The building left something to be desired, a window that wasn't broken perhaps, or a lick of paint, but it was exactly the sort of place Hutch expected to find the snitch.
Starsky had given him all the details on Fidgeting Phil just before Hutch had to leave the hospital, but he left out one detail and that was what Hutch was suppose to do with Alan.
Upon returning to the pits Hutch had found his 'temporary partner' still sat at the bar talking to Huggy. The guy had almost hit the roof when Hutch crept up behind him and patted his shoulder.
"So, what is a s-snitch exactly?" Alan's question tore Hutch's eyes from the building.
"Don't you have them in England?" Hutch asked back.
"We have informants" Hutch nodded.
"Well snitches are basically the same thing. They give us information, but some can be a pain to have to deal with, which brings me to this guy" Hutch turned to he was facing Alan straight on. "I need to go in alone. I want you to take the car and hide it a few blocks from here, there should be an old meat factory where you can park. Judging by what I've heard about this guy he's very paranoid" Alan smiled at the term, but nodded.
"How l-long will you be?"
Hutch handed Alan the keys. "That depends on him" He gestured to the car with his head and watched Alan get in behind the wheel. It took a couple of attempts until Alan got the engine running and once he did the car lurched forwards so suddenly that Hutch almost fell over with surprise.
"Take it easy" He yelled, but the car was already screeching down the street. Hutch shivered at the thought of his car in the hands of such a bad driver and for a moment he wondered if Alan even had a driver's license, but he put all that side and turned to the building.
The inside was not much better than the outside, in fact it was worse. There was a horrible stench that reminded him of crime scenes where dead bodies were found. The walls were painted puke green and were chipped in more places than Hutch could count.
Making his way down the corridor Hutch kept his eyes on ever door. Very few of them had numbers on, but Starsky had assured Hutch that Phil's had a sign on his saying. "The milkman never stops here; don't ever ask me for milk"
The found the sign at the end of the first floor corridor. It was written in big black letters and had a few stains that looked like old dried tobacco.
Hutch knocked once and leaned against the wall beside the door. He could hear movement behind the door, but it didn't open. He knocked again a little louder.
"Phil" He called. There were more sounds, then a quiet voice saying words Hutch couldn't make out. "I need to talk to you" There was a long moment of silence when not a sound was heard. The thought that maybe Phil had climbed out the window popped into Hutch's mind, but it vanished when the door opened just a crack. A set of brown eyes stared out at Hutch, who smiled ever so slightly.
"Yes, what?" A squeaky voice asked.
"I'm Ken Hutchinson. I need to speak with you" The door opened a little more.
"Ken, Ken….Hutchinson, a cop" He slammed the door. "No cops' today thank you" Hutch knocked on the door again.
"You know my partner, Dave Starsky" The door opened slightly again.
"Starsky, David, yes I know him"
"He said you could help me. I'm alone" There was a pause. He could hear Phil breathing heavily and muttering very quietly. The door opened far enough for Phil to poke his head round. He was a short man, with shaggy black hair and squinty little eyes. He reminded Hutch of most of the snitch he and Starsky knew, right down to the nervousness.
"You want information, you come to me for that, what else?" He spoke fast and his voice reminded Hutch a little of Yoda from the Star Wars movies.
"Yes, are you willing to help me?"
Phil looked up and down the corridor and seemed satisfied that there was no one else around. He grabbed Hutch's arm and pulled him inside, slamming the door instantly.
"You partner, Starsky, sent you here" He said while walking over to the window and peering out. "He was shot, yes, badly"
Hutch nodded, but he refused to say anything on the matter, it was not what he was here for.
"I need some information on a Michael Briggs," He said bluntly. Phil stayed by the window, he's eyes still staring out through the glass.
"Thirty eight, short black hair, bird tattoo on his neck, green eyes, very deep voice" Hutch didn't need to check the photo to know that Phil had described the man to a T.
"I'm guessing you know him," Hutch said. Phil jumped away from the window and made his way over to his desk, where huge piles of papers were taking over the surface.
