Back at the Bullpen 11:30am

"The Wallace robbery doesn't fit the rest of them," Jim announced as he handed Blair a cup of coffee and set his own down on his desk. "All the other items taken were small enough to slip in a pocket. Three dozen snuff bottles would make a rather noticeable lump in someone's coat."

"You just don't like Wallace or his kid." The tone was teasing, but Sandburg had a serious expression on his face.

Jim recognized what he referred to as Sandburg's thinking mode. "What?"

Blair looked up and flashed a grin at the other man. "If you're right about Wallace, then this might make a lot more sense. Just give me a few minutes to sort something out, okay?"

Jim kept quiet and flipped through the notes again in a half-hearted attempt to make sense of the case. Truthfully, spending the morning with the 'cream of Cascade's society' had left him with a headache that threatened to split his skull. At the desk across from his, Sandburg seemed extraordinarily cheerful as he worked.

The pencil never slowed in Sandburg's right hand as his left one burrowed in a desk drawer. "Here." Unceremoniously he shoved an aspirin bottle at Jim. "Take a couple of these before it gets any worse."

How'd he know I have a headache? Jim's silent musings were answered when Sandburg reached back into the drawer and pulled out a bottle of antacids. The bottle was a year old and still over half full, which told Ellison how much these people were getting to his partner, a rare occurrence.

Any commiseration they may have done was interrupted by the arrival of their captain. "Gentlemen, I'd like an update on the Millenium Tower case." He never slowed down as he requested their presence and Ellison downed the aspirin with the last of his coffee while Blair gathered up all the files.

Banks waited until the men sat down at the conference table and Sandburg had the files spread out in front of him again. "Tell me you have something. The mayor is not happy about this."

Jim unconsciously straightened up as he addressed the captain. "We have four break-ins that may or may not be connected, all occurring over the past several months."

"FOUR!! I thought we just got the one case last night?" Banks nearly snapped his cigar in half before he dropped it onto the table.

Ellison understood his frustration. "One of the thefts was just discovered this morning. The other two were handled in-house."

The captain was immediately suspicious. "What do you mean, in-house, and where are the files on the other robberies?"

Blair dug through the stack of papers and notes to pull out Laferty's thin files on the Palmer and Hawthorne incidents. "Apparently, the building's management didn't want to admit that the crime that plagues the 'little people' of Cascade had spread to their little slice of heaven so they were paying for any loss that was reported, as long as there was no public reporting of what had happened. Here's the files, Simon." With a disgusted grunt, he tossed the folders to Simon's side of the table.

Banks gave the papers a cursory glance. "You've got to be kidding."

Jim cleared his throat. "The best part, sir, is that their chief of security has agreed to cooperate with our investigation."

Behind the stylish glasses, one eyebrow raised up. "Oh, has he now? How wonderful for us."

With an evil smile Jim continued. "Yes, once they tapped into the department personnel files and checked Sandburg and me out, they allowed us up to the scene of the latest crime."

"How nice of them." Although Simon's expression indicated otherwise. Eventually the rest of Jim's words caught up with him and the eyebrow raised even higher. "Personnel files?"

Blair chimed in. "Yeah, man you wouldn't believe it. They ran our badge numbers through their computer system and lo and behold, we're seeing our official records on their monitors. It was creepy."

Creepy obviously wasn't the term Banks had for it. Rather than respond to the other two men's comments he leaned forward and hit the intercom button. "Rhonda?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Rhonda, I want the department computer specialist in my office yesterday."

"Yes, sir!"

Through the office window Jim could see the puzzled look on her face, but much to her credit, she was already on the phone. He turned back to Banks as the captain spoke to them again. "Tell me you're onto something."

"Maybe." Blair pulled out the paper he had been working on at his desk. "Take a look at this. This is the layout of the building." Jim nodded his understanding of the sketch immediately, while Simon took a few seconds longer to sort out the towers and the courtyard they surrounded.

"What are these?" Simon pointed to the narrow bands that connected the four towers.

