Brown knew that he had to solve the case without bothering Ironside anymore. The one person who might be able to help him was Commissioner Randall. He called his office and was immediately admitted. Before he could ask for support Randall asked him sharply how the investigation was getting along. "As long as Chief Ironside is in the hospital, you are in charge, Sergeant. There have been enough rumors about police brutality. You have to clean your boss. I want results, and soon!"

With a heavy heart Ed went back to Ironside's office. The responsibility seemed to constrict his chest like a clamp. He could hardly breathe.

"Dinner will be ready in five minutes," Mark informed him.
It was chili. Mark didn't know why he had chosen Ironside's favorite dish without him even being there. Perhaps the taste would somehow bring him closer.

"I'm not hungry."

Ed remained standing in front of Ironside's favorite window, staring outside. This usually seemed to help the Chief solve his problems.
On Ed it didn't have this effect.

Mark felt rejected by Ed's refusal of the dinner he had prepared and he was annoyed about his using the Chief's favorite window to contemplate. As soon as Ironside was away he had to play boss. The Chief would have cut his wings. Who did the pompous big head think he was?!
"Want his wheelchair too?" Mark sneered.

"Want my job?" Ed grunted back.

Eve had come back from the bathroom, where she had freshened up her make-up, and heard their quarrel.

"Oh, come on, stop acting like a couple of silly schoolboys, you two! The Chief needs us so badly right now. Can't you think of him for a change, just for a minute?!"

"Yes, we can," Ed answered flatly without turning around. Actually he couldn't think of anything or anyone else, while the Chief was in terrible pain because of him, the Commissioner wanted the case solved and Eve and Mark were mad at him... he was at wit's end.

A nuance in his voice made Eve prick up her ears. She stepped over to him, not wanting to hold a conversation with his back.

"Ed?"

The expression on his face alarmed her. He looked more square-jawed than usually, haggard and drawn. "When was the last time you had a decent meal, Sergeant Brown? And have you slept at all since 'it' happened?"

Brown just shook his head, leaving open what question he was answering. Most probably both.

Eve swallowed.

"Ed, we can't do this without you. But Mark has a point: you don't have to shoulder the entire responsibility. Mark and I are grown-ups too, and the Chief means as much to us as he does to you. Let's do it together. And first of all sit down and eat a bite. Please."

He nodded, not sure if he could control his voice. These were the first friendly words he'd heard in a long time.

He struggled to make them happy and not only push his food around... with modest success, though.

What had happened to the guy who always merrily polished off the rest of her every hotdog, hamburger or sandwich? Eve thought.

Finally he stopped pretending and put his spoon down definitively. "All right, that's where we stand right now..."

He explained to them how he intended to catch John Harry Keswick in that hotel room.

As it turned out, Keswick was not there. Yet his buddy Artie admitted to meeting him in Golden Gate Park at two a.m.

With a team of officers it should be possible to catch him there.

The rookie Sergeant scratched his head. If he wanted to pull the operation through he needed the permission of a superior officer.

Eve's thoughts had never left Ironside. "Go back to the Chief and ask him to OK it. He is our boss. He might be hurt if we pass him over."

Ed sighed inwardly. Ironside had been quite clear this afternoon when he threw him out. But then... he still felt guilty about the pain he had caused his model. He owed him every chance to improve, even if it meant that he might get bawled out again.

It was almost midnight when Brown reached St. Mary's. He was about to enter Ironside's room, but hesitated.

Sister Agatha caught up with him.

"May I disturb him?" he asked, hoping halfway that she would forbid it.

"Why would he be disturbed by you?"

In a few words he explained what had happened earlier today.

"Whatever you did to him – it didn't happen today!"

Gloomily the Sergeant stared at her. She sounded as angry as the Chief himself.

"Nobody can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, not even Mr. Ironside – although he is the strongest person I know. He has been suffering under some kind of mental block since this incident. Most of his pain is psychosomatic. This situation is exactly what he needs his friends for, but where are they?! You let yourself be sent away by a handicapped man like a coward!"

Ed had got about all the censure he could take for one day. Was there anything he had done right these days?

Sister Agatha was versed in reading people's faces. The Sergeant was on the verge of breaking down... Why? Because of the lack of sleep, of food, because of unease or too much pressure? Maybe a little of everything.

'Robert, why have you chosen this boy as your right-hand man?' she thought. 'He looks so much like any other youngster. I won't believe that you picked out an oversensitive, incapable person to help you. You always take the best... Lord, let me help this young man find his inner strength... for his own and above all for Robert's sake!'

Her voice was much softer when she asked, "Why do you think Chief Ironside chose you, Miss Whitfield and Mr. Sanger as his team?"

