08x04 - Officer Involved

[bunniefuu]

We got an officer down.

We need a bus over here at 34th and Lexington.

Hurry.

Sarge?
Sarge, you all right?
Sarge, you okay?
Huh?
I had to do it.

He pulled a g*n.

I had no choice.

Don't move.

All right tell me tell me what happened off the record so I know.

They jumped us.

Three of 'em did it.

Yeah, that guy on the ground hit you with a bottle.


- We started fighting.


- Is that the guy from the bar?
Yeah.

Yeah.

All right, so where's the other two?
We chased them around the corner, but we lost them.


- Cooper says this guy had a w*apon.


- Yeah.

Yeah, nickel
-plated .

38, maybe.

He fired at her, she returned fire, took him down.


- Had to do it, right?

- All right, so you guys are saying that this guy right here had a g*n and he took a sh*t at Lauren.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Where's his g*n?
You're saying that three guys jumped you when you left the bar.

Yeah.

Guy on the ground pulled a g*n and fired one sh*t, and he went down.

You see what happened to the g*n?
He had it when I sh*t him.

Did one of the other men take the g*n when they fled?
The guy on the ground pulled the g*n.

Officer Cooper fired one sh*t.

He went down.

I understand that part, Officer.

I'm asking about his friends.

Guy on the ground pulled a g*n.

Yeah, and Officer Cooper fired one sh*t; I got that.

Then you got enough to fill out your report.

You know the drill.

I'm not saying another word till my rep gets here.

Run me through it, Danny.

All right, so, uh, we came here for a drink after shift, just to blow off some steam.

The guy in the white shirt, he's a sloppy drunk.

I'm gonna cr*ck him in the head if he says one more word to me.


- This was the victim?

- Yeah.

He got aggressive with Cooper.

She said, you know, she told him to back off.

I'm not causing any trouble, okay?
Okay.

I just want to buy the lady a drink.


- Come on.


- Whoa.

Hey, the girl's not thirsty.

He was reluctant to leave.

Come on, man.

Stop it.

So I showed him the door.


- You identify yourself as a policeman?

- No, Mac, I mean, the guy was wasted I show him my shield, it makes things worse.

The guy was a jerk.

And I didn't give it a second thought till a few hours later.

Hey! Hey! Next thing I know, I'm looking up into the sky, my off
-duty piece is in Cooper's hand, and this guy is dead.

Why did Officer Cooper have your w*apon?
I was the only one carrying.

It was three men that jumped you?
That's right, three of them.

Foley and Cates, they start fighting with them.

Vic pulls out a nickel
-plated revolver.

Well, you didn't see that, Danny you were unconscious.

That's what my people are saying.

They've already made their statements.

Right.

I see what this is.

It's an officer
-involved sh**ting, talking three
-ring circus those cops are the main attraction, right?
Not just them.

You're their supervisor.

You were in the bar.

Somebody got sh*t.

The g*n is missing.

Bosses will want someone to answer.

You're the one with the stripes, Danny.

Get ready.

GSR field test came back positive.

Means the victim had a g*n.

Maybe.

Officer Cooper told Danny that she checked the victim's vitals after sh**ting him.

Maybe the GSR transferred from her hands to his.

There's no other evidence here that backs up those cops' story.

They all had their stories straight.


- Just like they rehearsed it.


- Makes sense.

They'll be under so much scrutiny, one little detail's off and they're all screwed.

Have the vic's I.

D.

Pete Miller.

His business card says he's a house painter.

No criminal record.

That's not exactly the profile of a guy who brings a g*n to a bar fight.

Canvassed the area to see if the g*n got dumped.

Nothing.

Plus we got no witnesses other than the cops who saw the sh**ting go down, and the dead guy's friends who are in the wind.

Someone must have heard sh*ts.

Yeah.

Except they heard one sh*t.

So we got no witnesses, no g*n.

There's four off
-duty cops and a dead civilian.

Hey.

Hey.

Don't worry, don't worry.

It's just a little cut.

Little cut.

Let me see.

Danny, there's still glass in your head.

We should get a sample to Mac.

Mac already got a sample.

You're off the clock.

Look, let me take you to the hospital.

I'm fine, babe.

I got to stay here for them.

There's nothing you can do for them now, honey, except maybe bleed all over them.

She's right, Sergeant Messer.

Can't mess around with a head injury.

