We last saw our heroes returning to their apartments, for some much deserved rest. We rejoin them there, with Lila Malone sleeping the sleep of the just until she is awoken at 8am (just four hours after she got to bed) by her landlady pounding on her door to proudly inform Lila that her byline is on the front page. Oh, and Lila’s editor wants to see her.
Lila stumbles in to work, where her editor asks her what she’s done for him lately, with no apparent irony. He suggests its time Lila took on a beat of her own, and she opts for the police beat. She asks for a raise, they haggle, Lila nakedly threatens to take her scoops elsewhere and the upshot is she’s richer by $8 a week.
Meanwhile, over at the station house Gunnarson is receiving yet another dressing down. The captain expresses concern that Gunnarson went off with three other officers while off duty and shot a local business men with a non-regulation shotgun, killing him. Gunnarson defends his record, but is transferred to a vice beat down on the docks working from 8pm to 4am, in the faint hope this will prevent him from indulging in late night off duty law enforcement. Later, Poliakowski helps him out by formally commending him to the police department for his part in the Miller warehouse raid, making it politically difficult to demote Gunnarson to perpetual traffic duty. He does, however, pick up the nickname (ill deserved he argues) of Machine Gunnarson.
Smithfield is out of the action, taking care of her prisoner and then detailed to a jewellery theft ring that needs investigating.
Dwight Blake PI takes Priscilla Hamilton down the bank, where he is hailed as a hero by the staff and escorted up for a personal thanks by the bank president for his part in foiling the recent robbery. Priscilla withdraws a $1,000 in cash, showing that her credit still runs good and her accounts have not been frozen. Blake hires her a hotshot lawyer, who starts digging in to the particulars of her committal.
That same morning, Poliakowski goes to see District Commissioner Antonelli, who congratulates Poliakowski on work well done and commiserates on the shooting of young Agent Manzini. Antonelli informs Poliakowski that he won’t be able to provide a replacement partner for some time, news Poliakowski takes stoically. Antonelli then warns Poliakowski to keep away from Burns and Beck for a few days, a warning that makes Poliakowski suspicious. He tips off Burns and Beck, warning them that he thinks there may be a hit out on them.
The next few days pass quietly, Lila gets called by Donny and they arrange another date, going to the movies and then on to Harrigan’s for a drink and a meal. Donny is friendly, but respectful, and doesn’t seek to go any further than a hand on a knee and a goodnight kiss. He reveals that he has just landed a major schools contract, and will be expanding his business heavily as a result.
Burns gets in touch with Poliakowski, informing him that he and Becks have received a tipoff of a delivery going down to a warehouse in the docks. Poliakowski is suspicious, and warns them to be careful. He notifies the others and suggests a sting operation, and come the night Poliakowski is in an alley, Blake is shadowing every leaf caught in a gust of wind, Gunnarson is working his beat timing it to be there at the right time and Malone has disguised herself as a hooker and is working a street corner. Come the allotted time, a gunsel comes into the alley and whistles when he sees Burns and Beck, the whistle is picked up by unseen others nearby and soon a phonebox (the only one in the area) outside the warehouse begins to ring. Nobody answers, but keen eyed Gunnarson spots a car idling some way down the street, he circles round and clocks the occupants and the car’s licence plate. Clearly recognising that the, possibly overcomplex, trap hasn’t worked the car drives away at some speed.
A scuffle breaks out in the alleyway, with Poliakowski and Blake struggling with the gunsel and him struggling to get a gun on them, nobody makes much progress but eventually Burns and Beck pile in too and between the four of them the gunsel is soon on the ground and in captivity. Poliakowski begins interrogating him, but is undermined when Burns blurts out Poliakowski’s real name, Poliakowski implies he now has to kill the gunsel to avoid it getting known who was there that night, and the gunsel spills the beans to avoid this threatened fate. The two in the car were Tommy Bathory and Laddy Williams, a known pair of freelance criminals and hit men. He also reveals that a flashbang device hidden in the warehouse and discovered by the law enforcement team would most likely have been built by one Mike McGuire, another freelance criminal operating in Cleveland.
