“Isn’t Steele right, shouldn’t we be going after this guy, the one who hired this, Clark guy?”  Brian asked. 

            “We will.  I’m just not making it the focus of our investigation.  Christina, Brian, I want you both looking into this man’s background.  I mean, as deeply as you can dig.  When you’ve hit bottom, get out the explosives and get deeper.  I want to know what sort of underwear he wore in kindergarten,” stated Alex.  “Nick and Jessica, I want you go track the hired hit angle.  Phone records, places he ate, the people he talked to, everything.” 

            Alex paused, looking around the table, “We can win this, and we will win this.  For Mike, and for this office.  This is a team effort, remember that this isn’t a witch hunt, we will deal with the facts only in this case.  I want no mess ups.  I want perfection.  Desmond will pick up the slack of your other cases, whatever you feel you cannot handle, or that you think Desmond can handle, pass it onto him.”  Alex stood up, waving for them to leave the room. 

            Quiet in the room, as the footsteps faded, and they went along their respective duties.  This was the case of a lifetime; one that could break what was left of her career, one that made Alex think twice about having come back to New York the instant her life had no longer been in danger. 

            Alex got up, fixing her jacket as Jim Steele barged back into the room, “Why didn’t you tell me that you were going to investigate the link between Mike..”

            “Steele, I’m the Bureau Chief, the last time I looked, I didn’t have to report to you, you report to me.  I want you as second chair on this case, but NOT if that is the way you are going to handle yourself.  You cannot let your emotions take over in court like it did today in this room.  Are we clear?”  Alex stated in her steadfast manner.  Jim looked down, realizing how childish he’d been.

            “Crystal.”

            “I’m going to check on a few things, can you tell Desmond to catch as many cases as he can, give the four I’ve assigned to this case more time?”