" They got Honey Nut Cheerios in here?" " Shit." "Yo, back the fuck up, mothertucker!" "My man here saved my spot, yo." "Shame we hadn't more time together." "We could have made us a couple of babies." "Ain't nobody see shit." " How's that for a message?" " Not bad." "Except the price on your head ain't for four figures, it's for five." "For that kind of money, I should have done you my own self." "So who's doing the bounty?" "A West Side player by the name of Marlo." "Marlo?" "Can't say I know the man." " He know you." " Can you get me a phone call?" "I can do you one better than that." "Who you calling?" " Police." " The police?" "Man owe me a favour." "Crime, violence, drugs, drug addiction, failing schools." "All of these social problems in Baltimore City over and over again." "And on June 8th, when I had to write a column for the next day, some statistics had just come out from the fbi showing an uptick in some of Baltimore's crime." "And we also had a spate of five killings in a two- or three-day period." "And, you know, the idea of sitting down again and writing another column on this subject, I don't know if it is important, yet here I am a citizen of Baltimore, and I take my citizenship as seriously as I take my credentials as a columnist." "I said, "What am I gonna say?" "What can I say about this?"" "If the killings continue - between 250 and 300 homicides a year..." " Top of the world." " Top of the world." "I knocked off an incumbent mayor, Tony." "That ain't easy." "National party has to take note of this." "Young and pretty as you are, I'm sure they've got ideas." "All you have to do now is run the city." "Tony, I've got to ask you something - why didn't you run again after the first term?" "I mean, nobody had the name you had, the organisation." "Let me tell you a story, Tommy." "The first day I became mayor, they sit me down at the desk, big chair and dark wood, lots of beautiful things." "I'm thinking, "How much better can it get?"" "There's a knock at the door in the corner of the room, and Pete comes walking in carrying this gorgeous Sévres silver bowl, hand chased." "It was this big." ""lt's from the unions," he says." "So I think it's a present, something to commemorate my first day as mayor." "And he walks over, puts it on a desk." "I look down at it." "It's disgusting." "I said, "What the hell is this?"" "He said, "What the hell's it look like?"" "I said, "lt looks like shit." ""What do you want me to do with it?"" "He says, "Eat it."" ""Eat it?" He says, "Yeah." "You're the mayor." "You've got to eat it."" "So, OK, it was my first day, and Pete knows more than I do." "So I go at it." "And just when I finish, there's a knock on the door." "And in walks Pete carrying another silver bowl, and this one's from the blacks." ""This too?" And he nods. I start eating." "And when I'm finished, there's another knock and another bowl." "This one's from the Polacks." "Then after that, one from the ministers." "And you know what, Tommy?" "That's what it is." "You're sitting, eating shit all day long, day after day, year after year." "When I realised that, I decided being a downtown lawyer and seeing my family every night made for a fine life." "Just a fine life." "Got that dark horse right here, man." "Dark horse." "Man, everyone knows his nigga ain't about to cop, is he?" "Spider, Spider, hold on now." "Come on, man." "Why you ain't come past my gym no more?" "I been waiting on you for weeks now." " Talk to me, son." " You ain't my fuckin' father." "What happened between me and your mom ain't got shit to do with you taking advantage of the gym." "Now, man, I'm just saying you one of my best, boy." " lf l thought it was gonna hurt you..." " Fuck you!" "Ain't nobody gonna hurt me." "Fuck you." "So step up and step off, unc." "I got customers backing up." "Dark horse." "Five, and five more." "Shit." "That's what that does." "Principal Withers, please, to the cafeteria." " Last card down." "Remember?" " Oh yeah." "My bad." "Hey, guys." "You know I don't mind you coming up here most days to eat lunch, but I said you can't be gambling." "Yo, Mr Prezbo, the quarter's only a, you know, reminder to remind me that I got 25 shells." "That's all." "Come on, let's see what you've got." "Dang." "Flush." " But it don't beat your three nines." " Yeah, it do." " lt do?" " lt do." "It does." "You should have been more cautious with your bet." "Figure the odds." "Yo, it's our lunch break." "Don't be schooling us." "Hold on." "Let him talk." "Well, for starters, you have to get a count on the diamonds." "You know how many diamonds there are in a