate his gun." "I'm dropping off some stuff for his ex-wife." "Could've mailed them." "Yeah, could've." "Your Captain tells me that you're having some really interesting times lately." "How long are you in town for Pop?" "I'm flying out tomorrow morning, but I thought we could have dinner or something?" "Bring Anna, it'd be nice to see my granddaughter." "You know Pop, I'm working a lead." "Kirmani can you get Dresden on the phone and tell him to meet me at the morgue." "If I can swing dinner I will, otherwise..." "Yeah, sure, okay." "I understand." "Dresden." "You know about him?" "I only know what the Cap told me, which isn't much." "How about you telling me a little more?" "It's not the mark of the devil is it?" "Could be the mark of a west Texas cattle ranch for all I know." "Hey Butters, you sure this thing wasn't scar?" "You ever smell burning flesh?" "Yeah." "Okay, well that still smelled when we stripped him down." "His clothes, they weren't even burned." "That's not even the weird part..." "Nothing like a trip to the morgue first thing in the morning." "Hey Munser." "You and Harrack dating now?" "D.W. Harrack." "Oh, Harry Dresden." "Darren's official biographer." " Heard your father's in town." " Yup." " That's nice." " No, it isn't." "And what do you do exactly?" "Oh, I'm a consultant, with her." "So what about you?" "I hear you're writing a book about him." "Everyone loves a hero." "Oh yeah." "Well hello sticky." "He was drowned?" "Yeah, any idea who wanted him dead?" "A few years ago I could have told you, but he quit the life." "He had some kind of close call and quit his evil ways." "Anybody who was gunning for him back then is either dead or in prison." "Did you pull him out of the river?" "No, beside a store over on Portland." "His lungs were full of salt water." "Uh, sea water actually." "That's the weird part." "It's looking like kind of Pacificish." "Somebody was very determined." "Okay, do you recognize this brand on his back?" "No." "He was burned and drowned?" "What the hell is that?" "It's cause and effect." "Meaning what?" "I'm sorry, who are you exactly?" "His name is Harry Dresden." "He calls himself a wizard." "What's his hustle?" "Consulting." "$500 a day, two day minimum, the department covers it." "What the hell does he do, kill chickens and consult the entrails?" "I don't know how he does it Joe but he gets results." "He just does his stuff and she's closing cases." "Is he working both sides?" "I don't know, maybe." "Is he working her?" "And for this they pay him a grand?" "Hey, you okay?" "Yeah, it's a heart thing." "I'm okay." "Did she tell you that she saved my life?" "A heart attack?" "Yeah." "She was 17 years old and found me on the floor." "She broke two of my ribs, but she got me going." "Doctor says she gave me a second chance." "She'd tell you I didn't take it." "We got the surveillance video from the crime scene." "That's Reyes, he was the only one in the store, and that's it." "He dies off camera." "Wait a minute, who's that?" "I don't know." "Well he's walking right past our crime scene." "Okay, look at that." "What is that?" "That just might be a branding iron." "Get forensics to sharpen this up." "You got it." "This could be some kind of inverted pentagram, but what is that curly shape there?" "I don't know, just some kind of wording, combo platter." "Did you steal this picture?" "No, Murphy forced it on me." "Oh, and that didn't incite you to action?" "Bob..." "Bob it's getting too easy." "It's getting too easy to forget about the consequences... of me and Murphy working together." "People look at me like I'm some kind of crackpot, that's fine;" "I can deal with it, I'm used to it, right." "People look at her in the same way, that's not good." "It's..." "Hello sir, how can I help you?" "Well you can start by staying away from my daughter." "Sorry?" "Connie Murphy." "I'm her father." " Hey." " Hey, she here?" "No." "You want her cell?" "No." "Okay, I'll give this to you." "I was doing some digging and I landed on something." "One of Reyes's crew was sent up for killing a Rookie cop." "That was assigned to Joe Murphy." "And the word is Reyes supplied the gun." "You got to be kidding." "You think that Joe Murphy came up from Florida to pull some vigilante thing for a rookie who died 9 years ago?" "He couldn't burn and drown a guy, he's got a heart condition." "Look, don't shoot the messenger, all right." "I'm not saying he did it or had somebody do it;" "I'm just telling you that there is a connection." "Mr. Murphy I fully understand your position..." "Yeah, well it wouldn't matter to me if you didn't." "But I do." "I do." "Your daughter is a friend of mine;" "she is someone I respect, someone I admire and I know she has gone through a lot of difficult things lately." "What do you know about her leave of absence?" "You two were working together on a case when she got hit." "She watched a guy kill himself right in front of her;" "she ends up with night terrors, memory loss." "This life, this job is tough enough;" "a lot of people don't make it." "I know." "And you say you're her