"All quiet today ?" "Keepin' it like that, boss." "We rule where we stand." "Police sitting' on all the corners over these parts." "Likely because we been droppin' bodies." "Yeah, they do like that." "But you know tomorrow some other nigger stop a bullet somewhere else and then they go stand on a new spot." "Boy Marlo closed up shop." "Word is he wholesaling his packages for now." "He ain't got no crews out here at all ?" "How 'bout his avenue corners ?" "Nigger give up quick, didn't he ?" "Damn, I was just beginnin' to respect the little motherfucker for showin' heart." "A-ight, listen." "When the police roll out, y'all step in there an' take my corners." "I'm on it, B." "Cheesesteaks from Bill's." "Nah, I did that tuesday, man." "Fuck it then, you pick." "Naw, fuck me." "What ?" "Mope in the truck." "What about him ?" "I think I locked him up." "Avon whatshisface." "Big player from the projects." "He was the target on that detail I worked a couple years back the one I told you about." "Motherfucker's out already." "Why, what'd he pull ?" "Six, eight years." "Who the fuck can remember ?" "An' he's out in two ?" "Maybe I got the years wrong." "Point is guy's an asshole." "Locked him up is all." "Pit beef, from the market." "See ?" "Now you thinkin' like police." "Back Burners" "Change in plan." "Bell you recognize." "Second target is a Marlo Stanfield who is apparently warring with Bell for Westside corners." "What about Kintel Williamson ?" "That case is on hold for now." "On hold ?" "We just managed to I.D. the cell phones on two of his people." "Be that as it may... why not take a few more weeks and we can put together what we got on Kintel, you know ?" "We send the case to grand jury and then we start up this Westside case." "Otherwise, we wasted more than two months... change of target comes to us from the Commissioner and the Deputy Ops." "The department is in a reactive mode trying to get the murder rate down by any means necessary." "Kintel was dropping bodies two months ago." "Today, it's the Westside that's got the bosses spinning." "Look, I know y'all thought it was nothin' for me to sit on that roof day after 90-degree day, dodging' swarms of cicadas and shit, but damn." "This is fucked up." "And all the assets work I did on Kintel." "His cars, his cash flow..." "I just put that in a drawer ?" "Some day I wanna work for a real police department." "Just to see how the fuck they do it, you know ?" "McNulty." "In my office." "Hey, Prez, can you run something out for me ?" "What ?" "I need to know who reed this room in the downtown Hilton, thursday before last." "Who rented the room ?" "Address, credit card details, whatever you can pull." "How's it fit with the case ?" "Hard to say just yet." "Hey, my man." "I'm done mowing'." "So I figured I'd use this to edge the weeds around the fence." " It's gas-powered." " Means I got to prime it." "You ain't got school me but once." "Get some water before you go back out there." "You been goin' hard at it." "You keep showin' up at the spot, I'll keep puttin' you on." "Good, 'cause I ain't got nothin' else." "You walked back through them old doors, didn't you ?" "Tried to." "I took you for gone." "Man, parole officers, employment agencies... shit, I just felt like I was an interruption to their lunch break." "No family ?" "None besides my grandmother." "She put me up in the basement." "That's plenty to ask of the old girl right there." "You could use someone to talk to 'sides your grandmoms." "What about one of them social worker types ?" "I hooked up with one dude." "He was cool, but I wasn't ready." "You look like you ready now." "I mean, you found an ear to bend, you wouldn't have to talk to me." "Shit, I know you gonna get tired of lookin' at my ugly-ass grill." "Drink that too fast, you'll cramp up." " You're asking ?" " I am." "Lieutenant, I didn't..." "Because I got no problem changing targets if that's what the bosses tell me to do." "Unless it's personal." "Like when Kima got shot..." "I don't care where we spend our time and money." "Bell, Williamson, whoever." "It's all just police work to me." "And I understand that people above my pay-grade have the right to make decisions that are theirs to make." "And if they're wrong ?" "Then they're wrong and time will tell, won't it ?" "Now, I'm asking you for the truth." "You went to Colvin." "Behind my back." "I'da gone to the devil himself." "Which way you were standing, Lieutenant had not a fucking thing to do with it." "You piece of shit." "I did it because it had to be done just like it had to be