deck?" "13." "13, that's right." "Cards is all about knowing the numbers." "With the numbers, you can calculate the odds." " Now, Michael had four diamonds showing." " Hold on." "Wait." "What about dice?" "I mean, does dice have odds too?" "Cos mostly that's what we play." "Dice?" "Yeah." "Sure." "So, can you show us the odds of dice?" " Yeah, man." " Yeah, man." "Teach us dice." " That'd be hard, man." " For real." "Here comes that Jailhouse Rick." "The Braddock case?" "I take it we now have permission to solve this fucking case, seeing as everyone's finished voting." "Solve away, you bold centurions." "You don't have work to do?" "Not till I catch a fresh call, no." " How much can you sell that one for?" " Mint condition, 300." "Fuck me. I need a hobby." "I tried, but he bucked on me." "I just thought he might have come back past once or twice." "Sherrod's on a truant list, Mr Cousins." "He hasn't been back since the last time you brought him in." "Well, if he does come back past, you tell him I'm looking for him at home, and he can come home if he want?" "I apologise for taking your time." "I see you up here undercover." "All right." "Don't worry, dawg. I'll keep it close." "Mrs Donnelly?" "Does the school have any kind of collection of board games..." "Parcheesi, Trouble, Monopoly?" "You're still teaching eighth-grade math, right?" "Trying." "Yeah." "The book room downstairs." "Stay on the curriculum, Mr Pryzbylewski, or you'll have an area superintendent on our backs." "Remember this, yo?" "Not in my case." "Them boys working the case ain't really in the mood to listen." "As you can see, I still got the lady-lawyer marker, and if I recall, a police gun got fired a while back." "The only reason I'm even here is because of that gun." "As far as Ilene Nathan goes, she promised a get-out-of-jail-free on a small felony or two." "This here is a taxpayer murder with an eyeball witness." "The eyeball witness is lying, yo." "Come on now." "When have you ever known me to put my gun on anybody that wasn't in the game?" "Old Face Andre is lying on me here." "The store owner..." "now why would he lie?" "Andre working a package out the store." "Folk like that, they tend to bear a certain resentment toward folk like me." "If you didn't do this, when you did others..." "Shit, I got files on two open doubles last year." "Shotgun shells at both scenes." "What about that stash-house gunfight?" "What about Stringer Bell and his muscle dead in the warehouse?" "If this one ain't on you, another dozen probably are." "And if this one goes to court, you can tell that jury how wrong it is." "Obviously, a guy's alone before I swear to them on the stand." "You leave me at courtside and I'm done." " You know that." " Yeah?" "So you ain't making friends." "I got a bounty on my head, man...five figures." "If I would have known I'd be sharing quarters with all these boys, I probably wouldn't have robbed so many of them." "Aw yeah." "That golden rule." "Well, since you feeling all Biblical and righteous and all, you think on this - if Omar ain't killed that delivery lady, somebody else did." "But you giving him a free walk right now, though, ain't you?" "A man got to have a code." "What's up?" "Just the dice." "Grab the dice from any game that has them." "We're using that third edition, right?" " l don't know." " We're using the third." "What are the new fifth editions doing sitting down here in a box?" "No way." "Big red, y'all." "Big reds over here." "What's up, man?" "Got your big yellow." "What's up?" "Big yellow for you." "Look at you, all business and shit." "Big yellow bird." " Yo, who you bumping with?" " Ain't no bump." "They got their corner, I got mine." "Ain't no thing." "You going up the gym today?" "I might see you later." "Big yellow." "Big yellow birds over here." " Well, maybe they with Marlo." " Ain't with no one." "They're just young 'uns playing in this shit." "So what you want to do?" "Don't want to mix here and bring the police to our shop." "When they step off, you follow." " Bank 'em good." " What if they strut?" "Yellow, big yellow." "Ain't no need to pop no one, but they need a warning." "Make sure they know we for real." "Brokeback, man." "Brokeback right here." "Fresh from the street." "Brokeback." "Brokeback." "Big yellow bird." "Tried to bring out who was on me." "Led him to the train station." "How that work?" "Had the railroad police on me." "Couldn't smoke." "Guy was pulling the strings." "You need a name." "You get that, I can run it down for y'all." " l'll get a name." " Camera still there?" "Steal that mothertucker." "No one speaks to it, then it's the