"So who was this Gerald Allen?" Kat asked Stillman back at the police station after they were informed of the results of Rothman's interview. "I've never heard of him."

"I guess he was a bit before your time." Responded Stillman. "Allen was a major drug kingpin during the late 70s and early 80s. He owned several legitimate businesses and used a few of them as a front for his drug operations. Everyone knew what he was doing, but the D. A. had a really hard time building a case against him. It seemed like he was always one step ahead of the authorities. But he couldn't avoid prosecution forever. In 1984 he was arrested and convicted of multiple charges of narcotics trafficking. He spent over a decade in prison and was released in 1996."

"Sounds like just the type of person who would set up a hit on a cop." Said Kat

"Well let's not get ahead of ourselves. First we need to talk with David Landis. I just got off the phone with him and he's agreed to come here for an interview. He sounded really interested in helping us with the case."

"That's surprising." Remarked Kat. "According to Marcus Rothman, Landis was one of Allen's dealers. Usually drug dealers aren't too interested in talking with the cops."

"Well if Allen was a dealer, it looks like he got out of the game a long time ago." Explained Stillman. "For the last 20 years, he's been working as a family doctor. He currently runs a private practice out of Chester in Delaware County."

Kat was surprised by this remark. "Really? Man this case is taking a lot of odd turns. A street thug who's a career navy man, a drug dealer who became a doctor. What's next? Are we going to find out Allen is now the head of the Peace Corps?"

Stillman smiled. "Well it will certainly be interesting to found out how Landis got his act together. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the report on Rothman's prints from the crime lab. Until I get that, Marcus isn't off the hook."

"Hello Mr. Landis, thanks for taking the trip here." Said Stillman after introducing himself and Kat. "As I said on the phone, we're re-opening the murder investigation on Darnell Prince and we think you might be able to help us."

"I'm glad to hear that," David responded. "Darnell's murder was devastating and I still find myself thinking about him from time to time. If there is anything I can do to help you solve the case, it's well worth a trip here."

"Well to start things off, how exactly did you get acquainted with Darnell?" Asked Kat

"From my Father, Rodney." David explained. "Dad was Darnell's next door neighbor and friend growing up, even though he was two years older. Dad was the best friend Darnell ever had, and in a way they even considered each other family. When Darnell was 17, his parents were killed in a car accident. After that, Rodney's parents let Darnell stay with them until he became an adult and could take over his family's assets. To me, Darnell was sort like the uncle I never had. He was a guy I could always turn to when I had problems that I didn't feel like sharing with my father. Especially after my parents got divorced."

"I see. And was drug dealing one of those problems?" Stillman asked

Landis seemed surprised by this question "Excuse me?"

"From what he hear, you got into drug dealing shortly before Darnell was killed." Kat cut in. "Probably not something Darnell or Rodney would have approved of."

David stood up and sighed. "So you know about that huh? After Darnell was killed, I was waiting for the cops to show up at my door asking about it, but they never did. Believe me, if I thought it had anything to do with his death, I would have come forward. But from what I heard about the case, it was just a botched robbery. So I didn't see how my drug dealing had anything to do with it."

"Well we think there is a possibility that it did." Said Stillman. "So if you really do care about Darnell, now's your time to come clean."

"Okay, okay." Said David, sitting back down. "Look, I wasn't some hardcore criminal. I was just a dumb teenager who made some bad decisions and then tried to fix them with even more."

"You don't need to rationalize your actions, Mr. Landis, just tell us what you did." Said Kat

"Okay, well here is what happened." David continued. "When I was 18 I had a major problem with gambling. Eventually, and I suppose inevitably, I ended up going against people way better then me and before I knew it, I was in over my head in debt. In debt to the kind of people who had very persuasive ways of making sure they got their money."

"So you figured drug dealing would be a way to dig yourself out of the hole?" Asked Stillman.

"Yeah. I know, it was stupid. But I managed to rationalize it by telling myself that if I didn't do it, someone else would. Besides, I figured if did a decent enough job at it, all my debts would be paid off in no time and I could forget about the whole thing and move on with my life. I already worked at a shop owned by Gerald Allen and had gotten to know him fairly well, so I figured it would be easy to get employed in the illegitimate side of his business."

"Was it?" Asked Kat.

"Absolutely. Allen was all too happy to make me one of his dealers. And it worked out great for both of us. Turns out I had natural talent for drug dealing. In less than a month I had all my debts paid off with plenty of cash left to spare. It seemed like my plan had worked out perfectly. But then I ran into a problem I didn't anticipate."

Stillman smiled. "Let me guess. Allen wouldn't let you let you go. I guess you didn't realize this is not the kind of job you can just walk away from."

"You got it." Said Landis, rolling his eyes. "I was so good at it that Allen decided he couldn't afford to let me go. Plus by that time I had learned a lot about his operation and he was worried I would be tempted to rat him out to the cops. Allen made it very clear what he would do to me if I tried to leave the business, go to the cops, or skip town. And believe me, he was very effective at driving his point home. It seemed like I was stuck and there was no way out. But then Darnell got involved and provided a way out for me."

