Chapter 1
Starsky and Hutch were sitting in the Tomato, as Hutch liked to call it. Of course he only called it that to irritate Starsky. It was a banter that had been going on for years. Hutch actually liked Starsky's car, he just never wanted to admit it to his partner. They were at yet another stake-out. Yesterday, they had gotten an anonymous tip that Collins, a man wanted for fencing stolen goods, was in their area. The tipster stated that Collins was about to buy some diamonds and other jewels that were stolen from Isabella's Jewelry store just last week. The diamonds alone were worth over twenty-five thousand dollars.
When they received the tip, they talked Captain Dobey into allowing them to organize this stake-out. He allowed them to have six other men to make sure every exit was covered.
"Collins was supposed to show up two hours ago, Hutch," Starsky whined as he squirmed to get comfortable, yet again.
"Starsk, will you quit squirming and just relax. You know how these things go."
"Yeah, I know. We get a tip from somebody and get Dobey to allow us to put a whole team together and then we wait, and wait, and wait. And then you know what?"
"We wait some more," Hutch replied as he picked up the binoculars and looked around the area once more.
"Hutch, it's dark out, do you really think you're going to see anything with those?"
Hutch gave his partner a half grin and put them down, "Apparently not."
"You know if he doesn't show we're gonna look like fools, Buddy."
Hutch was silent as he surveyed the area again. They were in the warehouse district and this particular area had been vacated years ago. Usually, the only people that were here were a few winos looking for a place to get out of the rain or cold weather. A few drug deals had also gone down here. Hutch saw nothing.
"Zebra six to Zebra three," their radio squawked.
Frustrated at the situation, Starsky rolled his eyes. He knew that Whitten and Gomez wanted to call it a night. Hutch glanced at Starsky and just shook his head, agreeing that this was a big waste of time. Starsky picked up the radio, "Zebra three go ahead Zebra six."
"Hutch, what do you say we call it a night?"
"Wrong, Gomez. I'm Starsky but yeah it looks like it's a no show. Sorry, fellas. Zebra four and Apple seven did you copy?"
"Zebra four we copied, thanks for the overtime."
"Yeah," Starsky said to Hutch.
"Apple seven we copied and are heading back to our beat."
Starsky sat up straight in his seat and turned the key to start the Torino and started driving, "You wanna go to Huggy's, I'll buy ya a beer?"
"Yeah, let's go."
When Starsky and Hutch walked into The Pits, Huggy noticed they did not look very happy. He knew they were looking forward to catching Collins. They had been looking for him for a long time and this time they were sure they had him. The two detectives sat in their usual booth in the back. Huggy brought them each a beer, "I take it you didn't have a good day. This one's on the house."
"Thanks, Hug," the pair said in unison.
"Would you like some food to help drown your sorrows or are you just going to drink them away tonight?"
"Did anyone ever tell you, you have a way with words, Hug?" Starsky asked as he chuckled slightly picking up his tall glass of beer.
"Mmm huh. You and Blondie here tell me that all the time. What will it be or do you want me to surprise you."
"Surprise me," Starsky said as he leaned against the wall and stretched his feet out.
"I've had enough surprises for one night, Hug. Just bring me a burger, no pickles." Hutch stretched out too.
They talked about who might have given them the tip about Collins as they ate. The caller stated that he would only talk to Starsky or Hutch. It was Hutch that talked to him and the only thing the caller said was that he knew Collins would be there to purchase the stolen jewelry. Hutch tried to find out more but the caller hung up.
"I know things like this have happened in the past but to call out six extra men was…well, it's just embarrassing, Hutch."
"I know it is, but it's not the end of the world either. They'll forget it by next week."
"Dobey won't," Starsky mumbled.
They finished their dinner and Starsky drove Hutch home. They were expected to be in Captain Dobey's office by 0900 the next morning. Starsky told Hutch he would pick him up by 0830 and Hutch told Starsky not to be late again.
Dobey sat quietly as he read the reports given him by the other six members of the team. Hutch was tapping his pencil on the desk as Starsky was plucking away at the keys on the typewriter. "Will you hurry up, Starsk? Before Dobey finishes the other reports, and has to call us in there."
"Captain Dobey has finished reading the other reports and is waiting on both of yours," Captain Dobey said as he stood right behind Hutch.
"Mine's done, Sir," Hutch said, sounding like a school kid that just got someone else in trouble. He picked up his report, turned in his chair and handed it to his captain, who was not looking too impressed.
