"So you detectives are here about Darnell Prince," said the now 64-year old Rodney Landis as he invited Lilly and Scotty into his house. "I'm glad to hear your re-opening the case. Darnell was a very close friend of mine and I'd be happy to see his killer held accountable. What can I do for you?"

"Well we have a new lead that suggests Darnell's death may have been caused by someone who knew him," explained Scotty. "So were checking into his old acquaintances."

This made Landis suspicious. "Old acquaintances? You mean like me? Am I a suspect?"

"Well the thing is, you seem to be just about the only close friend Darnell had back in the day," said Lilly.

Rodney laughed a bit. "Yeah well Darnell was totally dedicated to his job. Always trying to catch the bad guys or teach some new recruits how to make a felony arrest without ending up in a hospital. Any time some new cop joined the force, Darnell would always volunteer to take them under his wing. It didn't leave a lot of time for personal relationships."

"Plus we heard about an incident that took place in the police station parking lot shortly before Darnell was killed. You and he got into an argument about his intervention into your son's drug dealing. You seemed really upset about it."

"Oh that," Rodney sighed. "So you know all about David and Gerald Allen, I assume."

"Yes we do," Lilly replied. "It was interesting how you were waiting in the parking lot for Darnell as he got off work to talk to him about it. It seems like you knew his work schedule really well. You knew exactly where he was going to be."

"Yeah we both visited each other at work sometimes, so what?" Landis asked.

"So maybe you would know where he was if you wanted to kill him," Scotty pointed out. "And you would have the resources to pull it off. Back in 81' you were a senior executive at one of Philly's most successful construction companies. From what we hear, you were making out very well."

"So I was rich and informed of my friend's work habits. Does that make me a killer?"

"No, but telling Darnell you would do 'Anything it takes' to protect your son shortly before he was gunned down sure makes you a good candidate. You got three strikes Rodney: motive, means, and opportunity."

"You're way off base detective!" Landis shot back angrily. "Yes I had an argument with Darnell about his confrontation with Gerald Allen. I thought he was putting my son in danger and I was very upset about it. Who wouldn't be? But after I went home, I took some time to think over what Darnell told me. About how he could have easily arrested David and destroyed his career prospects, but didn't do it. It made me realize he really did have David's best interests in mind. I was still worried a bit about his confrontation with Allen, but he had assured me Allen would not harm David, and I figured it would be reasonable to trust him. After all, Darnell was one of the most dependable people I ever knew."

"So that's it huh? After threatening Darnell in the parking lot, you just went home and changed your views on a whim?" Asked Scotty.

"I just needed some time to think it through," Rodney explained. "The next day, I called Darnell and apologized. We talked about the situation and by the time we were through, we were back on friendly terms, which is something I'm very grateful for to this day. It would have been a painful memory if our parking lot dispute had been the last time I had talked to Darnell while he was alive. Instead, the last time I met with Darnell was a very happy occasion."

"And when exactly was that?" Asked Lilly.

"At a Super Bowl party Darnell held at his house a week before the game. The last time the Eagles made it to a championship game was when me and him were both kids, so when they finally won the NFC title, he felt it was very fitting to celebrate the occation."

Rodney smiled while decribing the event, looking as though he was thinking about a pleasant memory. "Darnell threw one hell of a party. A lot of his friends from the force and his fellow troops from his National Guard unit were there. I brought a few co-workers from my job as well. I still remember that event as if it was yesterday. The food, the music, the good times. It really felt like heaven..."

("Centerfold" by The J. Geils Band)

With music blaring and a house full of guests, Darnell's party was in full swing. Rodney could not remember a time he had ever seen Darnell so happy. But then again, celebrating an Eagles trip to the Super Bowl was something they had been waiting to see for years.

"A toast to the great Philadelphia Eagles!" shouted Darnell as he raised his drink in the air, "the only team that could ever win an NFC championship game with a quarterback who only completes 9 of 29 passes!"

Several of his guests responded by raising their glasses in the air, laughing, and cheering. "Hell yeah Darnell," shouted Rodney. "The next stop is a Super Bowl championship. Remember when Philly beat the Raiders in the regular season? I think they sacked Jim Plunkett about 10 times by the time it was over."

"Actually it was eight," Darnell corrected him, "but yeah it was a game for the ages. Philly's defensive line spent as much time in the Oakland backfield as Plunkett. I'm telling you, the Eagles are going to dominate the Super Bowl. Oakland doesn't stand a chance!"

Darnell put down his empty glass and was about to go for another drink when Rodney stopped him. "Hey Darnell, on a more serious note, I just wanted to thank you again for not arresting and David. I know I was upset about it before, but now I realize you were really helping him."

"Don't worry about it Rod," Darnell replied. "What's done is done. In a few months, Dave will be off at college and we can all forget about the whole thing."

"Thanks Darnell. You know I didn't mean what I said back in the parking lot. It's just the thought of what Allen could do to David scared the hell out me. You'll understand when you've got kids of your own."

