"Sit down, Mike."
Rudy's reverberating through the windowless office sounded tired and agitated. Having lit another pipe, the Captain sat back down in his leather office chair and took a long deep breath, before his eyes rose back up at Mike.
"Seen Keller walk in with you. He looks like death warmed over. That's what teaching kids does to you these days, I am telling you."
Nodding at the failed attempt at a joke, the Lieutenant cleared his throat.
"I am having Robbins check out the security camera footage at Berkeley, hopefully we can get a better image of the vehicle, as well as our killer. Lenny and Keller are working on a new profile."
"The public is going nuts over this. Especially the last two murders. I swear if I see one more article about campus security, I will sign up for therapy with Murchison myself. I need something to throw at them this afternoon. Give me a bone, Mike."
"I can't, Rudy. Not yet.", he admitted and shifted uncomfortably in the guest chair, disguising his worry behind a half-hearted shrug, "I need a little bit more time. I also want 24/7 protection on Steve. This killing spree is circling in on him and I am afraid he might be next."
"Yeah, I've been meaning to talk to you about that.", Rudy said and pulled out a sheet of paper from underneath his desk, "I went to check on you yesterday afternoon and you weren't there, but your phone rang, so I took the call."
Resurfacing the paper and straightening it out against his desk, the Captain leaned in closer to read the note.
"The call came from a Norbert Wilson. It appears he was your eye witness for the Rachel McGowan killing. He called back because he remembered something else about the suspect vehicle he saw her get out of the night of the murder. He said the silver Porsche had a ski rack on its roof. That sound familiar to you at all, Mike? Because I don't recall hearing anything about that piece of evidence thus far."
Mike felt the breath get stuck in his throat as he tried hard to keep his expression unreadable. Olson's eyes turned a shade darker, as he glanced over at the Lieutenant, gauging his sincerity.
"I've been with the force for almost forty-five years now, Michael. I have seen some bad stuff. Cops getting killed. Cops turning into killers. It's pretty messed up somedays.", continuing the stern eye contact, Rudy took another breath out of his pipe, "So after I took that call, I did a bit of research myself. Asked around if anybody had seen you. Looked for reports that hadn't been written yet. Found out about Dan Robbins doing a lecture on fishing accidents when I talked to Dean Wilson, who by the way told me about the phone call he had with you first thing this morning. And then I thought about what Lenny said about our killer, and I became pretty nervous."
Mike pursed his lips, trying to remain calm and quiet, expecting a slew of reprimands heading his way any second.
"You are the best guy I have in Homicide. Heck, I'd say you are the best Detective in all of San Francisco. Which means, you are not stupid, Mike. Definitely not so stupid that you would cover for an ex-partner who seems to quickly turn into a person of great interest in a serial killer investigation. A person who either knew the victims directly, or was present during two of the murders. A person who had both, the means and the background police knowledge to pull something like this off. A person who was stopped racing down Sacramento Street last night at excessive speeds and when apprehended got picked up by a Lieutenant who claimed he is an undercover cop. No Mike…you wouldn't be so foolish. They call you Iron Mike for a reason, right? Because you always do things by the book."
Standing up from his chair, Rudy began to pace the length of his small office in obvious agitation, seemingly pondering on the best course of action. After a few seconds, he stopped in his tracks and walked around his desk, only to stand right next to Mike's chair.
"I always thought the world of Keller. He was a nice kid. Smart too. But people change all the time…and if for some reason, he is involved in this mess, if there's just the tiniest possibility that he might be our killer, I want to know about it, is that clear, Lieutenant?...Because if it isn't, and this startling cover up continues on, we both know what there will be some uncomfortable questions posed to you, Robbins and anybody else who's is in on this. And since we're at it, by tonight, I expect a full report from you and your partner about everything that went down in the last few days. Every…last…detail."