A/N: I just wanted to thank the people that have taken time to review my story. Your feedback is always appreciated. I got Winslow's first name from Jayne Leitch's great story 'Cimes against Criminals', so thank you Jayne. One of the main lines for this story came from the Episode 'Time'. My wife pointed out that Armstrong dressed and acted a lot like Fox Mulder. This got me to thinking, with his interaction with Gary, what would a conspiracy theory type of guy think about some of the stuff that went on around Hobson. So, just so you know where this idea came from. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing; I appreciate you time.
POE1911
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ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS – CHAPTER 6
Hobson knew about those bombs. He saved me, and a TV anchor and the Sun-Times; or so everyone believes. Let's face it, the guys we arrested couldn't light a firecracker with a flamethrower, let alone be smart enough to rig up the bombs. So, were they pawns run by someone else, were they rivals to be eliminated, or were they simply two innocent guys that got burned? In all honesty I've got to go with door number one. But who was this guy? In one, and only one statement, one of the bombers says that they were told what to do by a voice that only called, someone that they never met face to face. What's funny is after that one statement; this mysterious button pusher was never mentioned or even hinted at again. When directly questioned, both guys swore that no such man existed. Were they protecting someone, or were they scared of someone? I honestly think that Hobson set these two jokers up so that he could gain some favor with the media. Saving my butt was just a bit of a bonus. That's what makes him so tough to deal with, he's so well insulated and so well liked that people just can't seem to really see what he's doing. But I'm gonna make em see.
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Brigatti and Hobson arrived at the precinct about fifteen minutes after leaving McGinty's. In that time they had figured out how to deal with the inevitable 'how did you happen to be there' question that they knew Armstrong was going to use. It involved revealing a bit of their relationship, but hey, even detectives have lives outside the 'cop shop'. They walked right in and headed for Brigatti's office. Along the way, she was stopped several times to be congratulated and several of the officers even greeted Gary by name. Toni sat behind her desk and was totally professional. Asking all the questions that she should and filling out everything that was necessary. She was just about finished when Armstrong popped his head in.
"What're you suspected of this time Hobson?"
"Nothing Armstrong, I just helped Brigatti with that gunman at the El Station."
"Just the right place right time thing huh; for both of you."
"He was meeting me there for breakfast, and we just followed the screaming."
"Why the El station for breakfast."
"Well we've been thinking about opening McGinty's in the morning and I've heard that the counter guy at this place was top notch, so I wanted to check him out. Toni and I have gone out a time or two and I trust her judgment so I asked her to come along."
Armstrong was a bit taken aback, not by the story; for Hobson it was more coherent than usual, but by the revelation that Toni and Gary were seeing each other. Doing his best to maintain his poker face, he just said "I see" and left.
"Do you think he bought it?"
"Whether he did or not, he's gonna ream me about my choice in breakfast companions. Not to mention what that gossip monger Winslow is gonna say."
"Hey if Logan gives you any trouble, just ask him about the raccoon."
"What raccoon?"
"The one he shot while he was on a stake-out."
Brigatti just looked at him for a second, not believing what she had just heard. "You're serious?"
"Yeah, poor old Rocky didn't stand a chance."
Brigatti dissolved into laughter for a moment or two, then recovering herself said "thanks Hobson, I've been looking for something to shut that little weasels mouth for years, I owe you one."
"Don't mention it, and see you later?"
"Count on it."
With a smile and a nod, Gary got up and left the precinct. After all he still had a couple of errands to deal with.
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"You got a second Brigatti?"
"Sure Armstrong, what's on your mind?"
"You and Hobson, how long has that been going on?"
"We've had a few dates, nothing serious yet."
"Yet"
"We've hinted around at becoming a bit more serious, but right now it's just talk."
"You might want to hold off on that; seriously how much do you know about this guy."
"I know the really important stuff, what kind of person he is, and what he wants out of life, and his past; you know; the foundation of who he is."
"You sure about that?"
"As many times as he's saved your ass, you doubt him?"