friend?" "Yeah." "All right, if you are her friend, if you really do respect her, then stay the hell away from her." "Stay away." "Mr. Murphy..." "You've got to understand, I..." "Hey Harry, get your coat." "What's this?" "Uh..." "I just came by..." "we had a little talk." "I think and he thinks..." "Please tell me, what do the men folk think?" "Connie, come on." "Pop, you are this close to interfering with an ongoing investigation, and you are an investigative asset that I intend to exploit." "I just don't think that's a really..." "Connie, listen." "Zip it." "This is our suspect - one of them at least." "Take a look at what's in his hand." "That could be a branding iron." "I know." "What else can you tell me?" "I could tell you where he went." "Hey!" "Leave!" "Now, Pop, or I'm going to call a black and white and have them take you straight to the airport." "Murphy..." "What!" "I'm going to need your sunglasses." "So here we are." "I wanted to get out of Murphy's life but she need me to help her catch a killer." "So I figured the sooner I did that, the quicker I'd be out of there, right?" "The happier everyone would be, especially Joe Murphy." "What are you doing?" "Trying to figure out where the suspect stepped." "Yeah, yeah." "Can you just hold that a second." "Okay." "Oh, god, what is that?" "Ant vomit, mostly." "You don't want to know what the rest of it is." "What does it do other than stink?" "Well, ants leave trails." "They like trails." "With any luck they'll like this guys trail." "Oh come on!" "Murphy, I'm sorry, it's just part of things." "Great." "Well, what do you see?" "Just the world." "Slightly darker." "Smart ass." "What?" "Trail's gone cold." "Must have got in a car or something." "Okay, what now?" "Can you slap me?" "What?" "Could you slap me." "You see, I need a peak emotional surge, because I gotta jolt up the ant vomit a little, you see." "So, could you slap me?" "I'm not slapping you." "All right." "Let's go." "All right, is this the place?" "Yeah, yeah, the trail." "It stops right there at that door." "Hey, hey, listen, before we go any further could we just talk about what happened with your father, because that was, you know..." "No." "Murphy..." "Well, you need a warrant." "You're not just gonna..." "You're not going announce or anything?" "Police..." "Someone's been busy." "Anything?" "No." "Sea change." "Hey, I think I got..." "Come here!" "Give me that." "I hit him." "I know." "Getting the killer's scrapbook is the only thing that's keeping you from a full review." "Then let me go out there and find the guy that's doing this." "Another detective will find the guy." "You're going to be taking a little break." "What?" "The suspects place was rented under an alias." "No one rembers the guy's name." "No prints yet." "Ballistics confirms no rounds from Murphy's gun were in the hallway." "Nothing?" "Well that's because every slug hit the guy, sir." "So why isn't he dead?" "Body armour?" "I don't know." "All right." "Tell me again how you found this place." "I can tell you that." "Shut up." "Murphy?" "I can't." "What, he just led you there?" "He did." "You didn't find that suspicious?" "It's mysterious sir, there's a difference." "Tell me what your relationship is with Mr. Dresden." "He's a consultant." "Where'd you get this?" "I can explain that." "No, don't explain this." "Who took this?" "Harrack?" "Dresden piqued his interest." "Yeah, thanks a lot." "You're off this." "Kirmani, it's yours." "Bring Munser in." "What?" "Why Munser?" "Because most of the victims are gang related." "Munser will know them." "Sir, if you look in this book you will see that most of these victims have something in common." "You looked in this book?" "Murphy found a key piece of..." "Shut up." "You let him tamper with evidence?" "Sir, this is my case." "Please, just let me work it." "This is a case you caught on your day off." "Kirmani brought me in and now I want it." "Connie, that's enough." "Listen to your dad." "Murphy, I'm sorry..." "Nice one Tinkerbell." "I need tweezers." "What you got?" "I'm not sure." "Hey, where is Harrack anyway?" "Shouldn't he be here chronicling your every move?" "After the picture thing I told him to cool it for a while." "Don't want you punching his lights out." " What is it?" " Nitro pill." "Good thing to have if you've got a heart condition." "And why are you wearing sunglasses?" "The parano solution." "The ant thing." "Right." "And the kiss?" "Need a jolt." "Oh that's good, that's rich." "I've never heard that one before." "Not now please Bob." "Sorry, sorry." "He's punishing his victims." "What do you mean?" "I saw his book, okay." "He's killing bad people who got a 2nd chance in life." "Okay 4 years ago Reyes almost drowned on a California beach." "He saw the light, literally." "He changed his path." "The other victims, same thing." "One of them almost died in a fire and the other survived suicide attempt." "Let me guess, one was found burned..." "Yeah." "And the other one was found with every bone in her body shattered as if she jumped out of a window." "Branded?" "I assume." "And then there's