Bobby rolled over and sat up at the edge of the bed. He put his head in hands. "Oh God. What happened?" He said, rubbing his hands over his face.

"They're calling it murder. Hannah didn't have any details."

"Does Hannah want us to come in?"

"No, Homicide has the case. They called him out of courtesy since we were the last to speak to her. He wanted to give us a 'heads up' in case Homicide comes around today."

"What about the Uniform posted outside her door? Did Hannah mention him?"

"No…. If Bishop's been murdered, do you think someone on your list did it?"

"No, my money is on Detective Mark Murphy. He has the most to lose."

"They should have locked him up." Alex mused. "Never believed I'd think Internal Affairs was too lenient." She sat up and leaned against Bobby's back, hugging him from behind. "I'm sorry Bobby. This is a lousy Christmas." The clock on the nightstand read 4:16.

Bobby turned in Alex's arms and hugged her to him. "We're together." He said, "That's all the Christmas I need."

"Oh, you're a keeper!" She said smiling.

Bobby leaned down and kissed her then lifted his head and said, "I'm glad you feel that way, because I think I'm about to piss you off."

"Oh boy…give it to me straight."

"We have to find Murphy. It may already be too late, but maybe his arrogance will keep him from trying to skip town."

"Damn Bobby! I hate it when you're right. But Homicide is not going to appreciate our assistance in investigating this case."

"Well, no one has to know, yet. I still have Murphy's information in my notes, we start by going to his house, stake it out if we have to. Then, at a decent hour we call Hannah to get permission for a material witness warrant, contact the ADA…."

"It's Christmas day Bobby, you're gonna piss off a lot more people than just me." But Alex knew the fact was they had to go after Murphy as soon as possible, so she got up with Bobby, and they showered and dressed, and drove to the address of Detective Mark Murphy.

Alex and Bobby were outside Mark Murphy's apartment until dawn before the Detective came out, and got into his car.

"That's convenient." Alex said.

"Hope he's not headed for the airport, or something." Bobby replied.

Alex followed Murphy's car at a clandestine distance, out of Brooklyn, north past Queens, and into the Bronx. The neighborhood Murphy stopped in was questionable at best; random multifamily houses interspersed with empty, overgrown lots, boarded up apartment buildings, and abandoned cars. They watched as Murphy pulled up in front of one of the boarded up apartment buildings. They waited a minute before exiting the vehicle and moving cautiously toward the abandoned building.

"I'll go in the front, you cover the back." Bobby suggested.

Alex nodded and they split up. Bobby waited until Alex had disappeared around the side of the building, then he turned the knob on the front door and pulled it slowly open. He winced at the creaking door hinges but continued inside, quietly closing the door behind him. He stood listening for the sounds that would give away Murphy's location as he scanned the dim interior of the first floor. A long hallway with three apartment doors along the left wall ran back to another boarded up door. To his immediate right was the door of apartment 1A, and in front of him was a stairway up to the second floor of four stories in the old Victorian building. A floorboard creaked overhead, then the sound of something like a chair or stool being dragged across the floor.

Bobby went to the back door and let Alex into the building. As she entered he leaned down and whispered, "He's upstairs." She nodded. Then he asked, "Is there a fire escape?"

Alex shook her head. "A rusting heap of iron, crumbling along the side of the building." She whispered back.

"Basement." Bobby said as they passed a door in the support wall of the staircase.

"Yeah, there's a storm cellar entrance in the back yard."

They moved back along the hallway to the base of the stairs. "Wait here, I'll go up and flush him out." Bobby whispered. They pulled their weapons out of their holsters and Bobby slowly ascended to the second floor. He came cautiously around the top of the stairs, glancing down the second floor hallway and noting an open apartment door toward the back. He had heard the sounds in the front apartment though, and moved slowly, weapon at the ready toward apartment 2A. As he came upon it he saw the door was slightly ajar and could hear more movement inside. Watching through the opening of the door Bobby saw a shadow moving past the early morning light of the front windows. He took a deep breath and reached out to push the door open further. To his relief there was no creak. He moved slowly into the apartment, his heart pounding. Bobby hated this part of the job, even while wearing a vest. More cops were killed in pursuit of suspects than at any other time. He moved stealthily along the wall to his left, staying in the shadows and keeping his eyes on the doors into other rooms. He moved around a corner table and stopped to listen. More sounds came from the back of the dining room and Bobby continued quietly in that direction.

Now backed against the molding at the entrance to the dining room Bobby held his weapon up, took another steadying breath and then swung around into the room, gun first, "Freeze Murphy!" He said.