"All I'm saying Toni, is go into this with your eyes wide open. Don't refuse to see stuff simply because you like the guy. And don't forget that polygraph test he took, 'deceptive nature' I believe was the words they used."
"I remember, but what are you talking about Paul?"
"I just think it's a bit funny, all the stuff he gets mixed up in. All the different cases where his name just pops up out of the blue. Spooky, I guess is the word; Hobson is spooky."
"Spooky or not, a girl could do a hell of a lot worse than Hobson, let me tell you."
"Hey, speaking of girls doing worse, nice catch on that teenager yesterday. I would have sworn it was suicide; but you saw right through it."
"Thanks, any leads on that, now that we know it wasn't voluntary."
"Yeah, it's a bad story. Rich girl at college gets cut off from daddy's money because of crappy grades, so she looks to 'supplement her income' by turnin tricks on the side. Her boyfriend thought she was two-timing him, and his ego couldn't stand it."
"Yuck, you gonna need anything from me to wrap it up?"
"Just your notes detailing what tipped you off."
"Actually it was Hobson that tipped me off."
"What! how the hell did he get a look at the crime scene photos?"
"I was looking at the case late and he brought dinner over. He just took a look and knew."
"Just like that?"
"Yeah, he looked at the pictures and notice that she didn't have anything to wash the pills down with."
"Like I said, spooky. Just make sure you turn in a full report on it OK."
"Don't I always?"
"Yeah you do Toni, and Brigatti" she turned to look at her partner "keep your eyes open, promise."
"I will Paul, later."
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Gary was running yet again. At times he thought he should try the Chicago Marathon, just to see how far he could go; but he realized that he'd never be able to because of the paper.
A lady of about seventy had lost control of her car when she swerved to miss a dog. There was nothing he could have done about the accident, but when he tried to tell her to stay in the car because of the wires, she kept trying to get out. It took him a minute or two to realize that she couldn't really understand what he was saying; he guessed she was a little deaf. It was almost amusing, she'd try to get out one door, he'd dart in and slam it shut while avoiding the wires and then she'd go to try another door. So he had to race around the car to close that door as well. Then it would start all over again. It was like she refused to learn that she was supposed to stay in the car. Gary had been running around the car, trying to keep her alive for ten minutes when the fire department finally showed up. Breathing a sigh of relief, because the lights and sirens seem to have scared the old lady into staying put; Gary glanced at his watch and realized he had to hustle to prevent the scaffolding from collapsing.
"I'm telling you it's gonna collapse!"
"Buddy, why don't you go bother someone else, I've got this wall to finish."
"Listen mack, if you don't get off that scaffold, you're not gonna be finishing anything except your life; it's gonna collapse and you're gonna die. Now get off the dang thing."
"Who the hell are you, the scaffold police, just buzz off."
"No, I'm not the scaffold police, but I know a bad job when I see it."
Now the painter looked angry; "You think you could do a better job Picasso?"
"No, you bone-head; I was talking about the joint work on this" waving at the scaffold. But Gary was talking to air because the painter had disappeared inside the building. But from the sounds Gary could hear, the man was coming down to discuss his short career as an art critic.
Just as the door opened to reveal the irate painter, Gary heard a groan followed by the shriek of metal as the platform with all the paint on it let go. With a yell, Gary knocked the man back into the building and was trying to close the door when the paint hit the pavement.
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Brigatti walked into McGinty's at about 4:30. She waved at Crumb, but headed over to see Marissa. She was sitting at Gary's table, talking to someone with their back to Toni. When she was half way there she realized she recognized the hair, Marissa was talking to Meredith. They were laughing and chatting with one of those fried onion things on the table between them.
"Am I one too many" she asked.
"Not at all Detective, Marissa answered "please sit down."
"Thanks; so after the worry, how was the rest of your day?"
"Not bad, a little problem with one of our suppliers. The jerk figures that either because I'm a woman or because I'm blind, I can't tell good beef from bad. He's trying to pass off dog food as grade A. We were getting pretty loud too, then Crumb shows up and suddenly the guy's all sweetness and light. The schmuck didn't apologize though. I need to talk to Gary about switching butchers. How about you Toni?"