I'm Lieutenant Adler, Internal Affairs.

How you doing?
It's not
-
- it's not a head injury.

Great.

Then you won't mind answering a few questions.

Actually, he does mind.

We're on our way to the E.

R.

You're not going to make me pull rank here, are you?
You know you got to talk to me.

Look, Lieutenant According to regulations, he has 24 hours before he can be compelled to make a statement.

So he can talk to you then.

I removed several shards of glass from the palm of the victim's left hand.

Appears to be consistent with the glass the EMTs pulled from Danny's head.

I did a full tox screening, too.

Blood alcohol level was .

19.

The bartender at Rattigans said the victim only ordered one drink, and was already visibly impaired.

Means he did his drinking someplace else.

To be thorough, I checked the stomach contents.

Found these.

Some kind of stones?
They're carved in perfect cubes.

Perhaps he ingested them wherever he was before Rattigans.

I'll bring them back to the lab.

sh**t to stop.

Hmm?
What you're taught at the academy.

Fire in bursts of twos and threes.

Yet here we have a single g*nsh*t wound to the chest, almost perfectly placed.

b*llet lodged in the heart.

Could mean Officer Cooper kept cool.

Took an opportunity.

Lucky sh*t in an unlucky situation.

Of course, he may not have had a g*n at all, Mac.

In which case, she fired by mistake and k*lled an unarmed man.

Hey, Adam.

Hey, Linds.

You ever dance with the green fairy?
I can't help you, Adam.

I'm talking about absinthe.

It's the 19th century version of magic mushrooms.

Do you know why they call it the green fairy?
Because it's made with wormwood, and it contains thujone.

It's a narcotic, and I found it all over Pete Miller's shirt.

It causes hallucinations and, you know, maybe that's what was up with our vic.

I really can't say.

Might explain why a guy with no criminal record goes out and gets a g*n.

Now, this I can't make heads or tails of.

It's some kind of fiber.

At first, I thought hair, but its thickness is way under 50 micrometers.

Oh, so it's too thin to be human hair, so what, fur maybe?
Adam, what do you get when you have a sergeant involved in a sh**ting, his wife who works in the crime lab and an IAB investigation?
Conflict of interest.

Oh, oh.

I'm Oh, I'm sorry.

I Is he okay?
Oh, yeah, he's fine.

He's got a couple stitches in his head.

He's gonna give a statement to Internal Affairs.

All right, well, you tell him that we're all thinking about him.

I will.

Thanks, Adam.

Tell EDNA I said hello.

EDNA.

Got the elemental breakdown on the GSR from the victim's hand.

Residue matched the g*n Officer Cooper fired.

That confirms it was transferred from her hand to the victim's.

Yeah, but that's not all.

I found more g*nsh*t residue on the upper part of the victim's hand, and all over the left arm of his shirt, sleeve to shoulder.

The elemental composition is different.

So, there were two g*ns.

Pete Miller used one of them.

Friends must have taken it when they fled.

Flack's trying to track 'em down, but all he has is the cops' descriptions to go by.

No luck so far.

There's one thing I bet the friends didn't take when they ran.

Hmm?
The b*llet Pete fired.

Let's try over there, don't you think?
Yeah, right over there down the street.

Since we don't have the g*n, this may be able to show us the direction of the b*llet.

Hey, check it out.

You may have been better coming in here with your wife.

She was more on the ball than any union rep I've ever dealt with.

Let's begin with the, uh, fight at the bar.

It wasn't a fight.

Kid was out of line.

I showed him the door.

Ah, the victim we're talking about.

And by showing him the door, you mean dragging him by the neck?
Yeah, he was a disturbance.

Yeah, a disturbance to Officer Cooper.

No one else complained.


- Couple hours later, you leave the bar.


- Yeah.

Couple guys come out of nowhere.

One of them assaults me with a bottle, which when broken qualifies as a deadly w*apon.

Right.

What happened next?
It was a brawl.

Cates and Foley were fighting these three guys.

Must have been getting their asses kicked for you to draw down on the victim with Sergeant Messer's w*apon.

Well, I drew down because the victim was brandishing a g*n.

He was dead before he hit the ground.

So, why did Officer Cooper use your w*apon?
I tell my guys to keep their off
-duty pieces at home when they go to the bar.

But you were armed.

Yeah, I wasn't drinking.

And thank God I had my g*n.

Otherwise, we might be investigating a cop m*rder.