"Not know him, seen him, he lives at Sea View Point" He picked up a piece of paper, but threw it on the floor.
"He used to live at Sea View Point. Now he's taken up residency at the local morgue" Phil didn't look up from his desk.
"He's either dead or a lonely mortician" He burst out laughing at his own pathetic joke, but silenced himself once he had found what he'd been looking for. "You desire information on Michael Briggs" He griped the sheet of paper he held so tightly he almost ripped it.
"Yes" Hutch replied simply.
"I can give you it, but…but you can't use…you can tell…" He paced the room, still holding the paper. "Your partner, he knows, you don't, he knows. You can't tell, you can't be told, you can't find out" His anxiety seemed to escalate with every length he paced and Hutch was at a loss for what to do.
"Look, um…I don't really know anything about you and I don't need to know anything. All I'm interested in is the information on Michael Briggs" He spoke calmly in an attempt to put Phil at ease and it half worked. Phil slowed his pacing, but he was still breathing heavily.
"You don't want anything else?" He asked timidly. Hutch shook his head and smiled in an attempt to reassure Phil. It appeared to work, the man handed the paper to Hutch.
"A list of all the people I've seen enter his house. He gets a lot of them, yes" Hutch scanned over the list, one of the names jumped out at him and poked at his memory.
'Jane Thomas' A sweet young girl who often ran into the law when she needed the money to feed her heroin addiction.
"I have pictures too" Phil said. He went over to his desk and fiddled around a bit more before producing an envelope.
"These people have visited him since he moved in. Busy, busy man" Hutch took the envelope and took out the pictures. He flicked through them, only recognizing Jane, but it was a start.
"Thank you Phil" Hutch dug in his pocket for a few notes which he handed to Phil. The man took them a little hesitantly, but smiled at them.
"You nice" He put the money in his pocket and fiddled with his fingers nervously. "But you leave now, yes?"
Taking his eyes off the pictures Hutch nodded.
"Yes, thank you again"
After an exhausting half hour of trying to explain to Alan why they weren't arresting Phil for stalking people Hutch drove back to the station to fill Dobey in on the case, but first he had to make a phone call.
"Did I wake you?" Hutched asked into the phone while fiddling with the blue llama that now sat on his desk.
"Nah" Starsky said sleepily. Hutch bit his lip. He knew that tone, he had woken Starsky up, but his partner just didn't want him to feel guilty. "What's up?"
"Just thought you'd like to hear how it went with Phil"
"Was he of help?" Starsky asked, no longer sounding the least bit tired.
"Yeah, got a few names of people who see Michael Briggs including Jane Thomas, you remember her right"
"Sure, nice blond, a little ditzy" Hutch nodded.
"That's the one, well it appears she's seen him twice since he moved in and according to these pictures she always looks very jittery. I'm going to track her down later today"
"You think this guy's a drug dealer?' Starsky asked. Hutch paused, while he mulled the idea over.
"It's possible, but we never found any drugs at his house apart from the usual medical cabinet stuff"
"Maybe that's what he was killed for. Some strung out kid looking for a fix, but couldn't pay for it, killed this Michael Briggs and took the drugs" Hutch smiled. It was good to hear the enthusiasm back in his partner's voice.
"That's a possible scenario, one I plan to pursue"
There was the sound of another voice on the line, but Hutch couldn't quite make out the words. He could tell by the tone that it was Linda.
"Well speaking for drugs, it's the happy time of the day when I get mine" The enthusiasm was gone from his voice, but Hutch smiled all the same.
"Have a nice trip" Hutch said. That earned him a slight chuckle, but not much more.
"Let me know how things turn out"
"I shall, take it easy" He hung up the phone with a heavy heart. He knew the drugs they pumped into Starsky were necessary for his recovery, but it was Starsky's feelings toward them that effected Hutch more strongly. He picked the llama up and stroked its soft fur.
"You ready to see a junky, Deli" He asked. The plush gave no reply, but Hutch nodded as if it had.
"Good"
TBC