As the week progressed, caseloads increased, but so did the number of cases solved, and every evening, after dinner, the members of Major Crime continued meeting at Joel's church to practice for their upcoming martyrdom; only it was beginning to look like they just might be able to pull off a coup, of sorts.
On Thursday night, the wholesale market burned to the ground.
Friday morning found the fire department on the scene, searching for the accelerant that had allowed what was a mostly concrete building to burn so completely that even portions of the concrete had burnt to the point of crumbling.
Jim, with his partner and Joel in tow, joined the investigation. The two security guards had been knocked unconscious and tied up well away from the conflagration. Neither of the elderly men had seen or heard anything, not even any warning before they were attacked.
"What are you thinking, Jim?" Blair asked, seeing the look of intense concentration on his partner's face.
"The same thing I am, probably. Whoever did this has been around long enough to have picked up some tips from Matson." The newcomer was familiar to all three men.
"Debra." Jim acknowledged the fire department's chief arson investigator. "Yeah, it looks like his work, but it isn't... no sex wax."
"No, but still an High Temperature Accelerant." She turned her attention to the oldest member of the group, "Heard you got out of the bomb business, Taggart... stuck babysitting?"
"Still just as unfriendly as ever, huh, Reeves?" Joel responded blandly.
She had the good grace to flinch at his words. Slumping a bit, she sighed. "Sorry, it's been a bad month. This makes three of these. Did you get a bomb threat first?"
"Not just a threat," Captain Nugyen said, strolling up. "We found two very professional bombs here, on Monday afternoon. The person who called in the threat used a voice synthesizer to make the call. We were lucky enough to find them before they had a chance to go off. Looks like our bomber has a sideline. You said there have been two more of these this month?"
The three men watched silently as the two women sized each other up, like a pair of pit bulls debating the boundaries of their territory. For several moments, it was debatable whether they were going to fight, or be friends. The new head of the bomb squad took the initiative.
"I'm Phuc Nugyen, the new captain of the bomb squad." She extended her hand.
Debra glanced down at the offered hand and reluctantly, it seemed, took it. "Debra Reeves, Fire Department Arson Investigator. You said you found two bombs?
"That's right. Let me show you." Turning, she led the other investigator into the burned out building.
"That went well," Blair remarked, absently.
"Better than expected," Joel agreed.
Jim just stood, staring at the remains of the building, the look of intense concentration still on his face.
"What is it, Jim?" Blair asked, sliding one hand up his partner's back, using touch to reach his partner.
"Debra's right. This is just like Matson's work. Similar pattern, anyway."
"Yeah, Jim, but Matson's dead," Joel said softly, reminding them of their first meeting with Debra Reeves and how Matson had run them ragged over his arson for hire scheme.
"So, who knew his M.O.?" Jim asked quietly. The three men exchanged worried looks.
Forensics was only able to confirm their suspicions. Whoever the arsonist was, they had a great deal of familiarity with the work of Dan Matson, the Fire Captain who had gone bad, setting arson fires for profit; not to mention that he had murdered several people, most notably, Debra Reeves' father. The only thing missing, had been the use of Dr. Zog's Sex Wax.
They had lots of information, but no suspects, yet. The other two arsons, according to Ms Reeves, had been preceded with bomb threats two or three days in advance. However, neither of the other two instances had any actual explosives involved. Both incidents preceded the arrival of the new bomb squad captain, however, but not the notification of her coming. The first incident, a bomb threat followed by an arson, had been against a small, Vietnamese family-owned restaurant. The second was a Mexican-owned grocery store, and now the wholesale produce market, most of the members of which were minorities... it was starting to form a very ugly pattern.
"I still want to know, why now," Jim asked. "It doesn't seem to make any sense. All of the businesses involved have been around for at least ten years, so why now, all of a sudden?"
