A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. The Fallout continues from Mona's Death.
Even though Mike was expecting it, his face still fell. "That's really too bad Bernie, she was a wonder lady. Is there any room for doubt?"
"No Mike, luckily for us, whoever did this did not account for the fact that the teeth would remain, along with any precious metal, even after an extended stay in the kiln. With the amount of dental work she had, the ID was pretty straight forward. Add that with the locket, once you get a positive ID on it, well…"
Bernie handed Mike his report, along with the evidence bag that held the locket.
"Has this already been dusted for prints?" Mike asked.
Bernie indicated that the lab had already processed the locket. Mike signed for the evidence and dropped the bag in his pocket. As he left the morgue, he made sure to commend Susan for resourcefulness.
Mike headed up to Rudy Olsen office. Rudy's secretary waved him in just as Rudy was shaking his head and hanging up the phone. "Mike, that was the School Superintendent, he wanted to know if there was any progress in the case."
"That's why I'm here Rudy, I just came from the morgue. We have a positive ID, the remains are that of Mona Holtzbaur."
"Damn shame." Rudy responded. "Do we know anything, Mike?"
"Honestly, Rudy not much. We are pretty sure she's been out of sight since Friday. She was intending to go out of town and there is no way to tell when she died, but I'm pretty sure she never left San Francisco. The neighbors saw an unidentified man at her house Friday evening. But even that is kind of shaky." Mike thought of the testimony of a 5 year old in a pink tutu. "We have a multitude of prints but unless we have something to compare them to, well they are pretty useless right now. There's the threating notes and two vandalized classrooms but the lab hasn't gotten to that evidence yet and we just processed her home this morning. The only lead we might have on suspects has hit a brick wall." Mike went on to explain the difficulty in obtaining the record for the two students, both through the school and the Juvenile Court. "On top of that I haven't been able to get ahold of the principal since Wednesday." Mike added.
Rudy listened as Mike explained the situation. He tiredly rubbed his eyes and began, "Mike, a progress report wasn't the only thing the School Superintendent had on his mind. He was adamant about keeping this investigation quiet, strictly a need to know operation. Needless to say, his office has a lot of clout at City Hall. A murder in a city high school, especially if students are suspected, is a story that no one from the mayor on down wants on the front page of The Chronicle or the 6 o'clock news."
Mike was angry, "WHAT ABOUT THE VICTIM, RUDY? How are we supposed to solve a murder if we can't operate in the open?"
"I don't know Mike, but we need to get it solved, the faster the better. If we don't make any progress before school reopens well, maybe we'll need to get someone on the inside, but I warn you this a powder keg. And Mike, if it gets out, none of us will escape the fall out."
Mike was not happy when he left Rudy's office. He felt like he was being asked to investigate a murder blindfolded and gagged, and he didn't like it one bit. He slipped his hand in his coat pocket touching the locket. On top of that, he now had to go inform a young woman that her best friend and mentor was dead.
ooooooooo
"I'm glad I caught you before I left," Mrs. Molen started as Steve, Diane and Jeannie came in the office. "I'm headed out. Practices have ended for the day and I'm getting a head start out of town for New Years. The custodians are here until 3pm. If you are going to be later than that, check in with them before they lock up. Inspector Keller, do you still have the main door keys and alarm code I gave you yesterday?"
Steve indicated that he did.
That tidbit really caught Jeannie's attention. Why on earth would Steve have the school keys? If she hadn't been suspicious before…
"One more thing Inspector Keller, "Bri said as she handed Steve a file folder, "Here are the team rosters. Mike said he needed to know who was in the building yesterday when the classrooms were trashed, so I took the liberty of getting them from the coaches when they signed in this morning. Oh, and Diane, I have a message for you as well," she said as she handed a pink slip of paper to Miss Bader. "Happy New Year! Hopefully, Mona will turn up soon! Diane I'll see you on the 2ndand Jeannie, Inspector, always a pleasure!" Mrs. Molen intoned as she slipped on her jacket and headed out the door.
Diane read the note, crumpled it up and shoved it in her pocket. "Jeannie, Steve, I need to run an errand for a bit. It's time to take a break, anyhow. I'll be back in about an hour, if you don't mind." She said without making eye contact.
Diane jogged down the hall to get her bag. Steve knew he was in trouble now. With just Jeannie and him, there was no way to avoid the questions that he already knew were coming. Diane reappeared and handed Jeannie her bag as she brushed past them toward the door. "See ya, later." She said without a backward glance.
Steve and Jeannie stood in the office in a silence that went on for an uncomfortable length of time. Steve could see the gathering storm cloud in her blue eyes. He broke the quiet, "You want to get something to eat, Jeannie?"
"Sure Steve," she said with an ersatz sweetness, "As soon as you tell me what the hell is going on!" She finished her statement with the patented "Stone Glare."
