"Well, here you are. You asked that I dig up everything Lieutenant, so it's quite a pile."
A pile wasn't even close to describing the mountain of files Marty Keller dropped onto the small table they'd been sitting on, making the dated piece of furniture creak in protest.
"Ten years is a long time but I wanted to fan out into the other departments, make sure nothing gets overlooked."
"I appreciate it, Sergeant. Staff Sergeant, I mean, my apologies.", Mike countered and set his coffee cup down, as he stared at the latest piece of research dreadfully. Across from him, Steve shared the same sentiment, his curious green eyes moving up and down the pile, as if he was trying to count the cases they were about to review.
"Please, do call me Marty.", the other man insisted cordially, "You're my son's partner, you seem to take good care of him; that makes you family in my book."
Smiling at the cumbersome attempt of a friendly gesture, Mike nodded, as he reached forward to tap the Sergeant's elbow.
"Only if you call me Mike. Deal?"
"Deal.", Marty countered, a brief smile, showing off his immaculate teeth, before he glanced back and forth between both detectives.
"Is there anything that my guys and I could help you with? I have only heard bits and pieces of your case, but if there is anybody in this town that has the least bit of knowledge of this case, or is involved in child molestation or even murder, I definitely want to know about it."
There was a distinct sincerity in his words, causing Mike to forget about some of the distance he'd put up between himself and the man he sensed was responsible for so much of Steve's childhood heartbreak.
Watching Marty Keller stare at him nervously, sharing so many subtle idiosyncrasies of his partner, he couldn't help but appreciate the other man's efforts to overcome the awkwardness he'd put him into, hoping it would protect Steve from any undue backlash.
"Well, I'd be lying if I said that we couldn't use any help at all.", Mike offered, even causing Steve to smile a little, "What we're looking for is somebody who has a past of…of questionable behavior, something that may have started with a peeping Tom case and has now morphed into a sexual predator. Our staff Psychiatrist figures him to be mid-fifties to late sixties, a possible loner, somebody who might be in the public limelight quite often, somebody who's very assertive and has unrestricted access to children matching the age group of our two victims."
Marty nodded somberly; then played with his belt buckle in obvious nervousness while he digested the information. As he glanced up to scan the bullpen, his eyes fell on a group of officers gathered around the water cooler talking.
"It's going to make for a long Friday night but consider it done, Lieutenant. I'll have my day shift guys help me sort through these files to see if anybody matches the description of your perp. That should give you two enough time to head over to the Middle School before everybody leaves for the day. Drew runs a tight ship there, so you should get going."
"We really appreciate all your help in this matter…Marty.", Mike acknowledged, feeling a sigh of relief run through his body at the seemingly peaceful atmosphere between all parties; something he wasn't sure he would be able to achieve.
"My pleasure. We're nationally accredited as one of the most community-oriented police departments in western California. We don't just work in this town, we live in it, we breathe it, you might say. Believe me, if he's hiding out in Modesto, we want that son of a gun caught as much as you guys do."