Simon Banks' Office
The next morning

The coffee was hot and the laughter was infectious as the three men sat around the desk and discussed the previous night's arrest. A sharp rap on the door preceded the entrance of the two FBI agents.

"Captain Banks." The greeting was short, but courteous. After an acknowledging nod from the police captain, Abels continued, "Raul Newport's arraignment is scheduled for 10:00 this morning, then we will be leaving directly for the airport. We just wanted to thank you for all your work on this case, all of you."

Anything else he wanted to say was cut short by his partner. Trenton was obviously agitated. "Why couldn't you let us be the arresting officers? What good did it do you to arrest him, if you're not fighting to keep him here?"

"Because you didn't catch him." Ellison stood up and leaned against the desk, crossing his arms. "My partner did. My rookie partner captured the man you people spent two years chasing. There is no way I am ever going to let you forget that."

"He didn't even draw his weapon!" Trenton was not easily dissuaded.

"He didn't have to. He used his brains; maybe that's why the FBI couldn't catch him."

Simon choked slightly on his coffee, but before he could interfere with the turf war that was beginning to form in his office, Sandburg deflected the situation.

"I have a question, guys. We know that he went after me because I was the one that arrested his brother, but how did he know about me? We had Paul under surveillance and his phone tapped, when did they talk?"

Trenton looked away uncomfortably. When he didn't answer, Simon filled in the missing pieces. "Do you remember the report that there was a guy there installing cable?"

"Yes..." Sandburg was already beginning to see where this was leading.

"Cable's not available in that neighborhood. Apparently the owner of the stolen 4 x 4 is a cable repair guy. The uniform was in the truck."

Ellison could not believe what he was hearing. "You're telling us that that the cable installer that went into his apartment was actually..."

"Yeah, well..." Abels seemed at a loss for words.

"You could have lost him too." Norbert Trenton was not about to admit that the mistakes were theirs alone.

Sandburg was getting angry at the innuendoes. "But we didn't."

"You were up on the second floor, your partner was barely conscious. It was dumb luck that he didn't get past you."

"He wouldn't have gotten very far." Sandburg suddenly had the cat that ate the canary look about him.

"And how would you know that?" Trenton was still not willing to give up.

Without a word, the former observer who was now a cop, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a coil wire from the stolen 4x4 and dropped it onto Simon's desk.

When the faces of four surprised men looked at him he finally responded. "After all the times of calling for back-up, I've gotten pretty fast at it. Thought I'd get a little extra insurance while my call was going through."

One look at the faces of the two FBI agents did it. For the second time in less than a week the men and women of Major Crimes heard their captain howl.

Stay tuned next week as Ellison and Sandburg are kept on their toes by an art festival, obnoxious artists, and a hostage situation in "Arts And Crimes" an all new The Sentinel.

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