SOME DAYS YOU WIN, SOME DAYS YOU LOSE

 

 

 

                                                                                                By Peggy Hartsook

 

 

 

 

Steve McGarrett stopped by the Iolani Palace before going on home, even though it was late, and the tropical night had long since fallen over Honolulu.  He was unsurprised to see a light on in his office.  He knew that’s where Danno would be.

 

It had been a lousy day.  McGarrett had to fly to Los Angeles the day before in a last ditch attempt to salvage the government’s case against Victor Chablansky, a well-known mob racketeer, who operated in several states.  Well known to everyone but a federal court judge in L.A...  One by one, she had consistently ruled against several different aspects of the Justice Department’s case against Chablansky.  In desperation, the Justice Department attorneys had asked McGarrett to fly over and testify, as the one part of the case that hadn’t fallen apart was the work done by Hawaii Five–0 in the surveillance and arresting of Chablansky’s small-time hoods.  Steve had agreed, aghast that such a solid case had gone to pieces so quickly and flew over immediately.  It was too little, too late and tonight Chablansky walked around a free man, thumbing his nose at the police.  The bile in McGarrett’s stomach had nothing to do with the surprisingly rough flight back.  It was about good cops nailing a bad man who’d strutted away due to technicalities and lawyer tricks.  It was a perversion of the law and McGarrett burned with the injustice of it.

 

Steve made an effort to relax when he parked the car however.  Coming down with ulcers wouldn’t help Dan Williams, his second in command tonight.  Knowing Danno, he would be down and full of self-doubt.

 

His footsteps echoed on the polished wooden stairs going up to the offices of Five–0.  The Palace was empty and hollow sounding at night.  Another world from the hustle and bustle that would be present tomorrow morning.  Tonight it almost seemed like the ghosts of the old Hawaiian royals were still walking around.

 

Steve McGarrett blinked his eyes in the brightness of the office after the relative darkness of the corridor outside.  He glanced inside Dan’s cubicle but there was no one there, no sign of the detective except a jacket slung carelessly over the back of the chair.  He went on into his own office, where Steve saw the lanai door open to the night outside. 

 

Loosening his tie and suddenly weary, Steve called softly, “Danno?”

 

Dan Williams came in from the lanai, haggard and worn.  His tie was loose as well but it was his shadowed eyes that grabbed Steve’s attention.  They were haunted and full of remorse.

 

“Steve, you’re back already?  Thought you might stay over and see your sister?”

 

McGarrett sighed.  “Like everything else on this trip, that went wrong too.  She and the family are out of town on vacation.”

 

“Victor Chablansky?”

 

“Walked away smiling.  Judge threw out the case.”

 

Dan cursed.  “How could he?”

 

“She, Danno.  She.”

 

“Whatever.  That was a good case, Steve.”

 

“I thought so too.  But Her Honor the Dame found all kinds of flaws in police techniques.”

 

“Damn judges.  They sit on the sidelines, and second guess with great hindsight.”

 

Steve smiled wryly.  “World’s full of second guessers, Danno.”

 

Dan’s face fell even more.  “You heard?”

 

“Chin called during a recess.  Said you were taking it hard.”

 

“Susan Miller was innocent.  And I put her away.  That’s hard not to take hard, Steve.”

 

“The case against her seemed solid, Danno.  Looked that way to me.”

 

“You only reviewed it after you got back from medical leave.  And it went to court in a couple of days after that.  You didn’t have any time with it.  I handled that case, Steve.  I sent that woman to prison for two years.”

 

“Danno, you were not the judge and jury.  Her lawyer had plenty of opportunities to punch holes in the case.  He couldn’t convince the jury; hell, she even acted guilty!  Remember that scene during the boyfriend’s testimony?”

 

As usual, when Dan Williams was lost in self-recrimination, he could hear no one else except his own inner voice telling him he failed.  Failed Steve, failed the team.  He continued, lost in his own misery.  “You know what she said on TV this afternoon when she was released?  She held no grudges and didn’t hate anybody.  She was only thankful to be free and she would be so happy to go to her own church on Sunday.”
           