Bartender tells us you were running a tab last night.

Pints of beer, sh*ts of whiskey, tequila.

Lieutenant, like I said, I wasn't drinking.

So it was your officers who imbibed all that liquor?
Two beers.

I stopped a couple hours before we left.

What about Sergeant Messer?
What do you think about him?
As a boss?
He's excellent.

Officer Cooper
-
- she's smart, she's got instincts.

I think she'll be a good cop.

Well, she speaks highly of you, as well.

Says you're a great boss.

Let's review your choices last night.

You went out drinking with your patrolmen, you brought a loaded w*apon into a crowded bar, got into an altercation with a patron.

Ended up the night half
-unconscious on the pavement as one of your officers sh*t the patron to death with your own w*apon.

You seem capable, Sergeant Messer.

Things you did in that lab way over my head.

But as a boss, you're way over yours.

How's this?
Increase the angle a little.

Whoa! Okay.

All right, that's about the angle the b*llet bounced off the sign in reconstruction.

Okay, locked in.

Hey, I got something.

Found our missing b*llet.

Now all we got to do is find the g*n.

Step right up.

Got balloons for everybody.

What will it be now?
Yo, googly eyes, come on! You got to have decent aim with saucers like those! Hey, how about you, big mama?
Waddle on over here for me.

Oh, I'm kidding, baby.

I come from love.

Oh, Mr.

Doom and Gloom.

You look confused.

What, I'm talking too fast for you?
Yeah, let me slow it down.

I can see right through you, and it's depressing me.

Oh, don't get angry, get even.

Five dollars that's all it takes.

Let it all out.

Hey, even a sad sack like you can get lucky once.

Meet Thomas Hurtz.

Star and proprietor of Get the Geek.

This guy insults you, you pay him five bucks, get a chance to sh**t him with a paintball g*n.

Well, clearly, the sh**t didn't understand the rules of the game.

He sh*t him with a real g*n.

Could we at least get a description?
Sketch artist is sitting with the witnesses right now.

Get the Geek, huh?
I bet he told his mother he was in show business.

How was Danny's interview with IAB?
Uh, he said it went fine.

Good.

Yeah, one friend to another, Sheldon how's the case looking?
Between you and me, we found a b*llet that confirms Pete Miller had a g*n.

Did you get the g*n?
Ran it through IBIS.

No hits.

But still, we'll get it, Lindsay.

Don't look so happy.

No, that's good.

It's good.

If you find the g*n, it will clear Officer Cooper.

Clears them all.

Well, not necessarily.

I mean, even if you close this case today, it's still an embarrassment for the department.

They're still gonna want to point the finger at somebody.

For what?
You have any idea how many administrative regulations there are, Sheldon?
I do, 'cause I stayed up all night reading about 'em.

Look, Lindsay, I know you're worried, okay?
But we're scientists, and there's no empirical evidence to suggest Internal Affairs is on a witch hunt.

Well, I hope you're right.

No, I didn't see I got good news and bad news, Sheldon.

Good news is, this fiber looks like something Adam pulled off Pete Miller's clothing.

What's the bad news?
It means I can't work this case anymore.

The b*llet Sid pulled from the Rockaway victim is a match to the b*llet found at last night's crime scene.

It's the same g*n.

Confirms Officer Cooper's story that Pete Miller pulled a g*n on her.

She sh*t him, one of his friends ran off with it.

Danny and the other cops positively I.

D.

'd the sketch of the Rockaway suspect as one of their attackers.

Why keep a g*n that's already been connected to a sh**ting?
If he gets picked up with it, he's done.

Adam found traces of absinthe on Pete Miller's shirt.

Maybe our suspect is still running around with the green fairy.

We're talking about a suspect who walked up to a random stranger and blew him away.

Well, guy's not playing with a full deck.

But he's got a loaded g*n.

How you doing?
How you holding up?
All right.

My PBA rep says we're in a good position to avoid any charges.

That's good, Coop, that's good, but I wasn't talking about the charges.

Right.

I'm okay.

Don't feel anything, really.

Yeah.

Well, you're gonna.

I did the right thing.

The guy had a g*n.

I shouldn't feel bad.

Well, how you should feel doesn't really play into it.

When you, uh, take a life, no matter how justified, it messes you up.

You're gonna want to talk to someone about it.

You want to talk to someone who's been there.

It's good.

