Departure
Act 4, Part 3: Mission Murder
Eric vows to find his brother's killer. Jeannie vows to learn more about Steve's family's past. Steve gets an interview.
I didn't think mentioning Irene's idea of Jeannie and Dan joining the four of us for dinner would be a problem, but I was surprised as I read the expression on Steve's face: he looked as if he was going to be ill.
I couldn't figure it out. Steve knew some of the young men Jeannie dated before and it didn't seem to faze him. But with Dan it was different. Steve was in 'big brother' mode, but I'm not sure if it was because this was Jeannie's first real post-collegiate romance or if it really bothered him that Dan was a cop. I asked him what was wrong and he, of course, feigned innocence, gave his patented 'nothing - I'm fine' answer and quickly found something new to talk about.
By the time Steve dropped me off at the house, the subject was all but forgotten and he was clearly looking forward to his evening activities. We quickly said our good-byes and I climbed the far too many steps to the front door.
Jeannie greeted me from the sofa as I entered my house.. Her nose was buried in a book and she barely looked up as she spoke. "Mike, I've been reading Professor McGivern's book on the reconstruction of Europe." For a quick second, I forgot who Professor McGivern was, but then she went on about how brilliant Steve's grandfather must have been and it registered.
Jeannie had already seen the dedication to Steve at the beginning of the book. She told me that she also saw my partner listed again under the acknowledgements section, giving him credit for his contribution to the analysis on France.
"I was showing this to Dan today," she continued. The moment she said that I thought that was probably the last thing Dan needed to hear. He's nervous enough around me and I've noticed he's also a little distant to Steve, so I could imagine Jeannie's enthusiastic discussion about another young man's accomplishments did not go over well with Dan.
Two Days Later…
Eric unlocked the door of his uncle's pool hall. It was the first time it was open since the death of his brother. The young man and his uncle buried their loved one earlier that morning and Eric wanted to get away from the apartment the two had shared. In the back of his mind, he hoped Joey would appear. While he and Buddy intended to use the boy only to help with their crimes, they couldn't help but have a bit of sympathy for the lonely young teenager. He was a decent good-hearted kid who clearly wasn't getting his fair shake in life.
While Eric was mum to the police, he found notes that his brother left on their desk at the apartment. It was clear that he had a late night drop-off of a small bag of LSD in the Mission area followed by a midnight meeting arranged with his supplier. Eric wondered if the delivery ever occurred if the small bag of narcotics was found by the detectives.
In the meantime, Mike and Steve continued to investigate Henry "Buddy" Hammer's murder. Hammer died from a severed aorta which resulted from a stab wound slightly above his abdomen. He was likely dead before he hit the ground. The Medical Examiner placed the time of death to just before midnight.
Charlie Johnson confirmed that the envelope containing LSD had Buddy's prints on them. The operating theory was that the drugs fell from Buddy's jacket as he'd been thrown into the dumpster.
There were easily a dozen fresh prints on the dumpster lid. Charlie meticulously recorded each print and sent the samples to Records for analysis. It would take an enormous amount of luck for any of those samples to match, but it was something that needed to be done.
While Steve had suggested that Buddy may have been killed elsewhere due to the lack of blood in the alley or around the dumpster, the fact that Buddy was killed instantly meant that not much of the blood had been pumped out. Instead, the blood pooled internally leaving a gory mess when the ME began the autopsy.
Having interviewed Eric, the neighbors and potential witnesses around the Lilac Hotel, the detectives had come up empty and were plenty frustrated.
Back at Headquarters, Mike walked to the doorway of this office and leaned against its frame. He let out a deep sigh. "I think it's time we go back and visit Eric," the senior partner announced. "He knows something and he's not telling."
"Maybe we should put a tail on him for a couple of days," Steve suggested.
"What are you thinking about, Buddy boy?" Mike asked as he walked towards Steve's desk and sat in the guest chair.
Steve leaned back in his chair. "We know the LSD was linked to Henry Hammer and it was in an envelope. Either he was the receiver or the deliverer. Whichever way, I'm betting you that there's a supplier involved and his brother knows about it. If we have someone follow him, we have a better chance of finding out who the Hammer brothers ran around with."
"We got nothing else, so let's go with it. We'll give it forty eight hours and see what we come up with. Let's take the first shift and then rotate with Tanner and Lessing."
Before Steve could say anything, he phone rang.
"Keller."
Mike remained in the chair and could hear a man's voice on the other end. After realizing the call was personal, he stood up to give Steve some privacy. Steve was listening intently and grabbed a pen to scribble down some notes.
Mike, back in his office, couldn't help be look up occasionally to see and hear what was going on. The conversation lasted no more than five minutes.
"Okay, that sounds fine," the young detective responded. "Friday afternoon at 3pm works for me. Over at Boalt, sure. Room 402. Yes, sir. Looking forward to it. Thank you."
Steve hung up the phone and placed the now-folded paper into his pocket. He stared ahead for a moment, then closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.
A panel interview with the Law Enforcement professors at Berkeley,Steve thought to himself. It didn't get this far last year. Steve quickly imagined arriving at his alma mater and walking through the campus to the interview. The prospect of teaching there was exciting and rightly so. The school was one of the most well regarded in the state. To be an associate professor at this stage, would be an accomplishment.
Steve could feel someone staring at him. He turned to his left. Mike. The older man's blue eyes pierced through him and now Steve felt guilt.
The young man slowly got up from his chair and walked the few steps to Mike's office.
"Atwater?" Mike asked.
"Yes," Steve replied quietly. "I have an interview on Friday."
"Okay," Mike nodded. "Well..," he feigned good humor. "Good luck. Don't be nervous or anything. And if you want to talk beforehand, that's okay by me."
Steve gave a small smile. "Sure. We'll talk." He hesitated as he turned away. "Mike, this isn't a done deal. I just want to hear what they have to say."
"I know. Hey, let's head over to Hammer's pool hall and see what we can find out," Mike ordered with a dash of false bravado as he rose, grabbed his hat and slapped the young man on the shoulder.
If only I could understand what's changed, Steve, I could handle this better.
