FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) ---With a third cold case cleared, the Fort Wayne Police Department's homicide unit has had a very good year, according to lead cold case detective Brian Martin. “I don’t know if it’s a record.," Martin told WANE in an exclusive interview Friday. "We never give up. It may seem slow to them (the public) and we appreciate their patience,” This week, FWPD arrested Tommy Harris Jr., 43 for the shooting death of Larry Lovelace Jr., a case that dates back to June 27, 2001. Two other cases cleared this year include Dan Osborn, shot at his Subway restaurant on East State Boulevard in April 1998 and Robert “Scott” Parrish, shot and killed on March 29, 2006. Convicted killer Bernard McClaney, 49, was charged with Osborn's death. Derrick R. Johnson was charged in Parrish’s homicide. Tommy Harris Jr., arrested this week in connection to a 2001 killing. (Courtesy Allen County Sheriff's Department) Success in cold cases depends on the expert sleuthing of a homicide detective, putting together clues, seeing connections others might not. But Martin says Fort Wayne detectives depend on other sources and resources to complete the investigation. In Johnson's case, the original investigators and crime scene technicians documented the case very well. “I think it just needed a second set of eyes or a third set of eyes to go through, look at some of that evidence. There was DNA that was sent away,” Martin said. FWPD: Arrest made in 1998 cold case killing of Allen County confinement officer The turning point came when Martin and the lead crime scene technician sat down together to go through the evidence, see what that evidence was showing us and follow the evidence. "It took us to one place and that's what led to the arrest of Tommy Harris, Jr.” Homicide wants residents to know that it takes time to sift through all the reports. “Cold cases are a unique animal,” Martin said. “There's a lot of information in this one going back to 2001. There were individuals I needed to track down and re-interview.” Although he started writing the probable cause affidavit last December, it starts with a probable timeline. “A probable cause affidavit is a work of art and it’s always changing,” Martin said, “always being revised until you come to your final copy that’s presented to court.” Undeniably, help has come from Crime Stoppers and anonymous tips through the P3 tipline. COLD CASE: Charges filed in 2006 Fort Wayne homicide “Without Crime Stoppers, I don’t think our unit could be quite as successful as it is,” Martin said. Sometimes direct witnesses respond and the monetary reward is a motivation which Martin says he has “no problem with.” Bernard McClaney, arrested in the 1998 killing of a Subway shop owner. Derrick Johnson, charged in the 2006 death of a man killed in a Vermont Avenue home. Help also comes from the decks of cards distributed to jails and prisons with the homicide victims and case facts on them. “The national average for an edition or a deck of cards is one or two solves. I can tell you as I sit here today that we have two solved cold case homicides that are a direct result of the playing cards,” Martin explained. With 10 detectives that include sergeant detectives David Watkins and Matthew Wilson, overseen by Capt. Tim Hughes, Martin says the whole unit is part of the success. “It’s not just me that works these cases. It’s the entire homicide unit and even (detective) Darrin Strayer assisted on two of these investigations despite the fact that he’s no longer in the homicide unit,” martin said. On top of that, all 10 detectives have been assigned a cold case.