At the coffee shop they would have bought a round but the manager stopped them.  He saw Penny on her crutches and recognized her.  “Cops injured in the line of duty don’t have money that will spend here as long as they are hurt.”

“Thanks but…” Penny started to say.  The manager cut her off.

“That your uncle there?”
She nodded.

He shook his head slowly.  “God, I feel sorry for you kid.  He’s a tough old bird and a good cop.  That’s a tough act to follow.  I bet he even gives you pointers.”  Then he laughed.  “If the three of you are half as good at being a cop as those guys over there the police force and this city is in good hands.  Every of them over at that table have saved a couple of lives.  Have the round on me.  Mam, that takes guts, chasing a guy with a gun, no matter if you have a wooden leg or not.  That took what the old timers called balls.”  He turned red.  “You know what I mean, I hope.  Your partner was good too.  In that dark alley, taking a shot.  She must have hit him; they couldn’t find the bullet.  This her?”

“Yes.”

“Her money isn’t any good here either.”

Barb looked disgusted, “I’m no hero or marks person.  I didn’t get him.”

“You tried.  The two of you were smart enough to be in front of him.  You were blocking his path.  Nobody else has done that.  He got lucky and slipped past you.  My bet is on you that you’ll be the ones to find him unless someone else trips and falls over him.”

They went over to the table.  This time there were seven retired policemen seated there.  Uncle Charlie handed Penny a sheet of paper.  There were 14 more names.  “The guys really respond to good donuts and coffee.”  Loud enough for the owner to hear, “Of course you can’t get either really good coffee or donuts here.  We only keep coming back to see if they will ever get it right.”

Everyone laughed.  They spent some time talking with the men, then headed back to the station.   They started looking up the records for each of the names.  It would take days, maybe weeks to run them all.