"It's like a strip mall between the towers, all high-end retail and office space. They create the wall that surrounds the courtyard. The third level is the beginnings of the private part of the complex. From there up are only the towers. Each floor houses one condominium with balconies on the two inner sides. Let me label the locations of the items stolen and I think you'll see where I'm headed with this. For the moment, I'm ignoring the Wallace case."

Jim could see the pattern in his head before Sandburg could make a mark on the paper. Quickly it became visible to Banks also. The point of entry for the robberies had been the balcony facing the Harmony tower.

"Interesting, but why are we ignoring the Wallace case?" Simon looked expectantly at the partners. Jim nodded at Blair, so the younger man answered the question.

"Our thief is taking small, expensive items that are visible -- a necklace off of a dresser, a bracelet out of an overflowing jewelry box, and coins from a large exposed safe. In the Wallace's case, they lost 36 antique snuffboxes out of storage. I wouldn't be surprised if there haven't been other cases where something turned up missing and the people just thought they had lost it."

A rap on the door startled all three men and they turned to find Serena at the door. "Jim, I thought you guys would like the results from the Erickson case." Jim waved her in as Sandburg moved his papers to make room.

Serena sat down and slid a stack of papers at Ellison. "As you can see, there were no fibers or fingerprints that we can connect to the robbery. In fact, the only thing we could link to the perp was the dried mud by the balcony door, but I think you already knew that."

Jim ignored her last comment. "Anything you could tell about the mud?"

"According to the minerals we found in it, the dirt probably came from the Snoqualmie National Forest. More precisely, the northern most part of it..."

"Where some of the best mountain climbing in the northwest can be found." Blair finished her thought with a grin.

"What do you know about mountain climbing?" The question came from Ellison, but was reflected on the faces of the others in the room. Blair's dislike of heights was legendary in the PD.

"Some of the guys I went to the Academy with would go up there to climb every time they had enough time off. Apparently there is an area that the pros use to train before they go on big expeditions."

Jim nodded, deep in thought. "It would fit."

"You think a group of mountain climbers is robbing these people?" The expression on Simon's face told that he was thinking of how to inform the mayor about that theory.

"They're coming in through the balconies, sir. Serena has traced them to an area frequented by climbers, so it makes sense."

Blair added his own comment to Jim's. "Either that or Spiderman has turned to a life of crime."

The snort indicated that Banks was not amused by Blair's wisecrack. Jim just moved to the window, which got Sandburg's attention and he moved to his Sentinel's side. "What?"

Jim pointed to a building across the street that was taller than the station. "If you had binoculars, how many floors could you see into?"

Blair thought for a moment, Simon and Serena moved next to them as he studied the nearby building. "The level directly across from us would be easy. Directly above and below would be harder, but do-able." Understanding dawned on the younger man's face. "Anything past that would be at too much of an angle to see more than a few feet past the window."

Simon spoke up from behind them. "That narrows down how many people in the Harmony Tower could see into the homes that were burglarized, doesn't it?"

"It sure does." Jim turned back from the window. "Let's get back over there, Chief. I want to take a look up on the roofs before we meet with Wallace."

The phone on Simon's desk buzzed and the tall man reached to answer it. "Yes?"

Jim just had to crank up his hearing a bit to hear Rafe's voice on the phone. "Captain, there's been another burglary at the Towers. They're expecting Ellison and Sandburg as soon as they can get there."

Since they weren't alone, Simon relayed the message to them, noting Ellison's displeasure.

As the two men prepared to leave, a worried expression crossed Simon's face and he turned to Blair. "Is he playing nice with the rich people, Sandburg?"

"He's his usual, charming self." Blair paused as Simon put his head in his hands with a low groan. "Really, though, he didn't even complain when Mrs. Palmer..."

"How about some tea with honey, dear?" Jim's question brought the younger man up short and he blushed a bright red, immediately quiet. With a smug grin, Jim picked up the files and led the way out of Simon's office, Blair only a step behind him. As the door closed, both Simon and Serena broke out laughing.

