"The note said a bar on 2nd Avenue," Face said to himself that night in the hotel room he and Murdock were sharing as he paced around. He was trying to keep his voice down because B.A.'s room was next door and he didn't want that guy coming through the walls to complain about the noise, "But 2nd Avenue is a very long one with a dozen bars between points A and B, so which one was this guy talking about?"

Murdock was already in bed, though he'd only taken the top cover off and wrapped it around himself without bothering to even remove his shoes or his cap, but he wasn't asleep. He looked over at his friend and called over, "Hey, Faceman."

"What is it, Murdock?"

"Will you tell me a bedtime story?" he asked.

Even for Murdock that was a new one and it took Face by surprise; he stopped in mid-step and looked over to the bed, "What?"

"Will you tell me a bedtime story please?" Murdock got up on his knees at the foot of the bed so he could make eye contact with Face and said, "Just a little itty-bitty one to put me to sleep, please?"

It was no wonder it was hard to stay mad at him. Face gave in and said, "Alright, Murdock."

"Oh goody-goody," he settled back on the bed and was shaking with enthusiasm.

Face tried to keep a straight face as he sat down by the bed and started, "Well…once upon a time there were three pigs."

"Oh not that one," Murdock told him and shook his head.

"Alright, three bears," Face said.

Murdock still shook his head, "Not that one either."

"A fairy princess."

"No," Murdock shook his head.

"Seven dwarfs."

"No."

Face was starting to get annoyed, "A big green giant."

"No," Murdock persisted, "Tell me the one about Pandora and the forbidden box that should never be opened, or the world would be destroyed." He saw the sudden change in Face's demeanor and he asked him, "Say, that's a Greek myth, isn't it?"

"There are 12 bars running through the length of 2nd Avenue, but there's one in the middle, on the corner of 2nd and Lexington that's called Pandora's Bottle," Face explained to Hannibal and B.A., both of whom he'd gotten out of bed to tell, "This has to be the place that Brutus was talking about."

"Get me out of bed at 2 in the morning fool, it had better be the right place," B.A. told him.

"So 8 o' clock at Pandora's Bottle, this guy's supposed to show up," Hannibal said, "Or so we think."

He and B.A. turned when they heard a low hissing sound and saw that Murdock was whispering something to Face.

"What is it?" Hannibal asked.

Face turned to Murdock and said, "Go ahead, Murdock, tell him."

"Uh, Hannibal," Murdock said as he took a step closer to them, but remained close to Face as if he'd have to hide behind him for protection once he said what he was thinking, "What if Colonel Lynch kidnapped this girl, knowing that her parents would call us in, and then when we go in to find her, he could catch us?"

Hannibal and B.A. looked at each other and B.A. said, "The crazy fool might have something there. Nothing else Lynch has tried has managed to work."

"Well that's just a chance we're going to have to take, B.A.," Hannibal replied, "We've already taken this case, we can't back out now. Besides, I want to find out what's going on, anything that involves more than once branch of the military, something's got to be cooking."

"Something else about the whole thing I don't get," Face said, "Now granted it's been over 10 years since we were in the army, and a lot has happened since then and everybody's more liberated now, but I didn't know the SEALs were taking women."

"They said she went AWOL so she had to be in there at some point," Hannibal told him.

"Or did she?" Murdock asked.

"Oh boy I'm worried, Faceman," Murdock said as he sank low in his seat in the van, "I've got a bad feeling about this, what if they find out who Hannibal is?"

"He knows what he's doing, Murdock," Face told him, "He said he'd be back here as soon as he found out anything."

"Crazy fool though," B.A. commented, "How many times does he think he can pass himself off as Lynch before he does get caught?"

They heard a knocking on the window and saw it was only Hannibal, dressed in a military suit and wearing a dark curly wig and dark moustache and black sunglasses, and with cotton stuffed in his cheeks to give him something of a chipmunk complexion.

"How did it go?" Murdock asked.

"It was very enlightening," Hannibal answered as he pulled the door shut and started shedding his disguise.

"Did they really think you was Colonel Lynch?" Murdock asked.

"They didn't question it, all the same B.A. I think it'd be a good idea to get out of here."

"Right," B.A. started the van and sped away.

"So what did you find out, Hannibal?" Face asked.

"Well as it turns out, the records do show a recruit named Jean Rhodes, only it's a he, and he did go missing four months back. It turns out that the Jean Rhodes we're looking for enlisted in the army, they said she didn't pass the training period and was drummed out."