the missing pages." "The killer put all his victims in that book." "He tore out the last few pages." "I'm pretty sure they'll tell us who's next on his list." "If they're not already dead." "Yeah, and I'm off the case." "Well that has never stopped you before." "Yeah, well I never got Murphy in this much trouble before." "D.W. Harrack..." "It's Harrack." "Sorry?" "Harrack is the one that got us thrown off the case - the picture." "Oh." "Allowing the killer to continue." "Yeah." "Unimpeded by a wizard or a tenacious detective." "So either he's a dedicated public servant eager to expose a compromised cop or Not!" "I'm going to tell you something maybe you don't know." "Maybe you do, I don't know, but this guy comes from a family of grifters." "His father was a half-assed magician - you know about this?" "His mother died when he was three." "Now she's off the grid pretty much until she died, some kind of gypsy or something." "Anyway the kid's raised by his father and he was pretty quick to steal a buck here and there." "He got busted for shoplifting and then he got picked up for joyriding in a stolen carriage." "Carriage?" "Which makes him also a horse thief." "Anyway, the father dies and he goes to live with a rich Uncle." "He doesn't go to school, nothing, and then the uncle dies too and Dresden shows up back in Chicago with no money, no bank account;" "just a desire to get into bed with the Chicago police and maybe pick up a little pocket money." "See, that's why we're different." "You're always a cop, at home, at dinner, on vacation." "Hell, you didn't even know mom had left for three days because you wouldn't drop a stakeout." "Okay." "Okay." "It's all right." "I don't care." "I don't care about how you treated mom or that you never call me on my birthday or even that you missed my graduation." "It just meant I didn't have to pose for pictures with the man I didn't know." "This isn't about me." "You're right." "It's about the way you see me, which is to say, you don't." "You never have." "You don't know me, you don't know my friends, hell, you don't even know my daughter." "So for you to sit there and pretend like you know anything about a man who I trust with my life..." "Connie..." "I am not finished." "Fine, he's a grifter, he's whatever it is you say." "But you know what, he's here when I need him, which is more than I can say for my father." "Joe Murphy?" "Yeah." "I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder." "What?" "Let's go." "My relationship with reporters has always been complicated, for obvious reasons." "Now, if Harrack was driven to set the record straight by killing those he thought deserved to die, then I could see why he'd want Murphy off the case." "Now that tells me he could have the missing scrapbook pages." "Seems like his office would be a good place to start looking." "And you never know, there might be a forgotten donut lying around too." "I hadn't eaten all day." "What are you doing here?" "Is that your idea?" "Follow us and take those pictures?" "No, no, it wasn't." "It was Munser." "He said that you were a freak;" "that you were taking advantage of Murphy." "What is all this?" "Research... for the booking I'm writing about Munser." "With each near miss, each bullet wound, each knifing, run down by cars, thrown through windows..." "Munser's legend grows?" "He takes chances like he's got a million lives in the bank and he's not afraid to spend them." "Munser wanted Murphy off the case." "Munser wanted the two of you to stop interfering with good cops." "Munser a good cop?" "He's one of the best!" "He's survived a lot of things that would put most cops 6 feet under." "And you're going to tell me exactly how many times he's done it and when." "It's not Harrack, it's Munser." "Who's Munser?" "Munser, Munser, he's this cop... two nights ago he almost gets his head blown off being first through the door at a drug raid, okay." "Now he miraculously avoided that bullet like he has miraculously avoided about a dozen other close calls in his brilliant, yet death defying career." "What does this have to do with Reyes?" "It's not just Reyes, it's all those other people... in the book, they got 2nd chances." "Munser's found a way to take them for himself." "Like an insurance policy." "Yeah, keep himself alive from the fate they originally avoided... comes back to claim them." "Impressive." "Diabolically so." "How's he doing it?" "The branding." "I mean, how does it work?" "Ah, yes, well, let me see." "Circle of our world, dark intentions, reverse field of two;" "that is life for another body and mark of the antler which represents the shedding of an old life." "Now, this overlays into that;" "this overlays into that." "Which essentially gives us... that." "Oh dear." "Murphy shot Munser." "He should have been dead." "And Munser was endued with Reyes 2nd chance." "So he has to renew his policy." "So someone else will die..." "If they haven't already." "Well..." "It turns out you were at a wake in Florida the night Reyes was murdered and then you did, in fact, board a plane from Tampa to Chicago." "Guess