As the uniformed officers began to arrive, the maid who had found the victim, was talking to Starsky and Hutch. She was a lady in her mid-40s. She was of German descent. Even though she had been in the United States for many years, she still had not lost her German accent. Her name was Gretchen Schmidt.

Hutch called her over, "Mrs. Schmidt, I am Detective Hutchinson and this is my partner, Detective Starsky. Could you please tell us what happened."

"Well, I had just started to clean this floor. I had finished the room next door. I was coming down the hall to do this room."

"Yes," Starsky said as he wrote down what she said, "Go on,"

"When I knocked on the door, no one answered. So I opened the door a little bit and noticed there was no one in the room. I opened the door all of the way and entered with my cart. I shut the door behind me and started to clean the rooom. The first thing I did was into the bathroom to put in fresh towels. After I was finished in the bathroom, I went to the bed to change the sheets. However, I found the body."

Hutch looked at her and asked, "And how did you find the body?"

"The victim was lying face down with the knife in her back."

Starsky asked, "Then what did you do?"

"I called down to the front desk. They came up and confirmed what I saw and he called the police and you people came right over."

"Okay, thanks. If we need anything further, we may need to talk to you later. Or if you think of anything else, please do not hesitiate tocall either of us at this number." Starsky took one of his business cards out of his pocket and wrote both their extensions at Headquarters on the back.

"Okay. Oh, yes, there was also this note beside the body." She handed the note to Starsky. It said, "One down and two to go."

"What does that mean?" Hutch asked.

"I have no idea."

"Come on, Hutch." Starsky said. They left the note with the forensics people.

Starsky and Hutch headed back to the precinct. They waited for the results of the autopsy and the results of the fingerprint tests.

Brianna Magnusson brought in the results of the autopsy later on in the afternoon. She was about 5'9"'. She had long dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was about 35 years old and weighed 160 lb.

"Multiple stab wounds. Done by the same person." The fingerprints were clear and complete. However, they did not match any on file, and Captain Dobey sent them to the FBI to see if they were registered.

The victim was identified as an Arlene Johnson, who had come to town to take part in the American Bandstand reunion.

Starsky and Hutch did not have to wait long for the next victim. They had just arrived at work the next morning, December 28, when they were informed that there was another victim waiting for them at the Holiday Inn in Burbank.

By the time they arrived at the scene of the crime, Ms. Magnusson was there as was the rest of the forensics team.

This time, a bell boy had found the body. The victim, was once again, lying face down with a knife in their back, lying in the bed.

Starsky and Hutch questioned the young man regarding what he had seen.

"Well, Mr. Harper has put for a wake-up call at 8 am. When he did not answer the pages, the desk clerk asked me to go upstairs and see if everything was okay. I went up and when Mr. Harper did not answer the door, I had security come up with a key and that is the way we found him."

Hutch, who had been writing the information down, asked, "Is there anything else you can think of?"

"No, after security and I found the body, we called the police right away."

"Good."

"But there was something that you might like to see."

Starsky looked at Hutch with a startled look on his face. "Well, what is it?"

"I found this by the night stand." It was a note that read: "Two down and one to go?" The bellhop handed the note to Starsky who handed it to forensics.

"Thanks for your help. If we need to ask any further questions, we can always come back, can't we?"

"Sure. I hope you find the killer. After all, this is a hotel with a very high reputation and if word got out that people were being killed here,it would not be full very long."

"So, do we."

Brianna Magnusson had the results of the autopsy later that afternoon. Same multiple stab wounds. The fingerprints were again clear and complete.

Starsky thanked her for the info and Hutch and Starsky went into their superior's office and closed the door behind them.

Dobey looked up from some papers he was reading at his desk. "Whacha got?"

"Well, the results from both autopsies are in." Hutch said handing both reports to him.

"Okay." Starsky and Hutch sat down and Starsky put his feet up on his boss's desk. Dobey barked, "Starsky, how many times do I have to tell you not to put your feet up on my desk."

Starsky flashed him his patented grin and he said "Sorry" apologically.

Dobey glanced through the reports. "It looks pretty clear. I think we have a serial killer on the loose."