Murdock made a bunch of small strange noises and hit himself in the head as he said in a bad Paul Newman impersonation, "What we have here is a failure to communicate."

"It sounds like somebody got their records crossed," Face said, "But it still doesn't explain why they didn't tell the Rhodes that. For that matter, why would their daughter tell them she was going into the SEALs if she was going into the army?"

"Well I think we can agree," Hannibal said as he peeled off his mustache, "The Rhodes are nice people but not too bright, they're not going to ask a lot of questions and risk causing trouble, not where the military's involved anyway. It could be their daughter knew that and used the SEALs as a cover knowing they'd never be able to trace her through them."

"But if she was just drummed out of the army," Face chimed in, "Why didn't she go home instead of making them worry for four months?"

"Well for that," Hannibal told him, "We're still going to have to find Miss Rhodes and have her explain it herself."

"Right, but where do we look for her now?" Face asked.

"I'd say Pandora's Bottle at 8 tonight is a good place to start," he replied, "If there's some chance she is tied in with this Brutus guy, we might be able to find out."

"I just had a thought," Murdock said, "What if this other Jean Rhodes who was in the SEALs is this guy Brutus?"

"That would certainly explain why he's been AWOL for so long," Face commented, "But even if this was the case, why is both the army and navy involved?"

"I still think Lynch might be involved in this," Murdock suggested, "And if he is, that would explain it, wouldn't it? A guy like him could probably muscle his way in about anywhere, couldn't he?"

Face and Hannibal looked to each other and wondered. Face was the only one who gave voice to his own ideas about it, "It could be he's learning a few new tricks."

Pandora's Bottle was a crowded, noisy, neon-lit bar that drew in people like moths to a flame with their combination of cheap drinks and loud music. Hannibal, Face and Murdock sat close to the bar while B.A. stayed by the door, passing himself off as a bouncer. The others looked around at everybody who came in and kept an eye out for anybody that might look suspicious; of course that was no easy task because everybody looked weird.

"Boy-ooh-boy," Murdock said in one of his funny voices, "These' my kind of people."

"How reassuring," Face dryly remarked.

Murdock's eyes rolled around in his head as he looked around at everything and everybody in between drinking shot glasses of soda that he poured from a bottle on the counter.

Face checked his watch and saw that it was a minute to eight. He leaned over towards Hannibal and he asked, "Did you happen to find out what this other Jean Rhodes looks like?"

"No," Hannibal answered, "But I have an idea if he is Brutus, that he'll make his presence known."

"What makes you say that?" Face asked.

"Just a hunch," Hannibal told him, "I have an idea that Brutus couldn't pass up an opportunity to gloat."

Murdock poured another drink but before he could swallow it, his face scrunched up in a sickened cringe and he doubled over moaning and dropped the glass. Face jumped off his bar stool and knelt down beside him and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Oh boy, I feel sick, Faceman," he said through grunts of pain, "My stomach is killing me."

Face grabbed Murdock and started to help him up when they heard a loud explosion and hit the floor. Hannibal heard it too, and that was about the last thing he heard as it occurred just a few inches away from his head. Something on the bar's counter had blown up and there was a bright flash and a lot of smoke, and everybody in the bar screamed and panicked and ran to the doors in packs. B.A. pushed past everybody and went in the opposite direction, to see if Hannibal was alright. When the smoke cleared, B.A., Face and Murdock saw that Hannibal's gray hair was standing straight up and he had blood coming out of one ear and he appeared to be dazed.

"Hannibal, are you alright?" Face asked.

"This guy Brutus is really cute," Hannibal commented when they got back to their hotel room, "He makes his appearance known by setting a small bomb on the counter right where we're sitting."

"Yeah but the question is how?" Face asked as he went over to Murdock's bed and opened a package of Alka-Seltzer, which Murdock forwent the water for and just put the tablets in his mouth and let them dissolve.

"Ever since we arrived at the bar, nobody put anything on that counter, meaning it was already set when they got there, and that he knew where we'd be sitting, but how?" Face wanted to know.

"Ooh, Face!" Murdock started yelling, "Face!"

"What's the matter now?"

"I just thought of something, what if I'm not sick, what if those drinks I had were poisoned?" he asked.