"Hard to say, Jim," Blair replied. "We don't really have anything to connect them, except that all three are minority owned or run. Maybe it's someone new in town? Let me check NCIC and see if they have anything on similar outbreaks anywhere else, okay?"
"Sure, Chief. See if anyone else is having this kind of problem, and if they might be related," Jim agreed.
There was no response by the end of their shift, so the two men headed home at the end of the day; Jim with a headache from trying to put together the pieces that just didn't seem to fit together.
Another week passed, with no further breaks or leads on their arson/bomb investigation, although they had caught their robber and had a pretty good idea of who their burglar was. Frustrated with the seeming dead end on the arson, Jim's temper was souring; not that he was ever what anyone would call 'sweet tempered',exactly, but now, he was not only surly, he was tense, as well. Even at practice, his colleagues noticed. His drumming was tight and dead on, but angry or lifeless, depending on how bad his headache was. Blair had tried everything he knew to help, but nothing seemed to be working. Of course, catching their bomber/arsonist was probably the only thing that might make Jim relax and enjoy things again.
Eleven days after the fire at the wholesale market, their bomber struck again, this time at the Chinese Cultural Center. Another bomb threat. This time, Captain Nugyen was first on the scene and had her people cover all the exits as the evacuation continued. When the area was secured, she sent in the dogs. Ten minutes later, one bomb exploded, killing the dog that had just found it and seriously injuring the dog's handler... an African American.
The second bomb was found and defused in time. Later, forensics would indicate that the first bomb had been wired incorrectly, causing it to short out when the vibration from the dog's bark jarred it.
"Somehow, I think that Terry was targeted. I don't know how, or why, but I just have this feeling," Phuc was talking to her 'Uncle Joey', as they watched the injured man being taken away. "Whoever this is, they know things they shouldn't be able to know."
"Fooey, you can't know for sure. I know what you think; that bomb was anti-personnel, designed to hurt people, not do damage to the building, while the other one would have done a lot of damage to the building. How could anyone have known that Terry and his dog would be the one to find that particular bomb?"
"I don't know, I just know it's true." She looked up at her adopted 'uncle', who looked her in the eye, remembering...
Finally, he nodded. "OK, I remember when you had those 'feelings' back in 'Nam. I learned to trust you then, I'm not about to disbelieve you now. So, what or who do you think is behind this?"
Glancing around to be sure no one could overhear them, she leaned closer and whispered to her friend, "I think that I'm the reason behind it all. None of this started until after it was announced that I had gotten the job as the new captain of the bomb squad... and I was hired out of LA, not a local. I'm starting to think that someone in my office may be involved." She hurried on before he could protest, "I know that there are some people who did not want me here, even before I arrived. I'm not stupid, Joey, I know that there are a lot of people who will hate me because of where I am from, and for what I've achieved. And you know it, too."
He couldn't deny her claim. He was perfectly aware, but he thought he knew all the members of the bomb squad, they'd been his people for many years. But, come to think of it, he could recall some who didn't care for minorities, not that they ever were very overt about it, still...
He heaved a depressed sigh, "Maybe. I don't like to think that any of the people who used to work for me could be involved with this, but I suppose it is possible. Give me a couple of days to think about it, OK?"
"OK, Joey. Maybe if I hadn't come..."
"Don't you dare, Fooey!" He reached out to give her a big hug, a hug that was observed by most of the bomb squad.
Having had Debra Reeves show them the timetable, they started around-the-clock surveillance of the Chinese Cultural Center that night. They also stepped up the patrols in the area, hoping to catch their bomber/arsonist in the act.
By Wednesday, with no sign of their perp, they were beginning to wonder if this might be something different... until the local Buddhist Temple burst into flames, just down the street from where officers were watching the Cultural Center.
"It was a blind, Simon. Whoever this is, they know what we're doing. That means that there's a leak, somewhere. One of our people is involved." Jim was fuming. He'd heard the distant 'fwhoomp' of the igniting accelerant, but they hadn't been in time... not as hot as it burned. They watched as the fire department did their best, but were only able to keep the fire from spreading to businesses and buildings around the Temple, which was a total loss.