feds sniffing you out." "It's only federals who'd be rich enough to lose a camera and not go to crying about it." "You steal that bitch and someone comes knocking, it's local." "Steal that bitch." "See what comes." "Hey, you know the boy used to be with me running these carts, go by the name of Sherrod?" "I'm looking for him." "I've got some good news." "So if you spot him, tell him to come see me." "That's $9 for two, 10 for three." "That's 10 even too." "That's a good product." "Ain't none of that alley shit." "People walking in front of the camera waving...waving hello." "Them Chinese made that shit." " Yeah." " You know?" " Hey, bro." "Much obliged." " lt's a good deal, good deal." "Hey, remember to holler at my boy if you see him." "All right, here we go!" "Bubbles' Depot for my people." "Bubbles take care of your troubles." "Ain't no trouble yet." "All right." " Take it easy, OK?" " l know you remember me." "All right, be cool with it." "Give it up, nigga - that's what I'm gonna say to you every time we meet." "Money or pills, don't care which." "All right, all right." "Cool." "I'm getting it." "See?" "Smackdown, yo." "Ace in the hole." "Mothertucker bad for business, man." "Y'all don't take care of your neighbourhood store?" "Officer!" "Officer." "How you doing, Officer?" "Can you help me out please?" "I just got robbed." "Thank you, man." "They all saw it." "Everybody was here witnessing everything." " Took your money?" " Yeah, man." "Same guy every day." "He went down the alley towards Payson Street." "You can cut him off on Lafayette..." "You can't sell on the street without a licence." "And these movies..." "It's copyright infringement." " Come on, man." " That's a hefty fine." "That's my ten..." "Are you gonna rob me too?" "That's what you're gonna do?" "Rob me also?" "Baltimore's finest right here." "Thank you." "Everybody gather up, all right?" "Everybody take five and gather up." "Mike, get in here too." "I want everybody that uses the gym to hear this now." "Most of y'all know I came home after being in a long time." "And some of y'all..." "Shit, all of y'all probably seen me welcoming the attentions of some of the ladies who've come past." "Easy." "Now, I realise that some of these ladies is your relations." "I ain't mean to disrespect y'all or have any feelings hurt." "All y'all come in here to learn a sport and better yourselves." "Ain't no need for me to get in the way of that." "All right." "And if your witness is in the game, and Omar jacked him up good..." " What the fuck is this?" " Hey, Crutch, I'm just asking." "is he kin to you or what?" "Vernon, man, you ran the sheet on that Old Face, right?" "Yeah." "He was an asshole." "So what?" "So what?" "What's the history?" "Do we come behind your casework talking this kind of shit?" "Do we?" " Come on." " No." "Fuck you, Bunk." " Fuck you." " Fuck you." "Soon as he come out the gym, yo, bank his ass, man." "Make sure that nigga's shook." "He thought I wouldn't handle it." "Said he needed some more proof." "I don't know about all this beefing', man." "What, you scared, nigga?" "We need to pump your ass up some more." "Game on." "You coming round the way tomorrow?" "I think you should stay off that spot." "Bitch, I'm talking to you!" "Man, fuck you." "Fuck!" "Mouthing don't work for you, nigga." "Y'all got to take this shit out of the front of my door." " Namond, go inside." " Man, fuck you!" "Hey, I feel you, man." "Ain't no beef here, though, all right?" "Go inside, man." " Yo, what happened to your boy?" " What the fuck happened to you?" "Ain't nothing." "You need to see how the other nigga look." " Who was that?" " Ain't nothing. I can handle that fool." " You ain't have to step to." " Shit, no!" "You had everything under control." "Look at your face!" "Course, I recognise the other boy was high as all hell." "Anything can jump off when it's like that, you know." "Yeah, and he'd have been on his ass if you ain't mixed in." "What's going on?" "He into something?" "Ain't none of my business." "Yours either." "Seriously, you guys ran a hell of a campaign, no let-up, a lot of heart." "I'll second that." "I liked the shit when you trotted out that witness story during the debate." "What about the fucking last-minute flyers and me and the slumlord doing a tango on the courthouse steps?" "Wait." "Parker, who was behind that?" " l didn't see no Royce authority line." " Well?" "Tommy, enough of the bullshit." "What the hell are we waiting for?" "Bring your ass around here and try out the big chair." "Come on." " Come on around here." " l'm not even mayor-elect." "General election's still a