"Bernie and his team are on their way," Winters informed Mike as Steve jumped down from the box to join them. "I'll leave one unit here with you but I want to get everybody else back on the street. There're rumblings about an uptick of assaults against the gays in The Castro so the brass wants a visible presence."
"Go," Mike said quickly, jerking his head towards the street, "we've got this." As the patrol sergeant turned to leave, the lieutenant added dryly, "And, ah, thanks…" When Winters brow furrowed, he smiled mirthlessly. "… for asking for me by name."
The sergeant's face split into a smug grin. "You're welcome," he chuckled as he started towards his car again. "It was the least I could do."
Muttering expletives under his breath, Mike turned back to his partner, shaking his head. "I thought Norm and Dan were up but I guess this is ours now, isn't it?"
Trying to mask his chuckles, Steve nodded, bobbing his eyebrows. "Yep."
The older man sighed, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets, his eyes drifting to the dumpster. "Great. So where do we start? All we have is a foot."
"Well, we could get a leg up on all this by –"
"Oh my god, are you starting already?" Mike interrupted, staring wide-eyed at his companion.
"What?" Steve asked innocently.
Mike tilted his head with an irritated glare. "A leg up? What, you thought you could slip that one past me and I wouldn't notice?"
Steve dropped his head, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Mike waited patiently until he raised his head and cleared his throat. "Officer!" the younger man called to the patrolman still talking to the vagrant.
The unie started towards them, his notebook still in his hand.
Steve gestured towards the homeless man with his chin. "Was he of any help… Talbot?" he asked, reading the man's nameplate.
The patrolman shook his head. "No, sir. He says he was asleep when someone threw something - the leg he guesses - into the dumpster. He swears it wasn't there when he got into the bin last night. Anyway, it didn't hit him so he just ignored it and went back to sleep and he didn't realize it was a human leg until he woke up this morning." He glanced back at the vagrant who was still standing near the far wall. "He didn't have anything to do with it."
"Maybe not," Mike offered, "but we wouldn't've found that leg if he wasn't in there, would we?" He took his hands out of his pockets; there were several folded bills in his right hand. He peeled a ten-dollar bill off the top and handed it to Talbot, staring pointedly at Steve as he did so.
With a chuckle, the inspector reached into his own pocket and handed Talbot another ten. With a knowing nod and a smile, the patrolman turned and headed back to the vagrant.
"So I hear we have a body part?!" Bernie's voice caught their attention and they turned to see the cadaverous coroner leading his team of two down the alley.
"Bernie, my man!" Steve greeted with a laugh as Mike grinned. "Yeah, that's what it looks like."
"Of course we need your official opinion before we can go any further," the lieutenant chuckled then gestured over his shoulder with his head. "It's in there."
Bernie looked at the dumpster. "Aren't they all?" he growled rhetorically as he dropped his black case to the ground and took a step towards the wooden box.
"We've both been up there; it's safe," Steve assured him.
As the medical examiner nimbly climbed onto the box, Mike took a step closer. "Listen, Bernie, we need to know if that's the only body part in there as soon as possible, okay? If it is, we gotta start trying to find the rest of the body pronto."
"Gotcha."
Mike turned to his partner. "Listen, ah, chances are that is the only part in there, don't you think?" The younger man nodded. "So what do you think the chances are that whoever did the dismemberment, if that's what this is, is getting rid of the parts one at a time in different dumpsters around town?"
Steve raised his eyebrows. "That's a possibility."
"Yeah. So, what do you think? We should get in touch with the companies that own all these dumpsters and stop their pick-ups for today?"
"There's gotta be more than one company in The City, right? I'll get on the horn to Norm and Dan and get them to stop all the pick-ups today until all the dumpsters can be checked out." He raised his eyebrows. "It's gonna be a big job."
"It's gonna be a long day."
With a nod, Steve turned to jog back down the alley to the LTD.
"Damn it," Mike muttered under his breath as he stuck his hands back into his pockets, looking at the ground and scuffing the dirt with the toe of his right shoe. He had wanted to have lunch with his daughter before she headed back to school; that was now definitely out of the question.
# # # # #
An hour later, with the Homicide detectives sitting on the hood of the nearby black-and-white, patiently waiting, Coroner's Assistant Jeff Crosby's head popped over the lip of the dumpster. "Lieutenant!" he called.
Both partners slid off the hood and approached the dumpster.
"Sorry, sir, but there's nothing else in here. Just the leg. And sorry it took so long but there was lots to check out."
"That's okay. Thanks, Jeff!" Mike called back then turned to Steve. "All right, let's get to the Hall. I want to see what Bernie's learned about that leg and I want to find out how far Norm and Dan have gotten with the dumpster companies." They headed towards their car, Steve fishing the keys out of his pocket. "And get ahold of the duty sergeant when we get back. I want to see how many academy recruits we can get to help with the dumpster searches."
"Good idea."
"And we'll have to get in touch with Missing Persons too. It might be too early, but who knows, right?" They reached the LTD and got in. Mike exhaled loudly as he sunk into the seat. "I have a feeling this is gonna be a tough one, buddy boy."
Steve smiled to himself as he turned the engine on and backed onto the street. It had been a long time since Mike had used that timeworn sobriquet; he knew the older man's mind was racing with all the possibilities that one body part presented, and that he probably wasn't even aware that he had said it.