done two years ago when we were first detailed." "Stringer was the target then, he's still the target now." "Lieutenant, you know, as bosses go you're better than most and I know you went out of your way to get me off that boat." "I know that." "But now we're back on the right man." "Detective McNulty." "When the cuffs go on Stringer, you need to find a new home." "You're done in this unit." "Count right ?" "Yeah, went almost to Richmond for this here batch." "Yeah, I'm holdin'..." " You did like we say, right ?" " Yeah." "Give him that." "We're gonna need another 60 more in a couple days." "60 more ?" "!" "You know how we do." "So don't be cryin', Bernard." "You musta left something out." "Fuck no." "I got the part ones from every sector, every post." "We're down about two percent." "Now where exactly are we down ?" "Larcenies and burglaries are steady but shootings and agg assaults are both down." "Drug arrests, too, but I guess that won't look so good." "I mean, where geographically are we down ?" "In the district ?" "Well, the posts near the designated drug zones are up almost all of them." "That ain't pretty." "But everywhere else is down." "In some places as much as four percent." "Bosses are gonna love you." "It's too soon to take any credit." "This might be, whatcha call that statistical aberration." "You ain't gonna let them know that your little experiment might be working ?" "Not yet, no." "But I'll tell you what we are gonna do:" "Starting next week" "I want you to pull one car out of service on the quiet posts in every sector, all three shifts." "We'll take those nine guys gonna use 'em and double up on the high-crime posts." "If we handle less of it we ought to do better with the crime we've got, right ?" "Can I get two Trac disposable phones." "They on special." "Four for 180 ?" "Just the two." "Last show out at Westview is 8:45." "We could make that if we don't make the whole damn run today." "Seem to me one phone is as good as the next." "Only a fool drive all over the world when there ain't no need." "Keep on with that shit an' I'ma leave your ass in Baltimore." "I don't trust no man on the road by hisself, okay ?" "I'm not stupid." "Stupid ass fucker." "Commissioner !" "How goes it ?" "It went a lot better before the Mayor's cabinet meeting" "I can tell you that." "He rip you ?" "Says we need to finish under 300 for this year regardless of how it happens." " I tried to tell..." " Erv, lemme ask you... where do you guys stand on this witness assistance thing ?" "What ?" "Overhauling the city's witness assistance program ?" "Nobody from the Mayor's office called you regarding this problem of witnesses getting killed ?" "I got a call from the chief of staff a week ago, yeah." "But all he said was I should try not to have any more witnesses get killed." "But overhauling the program ?" "Unless someone wants to spend a lot more money there's not a whole helluva lot my people can do." "And you haven't talked to the Mayor directly on this ?" "You're not gonna fuck me on this ?" "As it is, I got the Mayor's teeth in my ass." "Your name does not get mentioned." "Mayor didn't say a word to me." "Thanks." "Where the fuck we at now !" "?" "Just buy four or five, Bernard." "Do it like that and it'll go twice as quick." "I want a Shrek Slurpee, Bernard." "And some Krispee Kreme." "All this from one disposable cell phone ?" "And a dead one, too." "It was used by Marlo's people and picked up off the ground by Kima's C.I." "Problem is it's just raw data." "We need to firm up what we know about Marlo's operation with surveillance and C.I. info." "On the other hand if we had a burner that we knew was used by one of Stringer's players... we could use what we know about that origination to make all kinds of connections." "Get us one good phone, we'll give you the network." "That's the good news." "What's the bad ?" "It's all historical." "We can give you the network no problem but by then it's a week old and they've dumped their phones." "And how we get a wire up on that..." "I haven't figured out yet." "Well, see that you do, detective." "Oh, yeah." "You keep this job." "I'ma gain some serious weight." " Just the two ?" " Just the two." "Nigga, you ain't never hearda buying' in bulk ?" "You could be savin' them people all kinda money." "Or better still, spending' it on me." "Why you got a gun, Bernard ?" "You ain't heard ?" "Avon's home, so we tooling' up." "You ain't the only one on parole." "Girl, you ridin' my last good nerve." "That's not the only thing I can ride." "Just get me back to the Interstate ?" "Big white bag, got the big white bag !" "Which one is he, again ?" "Broadus, street name of Bodie." "He used to bein the low-rises." "Had a tower later on." "Big white, got the big white !" "How many more minutes you think he's got on that phone ?" "Fuck this, let's hit the bar." "Lester needs a phone, man." "There's an easier way." "I'll show you tomorrow." "C'mon." "Got the big white." "I'm buying." "Big white bag, got the big white bag !" "She just wants me to be happy, you know ?" "An' I mean, I do the same for her, when I can." "Like this thing with the police detective ?" "Brianna says she wants me to go downtown with her, and..." "I dunno, hear the man out about Dee... and I know there ain't nothing to it, but she's all upset you know." "And I tried to tell her what you told me but she says she wants to go down there and talk to him herself I guess." "You told her about the cop ?" "What ?" "About the detective." "What you told me, you told her ?" "It's her son, right ?" "I mean, she got a right to know what's goin' on." " Look, I just thought..." " What ?" "!" "Why the fuck you gonna get her all upset over some bullshit ?" "Here we are, fuckin' year later, everybody forgot about the shit you go runnin' your mouth about nothin' at all." "But, String..." "What, an' she gonna believe that shit, too." "What mom is not gonna believe her son didn't kill hisself ?" "String..." "How she gonna take to that shit, go half-crazy with it." " I just..." " You just what ?" "Sorry." "When you tell her that ?" "'Bout a week ago, I guess." "When she gonna go see the cop ?" "Think she gonna talk to a lawyer first." " Ask him how to play it." " Who Levy ?" "I guess, whoever." " The lawyer." " Levy ?" " I guess." " Oh, you didn't ask that ?" "And this fucking Royce just lets it slide." "I mean, I go to him, right ?" "Not to make points, just to do the right thing what does he do but blow smoke up my ass." ""I'm glad you came to us with this, Tommy..."" ""Oh, I'll light a fire, don't you worry." "We gotta move on this."" "I never thought he'd have the balls to just fuck the dog on it." "And you were doing the right thing." "Fuck yeah." "What ?" "You went there hoping that Royce would disappoint." "You want to know that you're better, that you deserve his chair." "If I lie down on this couch, do you charge by the hour ?" "Thanks." "You're not naive." "Neither am I." "A man doesn't run for office without being a bit self-righteous first." "Self-righteous ?" "Me ?" "So what are you gonna do now ?" "Call a reporter or two, rip the Mayor." "Maybe on background, maybe go on the record." "I dunno." "Rip him now ?" "With the primary next september ?" "Tommy, no one's gonna remember a dead witness a year from now ?" "Better if you go to Royce confront him, not angrily give him a chance to explain." "Or maybe take action." "If he does do something, then a problem got fixed and you can feel special for helping." "If he doesn't, you sit tight." "I don't know." "Maybe you document your meeting in a letter expressing your concern and regret." "Then you're set if the next witness gets killed." "Win-win." "Unless you're the witness." "I know, you're right." "But he's taking on a two-term incumbent." "It's all gonna be ugly from here." "Yeah, it's cool." "Need another 30 by monday, a-ight." "A-ight." "Bitch, everything I say you hear backwards." "Stupid little fucker." "Got them tees, bright white !" "One for three, two for five." "Blue Tops, got them Blue Tops !" "I got them tees." "Bright white, one for three, two for five." "I got this, man, five dollar." " New." " No thank you, man." " It's only five dollars." " No thank you." "Fuck you, man, fuck you." "Fuck you." "I got them, uh..." "I got them tees." "Red Tops, Red Tops, got them Red Tops !" "Rockefeller, got them Rockefeller here !" "Hey, seller man, what you got ?" "Got the long white tees for the young ones." "You ain't got candles ?" "I'm lookin' to buy candles." "And toilet paper for the shitbucket, too." "You be back here tomorrow ?" "I can't leave." "I leave, somebody grab my stake." "I'll be back tomorrow." "Yo, Johnny." "Was' up, Bubs." "Shit, Johnny, man." "Just been chasin' that pipe, you know." "Shit got me all diggin' and scratching' in my arms." "You know, it's cool." "Alright, come on, man, you need a break." "Alright ?" "I'm serious, you need a break." "Come on, man." "Naw, man, look around you." "Soldier's paradise, man." "I'm a viking, Bubs." "You a viking ?" "Fuck, not again." "You two coming ?" "Major said to get 'em down here he didn't say shit 'bout