"Not bad, putting up with a lot of damn reporters, including your friend Molly Green." She gave Meredith a hard glare.
"Well what do you expect; you're a hero, at least for now."
"Yeah well, she kept asking about Hobson, I just passed him off as an anonymous do-gooder bystander. I don't think she was buying."
"No, Molly wont, she and Miguel Diaz are really interested in Gary, not as bad as Scanlon was, but interested."
"You think they'd hurt him" Marissa asked.
"No, I think that mostly they're just curious."
"So other than stopping mass murder; anything interesting today detective?"
"One case that Hobson helped me with, but not directly". She proceeded to tell the other two about the murdered girl. "Bye the way, Meredith, you'll probably be getting a call from a detective Armstrong about that mugging that you witnessed."
"Really, why?"
"Because Armstrong really has an obsession with Hobson, and he dissects anything he's involved in."
"Does Gary know that?"
"He knows Armstrong is interested, but I don't know if he realizes how far Armstrong is taking this. Don't worry" she said to the other two women "I'll keep an eye on him. That's my job now, isn't it?"
"Actually, I suppose it's all our jobs, making sure Gary is free to do what he needs to do."
"Very true Marissa, hmmmm, maybe we need t-shirts or something 'Hobson's Angels'; how does that grab you."
All three women were silent for a second and then all dissolved into laughter.
In the back of her mind Brigatti was reveling in how good it felt to just laugh and be with friends, something she hadn't enjoyed for quite some time. Laugh now, analyze later.
After a moment they realized that they were the only ones making noise in the whole bar. They didn't think that they had been that loud or unusual, so they looked up to see what had captured everyone's attention. Toni and Meredith saw everyone looking at the front door, and Marissa caught the strong smell of paint suddenly. At first Brigatti thought it was some performance artist or someone like that. It was obviously a person, but he was covered in paint. And not just a single color; no, this guy was tricked out like a LSD hallucination. Meredith was the first one to figure out who it was.
"Gary, what the hell happened to you?"
"What's going on" Marissa asked.
"Hobson's covered in psychedelic paint" Brigatti answered. Actually she had to raise her voice because once the shock wore off the entire bar erupted with laughter.
Meredith was closest, so he handed her an envelope and told her "this is for Marissa, tell her to let me know if it's not enough".
Gary headed up to the loft to wash off the paint and Marissa was going to find one of the bus-boys to make sure the paint was cleaned from both the door and the floor. Meredith walked back over to Brigatti, looking at the envelope in her hand. "What do you suppose this is?"
"Money, Marissa asked him to make a bet this morning, I don't know why though."
"He said to have her tell him if it wasn't enough."
"If what isn't enough" Marissa asked, coming back to the table.
"This" Meredith said, handing over the envelope.
Marissa opened it, feeling the sheaf of bills, then she handed it back to Meredith, "how much is there?"
Meredith's eyes got wide "oh, about ten grand, give or take a couple of bucks."
Marissa got a strange little smile on her face "you don't do anything by halves, do you Gary" she murmured.
"Brigatti looked a bit alarmed "is this what you meant when you said you wanted Hobson to place a bet this morning, ten grand?"
"Sort of, I just didn't know he'd break the bank like this."
"So what do you need it for, crooked inspector or something like that?"
"No Toni, nothing like that" she swiveled her head listening to see who was nearby, "lets go up to the loft, I'll fill you in there and then we can find out what happened to Gary."
The three ladies walked over to the stairs to the loft when one of the waitresses asked "do you need anything up there Ms. Clark?"
"No thank you Melanie, we're just going to make sure Mr. Hobson is OK."
"OK then, but just ask if you need anything; and don't tell him I said this, but when Mr. Hobson walked in the door, I thought it was about the funniest thing I've ever seen."
"Yeah, that's Hobson, always making an entrance" Brigatti quipped.
The other three women joined her laughter, then they proceeded upstairs while Melanie went back to work.
They went into the loft, they could hear the shower running in the background; "OK Marissa, what's the money for" Meredith asked.