("Just what I needed" by The Cars)

David walked down the streets of Philadelphia. It was late at night and he had just finished his last drug sale of the day. "Another staggering success" he thought to himself sarcastically. He was starting to wonder if he would ever find a way out of this. Suddenly a car pulled up in front him and screeched to a halt, taking David completely by surprise. He was shocked at first, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the passenger door open and his friend Darnell Prince exiting the driver's seat.

"Whoa Darnell, you damn near scared me to death." Said David, trying to act natural. "Don't you know it's rude to just pull up on someone like that? That can't be proper police procedure."

"I'm off the clock." Darnell responded coldly. "But it looks like you've been putting in some late hours. Get in the car."

"What are you talking about? I'm just taking a late night stroll. No law against that is there?" David continued to act natural even though he was starting to realize Darnell was onto him.

This seemed to enrage Darnell. "I ain't playing with you man! Get in the fucking car!!"

"Alright." Said David as he got into the passenger seat. "Geez Darnell, what's your problem?"

"What's my problem?" Darnell asked sarcastically. "Well lets see, maybe it could be finding out that a good kid with no criminal record from an honest family has decided dealing drugs for Gerald Allen is an acceptable profession. I suppose that might be my problem."

David pretended to act surprised. "Oh come on! Did someone on the street tell you that? You shouldn't believe everything you hear."

"I know." Darnell responded. "That's why I had to see it for myself. And I already did. So you can quit playing dumb and start answering questions. What the hell are you doing dealing drugs? You've never had so much as a parking ticket."

David sighed. "Money. I got into major debt and I figured this would be an easy way out."

Darnell seemed surprised at this. "That's what this is about? Why didn't you just ask your father to bail you out? From what I hear, his construction business is doing great."

"I got into debt through compulsive gambling with the wrong type of people." David explained. "That's not exactly the type of thing you want your father to know. Dad's always telling everyone how proud he is of me and what a bright future I have. If he found out what I was involved in, I figure the consequences would be severe. You know how he's got a short temper."

"Oh come on. You know Rodney would understand and be willing to help you out of this. He'd do anything for you..." Suddenly Darnell noticed the outline of a familiar shape underneath David's shirt. "Hey what the hell is that?" he asked, pointing at the object.

David was so nervous he didn't know how to respond. But he didn't have too. Without waiting for an answer, Darnell reached over and pulled up David's shirt, revealing a .45 caliber pistol in a shoulder holster. Enraged, he immediately ripped the pistol out of the holster and looked it over. "A gun? What the hell are you doing with this?!"

David sighed "I got it from one of Allen's men so I could have a little protection while I was dealing, that's all. I've never used it and I don't plan on it."

Darnell was furious. "So now I've got you on drug dealing and illegal weapons possession. Do you realize how serious this is? Forget about the scholarship to Penn State you earned, this is enough to send you to prison. It could ruin you! And all this over money?"

"Look Darnell, I don't have any excuses. If want to bust me, go ahead." Said David

"I don't want to bust you David." Replied Darnell. "I'm trying to help you. You need to come to the police station with me and tell all you know about Allen's and his operations. The D. A. will cut you a deal to testify against him and Allen will end up in prison where he belongs."

"Forget it." David responded bluntly. "That would be signing my own death warrant. Why do you think I'm still working for him? I told him I wanted to get out of the business weeks ago. He made it very clear staying on the job and keeping my mouth shut would be the only thing good for my health."

"So that's it. He threatened you." Darnell paused for a minute while thinking over what to do. Then he continued. "Alright David, listen up. 19 years ago your family helped me get through the hardest time in my life, and now I'm going to return the favor. I'm not going to bust you, but I'm going to get you out of this. Forget about going back to Allen. He's going to let you out of the business. I'll make sure of that. You're going to get away from him and put this whole terrible episode behind you."

David was shocked "Are you crazy?! What did I just tell you? You can't confront him."

"People like Allen think they can get away with anything, but even they have limits, and I'll make sure he knows them." Said Darnell. "Don't worry David, I know how to deal with people like him. I'll make sure he understands letting you go would very beneficial."

David was about to protest some more, but Darnell cut him off. "This isn't open for debate David."

"Alright, fine." Said David. He still didn't like Darnell's idea, but realized there was no point in arguing anymore. "Are you going to tell my dad about this?"

"Absolutely." Darnell replied. "But you can save me the trouble and tell him yourself. If you had done that in the first place, the situation would never have gotten this bad."

"A few days later, Allen told me I could go. He said he wanted me out of his sight and he never wanted to see me again. And I made sure that's exactly what happened." David explained.

"That's it?" Asked Kat. "He just cut you loose? What did Darnell do to persuade him?"

"I don't know and I didn't ask. Not him or Darnell. I never spoke of this to anyone again. No one except my father, of course. I figured it would be better for me to tell him then Darnell."

"Well then, I guess we'll just have get the story from Allen himself." Said Stillman.