Face looked over to Hannibal with a look of uncertainty and a hint of worry as he recalled, "Nothing was put on that counter once we came in, the soda bottle was already there and waiting."

Murdock looked over to his comrades and asked in a worried voice, "'M I gonna have to go to the hospital?"

"It's not a possibility," Face realized, "If anybody would recognize us…"

"Get the phone book," Hannibal told him, "Look for any local doctors and their home addresses, we'll get one to make a house call."

"Do they do that anymore?" Face asked.

"We'll make them," Hannibal replied and looking over to their other comrade, added, "Right, B.A.?"

"Oh man," B.A. grumbled as he shook his head, "Leave it to that crazy fool."

If Murdock had been poisoned, it hadn't been with anything too potent; he got sick shortly afterwards and upon returning to the bedroom announced he was starting to feel better, and he resumed eating Alka-Seltzer like popcorn.

"Are you thinking what I am?" Face asked Hannibal when he saw the look on their leader's face.

"Just something to get our attention," Hannibal said, "Just like the bomb…if it was spiked it was probably something herbal."

"Ipecac maybe," Face thought.

Murdock groaned as he turned onto his side and pulled the covers up. He looked over towards the door and saw something, "Hey guys, what's that?"

They turned and saw what he did, an envelope slid under the door. Hannibal went over and got it and took a letter out of it:

"Good to know you boys are up on your toes, tonight was a bit of a bust but if you're hungry for more, you'll have another chance when I next make myself known; the alley behind 17th Street, be there tomorrow night by 9 but don't expect an early arrival on my part. A word of warning, if you don't come looking for me I will come hunting for you. Signed, Brutus."

"This guy is just stringing us along," Face said.

"Maybe," Hannibal replied, "But he's also upping the stakes…we seem to have gotten his attention as well, he's threatening to come after us if we don't show. What happened tonight was child's play, I'm not sure we want to find out what he'll do if we stand him up."

"Hey Faceman, you never did explain, how did you figure out what this guy's pattern is to the people he kills?" Murdock asked Face the next morning.

"It's all very simple, Murdock," Face told him, "Though gratitude really goes to the Rhodes for compiling all the information for us in the first place." He took out a map and unfolded it and Murdock ooh-ed and ahh-ed over the spots where Face had drawn around the sites of the murders, "Using the dates as a starting base, I applied a little connect-the-dot logic to the scenes of the crimes…what's this look like to you?"

Murdock turned the map around on all sides and upside down before concluding, "I don't know."

"Took me back to astronomy," Face took out a constellation map and showed Murdock, "Following the dots based on the dates, it starts to look like Orion."

Murdock looked at the map and started counting the dots there, and comparing them to the ones on the other map, and he came to the conclusion, "Brutus needs to kill three more people to complete the picture."

"Which poses the next question," Face told him, "Does it stop at Orion or is this guy going to cover all the constellations?"

Murdock whistled at that thought and said, "Hope the next one's not Sagittarius." Another thought went through his mind and he looked up and went, "Hmmm, might put a whole new spin on the Zodiac killer."

Face laughed nervously and remarked, "That's just what we don't need." He saw Murdock bent over the constellation map again and asked, "What're you doing?"

"Just trying to remember which is my birth sign," Murdock answered.

"Incidentally, Face, did you happen to see if this alley marks the next spot on Brutus' kill sheet?" Hannibal asked as they entered the alley behind 17th Street that night.

"I checked, and as far as that goes, we should be perfectly safe here," Face told him, "As safe as you can be in the middle of a dark alley behind the abandoned business district part of town…where no one can here you scream."

"Hmmm," Murdock looked around at everything as he walked around with an invisible leash in his hand, "I don't like the looks of this place, uh-uh, neither does Billy, I think I'll put him in the van."

"Don't do that," Face warned him, "B.A.'s in there, and you know how much he…doesn't like Billy."

"It's 9:20 already," Hannibal said as he looked at his watch, "I wonder just how long this guy's planning to leave us out here before he makes his next move."

"Hey Hannibal, what'd you think he's going to do next?" Murdock asked.

Face laughed dryly and said, "Knowing our luck he's probably going come through this alley in an 18 wheeler to turn us into road kill."

"Oh yeah, I saw that movie!" Murdock said, "McQ with John Wayne, that was a good one…not as good as the westerns though, I like the westerns…"

Face leaned in towards Hannibal and asked him, "Exactly how long are we planning to stand out here looking like idiots?"