few weeks away." "You don't beat Crawford in a city where we outnumber Republicans nine to one, you don't deserve the fucking job." "Now, get on around here." "If I lose the general election, I'll just blame Norman here." " He's taking over from Terri D'Agostino." " She did good for you." "Yeah, she did." "The national noticed." "She's back at DCCC looking to target red-state delegations." "After what she pulled off, I hope she got a win bonus." "Hell, yeah." "They gave her my share too." "Wouldn't you know it?" "Tommy, whatever you need going forward for the general election, for the transition... I want to hit the ground running, so I'm gonna need to learn the agencies, the budgets, the problems...all of it." "Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to look at." "See to it." "It's a hell of a goddamn job." "Halfway glad to get out." "I'm gonna miss it." "Braddock case running you in circles?" "Whole day was a waste of time." "Why not talk to Wardell himself?" "Ask him if he killed the witness against him." "If he read the newspapers, he already knows he's a suspect." "Will he take a polygraph?" "Call his lawyer." "Tell him they're about to shift the narcotics case over to the federal court because a state witness was murdered." "Tell him if his client doesn't cooperate, he's looking at mandatory minimums and no parole." "The feds don't want drug cases any more, especially not a case that's gonna fall apart without a key witness." "Bluff." "What have you got to lose?" "Maybe he blows the box." "Maybe he passes." "But he talks a bit either way, and you, Detective, get to listen." "The fuck am I looking at here?" "Birds..." "I think." "You see that there?" "I think that's a wing flapping." "Shit." "Fuck!" "Fuck it anyway, man!" " Mr Bond?" " Hey." "Call me Rupert." "Thanks for coming over." "Try to get a running start, meeting with my unit chiefs." "No problem." "Congratulations on the election result." "You'll be coming in with quite a mandate." "Maybe so." "So, how can I help you with the transition?" "There's not a lot of high-end narcotics cases in the pipeline," " and major crimes..." " Wasn't carded for political reasons." "Once the polls put me up there with Demper, people started whispering in my ear." "And I also heard about your subpoenas..." "Andy Krawczyk, Clay Davis." "Sir, I didn't intend..." "To go after Royce's money men four weeks before a primary election?" "Yeah. I think you're wasted in Narcotics." "Let me guess..." "How about VCU as unit chief?" " What?" " Violent Crimes Unit." "How about you take that over for me?" "Carcetti ran on a platform of dropping the murder rate, so VCU is where the sparks are gonna fly, right?" "You're putting me in charge of all homicide prosecutions?" " What about Ilene Nathan?" " She's moving up to second deputy." "I came in here ready to get bounced down to misdemeanours or worse." "Why would you think that?" "The subpoenas and the fact that Demper..." "Demper lost the election. I won." "And I admire your courage, if not your loyalty." " Lester." " Excuse me?" "Forgive me." "VCU is great." "I'm more than ready to work murders for you, Mr Bond." "Good." "Rupert." "But now she's told police sex was consensual on Paul and Monnel only." "So..." " So, Randy..." " He'll be back tomorrow." " And the thing with the police?" " lt's out of my hands." "Turn it down, ladies." "Quanice, lose the gum." "OK." "Settle down." "Mr Prezbo!" "What's Dukie doing with a computer?" "We're gonna have a computer in the class for special projects." " And another thing..." " They all new and shit." "Leave the old ones on your desks, and put your names on the box on the inside cover of the new ones." "OK." "Did anyone have any trouble with the homework?" " Charlene?" " l didn't get it." " Didn't get what?" " None of it." "Michael?" "That's great." "Good job." "Calvin, is this your work?" "Cos it looks like someone else's." "No, I did my work." "OK." "Next time, try to remember not to copy Quanice's name at the top." "All right." "Did everybody get a new textbook?" "Yes." "Great." "OK." "Well, for now at least, you can get those out of sight." "Namond, why aren't you in uniform?" "Why did you decide not to wear it?" "I ain't in my right class, so ain't no need for a uniform." "Interesting." "Why you always write down everything we say?" " Trying to get inside our heads or something?" " You trying to get into mine?" "Chandra, do you think this is a beauty salon or a classroom?" "Darnell, why didn't you wear your uniform?" "I meant to. I did." "Yeah, but after a quart of vodka, it'd be hard to know what colour shirt