Ed pondered the question for a moment. "Eve is very smart and sensitive, and she always finds the right words. Mark is intelligent too, and he's strong and has great potential."

"And what about yourself?"

He shrugged his shoulders, clueless. He was used to thinking about his flaws, and trying to work on them, but not about what might be positive about him. "I have no idea."

This was probably a sign of sincerity and modesty, but right now it didn't help much, thought the seasoned sister.

"Then tell me what he expects from you."

"He expects me to think for myself, to take responsibility and to know when to call for help."

"All right, do it then!"

Brown looked confused. "Think, take resp...?" Suddenly an idea formed in his mind.

Sister Agatha observed him quietly. "What are you waiting for, young man?!"

Politely, but with the slightest trace of impatience in his voice, he answered, "Sister, will you just give me a minute to get my plan waterproof, please?"

Very pleased with that undertone she grinned openly. "Now, that's exactly what Mr. Ironside expects from you. You will do just fine. And about choosing you as his right-hand man: you don't think that he would settle for second best, do you?"

That was a strange way of seeing it, he thought, as he entered the Chief's room.
He didn't have much time left. "Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you, but I need your help."

"What took you so long?! I understood that you had something to go on!"

Relieved, Ed explained his slightly changed plan without mentioning the four officers he had called in as backup. Ironside was instantly on fire.

"Get that dragon sister for me. I have to get up!"

Ed found Sister Agatha immediately in the hallway, almost as if she had been waiting for him.
She grumbled at Ironside because nobody in their right mind would want to leave a hospital in the middle of the night – but that was to be expected, he thought.
Then she left to get him his release papers, secretly winking at Ed and letting him help Ironside dress.

It wasn't going to be easy to get Ironside into Ed's Ford but, with time against them, they tried anyway - and managed.
Always sticking to speed limits – although just barely – Ed drove to Golden Gate Park. By radio they advised Eve and Mark to be ready with the paddy wagon.
An unmarked police car with four officers followed them. Eve had instructed them about the operation as Ed had told her.
Nobody knew anything about the small changes of plan though, since Ed had no opportunity to inform them about them. Ed could only hope that they would work...

It was almost two in the morning when everyone was in position.

Right on time Keswick appeared out of the fog.

Ed stepped out of the bush. "Stop, police!" he shouted, pointing his gun at the suspect.

Keswick turned around, only to be faced with Eve, who had walked towards him.

Running towards Eve, he pulled a gun and shot at her, missing her by far.

Ironside, who had been waiting behind a tree with Eve, saw her in danger again.

Pulling his gun and shooting happened in one single movement. Keswick cried out and fell down.
Carefully Ed and Eve closed in on him. He clutched his injured arm and didn't resist at all.

The uniformed policemen worked together like a well-oiled machinery. They arrested Keswick, read him his rights and took him to headquarters.
Walking past Ironside, one of them greeted him, "Well done, Chief, congrats! It's great to have you back."

When Ed came up to the office after finishing the paperwork downstairs, he found Eve writing the report and Mark preparing some more chili – much more.
Ironside was brooding over a map of Golden Gate Park. His look could have killed. "Whose bright idea was it to set me up? You didn't need me. You had Eve perfectly covered with all those policemen!" Not even the fact that Keswick had described Billy as a "trigger-happy" criminal helped him calm down about this scheme.

Ed was far too tired to look for an excuse. "Mine," he admitted, dejected.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! I don't need no flaming rookie to cure me! You incited Eve and Mark, who were unable to say no. If it makes you happy to run this office, so go ahead and try it. I won't stand in your way. I'm leaving!"

"Sir, where are you going? It's not the way you think. Ed didn't bully us into helping. We didn't even know his plan, but we would have been happy to help you get back on track. Please, Chief, hear me out!" Eve tried to appease him.

With difficulty Ironside rolled his wheelchair up the ramp without any help.

Mark stopped stirring around in the big pot. Just when Ironside opened the door he shouted, "Chief, you can't walk out on us with all that chili!"

None of the three dared to look up towards the door when it closed with a bang.

Had Ironside really left them for good?

Yet a moment later Ironside slid back down the ramp.

"Thinking about it – I can't let that chili go to waste. Come on, let's have it for breakfast. Don't just stand there, this is a working day!"

Author's note:

Ok, dear readers and also writers, that's not what the original story was like, I'm sure we agree on that.

Challenge: Who writes another variant? Or one centered around Ed Brown?

Or is there anybody out there who knows the original? If so, please, please let us know!

And thank you, ever-patient Lemonpig, for your much apprechiated help!