Millenium Towers 12:45pm

This time when they arrived, the two men were ushered right inside with barely a glance from the group of security guards clustered around the computer monitor. The 'access denied' written across the screen gave Ellison and Sandburg a good idea of what their captain had been up too. Laferty was waiting for them in his office; his computer showed the same message.

With that image in the background, Ellison found it easy to be pleasant. "We heard that you've had another break-in."

It was pretty obvious to the other men that there was another subject that Laferty wanted to discuss, but to his credit he kept with the case. "The Martins reported a Ming vase missing."

Jim looked down at his watch. It was nearly 1:00. "How long ago did they report it?"

"The Martins aren't early risers." Laferty's vague answer let them come to their own conclusions.

"I see." Ellison looked over at Blair, a questioning look on his face. This one was setting off all sorts of internal alarms, as it did not fit the profile of the other crimes. Blair shrugged, his own doubts reflecting back at Jim. Blair had spent too many years as a student of human nature not to be suspicious of the timing of these new cases. The public admittance by the building staff as to the payoff on any lost item was bound to bring out the greedy no matter how wealthy they were.

Blair had a question of his own. "Where do the Martins live?"

"They're in Serenity 14." Laferty looked at the body language of the two detectives and became suspicious that they had more information than he had now. "I'd like to go up with you, since I haven't talked to them yet."

Rather than take the time to argue, Ellison opened the door for him. "After you."

Serenity 14

The smell of alcohol greeted the Sentinel as soon as they stepped off the elevator and Jim knew exactly why the Martins weren't early risers. It took several knocks before the door was answered. A middle-aged man with a Bloody Mary in his hand stood there. "About time you got here." Without another comment, he pushed the maid out into the vestibule. "No need to call anyone; I'll walk her down myself."

The elevator closed behind Mr. Martin and the young woman before any of them could say a word. Hearing someone moving about in the unit, Ellison pushed the door open the rest of the way and walked in. Blair and Laferty looked at each other and followed.

"Mrs. Martin?" Jim walked through the unit, by now he was familiar with the layout, as they were pretty much all the same. In the living room he found a nervous woman attempting to paint her nails. The smell of nail polish burned his nose and his cough caught her attention. She jumped slightly, smearing the wet polish across her hand.

"Yes, who are you?" She relaxed slightly when she noticed Laferty standing behind him. "Chief Laferty, what can I do for you?"

Even Laferty was surprised by the woman's question. "We're here about the vase -- these men are detectives with the police department." When she didn't respond, he prompted her further. "Your husband called my office and reported that you had a Ming vase stolen last night."

"Oh yes, the vase that was stolen." All three men noticed her emphasis on the word 'stolen'. Jim dialed his senses back up, filtering out the alcohol and the nail polish and was struck by just how frightened she was. His instinct told him to let her stew for a while.

"Don't mind us, ma'am; we're just going to take a look around for a bit." He gave her his most disarming smile, which made her more nervous than ever, which was his intent.

Sandburg was pretty sure he knew where his partner was going with his approach and followed him out onto the balcony. Laferty started to question them but when he realized that they had left him behind, he hurried to join them.

The sliding door closed behind Laferty with a bang and he moved closer to the two detectives. "What in the hell was that all about? Why didn't you interview her?"

"Didn't it strike you a little odd that you had to remind her what was stolen?" Blair engaged the older man's attention, allowing his partner to work.

"More than a little odd, actually. So why aren't you pushing her about it? And what in the hell is he doing?" Laferty looked over at Ellison who was studying the deck surface and the potted plants that surrounded the edge, some of them taller than the railing.

"He's letting her stew and he's taking a good look at the probable point of entry while it's still fresh." Inwardly Blair cheered. Laferty seemed to be developing a grudging respect for his partner, though he'd never publicly admit it.

"They didn't come in through here." Jim stood up and brushed off his knees.

"Are you sure?" There didn't seem to be a lot of doubt behind Laferty's question.

