Pollard's brow couldn't be more furrowed as he looked from Budzinski to Healey to Haseejian to Mike, finally settling on Steve. "Caught what?" he repeated, trying not to scream in frustration.

Shooting a warm glance in his partner's direction, and getting a soft nod and smile in reply, Steve dropped his head briefly and chuckled. "I'll tell you, Martin, but you have to promise me, from this moment forward, you'll never second guess a detective again. Agreed?"

The attorney's head went back slightly and he shot a glance at his own P.I. Budzinski was staring at him with raised, expectant eyebrows in an otherwise neutral expression. "Well, ah, I don't think I can promise that I'll NEVER second guess a detective," he said hesitantly, "but I'll sure keep an open mind a lot longer." He glanced at Budzinski again. "Does that work for you?"

With a snort, Steve looked at the private eye and they shared a slight smile and an almost indecipherable nod. "Works for me," Steve said with a decisive head bob. He looked at the phone booth. "Okay, so why don't you take Charlie's place and read the transcript." He gestured at the booth with his head as Budzinski held the paper out.

Frowning, Pollard tentatively took the proffered sheet and stepped into the booth. Steve shot a quick glance at his partner, pleased to see Mike watching the proceedings with a easygoing but anticipatory expression on his face, his eyes dancing. Standing with his hands in his jacket pockets, he looked relaxed; Steve knew he was anything but.

Pollard looked at Steve quizzically. The young inspector gestured at the paper with his chin. "Start to read."

"Okay…" the lawyer said slowly, his brown eyes falling on the page. "Hello?… Yes, yes… um, I was jogging through Hunter's Point and it's usually deserted, you know…" He paused and glanced up at Steve, who nodded for him to continue. "…and I saw two cars in front of one of the abandoned buildings." He stopped again, this time shooting a look towards Budzinski, who didn't react. His brow furrowed so deeply his hairline was almost on top of his eyebrows. "Yes, on Spear…. Anyway, as I was jogging past I thought I heard a woman screaming and then I heard a loud bang like a gunshot…" He stopped again, this time his confused frown taking in all five detectives who were staring at him with soft smiles. He was rapidly losing his patience. "What?!" he demanded, coming dangerously close to stamping his foot.

As if taking pity on him, Steve took a step forward. "Look at the garage," he said simply and Pollard complied. "Tell me what you see."

With a frustrated exhale, Pollard briefly gritted his teeth then took a deep breath. "Two cars, like she said."

"That's right," Steve said gently. "Whose cars?"

The lawyer shot an irritated look at the inspector, taking a beat before spitting out, "Linda's and Mike's."

Steve stared at him and raised his eyebrows. "That's right. Linda's and Mike's. Now if I was in there killing Linda and shooting Mike, where was my car?"

Pollard stared at him, confused, then gradually his brow unfurrowed as his eyebrows slowly rose. "Oh my god… you're right…. If you were in there, then your car would be parked outside… so there would be three cars, not two…" His eyes travelled to the others, who were all staring at him with encouraging smiles, nodding softly.

Mike took a step closer. "We think she probably looked towards the garage when she was making the call and she saw the two cars and that's what she blurted out in the heat of the moment, forgetting that she had just driven over here in Steve's car."

"So the caller wasn't just a 'jogger' who happened by," Steve continued. "If it was, then she would've said three cars. It was Nicole who made that call, we all know that," he gestured vaguely at the others, "and though we can't prove it… the fact that the caller said two cars instead of three…?" He paused and shrugged.

Mike took another step forward. "I don't know for sure, Martin, but a big part of me thinks that's 'reasonable doubt'… don't you?" he asked quietly, the blue-eyed stare never leaving the attorney's now expressionless face.

Pollard was staring into space, unmoving. The others waited, watching him, not wanting to disturb his train of thought. It seemed to take forever for the young attorney to focus and eventually return his attention to Steve. He stared at the inspector for a long beat then he took a few steps in the direction of the garage and stopped. He stared down the darkened street for several silent seconds then turned and let his gaze travel slowly from one detective to the other, finally settling on Steve again.

"I'll have to run it past Gerry and see what he says, of course. Then it'll be up to him whether or not to take it to the D.A."

Steve inhaled sharply through his nose and looked at Mike. The older man smiled back and nodded once. Haseejian glanced at Healey, both of them smothering grins. Budzinski exhaled loudly, closing his eyes and softly shaking his head.

An almost relieved silence settled over the small group; the sense of futility that had begun to weigh on them so heavily was suddenly a lot lighter. It was Mike who spoke first, addressing Pollard indirectly as his eyes brushed over the others. "So, ah, is there any reason we can't call it a night… or do you really want to do the drive over to Marin?"

Pollard, who had looked back at the garage again, took a beat before he turned slowly to face the veteran lieutenant. The soft smile that was curling his lips reached his eyes as well. "No, Mike, I think you're right… I think we can call it a night." He eyes bounced back and forth between the two partners. "So which one of you picked up on this first?"