Cooper, come over here.

Yeah, just hold on a sec, guys.

Cooper, now.

Go ahead.

Talk to you later.

Yeah.

Leo said we got to stay away from him.

Yeah, I know.

Come on.

All right.

Detective Taylor?
Hear we have some movement on our missing g*n.

It was used in a Far Rockaway homicide a few hours ago.

Suspect sh*t an innocent bystander.

But you didn't retrieve the g*n?
Not yet.

We both know that g*n is out there.

We know it was used outside the bar last night.

Is there any question this was a good sh**t?
You think I'm wasting my time?
I think you're focused on Sergeant Messer and I'm wondering who's whispering in your ear about him.

Look, I approach my investigations the same way you do, Detective.

I look at the facts and the evidence.

There's no grand conspiracy here.

I'm not one of those cops who's down on Internal Affairs, but I'd be naive not to see that politics are behind this investigation.

Well, should I just ignore the part Sergeant Messer played in last night's incident?
No, but you also shouldn't hang him out to dry.

Well, you've known him a long time.

What do you think about him?
Danny's a good cop.

You haven't always felt that way.

Subway sh**ting Messer was involved in a few years back?
A cop was k*lled.

Yeah, just one highlight from his personnel file.

Just say he's had an interesting career.

It wasn't Danny who fired his w*apon last night.

Look, I got 20 witnesses from that bar who saw Sergeant Messer get in a fight with Pete Miller.

I got no evidence of the victim's friends and no g*n.

I told you I would find the g*n.

Yeah, you want to help those cops and your friend?
You got to do better.

You got to put that g*n in Pete Miller's hand.

All right Caddis Z Wing Micro Lime, Midge Blot Black, Hare Ear Olive Bead Head.

What do these have in common?

- Nymph flies.


- What, how did you know that?
Daddy used to take me fishing all the time.

Nymph flies were designed to sink in the water and attract the fish that all the other fish want to eat for lunch.

They're also made with saddle hackle, otherwise known as Rooster feathers.

What, am I the only one that doesn't know about this?
Do you know that they're genetically bred to look this way?
I mean, their fibers are so fine that I mistook it for a hair.

I mean, take a look at this
- the red and the gold.

Resembles the trace we found on Pete Miller's shirt and from the suspect at Far Rockaway.

It's a proprietary Spray hackle grown at Wickfield Farms upstate.

Now, they produce only 100 of these roosters with this type of coloring a year.

They must keep very good records.

Well, looks like I'm going on a fishing expedition.

Do that again.

Uh, okay.

Looks like I'm going on a fishing expedition.

According to your statement, Pete Miller aimed a .

38 at you, fired once.

Show me how he held the g*n.

What's the point here, Detective?
The point is, your client's lying.

What are you talking about?
When you fire a g*n, Officer Cooper, it emits microscopic particles.

Yeah, g*nsh*t residue.

The particles land on the sh**t's hand, arm, clothing.

According to your lab and a field test at the crime scene, there was GSR on the victim's hand as well as the left arm of his shirt.

Well, that's the problem.

The pattern of the residue is from the cuff to the shoulder.

There's no GSR on the victim's wrist or forearm.

So?
So when you lift your arm to fire a g*n, your shirt slides back.

Pete Miller didn't fire the g*n.

He was standing next to the guy who did.

It was an accident.

I was aiming for the sh**t.

It was a good sh**t.


- Don't say anything else.


- If it was a good sh**t, you wouldn't have lied about how it went down.

I wanted to tell the truth.

Then why didn't you?
I was told not to.

By who?
It wasn't his fault.

He was trying to protect me.

Who told you to lie?
Sergeant Messer.

We got the video surveillance from Rattigans.

You want to take a look?
I don't know about you, but, uh, to me you and Officer Cooper look very close.

And, um, this part here, too again, just to me, that doesn't look like you throwing a drunk out of a bar.

That looks like a fight over a girl.

Why do you have me back here?
To talk about your relationship with Officer Cooper.

She's my driver.

According to your other officers, you've taken her under your wing.

Spending a little extra time getting to know her I mean, I'm married.

Yet at the end of your shift, you don't go home.

You go out with Officer Cooper.

Yeah, and two other cops.

There's rules against dating a subordinate.

Are you kidding me?
Just just ask me the question.

Go ahead.

Are you having an affair with Officer Cooper?
Why don't you take a walk?
That's not a no.