"As long as it takes," Hannibal replied, and then under his breath he added, "However long that is."

Face looked up at the sky and saw there weren't any stars out and it looked like it might rain soon. "I hope he shows up soon."

Face heard sirens in the distance and that was when he realized that he'd fallen asleep; as he got up he also saw that the others had fallen asleep as well, and all of them were lined up against the wall in the alley, he shook Murdock and Hannibal and they started to come around and a minute later so did B.A. It was still dark and now it was starting to rain, and it only took a couple of minutes to develop into a full downpour.

"What happened?" Murdock asked.

Hannibal was about to ask how they could've fallen asleep on the job when he got the answer in the form of a burning odor in his nose.

"Chloroform!"

Face was about to ask how they could've been knocked out when they never saw anyone, but they didn't have time because they could see blue and red lights close by and the sirens were deafeningly loud at this point. Murdock scrambled for the van but Face pulled him back as they decided to first check out what the commotion was about. Leaving the alley they saw that there were several police cars and an ambulance three blocks down. Hannibal felt certain that in the middle of night, in the rain, even with the lights from the cars, that nobody would recognize them and they headed on down and acted like curious passersby to see what was the matter.

They quickly got the answer and it about made them sick; three blocks down was another alley and in this one there were several cops standing around the scene of another murder. The body was covered with a tarp, but it quickly became obvious to the four men that it was another Brutus murder; confirmed with full certainty when a cop's flashlight shone on another trident scratched on the wall.

"This wasn't part of the pattern!" Face told Hannibal, "The next murder wasn't supposed to be anywhere near here!"

The police wouldn't let them through to get a better look at the crime scene so they went back to the alley behind 17th Street and got back to the van when B.A. noticed another envelope placed under the windshield wiper. Hannibal opened it and read, "Sorry, Smith, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you? Took things a little off course but the target was all the same. Now the ante is upped; innocent lives are coming into play, unless you want blood on your hands you won't try to interfere as the next move is made by a messenger I'm sending. Contact will be made tomorrow morning at 11 in the lobby of the Empty Arms Hotel on 34th Street. Looking forward to seeing you then, can't say the same for you. Brutus."

Murdock let out a whistle and said, "This is getting to be like an Easter egg hunt."

Face took the note and looked it over, "It doesn't say who the messenger is or even if it's a man or a woman, you think it'll be the Rhodes girl?"

"Could be," Hannibal said, "I wonder if Brutus would be expecting us tonight?"

"What do you mean?" Face asked.

"Well he seems to have everything pretty well planned out in advance, he says come at 11 tomorrow, what if we went over there now and stayed through the night?" Hannibal asked.

"He might be expecting that," Face said.

"He might, but if he is, I'm interested in seeing what he's going to do," Hannibal told him, "He's already gotten his kill for the night, and if he wanted us dead he would've tried something more serious than that flash bomb at the bar. I want to know what he wants with us. I think the Rhodes were right and he does have their daughter, if he does it makes perfect sense why he wants us off the case."

"But if he knows about us he has to know we're not giving up that easily," Murdock replied.

"That's true," Hannibal added, "All the more reason I want to see if we can drop in early and maybe catch this guy."

Acting on a hunch, Face had gone on ahead to speak to the clerk at the front desk and see if perhaps there was a reservation for them; finding none, he went ahead and got them four rooms for the night and once on the second floor, they checked out their rooms one by one for any hidden assassins or booby traps or anything that might jump out and surprise them. When that search proved futile, they went their separate ways and turned in for the night.

B.A. peeled off his 40 pounds of gold jewelry and changed for the night, stopping once to yawn and stretch and cracked his knuckles in the process; of all the jobs they had done, he swore this one was the weirdest one yet, and one of the more exhausting ones. He reached into his shirt pocket and took out the picture the Rhodes had given them of their daughter and he took another look at it; a 21-year-old girl who at the time of the picture, didn't appear to have a care in the world. Now she had disappeared off the face of the earth, and her parents had aged 10 years in six months. B.A. picked up his suitcase and pulled out the bag Mrs. Rhode had packed Jean's clothes and teddy bear in. For an instant, a flashback of Vietnam went through his mind and he dropped the bag on the bed. A sudden thought of Jean being returned to her parents in a rubber body bag, like several of their comrades in the war…he shook the thought from his mind, he was determined to bring this girl back to her parents alive, no matter what it took.