"There's a light layer of dust out here, see? Our footprints are the only ones visible." By squinting hard Laferty could see what Ellison was referring to. Before he could ask Ellison just how he could see that, Sandburg spoke up.

"Take a look at those plants. Nobody could climb over those without knocking at least one of them over." Before the security chief could question him Blair continued, moving the leaves aside to show the surface of the soil in the pots. "See, the dirt hasn't been disturbed."

Ellison's focus was on the woman inside. She was pacing back and forth in front of the balcony door, her attention divided between the men outside and the far wall of the living room. Sandburg moved to his side.

"She doesn't act like your typical victim."

"Nope." Ellison couldn't help but notice their scrutiny was increasing her anxiety.

"Kinda early for the help to be going home." Out of the corner of his eye Blair watched Laferty watch them.

"Better than banker's hours. Shall we?" Jim opened the door for his partner. Blair slid in, followed by Ellison. Again, Laferty was left to play catch up as he rushed to follow them.

With practiced ease the two men began to work their magic. Blair sat next to the victim while Jim moved back and forth across the room. Every time he moved closer to the far wall, he could detect an increase of her heartrate and breathing. Sandburg kept interrupting her with questions about the missing vase, watching his partner carefully that he didn't zone.

Ellison studied the area methodically; keeping one ear tuned to the woman, as she became more and more agitated. When he bent down to examine the carpet, her gasp almost drowned out the slight crunch under his foot. Almost. Sensitive fingers brushed apart the nap of the carpet, searching against the burlap backing. He was rewarded by a tiny fragment of porcelain, then another. Jim dampened his index finger by exhaling on it and then pressed against the slivers. The moisture caused them to cling to his finger and he stood up and walked over to Mrs. Martin.

"Who threw the vase, ma'am?" Jim's voice was soft and it broke the dam. She began to quietly sob.

"He's a good man; he just drinks too much sometimes. He didn't mean it, honest -- he loves me."

Wisely, Jim moved aside and let his partner take over. Blair moved close and squeezed the woman's hand. "Mrs. Martin?"

"Pamela, it's Pamela."

"All right Pamela, no one is questioning how much he loves you, but you know that what happened last night wasn't right. You're going to have to be the strong one and get him some help. Can you do that?"

"How? I don't know how." She dabbed at her eyes with the tissue that Sandburg offered.

Blair had anticipated the question and was already writing phone numbers down. He tore the page out of his notebook and pressed it into the woman's hand. "Call these people, they'll help you do what you need to do." When she seemed to hesitate, he played a trump card. "If he's in some type of intervention program by the end of the week, we won't press charges."

"Charges?"

"Falsely reporting a robbery is a serious thing, not to mention the fraud charges possible by requesting the Tower management or your insurance company refund you for a vase that wasn't really stolen. Call them now, all right?" He patted her arm as he stood up. "I put our number on there too. If we're not at our desks, they can forward the call to us."

"Thank you. I'll call; I promise."

Once they were back on the elevator, Laferty turned to Sandburg. "You did a real good thing back there, thank you."

The modest young man just shrugged his shoulders. "Helping people is part of the job; it's what we do. Humiliating them with an arrest wouldn't have done any good, but the possibility of it may force them to get help."

"I appreciate it." Laferty changed the subject as the elevator arrived at the lobby level. "What's the next step?"

"We meet with Wallace at 2:00, then we go up on the roofs." Jim didn't look thrilled with the prospect of interviewing Jack Wallace. "Unless he's too busy to meet with us."

"Wallace? Jack Wallace in Harmony 1?"

"Yes sir." Since they were working together easier now, Jim decided to try to pump Laferty for more information. "What can you tell us about him?"

Laferty thought for a moment. "He's new money, self-made at that. Drives himself pretty hard and expects the same from those around him."

"Including his kid?"

"Especially his kid."

Jim remembered what it was like to grow up with a demanding father and almost missed the rest of Laferty's words.

"He hasn't reported anything missing, what do you need to see him for?"