Overall, the sting is disappointing, nobody but a gunsel was captured, but Burns and Beck remain safe and the names of the likely perpetrators of the attempted hit are known. A step forward, if not a decisive one.
Next day, mulling over the news from the lawyer that Priscilla’s parents did not commit her and as best he can tell nor did anyone else, Blake receives a new instruction and a request to meet at an old abandoned quarry. Fearing the worst, he informs the others and they set up another sting operation, with Blake going to the quarry but Gunnarson and Poliakowski waiting nearby with eyes open in case of trouble. Malone meanwhile goes down to the lockup where Blake has stored the files taken from the Tomley Institute. The quarry stakeout is another bust, nobody shows at all, but at the lockup plenty happens. Malone is working through the files when a knock comes on the door, and a voice she recognises as being the burly orderly from the asylum. Checking out her surroundings Malone realises there’s no way past them, the only window is small and leads out to the same street as the door, and there is only one door. She draws her gun and prepares to make a break for it. The door gets kicked in, to reveal the burly orderly, the black groundsman and the head nurse who is ominously holding a needle. Malone makes a break for it, a struggle ensues and she ends up shooting the burly orderly with her .22 hurting and dissuading him but not putting him out of the action. She gets away, but only just, and has to leave the bulk of the files behind.
The others return to the office. Janice, the secretary, is there and visibly upset with an obvious black eye. She tells them that the Tomley trio turned up while they were at the quarry, beat her and held her arm over a kettle pouring steam until she told them the office safe combination and the location of the lockup with the files. Malone shows and the group learn that the Tomley staff have taken the files back and have beaten and tortured to do it. Blake vows that the institute and its staff are going down.
Poliakoswki phones Captain Brown, telling him that the Tomley Institute is involved in liquor and narcotics trafficking, kidnapping and federal level offences. He requires the supply of heavy police backup for a raid, and Brown is happy to oblige. Everyone heads down there supported by a whole bundle of uniforms, and when they arrive they find files burning on the front lawn and the orderly and groundskeeper trying to bar entry to the forces of justice. Those two are quickly dealt with, Poliakowski races upstairs while Gunnarson notes that Dr Brinkmeyer is climbing up the side of the building, evidently hoping to get to the roof unseen and then hide there until the police give up searching and depart. Gunnarson starts to climb up the side of the building after him.
Poliakowski starts searching upstairs, and encounters head nurse Jane Jenkins, in a room sitting at a desk next to the still warm body of young socialite Aldous Bexley-Montcrieff. A needle lies on the floor, and she is found to be writing a confession claiming responsibility for all the misdeeds at the clinic. Poliakowski burns it in front of her, telling her she’d better find herself an antidote if she’s injected herself too. She has, but she has no antidote, and she dies watching the confession burn.
Outside, Dr Brinkmeyer is on a ledge, trying to stamp on the fingers of Gunnarson as he reaches up, Gunnarson grabs for Brinkmeyer who loses balance and starts to fall. Gunnarson uses his perfectly honed physique to hold on to Brinkmeyer and keep hold on the cornice, and climbs to the ground dangling Brinkmeyer by one leg and taking him into custody. Blake meanwhile is being worked on by pretty young redhead nurse Kate Bradby, who convinces him she is innocent in the hope of being let free. Blake though is a straight shooter, he buys her story but delivers her into custody anyway, trusting to justice to see her free. Later, ardour cooling, he refuses to pay her bail, fortunately for him as some other sap does and she immediately absconds.
The raid found evidence of liquor and narcotics on the scene, and the murdered Bexley-Montcrieff who was killed for reasons unknown, and Brinkmeyer and his stooges go to jail without bail as the evidence of their guilt is overwhelming. A good day’s work well done. Malone breaks the story, Poliakowski having held up the other reporters present to give her a head start, but it’s not an exclusive. Still, it’s a good front pager and her reputation as Scoop Malone is not hurt by her once again being at the scene of a major story as it breaks.
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