you're supposed to be wearing." " And you find that funny, Namond?" " Man, fuck you." "Darnell has a drinking problem, and Namond, we believe, suffers from conduct-disorder issues." "Fuck you." "Yeah, he's got a mouth on him." "Chandra, is it necessary to comb your hair in class?" "Fuck you, cheese-faced bitch!" " l should tell you..." " You ain't telling' nobody nothing!" "You know, I was wondering why she was in the class." "She seemed so..." " Chandra, listen to me." " Oppositional defiant personality." " Get the fuck out of my face, bitch!" " l'm sorry you're having a bad day, but you're gonna have to take a little walk with Miss Mason." "Come back when you've pulled it all back together again." "Damn. lt's bye-bye time for my girl Chandra." "Yeah, you think?" "Then to reiterate, this is a polygraph examination, non-admissible, and the answers to all questions are regarded as a proffer" " with a limited grant of immunity." " Agreed." "OK." "To begin, please answer yes to a series of questions regardless of whether or not that answer is correct." " ls your name Anthony Wardell?" " Yeah." "And you're from Baltimore, Maryland?" "Right now I'm over at City Jail, but I'm from East Side." " So your answer is?" " Yeah, I'm from Baltimore." "Are you female?" "Fuck is wrong with..." "My bad." "Yeah, I'm a bitch." " Hey, sweet thing." " Chandra." "We're working on our short essay." "If you..." "Diamonds are a girl's best friend." "Need to get down to lay down." "Namond, if you don't stop, I'll have to ask you to leave class." "See you sad-ass mothertuckers in about three days." " You're leaving class, not school." " What?" "What about now, bitch?" " That's not necessary, Namond." " Oh, you gonna suspend me?" "We're gonna have a little talk." "Man, fuck y'all. I know the rules." "You got to suspend me." "School's got to have rules." " He's right." "You got to have rules." " Can't just be throwing that shit out." "The point is, I can call it like you want." "You want him to pass?" "He passed." "You want him to come up inconclusive, he's inconclusive." "What the fuck kind of science is that?" "Come on." "Did he blow the box or not?" "I'm here for you, Detective." "You know what we use the polygraph for?" "Leverage." "To get him in here and fuck with him." "No wonder this shit's inadmissible." "Let me guess." "They're out in the hall and Swatowski is telling them that he can make it go any way they want." "If you think that's how we play it, then why let your client..." "Because you know there's not much case left now that your witness is dead." "I don't need to expose him to a federal charge if I can avoid it." "And because even if Swatowski bends it for our ears, he's let you know that Mr Wardell here did not blow the box." "Yo, I wouldn't kill me." "Even if it flips on me, I ain't gonna do shit to the man." "Why not?" "My moms and his..." "they're, like, cousins." "Came up together in the Latrobe, you know?" "I've been knowing him since, like, Head Start and shit." "But he was gonna testify." "What am I looking at on the first conviction on this kind of waive?" "Seven, eight?" "Shit, I'll be out in three and a half." "You think I'm gonna kill my mom's cousin's boy for three and a half?" "I know that man helped get himself elected claiming that I did me like that, but please." "Bum-ass mothertucker was gonna testify against me, and I swear to God I feel bad he's dead." "I do." "Hey, Ilene, I've been looking all over for you." "From Bird's trial a couple of years ago." "The stick-up boy." "He's in City Jail on felony murder." "Store robbery, West Side." "When I gave him the card, I told him it was for a light felony at best." "Yeah, of course, but he needs to get writ out of BCDC and put in protective custody somewhere else." "He's sharing his address with about 800 other guys who have seen the business end of his shotgun." " Why do you care?" " l'm pretty sure he's being set up." "Really?" "How does that play with the rest of the guys in the squad room?" "Look, all I'm asking is that you move him to some county detention centre at least until I have a chance to work back up on this thing." "Now, this card ought to buy him that much." "is Hartford County Detention Center quiet enough?" " Yeah." " Go pick up a writ in my office and tell Mr Little my debt's paid." "The fact is that homicides are off 1 4% in the Western this year." "But I'm not gonna stand here and take credit for that when all other UCR felonies are up." " Why not, Major?" " A wise man once told me years ago when I wasn't even a sergeant that you should never take credit when the crime rate drops