Briscoe and Green arrived at the hotel at around 8am. Well, it wasn't a hotel really. Not anymore anyway. It was the ground floor of a building that had once been a hotel. It was going to be demolished, evidently, or heavily renovated. All of the windows and doors were broken out. The big room which had originally been the lobby was empty except for a wooden bench along one wall, and a few folding chairs. A pile of discarded clothing - rags really - lay near the opposite wall. It looked as if a makeshift fire had been burned at one time in the middle of the room. Apparently the building served as shelter for about a dozen homeless men, most of whom were gathered in a group near the bench. Several uniformed officers were talking with the men when Lennie and Ed arrived.

"Detectives," one of the uniforms called out to them, "over here." The officer led them to a door in the back of the room - maybe it used to be an office? In the middle of the floor lay a large man in a pool of blood.

"What have we got?" Lennie asked as he bent over the body.

"White male, probably about 50 years old. Multiple stab wounds to the stomach and abdomen. ME is on the way. We're guessing he's been dead for at least a few hours. Probably sometime in the middle of the night."

"Can we get some more light in here?" asked Green. The room was windowless.

"We've got some on the way."

"I don't suppose we'd be lucky enough to have any witnesses?" Lennie asked.

"We're holding the bums who were sleeping in the lobby. We thought you'd want to get statements. But, no, so far nobody seems to know anything about what happened."

"Who found him?" Ed asked.

The officer led Briscoe and Green back out into the lobby. "See the guy sitting at the end of the bench with the knit cap? That's the guy. Says he was on his way out toward the back alley when he passed the open door and saw the vic lying there. Says he determined that the guy was already dead, so he went out in the streets and called 911 from a payphone."

"Okay. Thanks," said Green as he and Lennie made their way toward the man.

The man appeared to be lost in thought, sitting with his elbows on his knees and rubbing his hands together.

"Sir, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" said Green.

The man looked up and his eyes crinkled in a smile. Ed's jaw dropped and Lennie stood speechless. They were looking into the face of Jack McCoy.

There was no doubt. Sure, he looked different. He appeared to have lost some weight. It looked as if it had been at least two weeks since he'd shaved. His jeans were dirty. His left tennis shoe had more duct tape than rubber on it. But the wild gray hair that shot out from around the wool cap, the same green parka that he had worn in his days at Hogan Place, and the unmistakable eyes, alive with apparent enjoyment of the bizarre situation, marked him as none other than Jack McCoy.

Ed looked at Lennie for help. Lennie's expression didn't change. He really had no idea what to say. Even in the middle of this strange situation, he realized how unusual it was for him to be without a wiseass comment. Time to fix that.

"Counselor? I had you figured for more the five star hotel type."

"They were all booked up. How are you, Lennie?" Jack stood and extended a hand. Lennie shook it hesitantly. Jack turned toward Ed with an outstretched hand.

Ed shook it but couldn't command his jaw to close. He knew he must look ridiculous. Somebody had to say something.

"We didn't expect to find you here," Ed stammered.

"I didn't expect to find a body when I woke up this morning," Jack replied.

Jack's eyes were still smiling. Lennie realized that Jack was enjoying their discomfort. Bastard. Time to get back to business.

"Tell us what happened," Lennie said.

"I was sleeping over here." Jack pointed to a bare corner of the room. Several of these guys were asleep here too. I got up around sunrise - sorry I don't know the time - and headed toward the alley. There's a door in back. I'm not even sure why I glanced into that room. But I saw a foot. I went in. There was no one else around. I checked his pulse, although I was pretty sure he was already dead. There was a lot of blood under him. Once I was sure I decided to go on out the back way to find a uniform. I couldn't find one right away so I called 911 from the payphone, then went back inside to wait. No one else woke up during the time I waited for the officers to arrive. They blocked off the exits so I assume no one has come or gone from the scene, unless they did so during the time I was outside making the call."

"Do you know the guy?" Ed asked.

"He goes by Tiny. I have no idea what his last name is. I only knew him peripherally."

"Do you know if he had any enemies? Anyone around here he didn't get along with?" asked Lennie.

"In my experience, the guy was a real teddy bear. Big and scary looking, but I never heard him utter a harsh word. If anything, he seemed afraid of everybody. Thought aliens were after him or something. Kept to himself."

"Drugs?" asked Ed.

"Not here. These guys are strictly wino's."

Ed and Lennie tried to ignore the question that hung in the air after that statement.

"Okay," Lennie paused. "One more thing. Do you think we should look at any of these guys?"

"I've never noticed anything that would suggest this kind of violence. There is one thing I noticed though. He's barefoot. He's got to wear a size 13 or bigger. Shoes are, well, important around here. I would think anyone with feet that big would have a really hard time finding shoes. I doubt that Tiny had anything else worth stealing."

Ed scribbled in his notebook and Lennie looked thoughtful. "Okay," Lennie said. "Thanks, Jack. Listen, could we take you out to breakfast or something? We can wrap up our work here within an hour, I expect."

Jack studied Lennie's face for a moment. "Thanks. But I think I'll pass." He offered no explanation.

Lennie tried another angle. "You know, there are people who have been looking hard for you. People who want to see you."

Jack's eyes crinkled in a smile again. "This isn't so bad, you know. Great hours, lots of fresh air." He offered his hand again. "Take care of yourself Lennie."

"You too, Jack," Lennie replied as Jack walked out through the front doors.

Neither detective said anything for a moment. Ed broke the silence. "You know, we could take him in for questioning."

Lennie gave Ed a puzzled look. "You don't think Jack did him?"

"Of course not," Ed replied. "But I'm thinking about what Abbie Carmichael will say to us when she finds out we saw him and let him get away."

Lennie looked toward the door again.

Ed continued, "And I think Lieu would be very interested in seeing him. They've butted heads but they worked together for a lot of years. I know she respects the hell out of that man." He paused. "Or she used to."

"Maybe you're right," Lennie said. "We don't have any way of getting back in touch with him if we need to ask him anything else. Something tells me he won't be sleeping here again." He began to walk toward the door. "And I'd feel better if a few more people were involved with deciding what to do about him."

"Excuse me," said Green to the uniform at the door, "did you happen to notice which way that man went?"

The officer gestured toward the right. Lennie and Ed started off briskly in that direction, hoping they could still find him.

"There he is," Ed said to Lennie as he broke off into a trot. "Jack! Hey Jack, wait up!"

Jack turned around and Ed caught up to him. Lennie followed in short order.

"We need to ask you a few more questions. Down at the precinct," Ed said.

Jack looked hard at Ed. He turned to Lennie. Lennie realized that Jack was too smart to be fooled by their cover. He sensed the situation could go either way. He decided which way it would play out.

"Jack McCoy, you're under arrest for vagrancy." Lennie spun Jack around and began to cuff him, and read Jack his rights. "You have the right to remain silent."