"Looks that way, Cap'n." Hutch said. "What should we do now?"

"Hmmmm. What similarities do we have?" Dobey pondered for a minute.

"Well, they both were in town for the Bandstand convention." Starsky concluded.

"Yes," Dobey said encouragingly.

"And they were both stabbed in the back. It was done cleanly and clearly."

"Sounds good, anything else?" Dobey asked as he looked further at the results.

"I have been wondering why anyone would want to do this?" Starsky wondered aloud.

"That thought has crossed my mind a thousand times since yesterday, Starsk," Hutch stated as he looked at his partner.

"Maybe someone who used to be on Bandstand, but for some reason was not invited to the convention? was Starsky's idea.

"Could be."

"Or how about someone who just plainly did not like the show and now that all the people are gathered in one place, they are showing their hatred in this way."

"I don't know, Starsk." Hutch answered.

"Well, you two, I guess we will just have to wait and see, but if this is a pattern, then tomorrow, number three may happen tomorrow."

December 29th was the next day. However, no victim was reported.

This strange turn of events made Starsky and Hutch wonder what was going on. Then a note was dropped off at the KABC-TV station which made our boys wonder what was going on.

The note, which was written by taking newspaper apart to for the letters, read "Dick Clark is next to die. He will not live to see another New Year's Day."

After Dobey saw the note, he said, "Well, I assume that this person will make their next move at the big gala." Starsky and Hutch both agreed with their superior's assumption.

Dobey picked up his phone and phoned the Chief of Police, "Listen, I think we should have every available cop on this one. This is a very serious situation."

The Chief of Police agreed, "Yeah, Dobey, I agree too. Whatever you have to do for this, you have my support."

The word went out that every available cop was scheduled to work New Year's Eve at the Beverly Hills Hilton.

The phone rang at the Starsky house. Rosey had just gotten Jacob down for his nap and DAS and Barbara were watching Sesame Street and doing some colouring.

"Hello." Rosey said.

"Hey, there Lovely Lady."

"David?"

"In person. Hey wait a minute, who else calls that house and calls you Lovely lady?"

Rosey giggled, "Nobody except you, Copper."

"And see that nobody else does."

"David, why did you call, just to hear my voice?"

"No, sweetheart, I have some bad news."

"David, what is the matter?"

"Well, remember that little New Year's party you were planning?" Ever since Rosey had been married to Starsky, she had always made New Year's Eve a special night. From the time the children were small, she had always bought different types of cheese that she did not normally buy - brie, gouda, havarti, edom - and also crackers. She also bought several kinds of snacks for the kids - cheesies, chips, popcorn, pretzels.

"Yeah, I was just going to head to the store later today with the kids to pick up some of the stuff."

"Well, we may be have to postpone the celebration."

"Why, David?"

"Hey, don't sound so disappointed. Cos I have to work on New Year's Eve."

"David, is that because of the American Bandstand thing?"

"Yes, but I should not be talking over the phone about it."

"Okay."

"But we can always have a celebration later on when this is over."

"Sure."

"Well, I had better go. Kiss the kids for me and I love you."

"Hey, I love you too. You stay safe and I will talk to you later."

They both hung up their phones.

In spite of not having Starsky and Hutch at the celebration, Rosey decided to go ahead with the party. The kids always looked forward to staying up late until midnight and watching the ball drop. So she still decided to invite Ashleigh and Sami. Ashley was a bit apprehensive about coming without Hutch, but Rosey convinced her to come. The kids would have a great time and she and Ashleigh did not really want to be alone that night.

"11:15 pm." Starsky sighed as he looked as his watch. "New Year's Eve and I have to work." He could think of a million other places he would much rather be and a million things he would much rather be doing, but he knew that this low life piece of trash had to be taken off the streets, and there would always be other nights in which to celebrate New Years Eve with his wife and kids.

The ball room of the Beverly Hills Hilton was starting to fill up with dancers from all three decades of American Bandstand. Some of them had worn formal dresses and black suits and ties. Others were wearing clothes that they wore when they danced on the shows, in the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s.