Starsky was frantically typing the last few words of his report. He had a pencil in his mouth and looked totally focused on finishing the report. When he was finished, he took the pencil out of his mouth, set it on the desk in front of him, took the paper out of the typewriter and handed it Captain Dobey. "All done. Sorry it took so long; my ribbon jammed."
"Both of you, my office now," Dobey said, not sounding too happy.
Starsky and Hutch walked past the captain into his office. Starsky sat in the brown leather chair and Hutch sat on the arm of the same chair.
"Captain, I know what you're going to say," Hutch said.
Before he could get the rest of the words out, Dobey said, in a loud and raspy voice, "How do you know what I'm going to say, Hutchinson? You don't know what I'm going to say, so just sit there and listen up." Captain Dobey noticed a smirk on Starsky's face, "And that goes for you too," he stated as he looked at Starsky.
"Yes, Sir," the duo replied. They sat with their heads lowered, waiting to be chewed out for the botched operation from the previous night.
Dobey sighed. Then he picked up all the reports and dropped them back on his desk. "Starsky, Hutch, these kinds of things happen you both know that. I know you're beating yourselves up over this, but don't. I want you back on your own beat." He noticed his two detectives were still looking upset about the whole ordeal, "I said forget it, so forget it. Now get back out on the streets."
Hutch stood up first followed by Starsky, "Thank you, Captain," they said simultaneously.
About two hours later, Starsky and Hutch received another anonymous tip telling the location of Doug Poindexter. He was at 548 Federal Street. According to the caller, they would find him in room 204.
"Poindexter, isn't he that dealer that Narco's been after?" Hutch asked as he put the tear drop red light on the roof of the car.
"Sure is," Starsky replied as he hit the siren. "That's kind of an upscale place for him to be hiding out in isn't it?"
Starsky and Hutch ran up the stairs and drew their weapons as they reached the room. Starsky was on the right side of the door and Hutch was on the left. Hutch looked at Starsky and Starsky nodded, signaling they were both ready to bust in. Hutch tapped on the door with his gun. There was no answer so he tapped rather loudly then said, "Police open up."
A woman who appeared to be in her late sixties slowly opened the door, leaving the chain in place, "What? Did you say you were the police? I didn't call the police."
Starsky rolled his eyes at Hutch and put his gun back in his holster. He showed the woman his badge as Hutch asked, "Ma'am is everything all right here?" Hutch put his gun back in its holster and sighed.
"Of course everything's all right. Well, except that Mable burned the apple pie we were supposed to have, but other than that everything's fine, why do you ask?"
Starsky flashed her one of his famous all teeth smiles and asked, "Ma'am who's in there with you?"
"Oh, just the girls from the bridge club. We get together once a week. Do you want to come in and check it out for yourselves?"
"No Ma'am, that won't be necessary. We're sorry to have bothered you," Hutch said.
The woman closed the door. Starsky shook his head, "You know, Hutch?"
"Yeah, I know. This isn't funny. I mean last night was bad enough but this now. I tell ya, Buddy, I think someone's trying to humiliate us."
"I'm beginning to think you're right, Partner."
They went back to the station and filled Dobey in on what happened. Getting information like that and it turning out to be nothing once was par-for-the-course for them but two days in a row was not. Something was going on and it wasn't funny. Dobey didn't like his detectives getting the run-around like that either. It was a huge waste of their time and he wondered what else might happen. This could become a very dangerous situation. Dobey laid his elbows on his rather cluttered desk, and said, "I want you two to be careful out there. Whoever is doing this obviously wants to disgrace you and they may not stop there."
"We know that, Captain," Hutch said as he started to pace the floor, "what we don't know is who or why."
"You're detectives aren't you?" His question was met with silence. "Well aren't you," Dobey repeated himself as the volume in his voice rose.
"Yes, Sir," they answered.
"Well, detect then. And another thing, when I ask a question you don't always have to answer at the same time."
"Sorry, Captain," they answered at the same time grinning at each other.
Dobey shook his head. He tried to hide his grin but Starsky and Hutch both saw it and grinned too.
Another two weeks went by and Starsky and Hutch received four more false tips. Huggy always had his ear out for information but he didn't know who was behind trying to ruin their careers. It was getting old and Starsky was fed up with it, so was Hutch. They came to Captain Dobey with an idea. They decided it would be best if they came directly to his office for their assignments for a couple of weeks. They would not answer any radio calls or respond to any more 'hot tips' from anyone except Huggy. Dobey agreed to try it for a little while to see what happened.
