Sergeant Norm Haseejian pulled the form out of the typewriter, laid it on the desk and leaned over it, tapping his pen nervously against the blotter as he proofread the report. His eyes kept darting to the black phone on the corner of the desk, his attention so divided he had to start again at the top of the page.

He looked up at the wall clock. 2:53. He sighed and started to read the report again.

# # # # #

Inspector Lee Lessing, notebook and pen in hand, his collar pulled up against the biting wind blowing in off the ocean, was standing on the trail near Lands End, interviewing an older couple out for a hike who had stumbled across a badly decomposed body.

He, Inspector Bill Tanner and several members of the forensics team had had to slog their way up from the parking lot at the Legion of Honor. A preliminary examination of the body and surrounding area showed indications that this might not be a single body dump, and preparations were being made to widen the search area. It was going to be a long night.

As surreptitiously as possible, pretending to be looking around the wooded area, Lessing shot his cuff and glanced at his watch. 2:55. He cleared his throat and Tanner looked over from his place near the body. Tanner grimaced, raising his right hand to his head, thumb and little finger extended in the universal sign for 'phone call'. Lessing shrugged and shook his head.

They were a long way from a telephone.

# # # # #

Associate Professor Steve Keller was in the well of the lecture hall, midway through his talk on Quantitative Research Methods. It was one of his favourite courses and his enthusiasm for the subject was usually contagious. But his heart wasn't in it today; his eyes kept drifting to the large clock on the wall behind him. 2:59.

Trying to get his mind back on the various techniques used in data collection and interpretation, he turned to face his students once again, his volume rising slightly as he focused on the task at hand.

# # # # #

Sergeant Dan Healey and Inspector Dan Robbins were sitting patiently in the large leather guest chairs in the Assistant District Attorney's spacious wood-paneled office. They had spent the last two and a half hours laying out their argument for re-opening the manslaughter case against Mike Stone.

They had painstakingly taken the ADA through all the new information the six members of 'Mike's Team' had compiled in the past couple of months, from the unearthing of the informers at San Quentin, through the discovery of Gordon Mercer's pseudonym, phony I.D.'s and flights to and from Maryland, Charlie and Zelda, the apartment, the rental car, the doctor and hospital visits - everything up to the night of Leonard Cord's murder.

It was an impressive presentation, and both detectives felt good about the effort they had all put in and the results they had achieved.

Now it was up to the discretion of the ADA as to whether he would recommend a re-opening of the case or not.

O'Brien's eyes were flitting over the myriad of papers, forms and reports on his desk, his hands steepled in front of his face. Other than a slight frown, he was expressionless. After several long seconds, he looked up at the two detectives and a barely visible smile played across his lips.

"This is very impressive, gentlemen. There's a lot of new material here… a lot." His eyebrows rose and his smile got a little wider. "I'm going to need some time, I'm afraid, to look over all this again before I can give you my answer."

Dan flashed a concerned look at Healey who, with a wry smile, nodded. "That's completely understandable, Ger. We kinda hit you with a lot all at once." He glanced at Dan. "But, ah, just so I'm reading you right," he continued slowly and carefully, "you're telling us that you think we might have enough here to re-open the case…?"

O'Brien looked at him and smiled. "Don't put words in my mouth, Dan, I didn't say that. I said I'd look over it all again and I'll let you know." He shook his head and chuckled. "You guys… I tell you…" He looked at Dan Robbins and sobered. "Look, I know this is for Mike, I know how much you want to believe he didn't do it… but I have to go with the evidence. I'll go through all this again," he gestured at the paperwork on his desk, "and I'll get in touch with you, Dan," he indicated Healey, "as soon as I can and let you know what I decide. How does that sound?"

The detectives looked at each other and nodded. Smiling, Dan Robbins turned back to O'Brien and extended his right hand as he stood. "That's all we can ask for, Gerry. Thanks a lot," he said warmly, pumping the lawyer's hand.

"You're welcome." O'Brien gripped Dan's hand tightly. "Hey, I consider Mike a friend as well as a colleague, and I'd like to see him home too."

Swallowing heavily, Dan nodded. "Thanks."

"Dan," O'Brien acknowledged as he shook Healey's hand, "I'll call you as soon as I've made my decision, but don't expect to hear from me till at least tomorrow afternoon. I have a pretty full plate right now."

"You got it. Thanks, Ger."

# # # # #

"Okay, well, I guess that's as best as we could hope for," Steve said, trying to keep the disappointment from his voice. "So, another day of hanging from tenterhooks, hunh? Great…"

Dan chuckled. "Yeah. But he seemed… I don't know… I don't want to say hopeful because it wasn't that so much… he just seemed open to having his mind changed, I guess. I mean, he didn't shut the door on us, so that's something?"

"Did he say anything about the missing four hours or Mike's broken hand?"

"Hmmh, no, he didn't. I found that a little disconcerting 'cause I was sure he was going to catch that, but he didn't say a word. And Dan and I didn't bring it up of course, but Gerry's no dummy, I'm sure he caught it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"Yeah," Steve said softly; he knew they were both contemplating what that could mean.

"Anyway," Dan broke the brief silence, "it's out of our hands now. I think Dan did a superb job of presenting everything – you know, he's really good at that."