playin' nursemaid to a bunch of goddamn animals." "Watch your back, watch your back." "Watch your back." "Should we cuff 'em, sarge ?" "Naw, cut 'em loose." "The fuck we tell you about fighting down here ?" "Only rule is no fighting, no cutting, no shooting !" "An' y'all still fuck it up." "Next time you make me come down here, see if I don't call for a ten-thirty-eight." "So you know, dickhead, that's an ambulance." "Break it up, break it up, break it up." "Did I wake the baby ?" "You would know if you did." "It's 3:00 in the morning." "Nice of you to check in." "I went out after work to unwind." "Yeah, you look unwound." "Well..." "I figured you had everything under control on the homefront." "What the fuck is wrong with you ?" "What's with the sarcasm ?" "How come you can talk to everybody else but me ?" "You really want to know ?" "I'm listening." "I miss us." "Do not blame that baby." "Do not do it." "I'm not blamin' anybody." "I didn't do this by myself." "We discussed it, all of it." "We talked about it, yeah." "But..." "I didn't have as much to say about it as you." "And why not ?" "Because you... you wanted this." "I didn't want to disappoint you on it." "I don't think I could be more disappointed than I am right now." "You need to go." "Quiet overnight ?" "Midnight shift had to toss a crew that was casing the place." "But other than that..." "Too many damn children." "Whaddaya need lookouts and runners for if the shit is legal ?" "A lot of them have been cut loose by the dealers." "It's like one of those nature shows where you mess with the environment some species gets fucked out of their habitat." "Did you just use the word habitat in a sentence ?" "I did." "You let your lookouts go ?" "My runners, too." "Shit, what's the point ?" "So here you are making money hand over fist and you're too damn greedy to take care of your work force." "I don't need 'em." "But they need you, right ?" "You was all they had when you couldn't work a corner except for touts and runners then it was cool to have them cut school and work out." "Okay, new tax initiative, my brother." "Say what ?" "If you wanna sling in Hamsterdam after today you an' every other knucklehead you each gotta kick in a hunnert a week." "Oh, so you tryin' to get paid, huh." "Not me, not for me." "Get the cash up, I'll be back." "But it ain't something I'm gonna go to jail for, right ?" "I mean, it ain't nothing like that is it ?" "That one ?" "No, it was more black than silver." "This one, I think." "I can see y'all got some real ugly shit planned for me." "I can see it." "You just bumped up against a clever police is all." "Course he's gonna try to shame you with the dead girl or some mess about children lookin' up to Omar an' his sawed-off." "All he can do especially since you backed down what he had for a witness." "He working' you with guilt, boy." "Yeah, but that fat man gave me an itch I can't scratch, Butchie." "Everybody in this world does what they gonna do." "Me, you, that police." "Everybody in this world got their own place." "An' a man in your line of work start worrying' about how other people see you playin' the other people, instead of to hisself, he gonna get dead." "I still feel like I owe something', Butch." "I had an uncle down Carolina, he dead now but I remember he was grieving real hard real hard over chasin' his lady friend away." "So he put himself to punishment." "Took a knife to his little finger then his ring finger." "With them all bloody on the table, he pulled up short." "For the rest of his life" "I remember him sayin' the bitch weren't worth more than a pinkie." "But it was too late then." "You can try that if you have a mind." "I dunno, Butchie." "A little somethin' less dramatical." "Ya feel me ?" "You told Brianna she could go downtown with this ?" "D'Angelo's her son, how was I gonna stop her ?" "Look, look there's no harm done if she just keeps her mouth shut and just listens." "Naw, naw." "It's fucked up." "There ain't no call messin' with Brianna with this bullshit." "What can you do ?" "I dunno." "File a kinda complaint against the detective or some shit." "I dunno." "Harassment ?" "This the same motherfucker that had Avon's case." "Same motherfucker that's comin' at me in my print shop talkin' shit." "An' now he's comin' up at Brianna with this bullshit ?" "A complaint's not going to do anything." "And the fact is if the cops are saying her son might not be a suicide" "Brianna's gonna hear this out regardless." "I suppose Avon should know about it, though." "Yeah, well, I'll handle that." "Not