unless you want to take the blame when it rises." "Ten-hut." "Mayor-Elect is on deck." "Please, back to what you're doing." "I'm just a councilman here to observe." "At ease, gentlemen." "Major Daniels, continue your presentation." "In any event, rather than allow my post cars to patrol at random, I put two-man cars in the posts with the worst drug corners " "Edmonson Avenue, Poplar Grove, Fayette and Baltimore Streets," "North Avenue." "Now, if nothing else, a two-man car is more aggressive, and that helps push it away from the most volatile corners," " which may be having an effect." " Just pushing it?" "I'm not devoting my resources to cheap street arrests, Commissioner." "Instead, I'm trying to bring every officer I can to bear on making quality felony cases." "I could do more but it's my opinion that not enough of the troops I have are sufficiently trained to properly investigate such cases." "Major, you just insulted your command." "Respectfully, sir, too many of my people have spent years chasing street-level arrests where they grab bodies and make stats." "But that doesn't teach you how to write a proper warrant or testify properly as to probable cause, or use and not get used by an informant." "I wish it were otherwise." "But if I'm chasing felony cases, I can only bring a minority of my officers to bear." " You've got all of it already!" " That's right." "Make a nigga work." "You like that shit." "Ain't that right, mothertucker?" "You can't hide, son." "Don't care where it is." "In a nigga's ass crack, I'll still find you." "Damn." "Fucked that man up." " Yeah, boy." " All right." "So we starting a little later than I wanted." "Yo, but you said you was gonna creep out of school after lunch." "I tried." "They won't put me out." "Shit." "Ain't no school gonna hold me if I want to go." "It's this new class they put me in." "It's all fucked up, yo, they working all backwards and shit." "All right, let's get to this." "Yo, Bobby, you working the stash." "Why aren't where we was yesterday?" " The spot was right." " This is good here?" "The fuck is wrong with you?" "He was on this strip yesterday." "This ain't shit." "Yo, if you don't want to sell my shit, then fuck you, Kenard." "I keep my money." " This spot is just as good as the other." " Shit..." "Carv, do you know how much that video camera cost?" "$4200, which makes our adventure with Fuzzy Dunlop look like a fucking walk in the park." "To get the camera from lSD, I had to get authorisation from your supervisor, right?" "Still, you lost it doing police work." "Your lieutenant will understand." "Marimow?" "You know what that asshole understands?" "Burning mothertuckers for petty shit like this." " Help me, Carv." " This is not my problem." "Don't fuck me, Carv." "Don't fuck me now." "You know what this is?" "This is one of those enabling relationships." "Enable me, Carv." "Enable me to find my fuckin' camera." " You're seeing pigeons?" " Last night we did." "Me and Sydnor ran the West Side looking at every pigeon coop we could find." "This morning, nothing in the monitor." " Did you check the pawnshops?" " Every one." "I fucking know this asshole Marlo has my camera." " Fuck me." " What?" "You just reminded me." "I had to brief this kid last week who said he knew something about a murder that Marlo's people did." " l meant to call Bunk on it." " Bunk caught the case?" "No." "Actually, he had a warrant for the guy who supposedly got killed." "I rode around with him on it a while back." "What about me?" "I got problems here, man." "The only thing you can do is get some wood on Marlo Stanfield or his people." "Scare him enough to send the camera back." " What do you have on Marlo?" " l know he's a drug dealer." "I can't prove it or nothing, but I know." "Detective Pitts, pick up 2594." "Pitts..." "OK, listen." "How about I let you debrief the kid first?" " See what he can give you." " This gets the camera home?" "Maybe not, but you talk to the runt, and maybe he gives you some shit on Marlo." "Maybe even gives you a murder or two." "Before you call Homicide on it, you walk it back to Marimow like the cat with the mouse in its teeth." "You bring him the murder, he probably forgives the camera." "Lumen, line 5." "Lumen, pick up the fucking phone." "Looking for Detective Moreland." "Could you have him call Sergeant Carver at the Western, please?" "Carver?" "Western?" "Got it." "Fuck the Bunk." " Thoughts on your cabinet?" " Lots of them." "But top of the list, Ervin Burrell's ass is gone." "I told Royce to dump him more than a year ago, but Clarence didn't want to piss off the ministers until