Parking around the corner, out of sight of the house, Steve quickly reached over and grabbed one of the bulletproof vests he had thrown on the back seat earlier before he got out of the Silverado and shrugged into it.
Climbing out of the truck, Chin grabbed the other vest, pulling it on and adjusting the shoulder strap as he looked over the truck's roof at Steve and asked, "How do you want to do this?"
After checking his gun, Steve glanced across at Chin, "Let's see if we can find out what's going on in that house. "
Chin nodded as he followed McGarrett around the corner and using the cover of the dark shadows and misty rain, they carefully made their way past the two houses until they reached Jenny Rankin's home. Pressing themselves against the wall of the house, they stealthily edged their way to the side of the stairs. They only had time to duck back down into the dark shadows as the front door suddenly opened and Jenny stumbled outside with Henderson gripping her arm tightly as he forced her down the stairs.
Silently drawing his gun, Steve waited until they reached the bottom of the stairs before he stood up, his gun trained on Henderson's back as he called, "Hold it, Henderson, Five O! Let her go and give yourself up!"
Jenny squealed in fear and broke free of Henderson's bruising hold, running away as fast as she could before she was quickly grabbed by Chin and pulled to safety as Henderson spun around to face Steve as he started to reach for the gun he had tucked in his belt behind his back.
"Just give me an excuse, Henderson," Steve warned, a dangerous edge coloring his voice, his finger tightening on the trigger as he kept his weapon trained on Henderson's chest.
Henderson hesitated as he stared at Steve, before he glanced across at Chin, who also had his gun aimed at him. Looking back at the look on McGarrett's face, he had no doubt that McGarrett wasn't bluffing with his threat. He sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat, as he allowed the gun, he now held in his hand to drop to the ground, kicking it away, before he slowly raised his hands in surrender.
Reholstering his weapon, Chin stepped forward, confident Steve had him covered as he grabbed Henderson and pushed him up against the wall of the house.
"Ya making a huge mistake, McGarrett, I didn't kill Jones and I didn't shoot your partner. I admit it, Jones and I had a fight over the money he owed me, but I didn't kill him, nor did I shoot your partner this afternoon," Henderson protested weakly as Chin quickly patted him down, searching for any more weapons. Grabbing each arm and bringing it down behind Henderson's back, Chin quickly zip tied his hands together before he grabbed his arm and turned him back around to read him his rights before leading him off in the direction where the Silverado was parked.
Shrugging free of Chin's hold, Henderson turned back to Steve as he pleaded, "You have to believe me, McGarrett, there were two kids in the alley, and they shot him! Just ask your partner, he'll tell you it was the two kids who shot him, not me!" Pulling against Chin's firm grip as Chin grabbed his arm again and forced him to walk towards the corner, Henderson turned and looked over his shoulder as he continued to yell, "Go on, McGarrett, ask him! Just ask him!"
H50 H50 H50 H50
Tony Henderson sighed loudly in frustration, shifting on the chair that he was handcuffed to as he glared across the bare cement basement room at the two Five 0 officers standing near the door, "Look, McGarrett, how many times do I have to tell you? I didn't shoot Williams in that alleyway!"
"Well, Henderson, I want you to tell me again," Steve answered coolly, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall, forcing himself to stay in control, not wanting to risk letting this bastard off on a small technicality such as police brutality, "And I don't want you to leave a single detail out."
"Okay, McGarrett, okay, I admit it, I legged it, I climbed out of the window when I heard you at the door, I knew someone had stitched me up for Jones' murder and I didn't want to go away for somethin' I didn't do!" Henderson began again, lifting his shoulder, unsuccessfully attempting to wipe his mouth on his shirt his mouth, before repeating the story that he felt that he had repeated at least one hundred times in the two hours since his dramatic arrest outside Jenny's place. Dropping his shoulder back down, he licked his lips, nervously, before he continued, "So I ran! I went out of the window and down the fire escape but when I reached the alley way around the side of the building, that's when I saw your partner and those two kids with the gun."
"You're telling me the kids had a gun?" Steve asked, catching the disbelieving look that flittered across Lou's face.