Well, I'm done answering your questions.

Thank you.

Sit down, Sergeant.

This isn't a criminal investigation.

This is an Internal Affairs investigation.

I'm your superior, and you're compelled to answer all my questions, even the ones you don't like.

Pete Miller that kid he was inappropriate in that bar, okay?
Here, I'll sit down.

And my relationship with Officer Cooper is not.

Yet later that night you get in a fight and this man this unarmed man is k*lled.

She saw a g*n.

But she sh*t the wrong man, and then she lied about it.

I don't know why she did that.

Because you told her to.

You came to that night, realized this dead man on the ground was unarmed, sh*t by an officer that you may or may not be sleeping with.

It looked bad, it had to look better, so you told her to lie about it.

It's not true.

I'm done with the personal questions.

The ones I'm about to ask, I can't compel you to answer.

In fact, I'm gonna inform you of your rights.

Hey, what does this look like to you?
Oh the stones Sid pulled from Pete Miller's stomach.

Found traces of cinnamon, peppermint and absinthe.

Which Adam also found on Pete Miller's shirt.

So Pete had two friends with him when they att*cked Danny and the other cops.

And one of them is our sh**t from Far Rockaway.

And by all accounts, they were as drunk as Pete was.

Okay, so maybe they were drinking absinthe earlier in the evening.

Yes.

If we can just figure out where, it could lead us to the Rockaway suspect.

sh**ting vic came into Queen of Mercy E.

R.

this morning.

Class characteristics of the round removed from the wound is a match to the missing g*n.

So our Rockaway sh**t struck again.

On my way to the subway this morning, out of nowhere, someone sh**t me.

Must have been a stray.

Didn't call 911?
I only live a couple blocks away.

So what, you hopped here?
E.

R.

doc said you lost when you were admitted.

Wound like yours, slow bleeder.

Probably took hours to lose that kind of blood.

They can't tell you that.

That's my private medical records.

This is not a kidney stone we're talking about.

All g*nsh*t wounds get reported to the police.

You weren't sh*t this morning.

You were sh*t two nights ago.

After your involvement in a brawl outside Rattigans.

A cop was sh*t at that night.

You can talk to us now, or we can have you transferred to the medical ward at Rikers.

Where I guarantee you the nurses are not as cute.

Pete and I grew up together.

He always had my back.

Blah, blah, blah.

What were you doing at that bar?
Pete called.

He said some jackass was giving him trouble at the bar.

It's not even a question, I'm there for my friend.

You went looking for a fight.

A fistfight.

Blow off a little steam.

I didn't know that lunatic would bring a g*n.

Who, Pete?
Travis.

I don't know his last name.

Pete worked with him.

They were out drinking earlier that night.

Travis got into an argument with his girl.

She dumped him.

So he was itching to mix it up.

Except when the fists start flying, Travis just stands there.

Next thing you know, sh*ts are fired, and I'm hauling ass up the street with Travis right behind me.

So much for your good friend, Pete.

I didn't know he wasn't behind us till we were ten blocks away.

Where's Pete?
Didn't make it.

Did he get hurt?
We got to go back and get him.

That's not happening.

He told me to keep my mouth shut or he'd k*ll me.

By the look in his eye, I believed him.

Our suspect's name is Travis Moss.

He worked with Pete Miller as a house painter, but hasn't had a job in months.

According to Ray James, he got dumped by his girlfriend, too.

And now he's used that g*n three times in two days.

Yeah, first time, fired wild outside the bar.

Second time, sh*t Ray James in the leg.

Third time, he k*lled a man.

He going for number four?
Landlord says he hadn't been home in a couple of days.

We pulled his financials.

Credit cards are all maxed out.

He got 72 cents in the bank account.

All factors suggest he has nothing to lose.

Far Rockaway sh**ting was yesterday.

He hasn't made a move since.

If he was looking for a random victim, he would have struck again by now.

What if he's holding out for someone specific?
Someone he's got a beef with.

Travis's girlfriend broke up with him a few hours before the fight in the bar.

What do we know about this woman?
All we know her name is Crystal, and she's some kind of dancer.

Mac, can I talk to you?
Yeah.

I just found out they're putting Danny on modified assignment.

It's part of procedure, Lindsay.

It doesn't mean anything.

But there's going to be a hearing, and maybe even criminal charges.

