Chapter Ten
Early the next morning, Starsky and Hutch, accompanied by uniformed police, implemented the search warrant on Wilson's home. After a thorough search of the property, they found a can of rat poison in his garage. As Starsky read him his rights and handcuffed him, Wilson kept a stony silence. The two partners exchanged looks as they guided him into the back of the Gran Torino and took him back to the precinct. They processed him and then left him in the box to think for a while, leaving a uniformed cop to watch him.
"You want to try good cop, bad cop or ping-pong?" Hutch asked as he collected a mug of coffee for Starsky and himself.
"Thanks," Starsky said, taking the coffee, "Let's try ping-pong."
They finished their coffee and then they headed into the room to question their suspect. Starsky grabbed a chair, turned it round so he could straddle it and sat down on Wilson's right. Hutch pulled the other chair out and sat towards Wilson's left.
"So, you knew Eddie Dunn was abusive towards his son and wanted to protect the kid? That the reason, you poisoned him?" Starsky asked.
Hutch jumped in: "Or was it because he denigrated the sport you love so much?"
Wilson started to speak: "No, I didn't-"
"-Maybe you just didn't like him?" Starsky interrupted.
"You got no proof, I did-"
Hutch cut Wilson's protest off: "-Oh, we've got the rat poison you used."
"I keep that for the rats that come…"
"-We know you went to Harry's Bar that night," Starsky added.
Hutch went for a reasonable tone: "Maybe you'd already tried to have a word with him, man to man."
"But he wouldn't listen. Carried on hurting the kid," Starsky suggested.
Hutch continued: "So you decided to do something about it."
"Troubled kid. One of your squad. You had to look after him, protect him," Starsky said.
"That's what you teach the boys, right, to look after their own," Hutch said. "We understand."
"Yes, that's-"
"Some would say you did the boy a favour," Starsky commented.
"Yes, he was much better off after his Dad was gone. That guy was a mean drunk. Someone had to protect the boy," Wilson said.
"So you suddenly thought of the rat poison you had at home. It wasn't really pre-meditated just convenient."
"Yes, I just knew if he got drunk again, he'd hurt the boy."
"You slipped it into his beer and saved Clint from more beatings."
Hutch changed tack: "What about Bartholomew? We know you used your red Thunderbird to run him down."
"Guess you thought running him down would be the easy way to get rid of him," Starsky suggested.
"Then you got rid of the car. Made it look like joyriders had taken it but the detectives at the time found evidence it had hit a silver car," Hutch informed him.
"Won't be too hard to link the hit-and-run directly to you. There's a witness will place you and your car there at the scene."
Hutch said, "It's obvious why you did it. Bartholomew was an abusive father too. Except he was abusing James emotionally, making him give up the squad."
Wilson started to break down. "James loved wrestling. His dad took that away from. He was so unhappy after that. Nobody cared. It wasn't right."
"But you're his coach and you care about him."
"Yes," Wilson started snivelling. "I cared more about these boys than their fathers ever did. I'm not sorry I did it. They deserved it."
Starsky flashed a look at Hutch. Hutch nodded.
"We'll get a stenographer to come up and take your statement. Make sure you put all the reasons why you got rid of them," Hutch said, as he stood up.
Starsky called down for a stenographer while Hutch asked the uniformed cop to come back in the room and watch Wilson.
The two of them headed back to the bull pen to write up their report. Starsky watched as Hutch typed and could see a cloud of gloom settling down around his friend. The trouble with Hutch was he couldn't just be glad they'd got the bad guys; he always thought about the consequences of every action. Right now, Starsky knew that, on the one hand, Hutch would be feeling glad that the culprit had been found and that he'd been able to tie up the loose ends on two cold cases but, on the other, he would be saddened to think of the blow that the news would be to both of the boys, the rest of the wrestling squad and to the school where Wilson coached.
Starsky tried to cheer him up: "Hey buddy, it is a win, you know. We've got justice for the two victims and closure for the families…and there'll be no chance of Wilson doing something like this ever again."
