"So this is where crime kingpins end up when they reach old age." Said Scotty as he walked through the run down apartment complex where Allen was living.

"The ones who are lucky enough to reach old age, that is." Lilly replied. "Man this is place really is a wreck. It's hard to believe one of the most powerful drug lords in Philly ended up here."

"Well even a place like this probably seems nice to a man who spent 12 years of his life in prison." Pointed out Scotty. "Which is too bad for him, since the way this case is looking, he could be headed right back there."

Eventually the two detectives found the room listed as Allen's address and knocked on the door. It was answered by a rough looking man in his mid 60's. "Who the hell are you?" He asked.

"Detectives Rush and Valens," said Lilly while flashing her badge. "Are you Gerald Allen?"

"Yeah, so what if I am?" Allen shot back. "What do you want with me? I've been a straight arrow ever since I got out of prison."

"That's great, I'm sure the taxpayers are glad to know the rehabilitation efforts of the corrections system arn't a total failure." Scotty said sarcastically. "But we're not here about that. We're here because we think you may have information about a murder in the early 80's."

Allen laughed "Suppose I do. Exactly why would I want to talk to you about it?"

Lilly sighed. This was certainly one of the more frustrating aspects of her job, but then again, she didn't come to Allen's apartment expecting him to roll out the welcome mat. "Because right now you're the prime suspect in it." She answered firmly. "And if you want that to change, you'll have to cooperate. Otherwise you can expect to seeing us a lot more, and in much less friendly conditions."

"Well when you put it that way, how can I refuse?" Said Allen, keeping his hostile tone. "Come on in and sit down."

"We're here to talk to you about Darnell Prince." Scotty explained once they were all inside. "You remember him?"

"Yeah I do." Said Allen. "He was a local cop who had a beat in my neighborhood. A real pain in the ass. He was always giving me a hard time and interfering with my business."

"And one day he ends up dead." Lilly pointed out. "Pretty convenient for you wasn't it?"

Allen laughed. "So that's what you came here for? To pin an old murder on me? Sorry guys, but you might as well walk out the door right now. I was a businessman, not a killer. Murder wasn't my style. And I sure as hell ain't stupid enough to kill a cop."

"You think we're just going to take your word for it?" Asked Lilly. "Sorry Gerald, but if you want us to leave you're going to have to do a little more then that?"

Allen thought of something else. "If memory serves me correctly, Prince was killed at some jewelry store the night of Super Bowl XV, right? I spent the whole night getting drunk with a bunch of my business partners at a local night club. I was in no condition to kill anyone and I've got witnesses who will tell you I was nowhere near that store."

Scotty was not convinced. "Oh come on Allen, we know you wouldn't personally kill him. A big shot like you would use other people to carry out the hit. Just like you used misguided teenagers to deal drugs for you. Guys like David Landis."

"And Darnell wasn't happy about that." Lilly continued. "We heard shortly before he died, he had a confrontation about one Landis. Then the next day, you cut off all contact with him. We're guessing Darnell didn't convince you to let him go by asking nicely or appealing to your soft side."

"Oh, that. Yeah I gotta give the devil his due. He really knew how to drive his point home."

("Fire and Ice" by Pat Benatar)

Allen sat on one of the barstools at his tavern, one of several businesses he owned, going through the figures of his profits for the month. It had been another productive month for his and his business, both the legal and illegal side, and he was looking forward another successful year. Suddenly he heard pounding on the front door.

"Were closed!" He shouted angrily. "Come back later!"

But the pounding didn't stop, it only got louder. Getting nervous, Allen was about to reach for a gun he kept behind the bar counter when suddenly the door burst open. Allen immediately recognized the man responsible as he stormed into the bar. It was Darnell Prince, a local cop. Although right now, he was not in uniform.

"Well hello there Allen!" Darnell shouted. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything!"

Darnell looked enraged, but Allen maintained his composure. "Oh it's you." He said, keeping the emotion out of his voice. "Like I said officer, we're closed, but for Philly's finest, I'll make an exception. Take a seat and I'll pour you a cold one."

"I'm not here for a drink you son of a bitch!" Darnell responded. "I'm here about Landis, David Landis. You fucked up big time using him as one of your dealers! And now you're going to let him go!"

Allen remained emotionless. "Why officer, I have no idea what your talking about. David works for me, but I would never have him do anything against the law. If you caught him doing something illegal, I'm assure you I had nothing to do with it."

This answer did not satisfy Darnell at all. With a devastating blow, he punched Allen hard in the face, bloodying his nose and knocking him off his feet. "This ain't no courtroom, Gerald!" Darnell shouted as Allen struggled to get up. "And you ain't got no high priced attorney to bail you out. It's just you and me! And I'm not leaving until I get the answer I'm looking for!"

Allen slowly pulled himself up. "So what? You got nothing on me. If you did, I'd be in cuffs right now. So spare me the 'bad cop' act and get the hell out of here."