much slinging going on here." "Western boys are sittin' on the real estate." "Yeah... a-ight, a-ight." "That'll work, too." "A-ight." "Yo, Shamrock says we should take some of our people down to Hamsterdam and sell off there." "At least until these knockos roll up off some of these corners." "C'mon." "Car stop, maybe ?" "Why not ?" "Not yet, you fuckin' rodent." "You all can't do this, man." "We heading' to Hamsterdam." "You come off that car again an' you goin' to Bon Secours emergency room." "You hear me ?" "Yo, officer, we got immunity from y'all." "We goin' to the free zone." "What the fuck's the free zone ?" "Ho shit." "Packaged for sale." "Hey, straight up." "Why you think we headed there in the first place ?" "Headed where ?" "Hamsterdam." "Suck my dick !" "Hey, y'all wanna see a wagon !" "Fuck y'all !" "You just shut the fuck up and cut this shit out now !" "Like you said." "That's your receipt." "Two-forty-four for the hoop comes back to me rounding to two and a half for my gas money." "This repays me." "The rest of this ?" "Use it to pay them hoppers for the week." "Whether you use 'em or not, you pay this money out." "Shit is like unemployment insurance." "Every employer got to pay in." "And if I find out anybody holding out he's out of here and back on the street gettin' his head busted." "Least y'all can do is look after your own people a little bit." "What are you a fuckin' communist ?" "23 o' four." "Need a couple of 10-16s, to Fayette west of Vincent." "That's right around the corner from here." "Ten-four, units responding." "The fuck happened ?" "Car stop." "I got a g-pack from beneath the passenger seat." "Yo, we was on our way to Hamsterdam an' the man say we don't get hassled comin' in or goin' out." "Was' up ?" "What the fuck is Hamsterdam ?" "Lyin' ass poh-leece !" "I can't let you do this." "Carv, they got a g-pack." "On the way to the free zone, they did." "You know the rules." "Yeah, man, and I was tryin' to tell these people..." "Shut the fuck up." "700 to any unit at the scene at Fayette and Vincent." "Yeah, boss." "You got a situation there ?" "I can't believe this bullshit." "Yeah, bullshit is right." "I told you to shut the fuck up." "Yo, man, y'all gave your fuckin' word." "You know you did, man." "This is so fuckin' bullshit." "Y'all some fuckin' liar'y man." "Carv, will you please tell me what the fuck is going on here ?" "Major said he's on his way." "Carv ?" "Oh, man." "Sure that's the one ?" "Reesie say that was the one." "Who am I to say different." "Tell him I ain't gonna pay 'til it proves itself though." "I told him that already." "He say 1500 for his trouble." "Damn." "Conscience do cost." "I seen him, Bernard." "You hadn't even gone past the damn door and he threw all the papers in the trash." "You lyin' now, I can tell." "You is the only one who gives a fuck." "An' if you hadn't been the stupidest mothercker that I ever gone out with, you'd just would have bought a whole bunchaf them things at once." "Only need like six more." "We be done in, like, half an hour." "How 'bout we make one more stop you get six of them shits and I suck your dick for the next 20 minutes." "Gotcha." "Fuck." "Fuck y'all." "Shit." "I worked a double, man." "Bunk, line three." "Detective Moreland." "Heard you lookin' for something." "Lemme get some of them Trac phones activated." "Eight of 'em bitches." "This one for sector two." "Sector one, I'm using the empty low-rise housing on Winchester." "Sector three, the old Koppers plant." "And it's legal to sell here ?" "It's not legal." "We just look the other way is all." "How ?" "How can you ?" "I know it hurts your heads to think about it but before you decide to lose your minds on this take a moment, ride around to my corners, my worst drug corners." "Edmondson and Brice." "North and Pulaski." "Hollins and Payson." "They're empty." "All of them." "District-wide, my crime is down five percent." "But do the bosses know ?" "No, the bosses don't know shit about it." "This is just a district commander, taking an initiative on his own." "Jesus christ !" "I knew it was only a matter of time before I bumped into somebody from downtown about this." "And I know your natural impulse is to take what you saw back downtown with you, but I gotta ask you..." "You legalized drugs ?" "Look, this is a tactical deployment." "We just wait for everything to get settled down here in these three zones and then we move." "Look, we make a big show of locking' everybody up and then we shut it down." "I'm sorry I had to fuck you up on that arrest and I'm sorry you