"It's to hire a private investigator to see what Melanie's real story is."
"You mean the waitress we just talked to?"
"Yes her, I checked her application and some of the information is bogus, but it didn't feel like she was hiding something so much as she was running from something. Anyway, I hired her, she's a great waitress; but I want to find out the truth about her. Money for a PI isn't in the budget, so I asked Gary to place a bet to finance it."
"You should have just asked, Meredith and I could have done some checking for you, saved you some money."
"Thanks, both of you, feel free to check her out, but I'm still going to hire someone, just for my piece of mind."
"Suit yourself; hey did Crumb recommend someone good?"
"I haven't mentioned it to him because I'm afraid he'll feel slighted because I didn't ask him."
"Come on Marissa, you know Crumb's not like that, ask him; he'll tell you who's worth hiring and who's a waste of your money."
"You think he wouldn't mind?"
"I'm sure of it."
"Alright then, I'll ask Crumb. Now, tell me what Gary looked like when he came through the door."
Meredith, who had gotten a better look than Toni described his appearance to both the other women. They then speculated on what would have caused such a thing to happen, they laughed a lot, with their ideas and scenarios getting sillier and sillier as the conversation ran on.
When he finally emerged from the bathroom, Gary was confronted by all three women wondering what the story was. He reluctantly proceeded to tell them about the stubborn painter and trying to close the door in time. It didn't help that they actually giggled at most of the story, which dragged it out a lot longer than he wanted to spend on it. When he finally finished, and the three friends straightened themselves out, he asked Marissa if that was enough for the PI.
"Of course Gary, one quarter of this would have been more than enough."
"So, what are you gonna do with the extra?"
"I'll just put what's left over into the offering plate at church, or buy myself a Porsche, I haven't decided yet."
Everyone laughed at both her dry delivery, and the nonplussed expression on Gary's face. He hadn't seen Marissa this relaxed around people in a long time.
The conversation was winding down a bit when Toni turned to Meredith "not to put a damper on the mood, but I struck out with the names you gave me."
"That's OK, cause I didn't."
"Really, so who's trying to kill you?"
"The Government, big surprise there, huh."
"You mean the US Government wants you dead. That's not real reassuring."
"Well, I've been working on a story about the huge number of 'Indian Casino's' that have been popping up. You'd think that with all this revenue the reservations would be doing better, but they're not. I was looking at how these things get approved, and I believe that I found a connection inside the Department of the Interior."
"Who're they, and why are they so important?"
"Well among other things, they contain the 'Bureau of Indian Affairs'; they're the ones who determine if a tribe is legitimate and what land rights they're entitled to. So if they say you're an Indian Tribe, then you can apply for a casino license. Needless to say there's big money in these things, so the Mob has gone recruiting, finding dubious 'Tribes' and getting them to apply for licenses. The weak link in the chain is the DI people, they're greedy and stupid, and don't cover their tracks very well. In about two weeks I was gonna go to press with my story. That would serve to cut about 750 million dollars from what the Mob expected to bring in this year alone, so I can see where they'd be a bit put out. My snitch said that a couple of DI employees warned him to stay away from me, so it all fits. The Mob pressures them, and they work to shut me up."
"So, if the Feds don't get ya, then the Mob comes gunning for your butt; you need to pick your enemies better" Brigatti observed.
"If the story came out, would that get the heat off of you" Marissa asked.
"Eventually yeah, but it'd be like living in a shooting gallery till then."
"So the choices are do nothing and hope they don't find you for the rest of your life, or go to press and go back to your own life, if you survive that long."
"Yeah Toni, those are my choices."
"Sounds like a no brainer to me" Gary said "no one can hide forever."
"True, it's just that I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to take that chances that I'll have to take."
"You are, and we'll help; anything we can do, you just say the word."
Meredith was near to tears, she had forgotten what having friends was like, and the realization that every word that was said was meant, just brought home how empty her life had been these past few years.
"Thank you all, I can't believe you all would risk that much for someone you barely know."
"We wouldn't" said Brigatti "but we'd risk a hell of a lot more than this for a friend."