Murphy threw a glass then charged forward. The glass whizzed past Bobby's head and smashed on the molding behind Bobby as he ducked and shifted aside drawing his weapon up just as Murphy collided into him, crashing them both into the back wall. Alex had heard the glass shatter and ran up the stairs. Bobby held his weapon up out of Murphy's reach as the smaller man grappled him for it. Murphy was scrawny in comparison but Bobby was still disadvantaged by the weakened muscles around his gunshot wounds. Bobby brought his right arm down around Murphy's neck into a one armed choke hold and twisted around smashing Murphy back into the side wall. The force of impact winded Murphy but he brought his knee up into Bobby's groin effectively dropping him and as he fell Bobby brought Murphy down with him. When they hit the floor, the gun flew from Bobby's hand and slid across the lacquered hard wood. Murphy struggled, jabbing blind punches up in the general direction of Bobby's head, connecting with his brow.

Bobby turned his face away briefly and ignoring another punch that landed behind his ear, he brought his left arm around and pressed his forearm against Murphy throat and pushed himself up, grasping Murphy's collar with his right hand and pulling Murphy up with him. Murphy wasn't ready to surrender just yet and continued to swing wildly as Bobby tried to contain him without actually hitting him in return, much as he wanted to. As Bobby turned Murphy away from him, and reached for his cuffs, Murphy squirmed out of his coat and ran, this time colliding with Alex. She stumbled back but as she fell she reached out and grabbed for his ankle, causing Murphy to stumble into a 'coffee table' crate in the middle of the room. It was just enough of a delay for Bobby to get hold of him again, grabbing Murphy by the back of collar he pushed him face first into the floorboards, pulled his arms roughly around behind and slapped the cuffs on him at last.

One knee still in Murphy's back, Bobby turned to Alex, "You ok?"

"Yeah." She said as she holstered her own weapon then went and picked up Bobby's.

"Let me have your cuffs." Bobby told Alex reaching out a hand. He dragged a still struggling Murphy to the radiator and used Alex's cuffs to secure him there. Then he stood up and went to Alex.

"Hey you can't do this, you haven't charged me with anything. This is illegal detainment!" Murphy said.

Bobby turned, "Mark Murphy you're under arrest for trespassing…and what ever else we find in here. You have the right to remain silent, so shut up!"

"You ok Bobby?" Alex said as he turned back toward her. She picked bits of glass off his coat then handed him his weapon.

"I'm fine." He replied, holstering the gun. "Lets look around." As Alex checked the bedrooms, Bobby went back to the dining room where he found the chair Murphy had dragged across the floor. Since the chair was no where near the wobbly card table on the other side of the room he decided Murphy was using it to get a boost up, and stepping up on it he looked around and saw on top of the window sill what Murphy was after. Bobby pulled out a pair of latex gloves and put them on before grabbing several Baggies of a tan colored powder, two very used looking syringes, a burnt teaspoon and a length of rubber tubing. Always prepared, Bobby pulled a folded up evidence bag from his coat pocket and put everything he'd found into it, then continued searching.

Hannah paced around the table in the conference room of suite 1100 at 1PP, studying the evidence spread across it's surface: Bishop's silver uniform badge, name tag, a uniform shirt, and an NYPD New York State seal hat device, along with other uniform accessories from the Transit Authority; Bishop's Transit Authority I.D.; a hairbrush with long reddish hairs still tangled in the bristles; news paper clippings of Major Case arrests; disturbing, candid photos of not only Bobby and Alex, but Logan, Nichols, and Falacci; of course the baggies of heroin and associated drug paraphernalia; a yellow legal pad; and a clear plastic trash bag with articles of women's clothing. Alex and Bobby stood back watching him, hoping he was not going to lecture them for tearing him away from his family on Christmas Day. He had already expressed enough displeasure over the phone. He stopped and leaned down to look at the erratic scrawling on the yellow legal pad, trying to make sense of it. Righting himself after a moment, he continued his course around the table before coming to a stop in front of Bobby and Alex.

"Is it that you don't actually celebrate Christmas? Some kind of religious thing maybe?" Hannah asked at last.

Bobby and Alex exchanged looks, then Bobby said, "Captain, we had to move fast; we're lucky he stuck around long enough to try and clear his tracks."

"But none of this proves he killed Bishop, only that he was associated with her, something we already know Goren!"

"Captain," Alex reasoned, "It's just a matter of time until we prove that too."

"Well you better be able to prove it. When it gets out tomorrow that you've picked up Murphy on some flimsy trespassing charge, Chief of D's is going to come down here personally to rip us all a new one, especially with you two involved! I know your motto Goren, 'negative attention is still attention.' Right? It's like you WANT the Chief on our asses as much as possible."

"Sir, I didn't break any rules. I have been by the book since I came back here. You know that. All we need from you is your support with the chief, and I can promise you, you won't be disappointed." Hannah was studying him intensely, so Bobby added, "You know we are right about this, Captain, trust your instincts. I read your record, you're famous for your instincts in case solving."

Maybe it was the flattery of Bobby's last remark, but Hannah relaxed and walked back around to the other side of the table before saying, "Alright, I'll call the ADA later, explain the situation and get you your material witness warrant first thing in the morning. Then we don't have to worry about the trespassing charge keeping Murphy here. But you two need to be here bright and early." They nodded. "And," he glanced at his watch, "You have almost 12 hours of Christmas left, maybe you can take a break from work for the rest of the day even if you're not interested in a traditional holiday celebration."