after the primary." "Primary's over." "He can do it now." "You think Clarence Royce is gonna do you that favour?" "He's already thinking about taking a poke at Elijah and running for the Seventh District congressional seat." "He's gonna need every black minister in town to lay hands upon him." " Fine. I'll do it myself." " No, you won't." "Royce can fire a black police commissioner, but the newly elected white mayor cannot." "Same brothers who voted for you'll be at your throat." "What if I got a black commissioner to replace the son of a bitch?" "Under Burrell, the only black deputy is Cawthorne, and he's 70." "After that, it's just majors and lieutenants." "We go outside, nationwide search." "Deputy chiefs in New York or LA make more than their police commissioner." "If you're talented and black, why would you be in Baltimore?" "I have often asked myself that very question on a number of occasions." "So I'm stuck with Burrell." "Fuck." "Have a seat." "Don't keep him late." "He's got to be at school in the morning." " l thought you said he was suspended." " They're letting me back in tomorrow." "Miss Anna'd want me to be home by 9:00." "Don't forget to send him on to Bunk after you're done." "Look after him." "He's a good kid." "You hungry?" " Yeah." " Let's eat." "Hey, kid, let me ask you right off the bat, you know what a police surveillance camera looks like?" "Councilman, you sure you don't want to ride with Lieutenant Grace?" "She'll be in command of the ship." "What's the point of a ride-along with the bosses?" "I need to see what the troops see, right?" "Fine. I love the idea of a mayor who knows what we're up against." "Officers McFarley and Ginter, this is the mayor-elect, and he'll be riding with you in sector three." " How you doing?" " Hey." "Don't let him get captured." "Obviously, I didn't know nothing about it in the beginning." "Little Kevin, he just told me to tell Lex to go up to the playground behind Fulton cos his girl was up there." " And Lex got killed?" " Yeah." "Where'd he get killed?" "So you actually weren't there to see him killed?" "I told you." "Little Kevin, he just told me to tell Lex to go up to the playground and see this girl Patrice." "Then later, Kevin come up to me and tell me Chris and Snoop killed the dude." " What's Kevin's last name?" " l don't know." " You don't have his name?" " Little Kevin is all I know." "So let me get this straight." "You told the guy to go somewhere, and then you heard he was killed, but you don't know where he was killed, and you don't even know if anyone ever found the body?" " How do you know Lex is really dead?" " Everybody know it." " Who is everybody?" " Everybody from around the way." "Yo, listen." "People be saying that Chris and Snoop be turning niggas into zombies for Marlo, but I know that ain't true." " When you dead you dead, is all." " Zombies, huh?" "You know what this is?" "This is bullshit." " You're bullshitting me." " No, sir." "You were right there when this Lex fellow got dropped, weren't you?" " No." " Yes, you were." "You're an eyeball witness who can get me Snoop and Chris both." " l told you..." " Look, kid." "If you were there, you can say so." "We can do a lot for you, maybe help you out with this problem you got at the school." "I ain't got a problem no more." "I'm good with that." " You were there, right?" " Herc." "Just say you were there!" " So how do you like being mayor so far?" " l've still got to win the general election and the inauguration's not till December." "So what do I know?" "Well, you can't do any worse than Royce." "City's going to shit." "Yeah." "Well, what do you guys suggest I do first?" "An air strike." "White phosphorus." "Drop that shit on everything between here and North Avenue." "Seriously." "That shit works." "My brother's a marine, right?" "They use WP over there in Fallujah." "Signal 13, shots fired." "200 North Calhoun." "Bang." "There it is." "Now you're gonna see some shit, Mr Mayor." "Pardon my French." "You know what's fucked up?" "No one hears the gunshot." "On the canvass, no one even claims to hear the shot." "So look, our next move is to work back on Wardell's visiting list." "If the sergeant asks, I'm on the street." "The fuck is that 13 on Calhoun Street?" "I don't know, but they 10-32'd it 10 minutes ago, sir." "You're not dropping me off at my crib, are you?" "I mean, you can leave me, like, a block or two up from here." "I could walk the rest of the way." "Don't want to be seen with the police, huh?" " Yeah." " All right, boss." "I'll pull over right here." "What the fuck was Carv thinking?" "This kid can't give me a