had to see us give that runt back the g-pack." "That was ugly, I know." "But I'm just tryin' to save what's left of my district anyway I can, if I can." "And the longer I have before I have to brief the bosses about this deployment..." "We got all we needed from the car stop, major." "Don't sweat it." "Let me get a word with my old commander." "I dunno, Major." "Whenever you bust this place up, they'll go back to their same corners." "Besides, you were never much on making a big show." "If this doesn't work, Jimmy, we're back to the usual and I'm out the door on a pension anyway." "But, Jimmy, I need more time." "I need to be able to rely on you and your people to keep this close." "The bosses don't know, huh ?" "Fuck the bosses." "You the man who called ?" "I did." "You witnessing' or what ?" "I'm afraid I'm blind." "Legally." "Something you need to see though." "Glock 40, I believe." "I suppose you ain't going to tell me who brought this here, right ?" "Like I say" "I'm blind." "I thought you might know, though." "You tell him for me" "I'm hopin' he might need this in court some day." "Knockos might come back." "They might." "But until they do, this your corner to hold." "What about Marlo's crew ?" "Look, Avon's home, and you on a Barksdale corner." "Ya feel me ?" "Avon ain't here now." "You got muscle." "Don't worry about that, little man." "Hey... the burner of young Bodie Broadus it still has minutes left." "Speed dial ?" "Caroline." "You wouldn't have an extra room at your place, would you ?" "Jus' for a night or two, 'til I can get my shit together." "Ain't no fixing' it ?" "It's fixed pretty good, I think." "Thanks." "Credit card was a business account listed to a Theresa D'Agostino." "Yeah, that's her." "What kinda business ?" "Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee." "Billing on the card goes to a business address in northwest Washington." "I called the switchboard and she's listed." "D'Agostino doesn't sound much like a west Baltimore name to me." "Me either." "Truth is, I don't know what I want." "I'm know I'm lookin' for somethin' but I can't even tell you what it is." "I understand you found work." "Ain't no payroll job, but it'll do." "You ain't here for a job." "Or the G.E.D. program." "So you lookin' to join the church ?" "I, um..." "I just..." "I've had this feelin' for a long time and it's like I'm standing outside myself watching me do things I don't wanna do, you know ?" "Jus' seein' me like I'm somebody else but never ever bein' able to stop the show." "I'm tired." "It's Cutty, right ?" "Naw, man." "Dennis." "She's left, huh ?" "I figured that because, ah, I'm supposed to meet her actually." "Tonight, yeah... right, exactly." "I was going to pick her up and take her to that but I'm running late..." "Yeah, yeah, I know..." "Where is that exactly ?" "I'm not really familiar with that part of..." "Too many damn scheduling conflicts, unfortunately." "But we have put it on the agenda for the next meeting of the coordinating council on criminal justice." "You're sentencing it to committee ?" "Mr. Mayor, we're probably only talking, like, a few hundred thousand to start." "I'm not saying we should create new identities for these people and send 'em to New Mexico like the feds." "We just need to get them out of harm's way." "Lemme tell you something, Councilman." "I can't lay my hands on several hundred thousand dollars that is not already spoken for." " Mr. Mayor, I was not..." " What would you have me do, Councilman ?" "Should I divert the money that's already been budgeted for snow removal from the first district this winter ?" "How 'bout I reduce trash pickup to once a week citywide put the witnesses up at the Hyatt Inner Harbor ?" "I'm not trying to be difficult, Tommy." "Come on... the city in the financial situation it's in very few friends in Annapolis we've done all we can do with this matter for now." "Okay, then." "Thanks for your time." "Gentlemen." "Nah, what the fuck." "I dunno, boss." "If there weren't so many fucking kids down here" "I might be okay with it." "Baltimore police." "Baltimore ?" "Baltimore, Maryland." "Can I get a Jameson's ?" "Bushmills, okay ?" "That's protestant whiskey." "The price is right, ain't it ?" "Make it neat." "Excuse me." "Hey." "Hey." "What are you doing here ?" "I was just asking myself the same thing." "You drive all the way down here to look at me from across the room and then leave ?" "That's kinda creepy." "You looked occupied." "Him ?" "Honey, that's just business." "This ain't my kind of crowd." "Definitely not." "Yeah, well, I