Jim was starting to take this case rather personally, as were Joel and Captain Nugyen.
Other than the fact that they first received a bomb threat, followed two or three nights later with an arson and the fact that the arsons were done by the same person, who had accelerated from bogus bomb threats to the real thing, they had nothing to go on. No notes, no claims by any organization, nothing even similar to what they had in the NCIC database. All in all, it was very frustrating.
And they still had to practice every night for the upcoming Charity Night. Another week passed with them still no closer to a solution, but fortunately, no new bomb threats or fires.
They had one more week to go until the Charity benefit. And they were still working hard at it. When they met on Saturday, they were discussing the current stalemate on the arson/bombings. They were all well aware that they were overdue for another hit.
"Okay, everyone, listen up!" Joel had to shout over the conversations of his colleagues. Once they were quiet and he had their attention, he held up the new piece of music he wanted them to try. They came to pick up their copies of the music then settled in to work. First, they went through the six pieces they'd already learned, warming up and then polishing their performances on the second go-through. All were pleased at how well they played together, but then, they had an advantage of already working well together, too. The new piece was another vocal number, a gentle blues piece that called for Megan's throaty alto, which fitted it to perfection. After they worked out the kinks, they played it once more, while, unbeknownst to them, the pastor recorded it. After they finished, they all sighed. Even from 'inside', they could tell that it should definitely be their ending piece. They all turned in surprise as the song they'd just done began to play from behind them.
As the song came to an end, they looked at each other, awed by what they had accomplished. Simon, clearing his throat, finally voiced all their thoughts.
"I think we found the one to bring down the house, people." Everyone just nodded, staring in surprise at each other, and especially at Megan, whose voice had mesmerized them upon hearing it played back.
"On that note, I think we should call it a night, folks," Joel said softly. "Nothing like going out on a high note. Great job, everyone."
Jim and Blair were silent for most of their trip home, finally, Blair broke the quiet. "Megan was really something, wasn't she, Jim?"
"Yeah, Chief, that she was. We were good, weren't we?"
"Absolutely, man. We are gonna be great!" Even the still at large arsonist/bomber wasn't going to dampen their high spirits over their accomplishment.
Rafe's hopes that the others had forgotten about the Brubeck piece vanished when they met on Monday. They had seven good pieces, four vocals, three instrumentals. And the first thing on the list on Monday, was 'Take Five'.
"Rafe, I know you've been practicing it. So, since you've worked so hard, we might as well do it," Joel informed him.
Sighing in resignation, he nodded. "Fine, but once you hear me, you might change your mind."
Jim began tapping out the tempo on his drums, quickly joined by the other members of the band. Setting up the rhythm, Rafe took a deep breath and began to play.
Perfectly.
When they finished the piece as it was scored, they remained silent, staring in awe at their shy, retiring, saxaphonist.
"Want to try that again?" Henri asked softly.
So, they did it again, perfectly.
"I'd like to know what you were so worried about, Rafe," Megan asked, puzzled.
"I..." Rafe shook his head. He wasn't sure what had happened. He hadn't thought he'd gotten the piece down so well, but obviously, he had.
"Good job, Partner," Brown slapped his friend on the back, grinning widely.
The rest of their practice session wasn't nearly so perfect, but that was to be expected as the approaching performance jitters made themselves at home. By Friday, everyone was doing so badly, that they were afraid to even show up on Saturday night, but both Joel and Henri reassured them that the worse they did in the final rehearsals, the better they would actually perform the final night. Everyone pinned their hopes that this would hold true.
Saturday night. Chief Warren was the MC this year, something none of the members of Major Crime had been aware of. Nervously standing backstage in their tuxedos and Megan in her beautiful red sequined evening gown, they watched as the Chief announced the first act, from the folks in City Services, who did an hilarious skit about garbage collectors.