Hannah left and Bobby and Alex locked up the evidence they had gathered before leaving the office. On the elevator Alex took the liberty of hugging Bobby, "I am so glad we are going to make it to Dad's for dinner."

"Me too." Bobby said, even though on the inside he was extremely nervous about how her family was going to react to their new relationship.

The Christmas Day dinner at Johnny Eames' was going well. Everyone was at the table and plates of food were passed around as chatter wafted through the air. Alex spoke to her sister while Bobby tried to describe his relationship with Alex to her older brother when he asked about Bobby's intentions concerning her. He was literally 'saved' by the bell when the doorbell rang.

Alex's younger brother came back to the table. "Hey, there're a couple detectives at the door. They are asking for you Alex." He said as he took his seat.

Alex looked at Bobby and leaving the dinner table together, they went to the front door. Johnny Eames waited a moment before following them. He arrived at the front steps in time to hear one of the detectives saying, "I'm Detective Harris, and this is Detective Lewis. We just have a couple quick questions. Where were you between 3:10 and 3:45 am last night?"

"Well they were here of course." Johnny Eames said. Surprising Bobby and Alex. "Why doesn't every one come inside? It's Christmas for Pete's sake!"

Ah, well sir…." Detective Harris began. But Johnny didn't wait and stepped inside, holding his door open and taking Alex by the elbow he urged her back into the house. Everyone simply followed and after settling them into the Den, Johnny went to get eggnog.

"So," Detective Lewis said, "At about what time did you leave the hospital?"

"4, 4:30pm maybe." Bobby said glancing at Alex for confirmation.

"And you came here right after that?" Harris asked.

Johnny came back into the room carrying glasses of eggnog on a tray. He set it on the coffee table and handed a glass to each Homicide detective. "Don't worry, it's not spiked, we got kids in the house." He handed a glass to Alex, then Bobby, then took one for himself and sat down.

"Uhm, no, we stopped at "Russo's for a couple slices, then went by my place to pick up the presents for my nieces and nephew." Alex told the detectives.

"So you got here about… six, six thirty? Seven?" Lewis continued.

"You're not seriously considering them as suspects?" Johnny Eames asked sincerely incredulous.

"Sir, we are just following procedure. Along with a…" Harris checked his notes, "Detective Falacci, Detectives Goren and Eames were the last persons to speak to Ms. Bishop."

"You spoke to Detective Falacci already?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, that's how we found you. We had tried your residences first."

Detective Harris stood up, "Actually, I think we are done here, just one more thing, do you have your notes from your conversation with Ms. Bishop?" He asked Bobby.

"No, sorry. But if you come by Major Case tomorrow, I'll be sure and get you copies."

Detective Lewis stood up, "Sorry again about interrupting your Christmas, we'll see you tomorrow then." Johnny stood up too and led the two Homicide detectives from the room.

"I thought your organizer was in the car?" Alex said quietly when the detectives were gone.

"It is, but I don't want that list of NYPD collaborators to get out of our hands before it gets logged into evidence."

"Didn't I see an evidence clerk on that list?" Alex reminded him.

"Yup."

Johnny Eames returned and sat down.

"Dad! What were you thinking!" Alex said putting down the eggnog glass she'd been holding. " 'We were here?' Do you realize how easy it is to disprove that lie?"

"No, but I do know how easy it is for IAB to jump on a fraternization charge!" Bobby and Alex said nothing, and Johnny continued, "You two are together now. If you weren't here for Christmas, where were you?"

"He's got a point Alex. Either we were together or we have no alibi's for the time of Bishop's murder."

Alex looked at Bobby, "You really think we are 'suspects' in this?"

"No, at least not yet, maybe 'persons of interest.' " Bobby assured. "Problem is what's in my notes."

"Something that incriminates us?"

"Mostly me. Maybe you."

"Like what?" She asked her concern rising. Judging by that list, many people besides Bishop would be happy to see them go down.

"Bishop stated very clearly she still intended to kill you, and I wrote that down. Someone might infer we wanted her stopped." Bobby rubbed his eyes. "Man, even in death she plagues us! We have to get the evidence on Murphy quickly."

"So what's the plan?" Johnny asked.

Johnny was interrupted then as one of Alex's nieces ran into the room, "C'mon we want to open the presents Grandpa!" She said, grabbing his hand and trying to pull him to his feet.

"How could I possibly say 'no' to a face like that?" Johnny said pinching his grand daughter's cheek and got up to follow the excited little girl out of the room.

"Yeah, she's right Bobby, lets go celebrate our first Christmas together." And mimicking her niece grabbed Bobby's hand and tried to pull him to his feet.

Bobby smiled and stood up, then pulled Alex toward him for a kiss before pinching her cheek and saying, " 'How could I possibly say 'no' to a face like that?' "