This was too much for McGarrett, whose ideas of patience and understanding went out the lanai door at the speed of light.  He snorted in disbelief.  “Oh, come on, Danno!  Are we talking about Susan Miller, a one woman USO club and the disco queen of Honolulu?”

 

Dan flushed.  “Well, maybe she got religion in the joint.”

 

“They frequently do,” Steve commented dryly.  He sat down in the chair opposite his desk.  After a moment, Dan tentatively sat down in McGarrett’s own chair, behind the big desk.  The desk lamp pooled the light around the immediate area, but the rest of the office was dark.

 

“All right,” Dan suddenly conceded.  “So maybe she laid it on a bit thick.  Still doesn’t change what happened.  She was innocent!”

 

“And Victor Chablansky was guilty.  It’s not a perfect system, Danno.”  Steve gritted his teeth.  “And we have to live with it.”

 

Dan gave him a curious glance.  “You’re taking this Chablansky thing pretty well.”

 

“I had a long flight back,” McGarrett said in a brittle voice.  He did not add that he took nothing very well in the courtroom and on the ride to the airport.  It was only over the Pacific Ocean on his way back to his beloved Hawaii that fatigue-supplanted anger and frustration.

 

Dan finally smiled.  “Yeah, I can see by your face that you’re resigned to the verdict and philosophical about the outcome.”

 

Steve gave him a little half smile.  “Yeah, all right, wise guy.  What I really stopped by for is to find out if you’ve had anything to eat yet tonight?”

 

“Er, Chin’s cousin dropped off some food,” Dan paused to check his watch and gulped, “Well, quite a while ago.  A long time ago, I guess.”

 

They went out to Chin’s desk and found some soggy cartons of Chinese food still sitting there.  Steve peered inside.  “I think it’s been here a little too long, Danno.”

 

Dan inspected the little sack nearby.  “I can’t believe Chin and Duke ate all the fortune cookies again!  What gives with those guys, anyway?”

 

Steve laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder.  “Let’s go out and get something.”

 

Dan brightened.  “Sounds good.  I’ll just put the paperwork away and –” He stopped.  Even the mere thought of Susan Miller cast a shadow on his soul

 

“Danno,” Steve tightened his grip on the younger man’s shoulder, turning him towards the Five–0 chief.  “It was a mistake.  They happen.”

 

“But it really bothers me, Steve.  It eats me up.”

 

“Stop right there.  Let it bother you, Danno.  A good cop does care.  He hates mistakes.  Only bad cops don’t care and won’t look back.  But don’t let it eat you up.  A lot of people made mistakes on this case.  Including Susan Miller herself.  If she hadn’t picked up Johnny Stopata to be her boyfriend for that week, she wouldn’t have let his embezzler cousin in the door to have access to the books.  She wasn’t exactly particular in picking her boyfriends.  And you can’t blame yourself for that.  There were a lot of opportunities for this case to right itself.  It doesn’t all fall on you.”

 

Dan Williams looked at him, shining eyes full of gratitude.  “Thanks, Steve.  I appreciate it.”  McGarrett nodded, and then waited as Dan put the case file away and grabbed his jacket from his office.  “Steve, we’re pretty late.  Not gonna be a lot open now, unless you want to eat some junk food.”  He couldn’t resist adding impishly,  “The last root and berry places closed a long time ago.”

 

McGarrett pinched the bridge of his nose.  A headache lurked behind his eyes.  “Couldn’t be any worse than airline food.”

 

As they headed for the door, Dan asked,  “So, tell me about that lady judge in L.A.?”

 

“That self righteous dame,” Steve seethed, headache threatening to burst out in all its glory.

 

Dan laughed.  “Good looking?”

 

“Over sixty, gray haired and a bleeding heart for all the poor misguided criminals brutalized by the police.”  Aware of Dan’s amusement, Steve shot him a devilish look.  “Next time, I send you.”           

 

“What?”  Wait a minute, Steve, I was just joking!”

 

Dan protested his innocence all the way out to the parking lot.

 

 

 

                                                                        PAU