# # # # #
"So whata you got for us, Bernie?!" Mike's loud voice cut through the silence of the coroner's office but this time the smaller man didn't jump; he had heard the outer door open and knew it would be the effervescent lieutenant. He smothered a chuckle but not the smile.
"Well, not much." The ME got up and crossed to the far side of the examination table where the detached appendage lay covered with a thick, pale green sheet. He picked up the clipboard from the table. "It's definitely male. Caucasian. Age is hard to pin down but I would say between thirty and fifty. Reasonably fit. Size 12. By and large undistinguished except for this." He pulled the sheet back, exposing the foot. With his gloved hand he pointed at the big toe.
Both detectives leaned forward to take a closer look, Mike slipping his reading glasses out of his inside jacket pocket and putting them on. He looked up at the ME, his brow knit. "He doesn't have a toenail."
"No, he doesn't," Bernie confirmed. "And he hasn't for a long time."
"What would cause that?" Steve asked.
"Well, could be any number of things," the ME replied with a tilt of his head, "but I think he dropped something very heavy on it when he was a younger man and it just didn't grow back. It's more common than you'd think."
"Humh," Mike grunted as he straightened up, taking off his glasses. He glanced at his partner. "Well, that's something that might make identifying him a little easier." He looked at the ME again. "So, ah, what about the, ah… you know, the dismemberment…" He swallowed heavily, gesturing vaguely towards the part of the leg still under the sheet. "Can you tell how it was done?"
With a broad smile, Bernie took the sheet completely off the severed appendage. Both of the detectives heads went back slightly at the sight of the raw stump but neither of them looked away.
"Well, I know it wasn't done with a chainsaw; they leave the edges ragged and the flesh torn. I would say this was probably done with a handsaw or a hacksaw."
"A handsaw?" Mike echoed, frowning. He knew how much strength it would take to sever a bone as large as a shin or thigh with a hacksaw, let alone a handsaw.
"Yeah, see the striations on the bone here." Bernie pointed to the thin parallel lines on the end of the shinbone as Mike put his glasses back on. "That's from a saw."
Mike looked at his partner. "Well, I'd say that rules out a woman, wouldn't you?" He included the medical examiner in his raised eyebrow rumination.
Both Steve and Bernie nodded. With a quick shake of his head, as if to clear it, Mike took off the glasses again. "I, ah… I hate to even ask this but…" He gestured feebly at the severed limb. "Can you tell if this was done after the poor bastard died or…?" He let the uncomfortable question hang.
With a knowing smile, Bernie nodded slowly. "Postmortem, most definitely. He was dead before he was cut up, I can guarantee you that at least."
Mike sighed heavily and dropped his head. "Well, that's good to know. At least whoever did this isn't a sadist… that we know of…" He brought his head up and smiled suddenly. "Thanks, Bernie. Let's hope we can provide you with more body parts before the end of the day and we can begin to narrow this down a little more."
# # # # #
"I was wondering when you two were going to grace us with your presence," Sergeant Norm Haseejian groused with a frown, one hand over the mouthpiece of the receiver pressed to his ear, as they entered the Homicide office.
Mike shot a quick look over his shoulder at his partner as they crossed the bullpen, Steve stopping at his desk to check for messages before following Mike to the inner office. Dropping his hat onto the rack, the older man turned to face his still scowling sergeant. "What's the matter, Norm? Too many dumpsters?"
"It's not the dumpsters that's the problem," Haseejian growled, trying to keep the volume down, knowing he would be heard on the other end of the phone, even with his hand over the mouthpiece, if he raised his voice too loud. "It's the company owners. They keep –" He pulled his hand away quickly, his attention suddenly back on the phone. "Yes, Mr. Tarkanian, I understand we've thrown your schedule all out of whack and it'll take days to straighten out… yes, sir… I'm sorry… yes, yes, I know you have clients but this can't be helped, Mr. Tarkanian, this is official police business… yes, yes… yes, I know…" He glared at Mike who, swallowing a smile, backed into his office, pushing Steve ahead of him, and closed the door.
He was still chuckling when he sat down after taking off his .38 and stowing it in the top drawer. Steve dropped into the guest chair and leaned back, putting his foot against the edge of the desk and massaging the back of his neck. Mike brought his hands to his face and rubbed his fingertips into his eyes, stretching his back muscles and flexing his shoulders. He glanced at his watch.
"Oh, damn it. I was hoping to get to call Jeannie before she left. Oh well, best laid plans, eh?" He sat forward and slapped both hands on the desk. "So, when, ah, when Norm gets off the phone… and cools down a little bit… we'll find out what he's uncovered, or not. Why don't you give Jerry down in Missing Persons a call and see if they have anything we'd be interested in?"
"What are you gonna do?" Steve asked facetiously as dropped the chair back to the floor and reached for the phone.
"What am I gonna do? I'm gonna go bring Rudy up to speed and then I'm gonna order us in some lunch. It's almost four. I don't know about you, but I'm starved and I don't want to go down to the cafeteria. Besides, you're catching me in a good mood and I'm feeling generous. Don't jinx it."
"My lips are sealed," Steve chuckled as he concentrated on dialing the phone, studiously avoiding his partner's blue eyes as the older man got up and crossed around the desk, slapping the younger man affectionately on the shoulder before he left the room.