Seeing his partner's distraction, Blair answered the older man. "Apparently he has some things missing that he reported directly to his insurance company. We're meeting the company rep there in a few minutes."

Without asking, Laferty tagged along. The Wallace condominium was light and airy, with a definite feminine touch to it, the obvious doing of the new Mrs. Wallace. She led them into the living room before offering them tea. Biting back a laugh, Jim declined for both of them. Laferty gave them an odd look before declining also.

Ellison decided not to waste a lot of time on small talk. "Mrs. Wallace, we're here to meet with your husband..."

"Yes, I know, and it's Gina, please. Jack will be here soon; I called and asked him to pick up Justin from school on his way home." She turned to Laferty. "I hope Tiffany won't be too upset at having to take the school bus home by herself, but I worry that Justin and his father don't spend enough time together."

Since Laferty didn't seem inclined to say anything on the subject, Blair stepped in. "Is Justin your stepson, Gina?"

She gave a sad smile. "Yes, Jack and I have been married for only couple of years; Justin's mother died when he was quite young. It's been a hard adjustment for him, especially since the baby arrived."

The arrival of Jack and Justin Wallace precluded any further discussion. The younger Wallace seemed frightened to find them there. A short, balding man arrived moments later, and was introduced as the insurance adjuster. The entire group moved into the den.

Jack opened the large wooden chest that doubled as a table, and then Jim stopped him. "On the off chance that there are any fingerprints, we'd like to preserve this as a crime scene." He snapped on a pair of gloves. "Which box were they in?"

Wallace pointed out an old leather covered box near the side of the trunk. Jim bent down to recover it, noticing as he did the smell of fear that was emanating from the younger Wallace. The leather was old and cracked from dryness, making fingerprints almost impossible to retrieve after a time, but he didn't let on, instead watching to see Justin's reaction. Once he had the box, Jim moved to the desk with it.

Jim opened the box and immediately sneezed from the musty smell emanating from inside. Quickly he dialed down his sense of smell before looking at the contents. The box was half full of assorted small containers slightly larger than the pillboxes he remembered his grandmother having. At one time they had all been neatly wrapped, but now they were a chaotic jumble as whoever had taken them appeared to be after specific ones.

The fact that a thief would have taken the time to go through the entire collection struck Ellison as odd. "Do you know which ones were taken?"

Wallace nodded his head, obviously saddened by the information. "All the ones that had been collected prior to my first wife's death. Most of them had originally belonged to her father."

Jim may have been facing the senior Wallace, but all of his senses were tuned to the younger one. "That must be hard, losing something that is tied to her." Whatever response Jack Wallace was going to make was drowned out by the angry cry of his son.

"Why do you care? You just shoved all her stuff away like she didn't matter anymore!"

Justin's outburst didn't surprise Jim. Neither did it surprise the new Mrs. Wallace. When the teen sunk down in an overstuffed chair and buried his face in his hands, she waved her husband back and knelt down in front of him.

"Justin, sweetie, where are my grandmother's perfume bottles?"

"You put them up when Terry started walking." The answer was muffled through his hands. Behind him, his father was beginning to realize what the young man had thought when his mother's family heirlooms had begun to disappear from their home.

"And my collection of music boxes, the ones that have been in my family for over a hundred years?" When Justin finally looked up at her, she grasped his hand and continued. "When Terry started walking, we put a lot of things away. Things that were precious, that we wanted to hand down to you boys."

When Jim heard the barely vocalized whispers of apology he was pretty sure what had happened, and kept his tone as non-threatening as possible. "Where are they, son?"

"In my room." Justin's voice was barely above a whisper now. "I didn't think Dad would miss them and I remember Mom telling me the stories about how Grandpa got them..."

"So when you saw your father take them out to show the appraiser you decided to safeguard them yourself." Jim turned around, hoping to see some semblance of understanding in the father's face. What he saw was far beyond and he moved out of the way. Off to the side, Sandburg pulled Laferty and the insurance appraiser out into the hallway.