"Yeah, yeah," Henderson nodded eagerly, "I was running around the corner to get away when suddenly I saw your boy and the two kids. I don't think that Williams even saw me, his attention was focused fully on the kids and getting them to give him the gun."
"Describe the kids." Lou demanded.
"What?" Henderson asked, momentarily confused by the unexpected question.
"What did the two boys look like?" Lou demanded again.
Henderson shrugged and swallowed hard. "I don't know, they were just two boys … probably about seven or eight, one was blonde, the other had dark hair... "
"What were they wearing?" Steve pushed.
"Jeans and tee-shirts," Henderson paused, staring into the distance over Steve's shoulder as he tried to remember anything more about the boys. Suddenly, looking back at Steve, he announced, "Yeah, they were both wearing jeans and tee- shirts but the blonde boy's shirt had a picture on the front of it, one of those cartoon characters, umm… that cartoon about the family where the mom has the big blue hair and the dad's name is Homer…," he frowned before he suddenly smiled, "The Simpsons, yeah that's the cartoon character he had on his shirt, Bart Simpson!"
"And then what happened?" Steve growled.
"I ain't sure, one minute I heard Williams talking to the boys like he knew them, telling them to give him the gun and the next the kids started fighting over who was going to give it to him, then bang! The gun goes off, Williams falls to the ground, and the kids take off running." Henderson sat up straighter in his chair as he looked at Steve. "There was no way I was going to hang around after that, you were already wanting to lock me up for one murder I never did, what chance did I have of provin' that it wasn't me that shot your partner. So-"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Lou gruffly interrupted, casting a quick glance across at Steve before returning his attention back to Henderson, "You said that you heard Williams talking to the boys like he knew them."
"Yeah," Henderson nodded, looking at Lou, "I heard him call one of them Benny … no, not Benny…" Henderson frowned, "Sammy? Yeah, that's it, Sammy! Williams called one of the kids Sammy when he told him he wanted the gun."
"Sammy, are you sure?" Steve frowned.
"Yeah," Henderson nodded before adding, "Williams called the blonde headed kid- Sammy, and the kid called him - Officer Williams. And like I already told you, that's when the kids started fighting and the gun went off, Williams went down, and we all ran. If you don't believe me, ask you partner! He'll back up what I am tellin' you!"
"Oh, don't worry, Henderson, I will as soon as Danny Williams is well enough to be interviewed," Steve told him coldly, "Now, what happened to the gun?"
"Look, McGarrett, I don't know! It wasn't my gun! But I'm tellin' you, if you didn't find it, then I guess the kids musta taken it. But you have to believe me, I might be a lot of things but I'm no killer. I never killed Jones and I definitely didn't shoot your partner. Find the gun and I bet you will find them two kids who shot Williams!" Henderson sighed with resignation as he shook his head and slumped back down lower in his chair as Steve stood silently, watching him. "See, I knew you wouldn't believe me," Henderson muttered in frustration as he looked down at his lap before he looked back up at Steve and growled defiantly, "Well, if you don't believe me, I guess I have nothin' more to say because you have already made up your mind that I'm guilty. Now, I know my rights, so I suggest that you either charge me with something or let me go cause I'm through co-operatin'. Now I ain't got nothin' more to say to you until I talk to my lawyer."
Steve's hands curled up into fists as he resisted the urge punch the defiant look off of Henderson's face instead forcing himself to nod as he turned to leave the room, ordering Lou over his shoulder, "Charge him."
H50 H50 H50 H50
"Steve!" Duke ran to catch up with McGarrett as Steve reached the sliding glass doors the led into the Five O offices. "I got the search warrant you wanted, and we searched Jennifer Rankins' home." he told the younger man breathlessly as he reached him, and they entered the Five 0 office together.
"And?" Steve asked, casting a quick glance towards Chin's office where Chin was debriefing the young woman about the night's earlier events before returning his attention back to the HPD sergeant.
"Nothing, Steve, no sign of the gun. I'm guessing Henderson probably dumped it somewhere between the alleyway and the house. I have some of the guys searching the route he would have taken," Duke shrugged, "but it's a long shot, Steve, he could have dumped the gun he used anywhere."
"What about the two boys the witness saw leaving the alley immediately after the shooting? Any leads?" Steve asked softly.