Hutch gave him a wan smile and finished off his report. He took it out of the typewriter, read it through and signed and dated it. He handed it over to Starsky to check through then he signed it as well. Next, they took the finished report into Dobey. He was feeling in a generous mood and told them to take the afternoon off as they had been on two late-night stakeouts before they'd finally got the evidence against Wilson and had put in a lot of overtime recently.
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As Starsky dropped Hutch home, Hutch said he was going to go for a jog and then relax at home for a while, which suited Starsky fine as he'd read that there was a vampire movie marathon on that afternoon. Before Starsky drove away, they arranged to meet later at Huggy's.
Hutch knew he needed to go for a run: using the pounding of his feet to crush the depressing feeling he always got after a case like Wilson's. Already anticipating the release a run would give him, he started whistling on the short drive to the park. After a three mile run under blue skies, he felt his spirits lifting and by the time he got back home, he was feeling a lot better. He had a shower and put on a fresh set of clothes. Feeling motivated, he decided to make a start on tidying the kitchen and clearing his bedroom of abandoned clothes. Time to get a load of washing done too.
He picked up a pair of beige pants and checked the pockets for tissues: something crinkled against his fingers and, when he drew it out, he found he was holding Mac's telephone number. He looked at it. He knew Starsky had rung her a week ago to see how she was doing but they still hadn't arranged to take her out as they had promised. Maybe that would be a good excuse for ringing.
Deciding he was in the right sort of mood to try talking to Laura, he picked up the phone and walked with it over to the sofa. As he sat down, he placed the instrument on the coffee table with the note beside it. He took a deep breath and picked up the receiver and dialled.
"Hello?" Mac's voice said brightly.
Hutch swallowed nervously, "H-Hi Laura, it's me Ken."
"Oh Ken, how lovely to hear from you. How are things with you?"
"Life's good, thanks. How are you doing?"
Mac sighed. "I'm going a bit stir crazy to be honest but I am getting around the house better. Finally got the hang of these crutches."
"That's good…I remembered Starsky and I promised to take you our sometime and I wondered if you'd be free this Saturday. We'd pick you up about noon."
"That would be lovely, thank you."
Hutch hesitated.
"Was there something else Ken?"
"Er…I just wondered if I could take you up on that offer of a guided tour of your garden?"
Mac sounded very happy when she answered: "Of course, any time. When are you next free?"
Hutch took a chance. "Well, I've actually got this afternoon free…Is that totally inconvenient?"
"No, that would be lovely. Shall we say two thirty?"
"Yes, great. See you then."
"See you."
Hutch huffed out a breath of relief as he put the phone down. He sat back and a slow smile started to grow on his face as he anticipated his visit to see Laura and her garden.
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Mac was just coming off shift and looking forward to spending the evening with Hutch. They'd been out a few times now and she couldn't wait to see him again. He was picking her up from work and taking her out for a meal. She headed to the locker room, keen to get changed into the cream trousers and light blue blouse she'd brought with her that morning, ready for their date.
She'd got out of her uniform and was just putting her street clothes on, when she heard the door bang open and a group of three or four younger nurses came into the room, all talking at once, in a hurry to get changed and get on shift. Their lockers were on the first row so they didn't see Mac getting ready.
"Hey, did I see that sexy detective outside? The one you used to date Kate." Mac thought the voice belonged to Louise Moretti.
"Not seen him around for ages," another voice commented.
"Yes, it was him," Kate said. "But he's not waiting for me."
A fourth voice spoke: "I heard he's dating Nurse MacKenzie."
"No! Really? She's not his usual type: bit of fun and move on…Oh! No offence, Kate," Louise said.
"None taken. Like you said, he only wanted a bit of fun but at the time that suited me too….You really think he's dating the dragon?"
"Someone said they'd seen him picking her up."
"She's a bit older than the girls he's gone for before…maybe he wants a bit of mothering," the voice that Mac didn't recognise was speaking and all the girls started laughing then there was several sounds of lockers being shut and locked and the girls headed out leaving the locker room quiet but not peaceful. Mac was glad they hadn't seen her but wished she hadn't overheard the conversation. It had left her feeling raw: why was Ken going out with her? She'd heard other rumours about how many different nurses he'd dated. Was she just one of many and how long before he dropped her?