It didn't help. Every time Dobey gave them an assignment the suspect had already fled or they arrived to find other officers had been given the details of the assignment and the arrests had all ready been made by the time Starsky and Hutch arrived on scene.
Dobey's friend from the Narco unit asked him if he could spare a couple of detectives. His men were tied up on other cases and he had received word that an eighteen-wheeler would be coming thru loaded with heroin. It was coming from Nevada and would be on the interstate about midnight. Dobey said he would put Starsky and Hutch on it.
Dobey briefed Starsky and Hutch and they agreed to take the assignment. Because the drugs were coming across state lines, the feds would be in on the bust along with the state police. Everyone that would be in on the bust was briefed in Captain Dobey's office.
It was dark and raining as Starsky and Hutch were pulled over on the side of the road waiting for the big rig to roll on by them. They had been given a complete description of the truck they were to look for. Exactly at midnight, the light-blue cab big rig drove past them. Hutch confirmed the license tag with the one they were given and it was a match. Starsky turned on the car's engine and his tires squealed as he sped toward the truck, "Finally, a decent bust." Hutch put the tear drop red flashing light on the roof of the car and Starsky hit the siren. The federal agents and the state police were right behind them.
The truck came to a complete stop in less than a mile, which disappointed Starsky. He liked the thrill of a high-speed chase and wanted it to go on for at least five or ten miles. Starsky stopped the car and pulled his gun and badge out, as Hutch drew his weapon out and went to the passenger side. The driver got out, "Did I do something wrong, officer?"
"Just keep your hands where I can see them," Starsky replied. The feds and state police officers were getting out of their cars and were slowly approaching the big rig.
"Sure, sure," the driver said as he held his hands up. "What are you looking for? Do you want to see my license?"
"That would be good for starters. What's in the back, huh whatcha hauling?" Starsky asked as the driver slowly pulled out his identification and handed it to Starsky.
Hutch went to the passenger side of the truck, opened the door, climbed into the passenger seat and looked in the sleeper compartment to make sure no one else was present. It was always dangerous to stop a big rig or a van. When he was confident that the driver was alone, Hutch walked back to Starsky near the back of the truck.
The driver handed Hutch the key to the back door saying, "I'm empty. I'm headed home." He didn't sound like he had anything to hide and freely told them that he had just hauled some paper products to a warehouse in Reno and was about ten miles from his house when they pulled him over. The federal agents ran a make on the man and it came back negative for any wants or warrants. In fact, he was a family man who had a wife and three kids and he'd never been arrested. He'd been with the same company for ten years and had only gotten one speeding ticket. Starsky apologized to the man and let him go.
"I hope next time your department calls us out, it's for real," one of the state policemen said. He was joking of course, but Starsky and Hutch weren't laughing.
Starsky hit the steering wheel with his hands so hard, Hutch thought his partner was going to break either the steering wheel or his hand. Hutch was just as upset and slammed the door as he got in the car.
The next day, the two of them stormed into Captain Dobey's office. Starsky put his hands on the desk and with an angry look on his face he leaned closer to his superior, "Captain."
"Starsky, I know you're upset. I'm just as furious as you two are. Don't think you're the only ones that are upset by all this," Captain Dobey replied, his voice sounding as irritated as Starsky's.
Hutch was standing next to his partner, "Captain, what are we gonna do. We can't operate like this." He turned around and sat in one of the chairs.
"I don't know, Hutch. Let me think on it awhile. Hey, you and Starsky need to get going if you're going to make that meeting on the docks."
"To be honest, Cap'n, I'm not we should be out on the streets doing anything," Starsky grunted.
"Come on, Starsk, let's go. We can't keep Murray waiting, you know how he gets."
Starsky turned around and the two frustrated detectives left Captain Dobey's office.
Dobey leaned back in his chair, "I sure hope we can get to the bottom of this before one of them gets killed," he said out loud. He leaned forward again and took a blue handkerchief out of the front pocket of his jacket and wiped his forehead.
Starsky and Hutch arrived an hour before the meeting was supposed to take place. With everything that had happened lately, they wanted to see Murray as he pulled up. Three days ago, Starsky and Hutch were in Captain Dobey's office going over some reports when Starsky received a call from Murray, a snitch, who said he would be getting some information about a shipment of drugs that were coming in. Starsky had him up on a misdemeanor petty theft charge and Murray was hoping that Starsky would drop the charges if he gave him the information.
As soon as Starsky turned the Torino onto the what-was-supposed-to-be vacant lot, they were under fire. Hutch ducked and drew his weapon, as the first shot hit the passenger window. "What the hell, Starsk. Where's it coming from?"