Oh man, he thought, this is not going to go well!
ooooooooooooooo
Mike made two stops before heading out to Mission High. He dropped by Inspector Russell's office. He thanked the Inspector for all his help, but as this was officially a homicide investigation, Scott's participation was ended. "I'll take care of closing out the missing persons report Mike," Inspector Russell stated sadly, "I'm sorry it ended this way. If there's anything else I can do, just let me know." He shook Mike's hand, gave him the case files, and wished him good luck.
Mike then headed for his office to check for messages. He was pleased to finally see a message from Kirby Pence. Well it's about damn time, he thought. Mike dialed the phone and after 3 rings was rewarded with a nervous hello from Principal Pence.
"Kirby, It's Mike. Where the hell have you been?"
Pence was started by the aggravation in Mike's voice. "Take it easy Mike, what's wrong?"
"We've been trying to get ahold of you for two days, Kirby!"
"Sorry, Mike. Karla's mother took ill the evening of the 26th, we had to drive to Phoenix to take care of her, I guess I should have let you know…"
"YOU GUESS YOU SHOULD HAVE LET ME KNOW? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"
"Not until you tell me, Mike."
Mike took a moment to breathe, confused by Pence's blasé attitude. "Kirby, Mona's dead."
There was no response on the other end of the line.
oooooooooo
Steve led Jeannie out the main door. He knew he was busted and didn't have a clue of what to say to her. He sat down heavily on the wall. The background headache that had been asserting itself all morning and exhaustion were not going to make this any easier. He nervously ran his hands through his hair as Jeannie sat beside him.
Jeannie looked into his green eyes. They looked tired and worried, and more than that, they looked sad. She knew he'd been less than honest with her and she was fully prepared to grill him for the truth. Instead, she gently touched the bruise around his right eye. "One day you're going to have to tell me about this." Was all she said, even though she was curious and annoyed at being kept in the dark.
Steve looked at her in amazement. He could not believe she was going to drop it there and that made the deception even worse. "Look Jeannie, there is something else going on, I just can't tell you." He took her hand in his and looked down his feet and spoke quietly, "I found something last night when I came back after dropping you off…" He couldn't continue, knowing that if he started, the whole story would come spilling out." Mike should be here soon, and then you'll know all of it."
Jeannie pulled back her hand and playfully punched him in the arm. "Mike's in on it too, hun? Wait till I get my hands on him." Steve smiled and stood up, pulling her along by the hand, "Let's go get something to eat."
oooooooo
"She's dead, Mike? How? When?"
"We don't know a lot yet, but Kirby we found her in the school." Mike proceeded to share Steve's gruesome find in the Art Room. "That's not all…" Mike continued but Pence cut him off.
"Isn't that enough, Mike?" He sputtered horrified.
"Just hear me out, Kirby. Mona's classroom and A111 were vandalized during the day yesterday. We found Mona's remains while we were looking into that. When I couldn't get you on the phone, the Captain contacted the Superintendent…"
Kirby cut in again, "YOU DID WHAT!"
"Listen Kirby, there was a MURDER in YOUR school. We couldn't find you. We were trying to keep the school shut today, to keep everyone safe. What did you expect me to do?
"Mike, you did more than shut the school today, you may have shut it for good." Pence said angrily.
"Well it if makes you feel any better, we didn't even manage to shut it today, the Superintendent wouldn't hear of it." Mike replied not bothering to keep the disdain from his voice."
The line remained briefly quiet.
"Where do we go from here, Mike?" Kirby Pence said in a resigned tone.
"Right now, I need one thing from you?"
"Name it."
"I need your permission to access discipline records on two students." Mike opened the file on his desk and read off the names of the two students, "Marc Walen and Mitchell Ballinger."
"You don't honestly think students are involved, do you Mike?"
"Until I get some more evidence, I don't know what to think, Kirby."
"Well, I suppose if you must…"
It was Mike's turn to cut in, "I MUST," he insisted.
Pence said he would call Bri Molen and have the files released. He then begged Mike to heed the Superintendents request for secrecy. Pence indicated he would be returning as soon as he could and would call when he got back in town.
Mike took off his glasses and closed his eyes briefly. He supposed it was time to bail Steve out of the situation he had unwillingly been placed in. He pulled out the locket and looked at it sadly. Now came one of the hardest things he had to do as a cop, go pull the rug out from under somebody's life.
oooooooooo
Jeannie and Steve were sitting on the wall, finishing up some take out when Diane walked across the parking lot. He noticed her downcast eyes and slumped posture as she came up to the door. With one look at her face, it was obvious that she had been crying. Steve knew in his heart that her day was only going to get worse. He thought back sadly to the conversation they had in the car yesterday. She was about to lose her best friend, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Feeling Steve's eyes on her, Diane wiped her eyes self-consciously, not wishing to reveal her upset. She dropped down on the wall next to them, closing her eyes and lifting her face to the afternoon sun.
"Have you eaten anything, Diane?" Jeannie asked. She was also aware of the grief written on the young woman's face.
"No, I'm not really hungry. How about if we get back to work?
They gathered up their things and headed back into the school.
"Choose you poison, folks. Which room do you want to tackle first?" Diane asked.