Mac threw some cold water over her face to try to cool her flushed face down and brushed her hair. When she felt calmer, she ventured out to meet Hutch in the car park. She saw he was wearing his favourite beige pants, a forest green top and his black and white jacket that she liked so much. He looked incredible and she hoped she, at least, looked okay. He was sat on the hood of his battered old car, waiting patiently for her, and gave her his best smile when he saw her, looking as if he was really happy to see her.
"Hey lovely Laura. How was your shift?" he asked as he held the car door open for her.
"Fine, thanks. Where are we going tonight?"
"I thought we'd try a little Mexican place I stumbled across the other day, if that's okay with you?"
"Sounds great."
Hutch started the engine and drove the car out of the car park and onto the road that led from the hospital to downtown Bay City. Mac looked out of the window, cursing the nurses that had filled her head with unsettling thoughts. While she knew she wasn't traditionally pretty, she had always thought she was okay looking and had a good personality. Now her self-confidence was all shot to pieces. Hutch glanced at her once and twice and wondered why she wasn't her usual chatty self.
After a few minutes, he asked, "Everything okay?"
"Yes."
Hutch waited for Mac to say more. When she didn't, he said, "Are you sure? Did something happen today?"
Mac thought for a minute and then said, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why did you ask me out?"
Hutch looked endearingly nonplussed. "Because I like you."
"It's just I've heard a few things at the hospital…about how many of the nurses you've been out with…That you don't go out with anyone for very long…Apparently I'm not your usual type. Maybe that's a good thing," she tried to joke.
Hutch pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned the engine off. "We haven't really talked about anything to do with previous relationships yet… I guess now's as good a time as any to tell you a bit more about my history…I've been married, seems a lifetime ago now. It was a disaster: we were too young; she was entirely the wrong woman; she only wanted to be married to me because of the life she thought I would give her. When I became a cop… well that more or less finished it."
"I'm sorry. I guess that must have been painful for you."
"Yeah," Hutch conceded. "Yeah, she really hurt me and for a while, I decided I'd just have fun, not risk getting close to anyone…I've been in love a couple of times since but they didn't work out…one was called Gillian…she…she was killed."
Mac saw the pained look that went across Hutch's face and couldn't fight the urge to take his hand and offer comfort. Without even being aware of it, Hutch began to rub his thumb in tiny circles across the back of Mac's hand as he continued to talk: "Then I guess I sort of started to think any long term relationship was doomed with the job I do and the hours I keep. I mean most of the time I see the worst parts of the world in my job but I used to be able to handle it better. It started to get me down. I started looking for comfort from the…wrong sort of people I guess. I hit rock bottom but that period of my life is over."
Hutch took hold of Mac's other hand as well. "I know you don't have any reason to believe anything I say but when Starsky was shot and I had all those long nights and days in the hospital, I started to do some serious thinking about my life, about the choices I'd been making. In the last couple of weeks, Starsk and I have started having some conversations about changing our choices for the better…and during the worst time of my life, when Starsk was…when it was touch and go with him…you were there being calm and kind….then somewhere along the way I started looking forward to seeing you each day."
Mac's eyes prickled with tears and she smiled at Hutch. "I looked forward to seeing you, too."
Hutch's blue eyes shone with sincerity as he said softly, "As I've got to know you better Laura, I've realised that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Mac leaned forward and kissed Hutch on the lips but, as she pulled away, she couldn't resist teasing him: "Best thing that's happened to you other than knowing Dave, of course!"
Hutch was startled into laughter. "True, but don't tell him I said that."
"Your secret's safe with me."
Hutch squeezed her hands and asked, "Are we okay? Having heard that lot, do you still want to go out with me? Do you think you can give me a chance to prove myself?"
Mac's hands squeezed his and she gave him a reassuring smile. "Yes, we're okay. Yes, I still want to go out with you and yes, I'll give you as many chances as you need…because I think you're pretty great."
Hutch beamed at her. "So you ready for some dinner now?"
"Yes, please, it's been a long day and I'm starving."
"Good." Hutch started the car up again and pulled out. Once he was going along a straight stretch of road, he took his right hand off the wheel and took hold of Mac's hand and held it tight until they got to the restaurant.