Starsky ducked in his seat as far as he could while driving when the second bullet hit the windshield and a third hit the back driver's-side door. "I don't know. I'm getting' us outta here before we get killed," Starsky replied. His voice was full of anger and frustration but the look on his face was filled with determination and concentration. He glanced at Hutch making sure his buddy was all right.
"I'm fine, Starsk. Get us out of here."
He was able to get away without either of them being shot but it was close-too close for comfort.
Hutch picked up the mic and called for backup. He knew help wouldn't be far away with a call of 'officers being shot at' going out.
Starsky drove out of the immediate area, stopped the car. Hutch had his weapon ready and nodded at Starsky for him to go back to where they were moments ago. They would be ready this time. Hutch was crouched in his seat and looking everywhere to see where the shooters were. Starsky kept an eye out for them too while driving around. Other patrol cars came quickly. They searched the area for a couple of hours and found nothing.
Starsky drove to Hutch's so he could pick up his car. The Torino would be out of commission for a while. The boys from the lab would have their turn at her then Starsky would take it to Merle's to get her fixed up.
The boys from the lab didn't take long. They just needed the imbedded bullet from the back door and took a lot of pictures of the damage.
Starsky was able to drive the Torino to Merle's within a couple of hours. Hutch followed him in his car. Starsky knew that Merle would fix her up good as new in just a couple of days. He also knew it would cost him an arm and a leg. When they pulled up, Merle looked at the shattered passenger window and then glanced at Hutch. He shook his head, "Starsky, Hutch, the two of you have more good luck than anyone I've ever seen. Anyone else riddin' in that seat would have been dead by now. Ya'll must be doin' something right, cause the good Lord is watchin' out for the two of you."
Starsky glanced at Hutch and they raised their eyebrows at each other. Merle had a different perspective than they did. They didn't think they were lucky at all; at least they didn't think so until Merle put it that way. He was right; Hutch was less than two inches away from being killed.
They left Merle's and went to Captain Dobey's office. "Cap'n, making us look like fools and trying to ruin our careers is one thing, but trying to kill us is another," Starsky yelled as he slammed his fist on the captain's desk.
"How in the hell did anyone know about that meeting with Murray anyway?" Hutch asked as angry as Starsky was.
"I don't know, but I'm pulling you two off everything else until we find out what's going on and why."
Starsky huffed and turned around to sit on the arm of the chair Hutch was in. When he did, he knocked over the small, silver container that had some pens and pencils in it. Starsky bent down to pick them up and happened to notice a small round microphone stuck to the bottom of the edge of the desk. He reached his hand out to remove it but decided to leave it in place. Whoever put it there didn't know he knew it was there and they might be able to use that to their advantage. He got up slowly and put his finger to his pursed lips. Starsky took a pen out of the container and wrote 'bug' as he said, "I don't think that's a good idea, Cap'n. But Hutch and I do need the rest of the day off." He wrote 'Huggy's 1700' on another piece of paper.
"Yeah, okay. Take the rest of the day off; you've earned it," Dobey replied as he nodded indicating that he would meet them at Huggy's.
Starsky wrote 'leave bug' on the next piece of paper and nodded at his captain. Dobey nodded signifying he understood. Starsky and Hutch walked down the hall and out of the building without saying another word.
Just before they got close to Hutch's car, Starsky tugged at Hutch's jacket for him to stop. Hutch stopped and faced Starsky, "You found a bug in his office?"
"It's under the desk. I don't know if our cars are bugged or not. We can't take any chances. I think it'll be safe to talk in Huggy's upstairs room."
"A bug, that would explain how they knew about the meeting with Murray," Hutch said as he pointed his long index finger at Starsky.
"It would explain about how they knew what cases we worked on for the past month. You know what else it means?"
"Yep. It means it has to be someone in the department."
"Fraid so, Partner. Looks like it's we trust Me and Thee time, again."
"Yeah," Hutch replied as he opened his car door. The horn went off and Starsky cringed.
"You really need to get Merle to fix that, ya know."
"But I like it," Hutch said as he started the car.
"How can you like that noise? It's impossible to like that; no one could possibly like that racket."
Hutch grinned, put the car in drive, "I like it, because you don't."
Captain Dobey walked up the stairs to the private room above Huggy's restaurant. Starsky and Hutch were already waiting for him. When their Captain entered the room Hutch slid a chair next to the small table to make room for him. Dobey sat down, "Starsky, Hutch, I don't know what to say. I had no idea that my office had been bugged."