"He is the best," Steve agreed, knowing that was why he recommended that the former Homicide sergeant accompany Dan to the meeting. "Oh, ah, almost forgot – I got a call from Jeannie earlier today – she said she couldn't get ahold of you and I didn't tell her why. Anyway, she's coming home for Christmas after all; she's gonna get here on Friday."

"That's great. I was hoping she'd come down."

"Yeah, anyway, she, ah, she says she wants to do as normal a Christmas as possible, so she's gonna get a turkey and do Christmas dinner and the tree and everything. She wants us over on Saturday night to help put up the tree and then on Christmas Day for dinner. That okay with you?"

Dan chuckled almost sadly. "Well, it's sure not going be the same without Mike but of course I'll be there." He paused. "Did, ah, did she say anything about going down to Tehachapi to see him?"

"Ah, no, no, she didn't. I have a feeling that's something we're going to talk about on Saturday, so be prepared. Anyway, she said she'd give you a call and talk to you all about it – figure out what veggie dinner you want this year while we gnaw turkey meat off the bones," he chuckled sadistically, "just so you know. She might call you tonight."

"Okay, thanks. And thanks for the visual, I appreciate that." They shared the laugh.

"Listen, ah, I'm finished with classes and stuff now till the New Year, but I have some work to do here in the office the next couple of days. But if you get a call from Gerry tomorrow saying he wants to see you and Dan, can you give me a call? I'd kinda like to be there when he tells us what his decision is."

"Yeah, sure, of course, that'd be great. Yeah, I have a feeling he's not going to tell just one of us over the phone. I think he's pretty tuned in to the fact that there were the six of us working on this, so I'll let you know for sure."

"Great, thanks. Appreciate it."

"No problem. Have a good night and I'll probably see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you too."

# # # # #

He was so deeply engrossed in the essay before him that he didn't even hear the first ring from the black phone on the corner of his desk. Not taking his eyes from the page he was reading, he picked up the handset and brought it to his ear.

"Keller," he said automatically.

"Steve, it's Dan."

His head came up quickly, the essay forgotten. "Yeah, Dan, what's up?"

"We just got the call from O'Brien. We're to meet him in his office at four. Can you be there?"

Steve looked down at his wristwatch. 2:27.

"Yeah, no problem. I'll be there."

"Great."

"Did, ah, did you get an inkling of which way he was leaning?"

"No, sorry, it was his secretary. I guess we'll find out when we get there."

"Yeah, okay, see you then."

He cradled the handset and sat there without moving for several long seconds. Then he was up, snagging his jacket from the back of the leather chair and grabbing his overcoat from the rack on the way out the door.

# # # # #

The only member of 'Mike's Team' unable to make it to the Assistant District Attorney's office was Lessing, who was heading up the investigation into the potential serial killer who had left three bodies up on Lands End. Steve was the last to arrive but well before the appointed time.

He had just taken off his overcoat when the door to the inner office opened and O'Brien beckoned them in. There were only three guest chairs so the younger members of the group, Steve and Dan, stood.

After perfunctory salutations, O'Brien crossed around to his chair and sat. The file Dan and Healey had left with him was sitting in the center of the desk.

O'Brien's smile revealed nothing as he put both hands on the file and glanced at all his guests before his eyes settled on Dan Healey. "I know you gentlemen are anxious to know my decision but before I get to that, let me congratulate you on a very thorough and detailed investigation into Gordon Mercer and his connection to Leonard Cord. It's truly amazing the amount of work that's gone into this case… and, if your goal is to convince me that Gordon Mercer was instrumental in the murder of Leonard Cord, you have succeeded. There's no doubt about that."

There was an audible release of deeply held breaths. The five members of the 'Team' glanced at each other in relief.

O'Brien frowned, holding up both hands. "Uh, fellas, I don't want to burst your bubble here but, ah…" Five pairs of suddenly very concerned eyes snapped in his direction. The attorney took a deep breath before he continued. "Listen, if your goal was to implicate Gordon Mercer, you did that, in spades and then some. But if your goal was to get Mike released," he gestured at the file and shook his head slightly, "you don't have enough here. I'm sorry, fellas."

The looks they exchanged this time were frowns of frustration and disappointment. Healey leaned forward. "What, exactly, do you mean, Gerry?"

The ADA took a deep breath. "You've made the case for both Mercer and Mike being in the warehouse with Cord during the timeframe when he was killed, that's a given. There's no doubt about that. But there are no details here about what happened during that time. Did Mike beat him to death, like he said he did? Was it Mercer? Or did they both do it? And if, like I know you hope, Mercer did it and Mike is covering for him, then how do you explain Mike's broken knuckle? An injury, I know from the hospital report, that can only occur when the hand is slammed against something as hard or harder than itself, like a jaw…"

"Or a wall…" Haseejian offered quietly. Everyone looked at him; Healey gestured towards him as he looked back at O'Brien with his eyebrows raised.

"Then if he hit a wall, find the wall. Find whatever else he hit that wasn't Leonard Cord, because right now that's what you need to do if you want me to take this to a judge and not be laughed out of court." O'Brien looked at them all apologetically. "Until then, gentlemen, I'm afraid Mike Stone will be staying where he is."