This is like a natural disaster, Mac.

You see it coming, and you can't do anything to stop it.

Yeah, I know it feels like that now, but there's a long road to go before anything's decided here.

Danny's career is on the line, and I don't even know why.

He didn't do anything wrong.

I know.

So what are we going to do about it?
Hey.

Hey.

Spoke to Wickfield Farms.

Their entire line of Speckle Hackles went to one buyer this year, and it wasn't a tackle shop.

It's a boutique that specializes in custom clothing for dancers.

I'm listening.

This boutique gets a lot of business from a place called Latrec.

All right, it's some kind of mmm high
-end strip club.

It's not a strip club, Adam; it's a burlesque club.

Whatever it is, uh, they got in trouble last year from the liquor authority.

Accused of putting illegal absinthe in specialty cocktails.

Maybe that's where Pete and Travis drank before they came to Rattigans.

Seems a little upscale for a couple of unemployed house painters.

Unless they get the benefits of the employee discount.

Oh, my.

They weren't there for the atmosphere.

They were there for Travis's girlfriend, Crystal.

Give it up for Mercedes.

And now coming to the stage is the magnificent Crystal.

Drop the g*n, Travis! Put the g*n down! Drop it now! Drop it! Turn around.

It's hard to pull a w*apon on someone, right?
Squeeze that trigger?
I'm sorry.

If you're a reporter, I got nothing to say.

You know what else is hard?
Sharing a squad car with somebody every day and stabbing him in the back when he had yours.

Who are you?
I'm Lindsay Messer.

I can't talk to you.

No, it can't be easy actually facing me.

No, I'm telling you that we can't speak.

I mean, you know what you're doing affects my family, but it's much easier when we're out of sight.

I'm not supposed to have any interaction Like saying you're in a relationship with my husband.

Hey, that's not true.

I know it's not true.

I don't even know why they're suggesting that.

So you're only comfortable with some of the lies?
I'm not lying.

So Danny told you to say that Pete Miller was holding the g*n?
Not in so many words.

How many words does it take?
He suggested Mm
-hmm.

It it was how he put things.

What things?
I don't have to explain myself to you.

No, you don't.

You know why?
I get this.

This is self
-preservation, plain and simple.


- No, you don't understand
- No, you think about this, Lauren.

If the roles were reversed and Danny was in your shoes, you really think that he'd be looking out for number one?
None of this was my choice.

From the moment that I pulled that trigger, it was all out of my hands.

I always wanted to tell the truth.

So look me in the eye, Lauren.

Right now.

It's just the two of us.

Tell me that Danny Messer told you to lie.

What are you doing here?
Thought maybe you could use some support.

It's no big deal.

He's going to come in.

Give him my w*apon, give him my shield.

Temporarily.

You'll get them back.

Yeah, if if I'm cleared.

Can't believe this, Mac.

You know, I figured I could be a good boss, to guide these cops, help them avoid the mistakes I made.

The last time you dealt with Internal Affairs, I called you into my office.

You remember?
Yeah, I remember.

They decided not to investigate me on the sh**ting in the subway, thanks to you.

You brought me into your office, you ripped me a new one for my recklessness which I deserved.

You're not the same cop as then.

You've grown.

You're an excellent boss, Danny.

If you were my sergeant, I'd follow you anywhere, and that's what I intend to tell Adler when he walks in here.

Detective Taylor.


- Sergeant Messer.


- All right.

How do we do this?
Here, in your office, what?
We don't do it at all.

Officer Cooper just retracted her statement.

She took full responsibility for lying about who had the g*n outside the bar.

You're cleared, Sergeant Messer.

What about Cooper?
Well, she's done.

So are Cates and Foley if you're interested terminated.

But you can return to normal duty.

Effective immediately.

Good luck.

Thank you.

Wow.

I can, uh return to normal duty.

You're not relieved.

Of I mean, of course I am.

I am.

But I can't stop thinking, Mac, how I treated these cops like they were my family, and they didn't think twice about throwing me to the wolves.

I've been doing this job way too long.

I got to work with people I can trust.

Just finished with Chief Sinclair.

And?
That's it.

It's done.

No more Sergeant Messer.

Just a plain old detective.

Does that mean I don't have to salute you in the morning anymore?
I still need you to do that.

You feel all right?
I mean, it wasn't easy giving up the stripes, you know.

It's the right move, Danny.

This is where I belong.