made a mistake, so I'm gonna go." "Four-twenty-eight." "You live in this town." "Why book the room ?" "I live across town." "As late as these things go, that's a D.U.I. away." "Give me two hours, McNulty." "What am I gonna do for two hours ?" "Dream on it." "Water's fresh ?" "You keepin' them cool ?" "You got squeakers nesting' squabs." "Takin' care of the younguns, I like seein' that." "Yeah, Marlo, he's real loyal." "You can't kick him off that nest." "Good work." "That's really good work." "Police comin' off them corners." "I seen." "I'm gonna keep my name off the package for a time keep wholesalin'." "You know, step back a bit." "Barksdale gonna think we weak not comin' out to claim what's ours." "The police leave them corners, he's gonna be back out there." "I know he will." "Your turn, girl." "It's a bout time." "For real." "For starters its memory holds the last 10 calls made and received by the user." "That's enough to give us a signature." "Signature ?" "The phone numbers unique to an individual." "That way we can identify the user when he switches to another phone." "Sorry, I'm late." "Woke up in the wrong town." "Anyway, we ran the tolls on those numbers and we came up with a rather interesting pattern." "Check this out." "This is the pattern of a clod communication network." "Something you would expect from a drug organization." "This particular one so far involves 15 distinct burners." "15." "And none of them list subscriber information." "You can do that ?" "With these burners, with this particular company you don't need subscriber information." "Our data shows that over 92% of the calls are made within this network with the average call lasting less than a minute." "Again, suggestive of drug trafficking." "This user here, he serves as a clearing house." "He receives calls, and initiates interactions." "He coordinates the show." "Be nice if that was Stringer." "Now this is the best part, this is something that Prez discovered when he was playing with it." "It has a speed dial feature." "Meaning, someone took the time to program the phone." "Hell, that's probably the only way these corner boys can remember all the numbers what with these phones being dumped every few days or so." "I'll bet all the other phones in the network are set up the same way." "Well I've heard enough." "We should start writing for the wire." "When can we get up ?" "Get up on what ?" "They're dumping phones every couple weeks on average." "By the time you get a wire up on that, the phones are dead." "The whole network shuts down simultaneously." "Do we have a plan ?" "Not yet we don't." "But for now, if I could get a couple more of these dead phones it'll probably help corroborate the theory for the affidavit." "Kima, maybe you could ask those western boys to pick up what they find on the ground for the next few days." "Yeah, sure." "Damn boy, you smell like sex." "You didn't take a fucking shower ?" "Late for work." "You forgot my Newports, didn't you ?" "Aw shit, man." "I did, yo." "Lemme do up these chips an' then I'll go get your cigs." "Fuck." "Three one, shooting at the number one Mayo." "We're gonna need some suits down here." "For investigation ?" "I'm on my way." "Roger, 10 hundred." "Back so soon." "I thought you guys had enough of our happy district yesterday." "Just need a favor." "Lester wants you to scoop up any discarded cell phones you find on Barksdale corners." "You want Barksdale license plates." " Tag numbers and all ?" " Whatever, sure." "'Cause I saw the big man riding in a truck the other day." "Missed the tag, but if I see him again..." "Stringer ?" " Naw, the other guy." " What other guy ?" "Big boy, the one we locked up." " Avon." " Avon Barksdale ?" "Jesus, Herc." "He's at Jessup, down for four or five at least." "What, we all look alike to you ?" "If you don't believe me fuck it." "No fuckin' way... but the fact remains we would not be returning this service weapon to this officer without help from the citizens of Baltimore as well." "And on that note, I think our Mayor would like to say a few words." "Thank you, Commissioner Burrell." "I just want to take this opportunity to commend our department on successfully resolving this case and to wish officer Dozerman a speedy return to duty." "Officer Dozerman the citizens want you to have this back" "and to thank you for your service in defense of our city." "and I especially want to thank all of our concerned residents who called into the hotline." "We would not be here today..." "Lester." "Lieutenant, you gotta see this." "Big joke."