Mike's eyebrows snapped up. "Oh, it was him," he shot out, flashing a grin as he took his right hand out of his pocket and jerked a thumb in Steve's direction. "Something about beer glasses," he chuckled enigmatically, feeling the curious eyes of the others on him as he stared proudly as his young partner.

"What?" Haseejian asked, glancing at Healey, who shrugged.

Mike turned his smile on the sergeants. "I'll explain later," he chortled, focusing on Pollard again. He studied the young criminal lawyer for a long beat then asked quietly. "So… do you think we have a chance of getting the charges dismissed?"

Pollard, who had been staring into space once again, obviously mulling this new wrinkle over and over in his mind, belatedly focused on the tall lieutenant. He shrugged noncommittally. "I have to be honest, Mike, I really don't know… but at this point it's our only shot." He glanced quickly at the others. "That's not to say it doesn't have its merits. It is a legitimate question to ask and, frankly, I do think it could be grounds for a dismissal… but I'm just a lawyer… with an agenda." He looked at Steve with a brief mirthless smile. "I have an ADA to convince and then, if that's successful, he has a boss with an even bigger agenda to convince as well."

"Not to mention an election coming up," Healey added with an angry growl.

Pollard nodded. "Precisely. So I've got to present this as a… a fait accompli." The last two words were said softly, as if he was talking to himself.

Mike frowned and looked at his partner. "It means you present something in such as way that there's no choice but to accept the … premise," Steve explained.

The older man snorted as he dropped his head and stared balefully from under a lowered brow. "I know what it means, smarty," he said evenly, "I was just wondering if you agreed with Martin."

There were stifled sniggers from the two sergeants, who quickly looked in different directions when the still miffed blue eyes snapped in their direction. Swallowing a grin, Pollard looked at his feet while Budzinski, trying to appear above it all, took the car keys out of his pocket and approached the LTD. "You said something about going home," he said pointedly to his boss and Pollard looked over at him.

"Yes, I did," the young attorney laughed. He looked at Mike and Steve. "I think we've earned it."

"Good," Budzinski said, opening the driver's side door. "I'll drive us all back. I think we can all squeeze in."

"Not me," Mike said quickly, both hands in his jacket pockets again. "I'll walk. It's probably the only decent exercise I'll be getting for a while." He took a step in the direction of the garage.

"Me too," Steve said with a chuckle, moving closer to his partner.

Pollard, who had opened the front passenger door of the tan LTD, slammed it shut. "What the hell, it's not that far." He crossed the few steps to where Mike and Steve were standing. The sergeants had drifted closer to their colleagues as well.

Budzinski laughed. "Okay, see you in a bit," he called as he slid into the front seat and closed the door.

Chuckling, Mike started to walk, glancing over his shoulder at Pollard as if requesting the young lawyer to fall into step beside him. "So, ah, so when do you think you can talk to Gerry?"

"Well, I'll call his office as soon as it opens tomorrow … uh, this morning," he corrected himself with a laugh, "and see how soon I can see him. Hopefully sometime later today but it'll depend on his calendar, I'm sure."

"Of course. Do you want Steve and me to be there?"

Pollard smiled to himself. The fact that the lieutenant was including himself in the equation spoke volumes about how the older man viewed his relationship with his young partner. "Ah… I don't know, Mike. I think it might be better if I approach Gerry on my own… but if he wants to see you, I'll get on the horn to you right away. How does that sound?"

Mike grinned. "I'll make sure nobody's on the phone all day."

"Good," Pollard laughed.

Behind them, Steve was flanked by Healey and Haseejian.

"So…" the Armenian sergeant began, "ah, what was that about beer glasses?" The question sounded casual but Steve knew his colleagues had been anxious to ask him since Mike's cryptic comment.

Chuckling, Steve looked down at the pavement as he walked. "I broke a glass at Mike's last night, one of his favorite beer glasses. When I apologized, he told me not to worry about it, that he had three… then he corrected himself and said, well, two now. And that's when the bell rang." He shrugged. "I'd been listening to the tape of that phone call over and over again and I had a feeling there was something I was missing but I couldn't figure out what. And when Mike said three, well, now two…." He chuckled.

"Son of a bitch," Healey muttered under his breath, sounding impressed. Haseejian slapped Steve's shoulder.

They made the rest of the walk in silence. Budzinski had driven past them and the LTD was parked behind the LeSabre when they got back to the garage.

Mike looked at Pollard as they approached the cars. "Listen, Martin, why don't you let Charlie take you home and Steve and I'll go with Dan and Norm. Sooner you get to bed, sooner you can call Gerry in the morning, right?"

Pollard smiled. "Makes sense to me."

The lieutenant looked at Healey and Haseejian. "I know I don't have any authority here right now, but why don't you fellas leave the Corolla here and come back and get it later today. You can drop Steve and me off at my place and then go home. We've still got a ways to go, but you've all done great work here, over and above… and I'm proud of all of you…"