Chief Warren, dry as dust, stepped up to the podium as the laughter died down. "Now I understand why they had to change over to the big trash cans that the trucks can pick up." His dry comment caused the audience to again erupt in laughter. "Our next act is from the Fire Department..."
Another comedy act, the fire department did the classic clown act of 'saving' an enormous fat woman from a 'burning' building, complete with the 'woman' jumping out and flattening her rescuers. The audience roared.
"Remind me to ask my wife to go on a diet," the Chief deadpanned, then cast a tiny smile at his rail-thin wife, who laughed at his acerbic wit. "Our next act is...oh, my." He looked into the wings... "Well, considering my department's abilities in the last few instances of this occasion, Major Crime." The audience groaned. Loudly.
"That's us. Let's go," Joel murmured to the group They had moved their instruments out as the fire department removed their props, so, as the curtain went up, they were all in place. The audience became silent in surprise, wondering what on earth the talentless police department was up to.
Jim began with setting the beat, with the others joining in immediately. As Megan's throaty alto began with the words to 'A Tisket, A Tasket,' she mesmerized every man in the room. Her hair pulled back in a chignon and her beautiful, form fitting, red evening gown with the low, v- necked decolletage and spaghetti straps the sequins flashing in the stage lights, didn't hurt the overall impression either. As they finished their first song, the audience clapped their appreciation. The group swung into 'In the Mood', followed quickly by the rest of their repertoire, the last two pieces being Rafe with 'Take Five' and ending with Megan and 'Summertime'.
They brought down the house, exiting the stage to a standing ovation.
"Well. Thank you, gentlemen, and lady." The Chief looked down at his card, yes, he recognized the members of Major Crime; who would have thought they could actually do anything other than catch bad guys? The Chief found himself at a loss for words, he'd expected to apologize once again for his department's poor performance, only to have them outshine every other act on the card. He felt a bit sorry for the Department of Water and Power, who had to follow that act.
Shaking his head, he looked up. "Our next act is from the Department of Water and Power, and they have my sympathy."
They were drenched with nervous sweat, but elated with their performance.
"See? I told you we'd be fine," Henri crowed, his grin nearly splitting his face.
"Yeah, did you see that? We got a standing 'O'," Blair agreed, smiling broadly. The others made similar comments. All except Jim, who was looking worriedly around, backstage.
Blair, noticing, stepped close to his friend, "Jim? What's wrong?"
"C4. Joel?" He didn't look to see if the former bomb captain responded, just kept looking. "Captain? We've got to evacuate the building. Someone's rigged one of those firebombs in here. I can smell the HTA and C4." While the others scrambled to alert security, Jim, Joel, and Blair started searching.
"Piggyback your sight on the smell, Jim. Where is it?"
"All over, Chief." Jim was turning around, confused by the profusion of odors. "Wait, there's the C4." He hurried over to the stairs that led to the catwalk above the stage. Kneeling, he peered into the dark area under the stairs. "Oh, shit. We only have fifteen minutes to disarm this one, and that probably means we don't have time to find the rest of them."
"Do you really think it's our bomber? Isn't this a little out of character?" Blair asked.
Jim looked at him, "Not if Captain Nugyen is right about being what triggered him," Jim replied
Captain Nugyen, who had been in the audience, approached. "Captain Banks said you needed me?"
Jim merely pointed. The slight woman crouched down, then, with a gasp, reached into her purse and pulled out a tool kit. At the other's surprised looks, she grinned, "Never leave home without it," and set to work. "See if you can find another one. He's always used two bombs, so there should be one more."
"He's changed his M.O." Jim said softly. "He didn't make a threat, first, either. There's HTA here, too."
"Then the other bomb must be with the accelerant. Go find it and at least separate them if you can. Hurry!"
