I see Hurley sitting alone at a table by the window drinking soda from a straw. Fresh-looking male and female uniform officers a couple tables in front of his sip coffee out of white mugs. The young girl’s cute. Both of them glance over as I make my way to Hurley, probably wondering what unit I’m from. Or maybe they saw me on the news.

I shake hands with Hurley and take the chair across from him.

“I just got here a second ago,” he says and raises his hand to summon the waitress.

“So you hungry?” he asks.

What do I say to that? No, I’m not. I never am, but I gotta play the part.

“This humidity fucks up my system, but I can manage something.”

I grab the menu.

The cute waitress shows up.

“I’ll have the FOP club and another soda, please.”

I give the menu a quick look-over. Definitely not the same menu.

“Shit, the Kojak? You serve a lollipop with that?” I ask the waitress with a smile.

“Tootsie Pop,” she says.

“Damn, the Columbo? What happened to this place?”

“Trust me, it’s an improvement,” Hurley says.

“I’ll also have the FOP club. Water and coffee, too.”

“Self-serve coffee right over there,” she says, pointing to the wall across from me, where there’s a table, stacks of mugs, and a couple of full coffeepots. Some things never change.

“Thanks,” I say.

“Will that be all, gentlemen?”

I nod.

“Yeah, sweetie. Thanks,” Hurley says, shooting her a goofy smile.

I pull my chair out to stand. “Be right back.”

I walk to the table and pour myself a cup of coffee, then return to sit.

“So I went to this record store I used to frequent.” I sit back down. “It’s on U Street, near where I live.”

He looks at me with interest. I decide to leave out the kid that bolted out of the store, ’cause what good would it do for me?

“You know anything about that spot?”

“Sure, and the owner there plays by the rules,” Hurley says.

“Happy to hear that. He told me about some secondhand dealers who might not play by the rules, though.”

“I’m on that, too. First thing I did was check the pawn database. Couple CDs here and there, but nothing like your collection. Checked out a few laptops and some stereo equipment, but it was negative.”

“You gonna hit those secondhand dealers soon?”

“Once I finish up with this witness conference. Should be done tomorrow.”

“Witness conference have anything to do with the homicide?”

“No. Something else my unit was involved in. A narco-fencing case. But we have a lot of pressure with the homicide. You ever call your cousin’s parents?”

“They’re divorced. I talked to his mother” is all I say.

“Well, it might be best to stay clear, buddy. She has it in her head that you’re to blame.”