There was also a mini-reunion of some of the musical guests from the early years - Bobby Rydell, Fabian, Dion, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon - were also scheduled to appear throughout the 90-minute special. There was also scheduled to be a mini-reunion among the 1960s rock group Paul Revere and the Raiders - Freddy Weller, Keith Alison, Mark Lindsay, Paul Revere, Mike Smith - had not played together in some 15 years.

The ballroom had been a busy place all afternoon and onto the early evening. There were sound checks featuring the various musical guests. The caterers were also on hand, making sure that any last minute changes to the menu were in place for the hungry guests expected later on in the day.

All of the plain clothed and undercover cops were in place, mingling with the crowd. No one knew who they were as they did not have any police ID except in their pockets. The police wanted them to be as unconspicisuous as possible.

Many different coloured balloons were on the floor and as they were brushed aside, as people walked on them, they added to the festive atmosphere.

The countdown in the room began, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Then the familiar voice of the host, Dick Clark, could be heard over the public address system. "Hello and welcome to this evening's edition of Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Sit back and put your feet up for the next 90minutes as we take you back to the 1950s and 60s and American Bandstand. During the next hour and half, some of your favourite singers from the past will be entertaining you, including, Fabian, Annette Funecello, Frankie Avalon, Dion, and Bobby Rydell. We are also pleased to present the first time in 15 years, the reunion of some of the original members of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

"But to kick it all off for us, here is Frankie Valli, singing his number one record from 1978, the theme from the movie, "Grease."

Just as the cameras turned to Frankie Valley, who looked great in his baby blue tuxedo opened his mouth to sing the opening bars of "Grease," there was a commotion from the back of the auditorium. Someone dressed in a dark black tuxedo was pushing their way trhough the crowd and shouting profanity.

People moved out of the way of this uninvited guest and suddenly, they moved towards the podium where Dick Clark was standing.

Before anyone could take a breath, Starsky, who had been standing just off to the right of Dick Clark, lunged at the person. There was a struggle and before anything could happen to Starsky, several of the uncover cops were on the intruder faster than anyone could say Jack Robinson. They continued to wrestle the knife out of his hand. Hutch, who was not that far away, came to the aid of the undercover cops, and with his gun drawn, told him to stand up. They quickly handcuffed his hands behind his back and they led him away.

The Starsky house was quiet when Starsky tried to enter it without making too much noise. Rosey and the kids had long since gone to bed and Ashley and Sami had gone home hours before. Suddenly, he heard barking. Sara was on duty. But as soon as she realized the intruder was her Daddy, she came over and he told her to hush, but that she was a good dog.

Starsky decided to take a quick shower before he went to bed. He had been up since early morning and he wanted to get the sweat off him before he hit the sheets. He went upstairs and went into the bathroom. He found a clean towel in the linen closet. He went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He took off all his clothes and stepped into the shower.

The hot water felt good on his body. He stood there for a few minutes before he decided to shampoo his hair.

Suddenly, when his back was turned towards the taps, he felt a pair of hands around his waist. He turned around to see Rosey looking at him. He kissed her passionately on the lips.

When they came up for air, he said, "Hey, I hope I did not wake you when I came home just now."

"Nope. But I heard the shower start up, I knew you were home."

"How was your night?"

"Fine."

"Did you get the bad guy."

"Sure did. It turned out that he was a former dancer on Bandstand who had a grudge on some of the dancers."

"Oh really? Ashleigh and I and the kids saw the whole thing on TV."

"Anyways, I have better things I can think of doing than talking about work. "

"Me too, me too," she agreed.

"After all, we need to bring in the New Year the right way,", Starsky seductively whispered in her ear.

"Yeah, me too." Rosey agreed.

They helped each get soaped down and they also shampooed each other's hair. When they were finished, Starsky turned off the shower and helped Rosey to get toweled off. She helped her spouse get dry also. When they were dried off, they went into their room and they hit the sheets. After all, they had another holiday to celebrate the correct way - by making love. When they were finished making love, Starsky found a clean pair of bikinis in the drawer and Rosey found a clean nightgown which she put on. Starsky pulled the covers over them and they fell asleep in each other's arms, grateful that another year was upon them.

Mesothelioma Attorney visitors since November 6, 2004.

THE END