"None," Duke sighed tiredly. "Some of the guys door knocked the families in the streets surrounding the alley who have boys about the same age as the boys seen running out of the alley, but all the boys are accounted for the time of the shooting."
Steve frowned, "All of the boys?"
"The guys said there were a couple of families who weren't home when they door knocked tonight, so I thought I would door knock those families in the morning," Duke answered.
"When you do, Duke, see if any of the parents or kids know a boy named Sammy who matches the description."
"Sammy?" Duke asked, confused.
"Yes, Sammy. Henderson claims he heard Danny call one of the boys Sammy in the alleyway," Steve told Duke softly before he turned and headed towards Chin's office.
Duke stared after him. "Sammy," he frowned, wondering why the name of the boy Henderson claimed Danny had called by name seemed so familiar as he turned and headed back out of the door.
H50 H50 H50 H50
Holding the mug full of hot coffee between her hands, Jenny could not stop shaking as she answered the Five 0 lieutenant's questions over and over again.
"Tell me about what Henderson told you about the shooting of the officer in the alley again?" Chin asked as Steve knocked on the door and entered Chin's office.
"I don't know how many times I have to tell you, Tony was scared and upset. He told me that he was in big trouble… big trouble. He said that the cops believed he killed a police officer by shooting him in the head as he tried to get away, but it wasn't him. Look, he was rambling, and I was scared." Tired, frustrated and scared of feeling like she was being treated like she had done something wrong, she looked up pleadingly at Steve as he entered the office to believe her as she repeated what she had only told Chin a few minutes before, "He said something about there were some boys in the alley when he tried to get away. I'm not sure just what happened, Tony didn't tell me, he just said that one of the boys shot the officer, not him." She sighed as she looked back down into the mug of coffee and muttered, "He told me that you would never believe him…"
"And you do?" Steve frowned as he sat down on the edge of the table, watching her closely.
Jenny looked up at Steve, "Look, I know Tony is no angel, in fact, he is an utter bastard! Hell, he proved that to me over and over again, but one thing I will say about him, no matter whatever else he did, he has never lied to me. Not once!" Biting her bottom lip, she looked over Steve's shoulder at the young woman in the next office who appeared to be typing something into the computer on her desk before she looked back at Steve and finally answered his question, "So you want to know if I believed him when he told me that he never shot that police officer, that one of the kids did? Yes, I believed him, okay, I believed him!"
Placing the coffee mug back onto the table, she suddenly pushed her chair away from the table and stood up, "Look, it's late, I'm tired and I have already told you everything that happened tonight, now unless you want to arrest me or something for lying to you about Tony being in my home, I've already told the Lieutenant that I didn't have any other choice. He threatened to kill you both, and me, if I gave him away. Now please, can I go? I just really want to go home."
Steve nodded and smiled as he rose from the edge of the desk, "No, you're not under arrest, thank you for your co-operation, but -"
"I know, I know, but in case you have any more questions for me, you don't want me leaving town," Jenny anticipated his next words before she looked at him with a small, tired smile, "Isn't that what the cop says to the suspect or witness in all the cop shows?"
"Yeah, I guess they do," Steve laughed before he grew serious again, "but I was going to say but because it's so late, how about I get one of my officers to give you a lift home."
"Ohh," Jenny blushed, before she added demurely, smiling shyly back at Steve, "Thank you."
Steve walked her across to Chin's office door before he called Kono out of her office. He waited until Kono joined them before he introduced the two young women to each other before requesting that Kono drive Jenny home.
Chin silently watched through the glass partition wall of his office as Jenny and Kono left the office before he turned back to Steve and frowned, "So what do you think, Steve? She insists that Henderson told her the two boys in the alley were responsible for shooting Danny."
"Henderson is telling the same story," Steve answered slowly, "He claims that Danny was already distracted by the two boys when he came around the side of the building and one of the boys was holding a gun. He also claims that Danny and the boys seemed to know each other. He thinks he heard Danny call one of the boys Sammy."
"Sammy?" Chin frowned, turning back to look at Steve in surprise before he asked cautiously, "You don't believe Henderson's story, do you Steve?"
Staring at the now empty doorway to the Five 0 office, Steve hesitated a moment before he turned back to look at Chin and slowly nodded, "I do."