"It's okay, Cap'n. It's not your fault," Starsky said. He could tell the captain felt somewhat responsible for the situation they were in.
"It was in my office. My office, for crying out loud, of course it's my fault," Dobey yelled as he stood up.
"Now let's not start playing the blaming game. Let's figure out what we're going to do about it," Hutch said in a calm soothing voice.
"After that ambush, I think the two of you should lay low for a while." Captain Dobey sat back down.
"Absolutely not," Starsky and Hutch said concurrently.
Dobey raised his eyebrows at them. He really wanted them off the streets for a while. Starsky and Hutch both gave him a rather defiant stare. Dobey put his elbows on the table, folded his hands and rested his forehead on them, "What am I supposed to do with the two of you?"
"Captain, it won't matter if we lay low or not," Starsky said.
"Don't you see, whoever is after us has gone to great lengths to ruin our careers and now to kill us. They won't stop just because we're off the streets. You have to allow us to do our job. You have to allow us to operate," Hutch stated.
"Cap'n, please let us do what we do best. Our careers are on the line here," Starsky pleaded.
"It's not just your careers that are on the line, Starsky, it's your lives I'm worried about." He was met with silence by the two detectives who were relentless when they wanted something. "Ugg. You're not going to make this easy are you?"
"Nothing about this is easy," Hutch said.
Dobey sat a few minutes looking at his two detectives, "Okay. What do you want me to do?"
"Hutch and I have a plan."
"I was afraid of something like that."
"Ha, ha," Hutch responded.
"Come on, hear us out."
"Okay, lay it out."
There was a knock on the door and Hutch let Huggy in. Huggy was carrying a tray with their dinners on it. The three of them thanked Huggy who said, "Anytime, my friends. Stay here as long as you like."
The plan Starsky and Hutch had come up with was to go to Captain Dobey's office and set up a time and place of where they were going to meet someone. They would arrive hours earlier and see who showed up. They knew they would be setting themselves up and taking a huge risk, but they didn't see any other way of catching whoever it was that was trying to ruin their careers and kill them. Starsky pointed out that if a hit had been taken out on them, Huggy would have heard about it by now. Someone in the department went directly to the men who shot at them at the docks. After a few rounds of going back and forth with Dobey disagreeing on the plan, he finally gave in. Hutch said that they would be in his office at 0800 and for Dobey to just go along with whatever they said. He reluctantly agreed and the meeting ended. They could meet at Huggy's again when they needed too.
After Captain Dobey left, Hutch said he would drop Starsky off at his place. Merle said the Torino would be finished tomorrow and Starsky was looking forward to getting it back. He hated Hutch's car. When Hutch pulled up to Starsky's driveway, they noticed the Torino was sitting there. Starsky smiled, "Merle, you're the man, all right." He looked at Hutch and stated, "I'll pick you up at 0730."
Hutch was glad to see the Torino looking as pristine as ever. He was also happy for his partner that it was fixable. He knew how much Starsky loved that car. "I'll be ready, don't be late." Starsky went into his apartment and Hutch drove away.
They never made it to the meeting in Dobey's office the next morning. About 0100 that night, Hutch received a call saying Starsky had been hurt in some wreck. He didn't know who called or why Starsky would have gone out but Hutch quickly threw on a pair of pants and a shirt. He grabbed his gun that was in its holster hanging on the door of his closet. He put his shoes on as he was headed out of the door. His mind was telling him that something wasn't quite right with call but his heart told him Starsky was in trouble and needed him. His heart won the argument and Hutch ran down to his car and got inside. As soon as he got behind the wheel, Hutch heard it, tick, tick, tick. It was the sound of a timer. About ten seconds later the car exploded with such force that some of the windows in the apartments shattered.
Starsky was in a deep sleep when his phone rang. He noticed the time and groaned. Reaching for the phone he said, "Hutch this better be important." He picked the phone up on the fourth ring, "Hutch, its late whatdaya want at this hour that couldn't wait until morning?"
"Hutchinson's dead," the voice on the other end said and the phone went silent.
Starsky's eyes were wide open and his heart started pounding. He hung up the phone, quickly got dressed and jumped into the Torino and drove to Hutch's as fast as he could, making it in record time. He rounded the corner to find Hutch's car totally engulfed in flames. The fire department was already on the scene trying to extinguish the blaze. It took four firemen to hold Starsky back as he kept yelling for Hutch. Starsky fought them with every bit of strength he had. He finally fell to his knees when all his strength, both physically and mentally was gone. It wasn't long before Captain Dobey showed up and walked Starsky to the Torino.