I didn't do it." "No... and the nitro pill wasn't yours." "Can I go now?" "I'm just doing the paperwork." "Joe, I'm really sorry about this, okay." "This would be the Captain." "I'll be right back." "Captain Hackett..." "How is she?" "Who?" "Anna." "My granddaughter." "Does she like school?" "She likes art and a boy named Walter." "Who the hell would name a kid Walter?" "Well, she doesn't seem to mind." "Yeah..." "I could have mailed all that stuff back to ex-widow." "But if I did, I wouldn't have had an excuse to see you." "I'm sorry... for not being there for you and Anna." "Apology accepted." "No." "It's too late, it's already done." "Murphy, Murphy." "...Murphy." "Listen, I was just across town, at Munser's office." "I had to ask him some questions." "He wasn't there." " Connie?" " Dad." "I found these." "These are the missing pages from the scrapbook that you have as evidence." "These are the people he hasn't killed yet." "Munser?" "Yes, Munser." "You gotta trust me on this Murphy." "It is him, it is him." "Okay, who's next on the list?" "When you get a 2nd chance at life, either through hard work or a twist of fate, you'll do anything to keep it, but when you steal it again and again, well let's just say that puts you on my to-do list." "Now Munser, he need to be done." "Romina Hanley?" "Yeah." "I'm Sgt. Munser, your P.O. told me I could find you here." "I just have a couple of questions about one of your former associates." "That's not my life anymore." "Munser." "Hey, Munser, it's Kirmani." "Oh hey, I was just going to call you." "Yeah, we're still holding Joe Murphy." "His alibi isn't solid." "Really?" "How's the other Murphy taking that?" "Like you might expect." "Look, I was wondering if you could spring by here." "Capt. Hackett wants a briefing and since we're on this thing together..." "Yeah, sure." "Just let me finish up what I'm doing here and I'll be right over." "Okay, where are you?" "At my office." "I got 6 reports to file because of the gunfire this week." "Well, you know, take your time." "No one's going anywhere around here." "You bet." "See you soon." "GPS nailed it." "Yes, I'm going with you." " No you're not." " Yes I am." "Munser!" "Finish those reports?" "Hey Murphy, can I get a hand over here?" "This bitch just tried to rob me." "I suppose Conner Reyes was trying to rob you too." "Who?" "The man you drowned." "Put down the brand." "Do it!" "It's all right." "What's happening?" "Who are you?" "It's okay." "Calm down." "It's fine, it's fine." "Harry!" "Hold it right there!" "It gets to you doesn't it?" "The job, the fear, makes you want to pretend you're invincible." "Drop the weapon!" "Drop it!" "Ahh!" "Your 2nd chance... from the heart attack Joe." "I'm gonna need it to make a difference." " Mr. Murphy!" " Pop!" "My heart..." "Okay, sit down, sit down, sit down." "This is Murphy, I have an officer down," "I need a backup and ambulance now!" "Stay with him." "Pop, you were supposed to wait in the car." "Pills!" "My pocket." "Hang on, Pop, hang on, hang on." "Come on Pop, open your mouth, open your mouth." "Pop, Pop." "Don't leave me dad." "Where'd you get that thing?" "It was a gift." "Oh Dad..." "Ahh!" "How many 2nd chances have you had?" "Murphy, no!" "He killed him, my dad." "Just like Reyes, just like the others, like he was nothing." "Just wait." "Oh come on Murphy, they were criminals." "They didn't deserve the 2nd chances they got." "Mr. Murphy..." "I needed what I took." "You know what it's like out there." "When I'm a cop, I'm just like you, just like your father..." "You are nothing like my father!" "Connie, Connie, that's enough." "Dad?" "Murphy." "Don't do it." "It's okay." "It's okay baby." "So, Munser's going to be incarcerated for the rest of his life." "It looks that way." "And what are you going to do with that thing?" "Make a nice cookie cutter, don't you think?" "Or possibly a little pick-me-up in case you fall down on the job - dead." "Possibly." "But you know what they say about life..." "Tell me?" "One to a customer." "Mr. Murphy?" "Yeah." "I got a plane to catch so I'll make this short." "Okay." "I don't know what the hell you did." "I don't know how you did it, but whatever it is that you do," "I want you to keep doing it for Connie." "I think that's still open to discussion." "No, no, no." "She's the apple of the Captain's eye again since she collared Munser, so..." "That's good, that's good." "But you know there's other things more important than the job." "Friends, life, and living." "I want you to make sure she keeps doing that." "Yeah." "I'll say this, whatever the Chicago police are paying you for what you do, it's not enough." "You tell them that." "Hey Pop, you're going to miss your flight." "Is he threatening you?" "No." "I'm just saying good bye." "I'll be seeing you around." "Hey Murphy, Murphy Murphy." "Your father just made it pretty clear to me that he thinks I should be... looking out for you." "Or else?" "Just wanted your opinion on that, you know." "Thank you Harry, for everything." "And I'm sorry..." "For what?" "For slapping you." "It won't happen again."