Darnell roared with laughter. "Me? Kids? Come on Rod, we both know that's never going to happen. I've got no prospects on the horizon and I'm not getting any younger. Watching David grow up is about the closest thing to fatherhood I'll ever see."

"Oh don't be so quick to write yourself off, Darnell. After all, I remember just a few years ago, you seemed sure the Eagles would never make it to the Super Bowl before you reached middle age...""

Suddenly Darnell and Rodney's conversation was interrupted by a guest at the party. "Hey Prince, I think you might want to check on Laura. It looks like she's had a bit too much to drink."

Darnell looked surprised to hear this. "Alright. You'll have to excuse me Rod, hehe, duty calls."

Darnell made his way through the crowded living room full of guests to find Laura in an isolated corner of the room, throwing up in a trash can. "Hey Stanton, are you alright?" he asked.

Laura looked up at him with glazed over eyes. And as soon as she started talking, the smell of alcohol was overwhelming. "Y-yeah, n-n-no problem Darnell. I'm just a little sick that's all."

Darnell laughed. "By 'sick' you must mean drunk as hell. Man, you look worse then the subject of our last DUI arrest. How much have you had tonight?"

Laura stumbled away from the trash can, barely able to stand. "Umm...c-c-ould you give me a few minutes on that question? I'm not really in the mood for math at the m-m--moment..."

Darnell sighed. "Alright that's it, come on upstairs Laura. You've had way too much and you need to lie down." With that he put an arm around her waist and half-dragged her towards the stairs.

"Oh come on D-d-arnell," She protested. "Don't let me interupt your party. I just need a few minutes to c-c-catch my breath and I'll be okay."

"What you need to do is lie down and sober up. You know there's no use arguing with me Laura. Not in the patrol car, and damn sure not in my own house. And in case you were wondering, I do still have my duty cuffs on me." Darnell replied. He seemed somewhat upset at the situation, but there was a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"Hey Prince!" Shouted one of the party guests as Darnell started helping Laura up the stairs, "where are you headed off too?"

Darnell smiled and turned back to face the guests at his party "Apparently my partner here has decided to indulge herself in the festivities a bit too much and needs to lie down." He replied. "I'll only be gone a few minutes guys. Then we'll have the rest of the night to bask in the Eagles' championship glory!"

Once again the guests at the party raised their drinks and cheered as Darnell helped Laura up the stairs and out of sight.

"Hold on a second," said Scotty, cutting Rodney off in the middle of his story. "What happened after he took Laura upstairs?"

"About 25 minutes or so later he came back down and returned to the party. Why do you ask?" Replied Rodney.

This answer only seemed to make Scotty more suspicious. "What was he doing up there for that long?"

"How should I know?" Asked Rodney. "Knowing Darnell, he probably stayed upstairs for a bit to make sure Laura didn't pass out and choke on her own vomit. What else would he be doing up there?"

"Oh come on, Rodney, we both know. You must have had some suspicions."

"What are you talking about?" Rodney asked.

Now Scotty chose to elaborate. "Darnell was 36 years old. He was addicted to his job and had no wife, no girlfriend, no family, and only a few close friends. Maybe upstairs with his hot young female partner in a drunken stupor, he decided to take advantage of the situation and help himself to..."

This time it was Landis who cut Scotty off in mid-sentence. "That's absurd!" Landis shouted, practically jumping out his seat. "In addition to being drunk, Laura was his partner and she was married. Darnell would never mess around with someone else on the force or another man's wife!"

Scotty remained calm. "Well maybe not normally, but when a situation like that presents it to yourself, it can be very tempting. And you said Darnell had a few drinks that night too..."

By now Rodney was in a total fit of rage. "I am not going to sit here and listen this empty-headed nonsense anymore!" he shouted. "You detectives are supposed to be tracking down Darnell's killer! Not dragging his good name through the dirt! Darnell didn't do anything wrong at the party, and I can prove it!

"Really?" Lilly cut in. "How?"

"After a few minutes, another guest at the party got concerned and went up to check on them. He also came back down with Darnell. His name is Larry Tyler. He was the senior NCO in Darnell's National Guard unit and was a retired cop who did 23 years on the job. The man has just as much integrity as Darnell did, and if he caught Darnell doing something wrong he would not have tolerated it!"

After providing the two detectives with Larry Tyler's address, Rodney Landis angrily ordered both of them to leave his house

"Wow, David wasn't kidding when he said his father had a short temper," said Lilly when they were outside. "Still he did have a point. Darnell doesn't seem like a person who would take advantage of anyone, much less someone close to him."

"Maybe so, but we have to look into this," Scotty replied. "After all Darnell did seem rather insistent about making sure Laura went to his party. If something was going on between them, maybe it could reveal something that we've overlooked so far. Let's head over to Tyler's house and see if he can give us the real story."