"Yeah. How'd you find out they weren't in the box?" Justin looked over as his father sat on the arm of the chair and drew him into a hug, his voice rough with emotion.

"When we heard about a burglary in the building, Gina and I started checking the valuables this morning after you left for school and..." Whatever else was said became private as Ellison shut the door behind him.

"They don't need us anymore."

Once they were back in the lobby the appraiser smiled and left without saying a word to them, while Laferty stared.

It didn't take long for the scrutiny to bother Sandburg. "What?"

Laferty shook his head. "You two just aren't normal cops."

"Yeah, we are." When Laferty started to object, Sandburg continued. "Maybe it's time you re-evaluate your opinion of the police department."

Laferty didn't have an answer, so Jim posed a question of his own. "There is one condominium in this complex that has a view into every room that a robbery has occurred. What can you tell us about who lives in Harmony 8?"

"Harmony 8? That would be Frank Cochran -- that's odd."

"Odd?" In Jim's mind this case passed odd about the time they were asked to put a cat in protective custody. Behind him his partner snorted in disbelief.

Laferty didn't seem to notice their reactions. "Mr. Cochran writes detective novels; I wonder if he'll use these in a book sometime?"

Jim was wondering if the robberies were going into a book right now, but he kept that thought to himself. One glance at Sandburg told him that his partner was harboring the same questions. To keep Laferty off guard he changed the subject. "We're going to be up on the roof of each tower for a while, see if we can tell how our guy is getting into places."

Blair had questions of his own. "Who runs the elevators at night?"

"After 10:00 pm, the only staff here is night security. The residents use the elevators themselves or if they have problems they can call for the staff." The building's security chief was much easier to deal with than at the start of the case.

"What about garage access?"

Laferty thought for a moment. "All the residents have card keys for the gates. Occasionally we issue cards for guests, but they're limited access -- usually only three days or less. There are none in use right now, and no one has reported their card missing or lost."

"Thank you, we'll keep you up to date." Ellison moved back towards the Harmony Tower elevator, effectively dismissing Laferty. Sandburg followed him and waited for the doors to close before speaking.

"Of all the people I would have expected in our faces about this case, Frank Cochran would have been at the top of my list. Wonder why we haven't seen him?"

"Good question, Chief." The elevator stopped at the top level and they walked across to the outside door. Once they were outside, Jim dialed the station.

"Rafe, I need you to run a check on someone for us."

"Yeah, man, what do you need?"

"See what you can find out about Frank Cochran."

"You mean the writer?"

"That's him. Get everything you can on him, especially his finances, and see if you can get any info about his next book if there is one."

"H. and I will get right on it, Jim."

Once that was out of the way the Sentinel began a methodical search of the roof, Sandburg at his side. "Look for what doesn't belong here. More than likely our perp had to spend an entire night out here each time. Let's see if we can find where he would hold up. Just be sure and do it before the doors lock. I so do not want to get stuck out here all night."

"We can always call if we get locked out."

Blair glared at his partner, "Let's not. We've finally convinced them we have a brain. I'd like to keep it that way."

Jim stopped in front of an air vent. "What do we have here?" A closer examination showed that the paint was knocked off the screws that held the cover in place and that they were loose enough to turn by hand. Once the cover was off, a canvas pack was visible inside. Carefully, Jim nudged the zipper open with his pen to reveal coils of black nylon cable and assorted rappelling gear. The faint smell of jerky and trail mix seemed to confirm that this was the hiding spot of their mystery man.

Blair pulled out his phone and filled Simon in on what they had found and requested forensics to respond, leaving the task of informing Chief Laferty to his partner. Jim grumbled at him, as he called downstairs.

As soon as the forensic unit arrived Jim and Blair slipped away with instructions to Serena to put a rush on anything they found. On their way back to the station they detoured to the park and their favorite hot dog stand. Jim made a beeline to the stand while Blair staked out a table in a quiet corner of the park. When Jim returned with two dogs with the works, Blair was just hanging up his phone.