Standing, Jim searched, using his nose, he tracked the scent of the HTA to a janitorial closet below the stage, near the orchestra pit, where the second bomb was silently counting down: ten minutes.
Joel, who had followed them, drenched in nervous sweat knowing that he was going to have to deal with it, knelt down to take a good look. Closing his eyes and trying to force the fear down, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Remember, it's not about you, Joel," Blair's soft voice reminded him.
"You sure?" the big man quipped, as he pulled out his own wire cutters. Looking closely at the bomb, he grunted. "True to form, this guy is good, but not very imaginative. We might see if we have any electricians in the bomb squad, guys, 'cause whoever this is, doesn't seem to be able to avoid standard electrician wiring." Two quick snips, and the counter stopped, just as Captain Nugyen arrived.
"Did you get it, Uncle Joey?"
"Yeah, simple. I wonder why he doesn't make them harder to defuse?"
"I don't know. Maybe he doesn't really want to hurt anyone? After all, he knocked out those two security guards and dragged them far enough away not to be hurt when he burned down the wholesale market," Blair suggested.
"What about the market? There were several hundred people there who could have been hurt," Jim said.
"But they weren't. The bombs were diffused in time," Joel said.
They looked at each other, consideringly.
They finally became aware of the sounds of panic up above. Rising to their feet, they looked sheepishly at each other, "Well, I guess we really brought the house down, tonight," Joel quipped.
"We might as well have," Jim agreed. "Let's make sure everyone's gotten out safely and then get the dogs in here to take another look, just in case."
The group from the Department of Water and Power had been grateful for the interruption, as they were falling flat on their faces having to follow the excellent performance by Major Crime. The audience, however, was frightened and annoyed, depending on the individual temperament involved. Seeing the small group exiting the Community Center, Chief Warren walked over to confront them.
"I do hope you have an excellent explanation for this?" he asked, his acerbic voice was low- pitched.
"Yes, sir." Captain Nugyen replied. "Detective Ellison found a bomb under the stage... well, two bombs, actually, along with enough HTA to burn this whole building to the ground."
"You..." The Chief closed his eyes and took a deep breath as the realization hit him. Everyone of importance and/or big money in the entire area as well as visitors from out of town had been in the audience. They might all have...
"Good work," he gave them a tiny smile and turned to Captain Banks, who had arrived as quickly as he could upon seeing them. "Captain Banks, I understand your people have everything under control." He placed a hand on the taller man's shoulder, turning him away from his people, "Now, about your little act tonight..."
Jim smirked at the horrified glance Simon shot them.
"What'd he say, Jim?" Blair whispered.
"Later." Jim looked around, spotting some familiar faces in the crowd. "If you'll all excuse me, I need to go tell my family that everything's under control," and with that, he walked away.
"Family?" Phuc asked.
Blair, seeing his partner join his father, Sally, and Steven, bounced on his toes a bit, smiling. "Yeah, his dad and brother came tonight. Looks promising." He turned back and smiled at her. "So, how long before we can go back inside?"
"I think it would be better if everyone went home, just in case we missed anything. After all, the explosives and accelerant are still inside. It's going to take hours to make sure we've got everything." She turned to her friend, "Thanks for your help in there, Uncle Joey."
"You're welcome," Joel softly replied. "Although, I'd hoped I'd finally gotten out of the business when you came on board."
She smiled and leaned in, kissing him on the cheek as she hugged him. "I'll try harder next time, okay?"
With a laugh, he patted her back, "I know you will, Fooey."
Someone found a portable PA system and brought it out and set it up. Chief Warren stepped up and began by apologizing to the crowd for the sudden departure from the program. Then, good politician that he was, he turned it into a speech on the quality of his police department, almost as though the panic and discovery of the explosives had been a part of the evening's entertainment. Although no one was convinced, he at least managed to placate them all. He ended with an invitation for everyone to return next year, as he was certain that the charity night would once again be a rousing success.