Darnell responded by grabbing Allen's throat and slamming him hard into the bar counter. Then he pulled out the .45 caliber pistol he had taken from David. "This ain't no act Allen. This is you doing what I say or I shove this pistol down your slimy little throat."

Now Allen was worried. He figured Darnell wasn't really going to kill him, but clearly his situation was deteriorating fast and there was only one way to improve. Besides, it was clear that Landis was no longer any use to him. "Alright. Fine, I'll tell him he's through working for me. Now get lost."

Darnell released his grip on Allen and started to back away. "Now see, that wasn't so hard." He said sarcastically. "See you later Allen. I'll be back when I've got enough evidence to send you to prison where you belong." Then he turned to leave.

Allen figured he should probably just let Darnell go, but he couldn't resist pointing something out. "Hey Darnell...David didn't actually agree to give you any incriminating evidence or testimony against me, did he?" The statement caused Darnell to stop right in his tracks. Then he turned to around to face Allen with his fists clinched and an enraged look on his face. But he said nothing.

Allen smiled "I didn't think so. Have a nice day."

"This isn't over Allen!" Darnell shot back. "Before you know it, the Department will have a big enough case to put you away for good!"

"Damn cops." Allen mumbled under his breath. "Always messing with my business instead of going after the real criminals. All I'm doing is supplying a demand."

"Save it Allen." Darnell replied. "You're a low life scum bag who's been poisoning my neighborhood for years, profiting off other people's misery, and using teenagers to carry out your dirty work. When the time comes, I'll be sure to be the one who puts the cuffs on you myself."

Allen laughed "Sure, keep telling yourself that. You've been hounding me for months and you've got nothing to show for it."

"The only reason we can't built a case against you is because you got people in the department on your payroll." Darnell said. "It's the only explanation for how you're always one step ahead of us. Rest assured Gerald, I'll find them. And when I do, they'll be all too happy to rat you out in exchange for a deal. Like I said Allen, it's only a matter of time."

With that, Darnell turned around and stormed out.

"So let me see if I understand this," Said Scotty after Allen finished his story, "One day, Darnell just barges into your tavern, beats you up, shoves a gun in your face, makes you do what he wants, and threatens to crush your entire operation. Does that pretty much sum it up?"

"Yeah that's the gist of it." Said Allen. "Guess you didn't know your dead 'hero' cop had a mean streak."

"And after all that, you want us to believe you didn't have anything to do with his death?" Lilly asked. "I hate to break it to you Gerald, but that seems a little hard to swallow."

"Like I said, I was a businessman, not a killer." Allen reminded them. "Murdering a cop would be very bad for business. It would have brought all kinds of heat down on my operation. Definitely not what I needed."

"Well you're story is still kind of hard to believe. I mean you were a major crime boss, one of Philly's top made men. You want us to believe that you would let some rank-and-file cop barge into your tavern and beat you into doing what he wants. I figure a guy like you would take something like that very personally."

"Personal issues in my line of work were irrelevant." Allen explained. "My goal was to stay in business, something that have been very difficult to do if I had tried to take on the police over something that minor. Besides, Darnell's beating had nothing to do with my decision. Now that a cop had caught Landis dealing, he was useless to me. If I had continued to employ him, the cops could put a tail on him and use him to build a case against me."

"Well the cops did end up building a case against you." Said Lilly. "One good enough to destroy your operation and send you to prison for 12 years."

"That wasn't until 1984." Allen countered. "Darnell had been dead for years and I didn't have any further contact with Landis. My eventual arrest had nothing to do with either one of them, just like I didn't have anything to do with Darnell's death. So if you've got nothing else, I'd appreciate if you left."

"Okay Allen, just one more thing." Said Scotty as the two detectives got up to leave. "Darnell said you had someone in the department on your payroll. Did you?"

"Even if I did, why would I want to tell you?" Asked Allen.

"Darnell said he was onto whoever it was." Scotty explained. If that's true, whoever was receiving your bribes would have a motive to silence him forever. And if he acted on his own, it would put you in the clear."

Allen was not convinced. "Bullshit, they would just claim I ordered them to do it and you would believe them. Ever since you came here you've made it clear that your mind is made up. You think I killed Darnell and obviously there isn't anything I can do to convince you otherwise. So unless I'm under arrest, get the hell out!"

"Well that was pleasant." Said Lilly once she and Scotty had left the apartment. "So you really think someone on the force set up the hit on Darnell? That's a pretty disturbing thought."

"Well it's happened before." Scotty pointed out. "Besides, back when we started the investigation, Stillman pointed out that whoever set up the hit had to know where Darnell would be at the time. Who else but someone in the Department would know? And remember, the theory in the original investigation was that the person who killed Darnell may have been wearing body armor. Not many people other then the police would have access to that. Look maybe it wasn't a cop. Maybe it was a dispatcher or a civilian employee, but the evidence pointing to someone in the department is just too strong to ignore."

"Well then I guess we'd better get to work finding out if anyone in Darnell's precinct was taking bribes back in 81'. Let me tell you though, if this line of the investigation winds up as a dead end, I won't be disappointed."