Smoke

Hey... Gudsen.

Hey, wake up.

Yo, Gudsen.

Investigator Gudsen?

Captain Steven Burke,

Columbia Metro.

Long night, huh?

Just been burning the oil.

Yeah.

Can I help you with something?

Yeah. I have a meeting with Commander Englehart this morning.

Who has a guy gotta blow to get a cup of coffee around here, huh?

- On it, Captain. - All right. Thank you so much.

I, uh...

Okay.

Yeah. Ah!

Just appreciate the wake up by the way.

I got a long drive ahead of me.

Drive, huh?

Yep.

I got this Arson Investigator Conference out in Leighton.

A little escape from the everyday.

Escape?

From two arsonists burning your jurisdiction to the fucking ground?

- And how about Calderone? -

She'd be joining you?

- No. - No.

Great.

Well, I mean, at least someone's working.

Yeah.

Captain Burke?

We have a meeting in the books?

No. I, uh...

I was in the neighborhood. So...

Come on down to my office.

All right.

Oh, you wanna...

Wanna take this coffee to go, Captain?

I never touch the stuff.

- So you and Gudsen go back a ways, huh? - We do.

- Oh, yeah? That's... Oh. - Mmm...

Wow.

That's nice.

Beautiful.

And, so, uh...

If he's not getting results,

how far are you willing to back him?

Well, your girl Calderone is right in there with him, so...

She is, yeah. Except Calderone is a fucking hero.

- - So... yeah.

I will back her all day.

- Mm-hmm. - Oh, this is nice, Harvey.

It's beautiful.

How long did it take you to build all this?

A lifetime, I would imagine.

Well, it could all be taken away in seconds if you back the wrong filly.

You're Kerrigan's attack dog, right?

- Uh, no. - Among other things?

Nah, no. I'm just a, uh...

a loyal soldier to... ...to the Department.

That what they call bagmen these days?

- You know what I heard about you, Harvey? - Couldn't give less of a fuck.

You have a good day.

- Jane? - Okay.

Why don't you go ahead and give me those acquisition reports

on House seven, please?

Yeah.

Thank you.

I call it the triangle of customer service,

because we all need to try a little harder to make our customers feel like family.

That's why I'll stress cleanliness, politeness, appearance.

Those things matter most.

You must be Mr. Fasano.

Can I call you Freddy?

I'm Dev, Freddy. Your new manager.

I didn't get the job?

I was just talking to these folks about the importance of appearance.

How do you feel about a hat?

Nah. It itches.

Well, let's give it a day and see how we feel tomorrow.

- Hey. - You got a pen?

Yeah, why?

Gudsen's old partner Ezra Esposito's annuity checks are sent to

1175 North Garnet, Slot 65, in Corrales.

"Slot"?

That's what it says.

Huh.

Thanks, Captain.

Yesterday it was "Steven."

I wouldn't read too much into it.

I gotta run.

Don't shoot anyone in the dick.

Hey. Kid.

You good?

- What's up? - Is Dave in there?

No. Why would Dave be in there?

- Because you're fucking him. -

- Whoa. - You're in his book.

Okay. How do you know it's me?

You're graphically described.

Oh, fuck no.

What? So, you're not sleeping with him?

No!

Abso-fucking-lutely not!

It's just... I hate this place.

Look, you wanna talk to me about not fitting in or anything,

hit me up.

You'll be okay.

Yo, how do I get a copy of Dave's book?

I can Airdrop it to you.

Ken Maddox of the Reddington County Fire Department was the Arson Unit.

Widely regarded as the preeminent arson investigator in the Western United States,

if not the whole country,

Ken Maddox had an effortless command

that made him such an asset to the county that they had to put up with his attitude.

Because Ken Maddox did not suffer fools any more than he suffered arsonists.

His intellect was matched only by his natural good looks.

His jaw was chiseled and hewn from rock.

His hair was thick and plentiful.

It was after midnight when the call came in.

Ken Maddox left the beautiful woman asleep in his bed

and got ready to hunt down the man

responsible for burning half the grocery stores in town.

Armed with his glock and his Reddington FD badge,

Maddox arrived at the scene ready to take command.

The police looked to him for guidance.

They knew that only he could unlock the twisted mind of the arsonist.

- Ken Maddox's supposed superiors... -

...decided he needed a partner to solve the Potato Chip Fires.

He resented this until he heard a knock at his office door.

In walked his new partner,

a drop-dead bombshell whose hair shone the blue black of a raven...

...with eyes the color of imperial jade.

This was a woman he could mentor...

- - ...wing until she blossomed,

both as a fire investigator and as a sexual being...

- - ...who simply...

Hello, Ezra.

What are you looking at?

Motherfucker...

- There you go. - Thank you.

- From the Division? - Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. If you know how beer league is, it's always... it's always tough.

It's always hectic.

But he hit a home run.

- No he didn't. Jim? - Well, yeah. He's really good.

- Wow, he's a big deal. He's... -

- Thanks a lot. Got 'em. - Got 'em?

- - Come on, let's go, Jag! Let's go!

- Teach! - Professor.

What are we celebrating?

I just got engaged!

Hey, what are we celebrating?

That's great. Congratulations, Jag! Very happy for you.

Thank you, Dave. Thank you.

Wow.

What's up with Cybulski and his crew, huh?

Posse. Not a crew. He has a posse.

And that group's like one of three.

They're gonna patrol the whole town, make sure we don't have a repeat of last year.

All those fires when we had the convention in...

Yeah. I remember. But we're not in Francona.

But what if it was one of us?

You don't really believe that, do ya?

I don't know. What if he was?

Then he was laughing at us.

So they're gonna catch him in the act?

Cybulski and his IQ of 95?

Yeah. That's the plan.

No one wants to be fucking humiliated again.

Mmm.

This open?

You've got a magnetic smile.

You're drunk.

Who isn't?

So what are you?

Firefighter?

Police officer?

Off-duty bartender?

Arson investigator.

And you?