"Let's do yours first," Jeannie volunteered. With that they entered and silently began to undo the damage that had been done. Steve righted the furniture and dealt with the scattered paper while Jeannie and Diane tackled the graffiti and splattered paint. Steve kept glancing at the clock, as 3 o'clock came and went and still no Mike. He foolishly hoped that perhaps he was wrong and maybe, for Diane's sake, it wasn't Mona he had found.
He was roused from his day dream when someone rapped lightly on the door. The janitor who had rescued him yesterday peered in through the door.
"Well, lookey here, you guys have really been busy! Looks like it's almost back to normal"
"Hi, Mr. Fischer," Diane said in greeting to the Janitor. "Yeah, Jeannie and Steve have been a big help."
"How much longer are you folks going to be?"
"Oh, I don't know, I think we are going to tackle Mona's room next," Diane looked at Steve and Jeannie expectantly, "but you go on ahead, we will lock up when we're done."
"Well, that's very kind of you, but I can pick it up if you like," Clark Fischer offered.
The janitor's offer struck her as being rather odd. She knew Clark and Mona had clashed in the past over the condition of A112. She also knew what he said about Mona behind her back. "No, no it's ok. You know how fussy she can be." Diane's words stuck in throat and tears threatened to moisten her eyes when she thought about Mona.
"OK, then I will see you on the second Miss Bader, a Happy New Year to you!"
ooooooooo
Mike pulled the tan LTD up to the main entrance of Mission High. He pushed open the door and walked past the main office, which as darkened and locked. He could hear his footsteps echo along the empty corridor as he walked to room A111. Steve was pulling a large trash bin into the hall when he saw Mike. He walk quickly down to meet him. Mike just shook his head sadly.
"How do you want handle this Mike?" he asked.
"There's only one way to do it, buddy boy?"
When they walked back into the room, Jeannie was by the door, emptying a bucket into the sink. She took one look at Mike and Steve's faces and her breath caught in her throat. She knew at once what they had kept from her. She set the bucket down and walked past them into the hall. Leaning against the wall, she cried.
Diane was just finishing shelving the last of the books when she saw Steve and Mike coming toward her. Sat down on a stool and put her head in her hands. Mike pulled the locket from his pocket and took it out of the evidence bag. Steve put his hands on Diane's shoulders, she flinched at his touch, but then relaxed and looked up.
"Diane," Mike began softly, "Do you recognize this?"
Diane took the locket hanging from the chain in Mike's hand and brought it close to her face. She gently rubbed across the engraved "M" as tears dropped on the shiny platinum surface. Moisture dampened Steve eyes as he looked at Mike, waiting for Diane to respond.
"It's hers. I gave it to her for Christmas a few years ago. She never took it off." Diane opened the locket, expecting to find the small picture of Mona and her that had been taken that same Christmas. There was nothing left inside but ash. Diane dropped the locket and recoiled in horror. "What the hell happened to her?"
Diane closed her eyes, consumed by her own misery and grief. Mike bent down and picked up the locket, returning it to the evidence bag. He looked around for Jeannie. Concerned when he didn't see her, he caught Steve's attention. Steve mouthed he word "go."
Steve didn't know how long he stood steadying Diane as she quietly mourned her best friend. The details of Mona's death could wait. Diane eventually opened her eyes and with a stricken look asked Steve, "What do I do now?" It was more of a plea than a question.
Steve didn't have an answer for that, so he asked "Is there anyone I can call?"
Diane shook her head, "No, when things are tough I always call Mona…"
ooooooooooo
Mike found Jeannie in the hallway and gathered her into his arms, "I'm so sorry sweetheart."
"What happened, Mike?"
He explained as gently as he could the circumstances of Mona's Death.
"Oh, Daddy, that horrible. How could someone do something like that?" She said as tears again began to fall.
Mike gave Jeanie his handkerchief and said quietly, "I don't know Honey, but you can bet we're going to find out." Mike walked Jeannie out to the car and asked her to wait while he check on Diane. He came back into the classroom to find Steve and Diane exactly as he had left them.
When he saw Mike, Steve removed his hands from Diane's shoulders and walked over to the door
"How's Jeannie?" Steve asked. Mike shrugged and shook his head. "Take her home Mike, take care of your daughter. I'll make sure Diane gets home."
"Are you sure Steve? Is there anyone she can call?" It was Steve's turn to shake his head.
"I already asked her, she doesn't have anyone. It's ok Mike, I'll handle it."
Even though he wasn't convinced about the wisdom of leaving Steve to handle a grieving Diane, Mike turned and walked out to the car.
Steve looked back to Diane. She was just sitting with her head lowered, red hair cascading over her face. He picked up her bag and the file folder from Mrs. Molen off the desk. Crossing over to Diane, he gently touched her back and said, "How about if I get you home."
Diane said nothing on the drive to her place. Steve parked the car and opened the door for her. She mutely handed him her house keys. He unlocked the front door. Before she entered, he asked her, "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Yeah, Keller you can come in, I don't want to be alone tonight."