"Hey, Buddy."

Blair didn't seem to hear him, so Jim set his food on the bench in front of him and tried again. "Here's your dog, Chief... Earth to Blair?" Jim sat down and took a good look at his partner. "What's wrong?"

"Do you remember me requesting that Jeff be put under a suicide watch?" Blair picked at the bun of his hot dog.

"Did someone countermand that? We'll take care of that right now, I'll..." Jim was already dialing his cell phone when Blair reached over and grasped his arm.

"It's too late. When they went to implement it... he'd already..."

It was easy to fill in the blanks. "God, no! Blair, I'm so sorry... how's David, have you heard?"

"He was there when they found Jeff. No one's seen him since."

"Damn."

"Yeah."

It was a very subdued pair that walked into the squad room. Whatever conversations were occurring ground to a halt as they had rarely seen those two men so down. Simon quietly opened his door and motioned them inside.

"How are you doing, Sandburg?" Without asking, Simon poured them each a cup of coffee. Blair took his with a sad smile.

"It wasn't my son that died, sir. I think the real question is how are the Phillips doing?"

Simon sighed and rubbed his face. "David's asked for an extended leave of absence, which we've granted. When the media finds out that the Cascade Bomber hung himself in his jail cell, it's gonna turn into a feeding frenzy. Better that they be away from all this."

Simon hesitated then drew an envelope out of his jacket pocket. "David asked me to give you this, Blair. I don't think he was up to seeing you in person, but he wanted you to have this." He waited patiently for Blair to take it.

Without a word, Blair took the envelope and slipped it into his shirt pocket. Jim found his silence unnerving, but before he could say anything there was a sharp rap at the door. All three of them jumped, and then Simon waved in Serena, Rafe and Brown.

Jim cleared his throat. "What do you have for us?" The new arrivals took up chairs around Simon's desk. Rafe was the first one to speak.

"Up until three years ago, Frank Cochran was a successful mystery writer. On New Years Eve three years ago he was in a head-on collision with a drunk driver. He's been in a wheelchair ever since and hasn't written one book. He's now broke and living on the advance he talked his old publisher into giving him."

Blair took a deep breath and was all business again. "Were you able to find out what his new book is about?"

"Oh yeah, man." Brown's deep rich voice rolled over them. "He's writing about a dashing and sexy cat burglar who targets high rise buildings. Sound familiar?"

Jim leaned back in his chair. "Really? How interesting. Just what facts is Mr. Cochran revealing about his antagonist?"

"Not much, just that between heists he spends his time climbing mountains."

Rafe interrupted his partner. "According to his publisher, they're spending a great deal of money on a private consultant. The guy's name is Cole Bishop and he is co-owner of a climbing equipment store here in Cascade."

That really got Ellison's interest. "What do we have on this Cole Bishop?"

"Not much," Serena looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Just his fingerprints on all the gear you found hidden on the roof."

"Yes!" Jim leaned forward again. "Where do we find Bishop?"

"Megan and Joel went to stake out his shop and found out that he sold his half this morning and took off for parts unknown." Rafe truly looked sorry. "We tracked him to an international flight that left around noon. By now he's on the tallest mountain in some country that doesn't have an extradition treaty and we won't be able to touch him."

Blair could hear it -- that horrible sound a case makes when it suddenly falls apart and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Without Bishop, there was nothing but circumstantial evidence against Cochran. The best they could do would be to tell Laferty the whole story and hope the owner's association would at least drive him out of the building. Without saying a word to anyone in the room, Sandburg stood up and walked out.

With a sad understanding Jim tracked his partner's path through Major Crime and out into the hallway. There he heard the sound of flesh hitting a solid object. Ellison slowly stacked all the files on Simon's desk and stood up to leave.

"Jim, what are you going to do?" Simon was worried about his best team.

Ellison turned back to look at his captain, an exhausted air about him. "I'm going to take my partner to get his hand x-rayed, then we're going home, sir. It's been a long day."