murder." "We go right at Marlo." "Fuck the back door when we can go in the front, you know?" "Next I want a detective at University in case the guy that comes out makes any kind of declaration." "Right, and have someone in the room with him." "Officer Leach is being transported down to you by a sergeant." "Service weapon's with Detective Hollister, on their way to Ballistics." "No." "No, looks like a clean shoot." "I've got spent shells from two suspect weapons, different calibres, both recovered." "Right." "Yeah, I know." "No, I'm not out here at the scene." "But call the pio and have him issue a statement from downtown." "Tell the SAO that if they want to have someone out here survey the scene, they need to move now cos Crime Lab is finishing up and the OCME van is here waiting." "Yeah...." " lsn't that the Western District commander?" " Yeah, that's Daniels." " He's the duty officer tonight." " Seems to know his business." "He ain't as bad as some." "Police." "Baltimore Police." "OK." "There's still 85 eligible from September who need an October day." "That'll work, ma'am." "I'm counting on you fellows to get it done before the end of the month." "I can keep you on salary till then." "You know what?" "This ain't for me." "I thank you for the opportunity, ma'am, but it ain't so much just to bring a man for a day or two." "I mean, if you had something where l was working with these kids..." "Anyway, thanks again." " Hey, there." " Hey." " Thought you was at lda Wells." " Language arts position opened up here, so I came over last year." " Hey." "What's up, Coach?" " Hey." "You come over for some of your boys today?" "Some kind of programme?" "Something else." "Didn't work out really." "Be well." "You mind if I give him a go?" " Sure." " Fuck you." "OK." " But you're still in this room." " Fuck you." "You're not going back with the others till you learn to behave." " Fuck you." " Until you show you can handle it, you're not going back to your regular class." "Fuck you." "And you damn sure ain't going home cos there ain't no more getting suspended." "Mr Colvin, sir?" "Fuck you." "Cos I ain't feel like it." "That's why." "This is bullshit." "I ain't reading no mothertucking book either!" "I don't even know nothing about the damn book." "And you always getting on my ass and shit about some book." "Fuck you, you cheese-faced bitch!" "Albert, Albert, settle down now." "This gonna be harder than we thought, man." " lt's fascinating, isn't it?" " All right." "Class..." "This ain't no different than the other class..." "Clinically speaking." " Yo, your points are full." " l'm hot." "Come and get it." "All right. I'll cover that." " Me too." " l'm betting with my boy Randy." "You about to get your money taken." "Come on." " Get up." "Thank you." " Thank you." "Pay up, sucker." "Randy, what are you doing?" "Didn't we go over this?" " How many ways can you make a four?" " Not enough for his black ass." "Look who's talking." "Yo, he just come today, so he missed the whole thing about the odds." "Right." "Randy, there's only three ways to make a four," " but to make a seven..." " Six." "That's good." "So what should have been your play?" "Should have bet against the roll." "Good to have you back, Mr Wagstaff." " Come on, roll 'em, man." " l got 40. I got 40 on it." "Trick them into thinking they aren't learning, and they do." "Been looking all over for you." "You found me." "Look, I been thinking, Sherrod... we're going about our thing all wrong." "You know, I made the mistake." "I was thinking I knew you better than you knew yourself." "This corner..." "This corner mess will bring you down fast." "You know." "I think you need to come home, right?" "You come by tonight, and we work this shit out." "Why don't you just step right now?" "I don't get paid till 8:00." "8:00, huh?" " You all right?" " Just a little tired, that's all." "So I'm gonna see you tonight, right, Sherrod?" "You want to help me take his statement?" "Braddock case is down." "Room two." "You veteran crimefighters got a name for this here, right?" ""Murder weapon" or some shit like that?" "No fucking way." "Slug from autopsy matches two more I pulled from that smoke hound's back yard, block into the side alley from where Braddock fell." "Our guy's dead from a stray?" "He was shooting at 40s and Clorox bottles blocks away, using potatoes for a silencer." "Bite me." "That's ridiculous." "So our guy's dead because a bullet misses a bleach bottle." "And this fuck Carcetti gets to be the mayor behind this stupidity." "I fucking love this town. I do." "Nice pull, Greggs." "Soft eyes." "Sherrod!" "English"