Tanner and Lessing were in Mike's office when Steve wandered back into the bullpen over an hour later, three paper bags in his hands. He stared through the glass, hoping to attract his partner's attention as he deliberately set the bags on his desk. As if feeling the eyes boring into him, Mike glanced over; Steve raised his brows and one of the bags and watched as the older man's eyes widened. Within seconds, the two junior detectives were getting to their feet and the office door opened.

Steve grinned and chuckled at them as he picked up the bags and headed into the small office, Mike watching him with anticipation the entire way. "What have you got there?" he asked as the younger man entered, grinning, and set one of the bags down in front of him before sitting in the guest chair and putting the other two on the desk.

"Well, I got finished in the M.E.'s office fast and, as it's a nice day out there and it was getting close to lunch, I'd thought I'd take a walk over to Eddie's and pick up a couple of -"

"You got us Reubens?" Mike interrupted eagerly, his eyebrows climbing even higher.

Grinning, Steve nodded at the bag in front of his partner. "I got us Reubens. I even got us drinks." He opened one of the bags and took out two cans, putting the ginger ale on the other side of the desk and keeping the Coke.

Mike started to open his bag. "Oh my god, you read my mind." He reached in and pulled out the waxed-paper wrapped sandwich and set it on the desk. "Thank you, buddy boy."

"You're welcome," Steve grinned as he took his own sandwich out.

The older man inhaled with pleasure as he unwrapped the corned beef and rye. "How much do I owe you?" he asked, not taking his eyes from the welcome concoction as he picked it up awkwardly, trying to keep the gooey melted Swiss cheese off the cast.

Steve had already taken a bite and was chewing. Mike did the same as he waited. Swallowing, the younger man picked up the Coke and took a sip. "Nothing. It's on me."

The blue eyes snapped to him as their owner froze momentarily, then they frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure. My treat." Steve took another bite, then grinned with his mouth closed.

"Well, thanks, buddy boy." Mike sounded both surprised and sincere. "I appreciate it." He took another bite and rolled his eyes in ecstasy.

Steve chuckled. "You're welcome," he said with his mouth full.

They ate in companionable silence for a couple of minutes then Mike asked, "So, did Bernie have anything for you yet?"

Steve shook his head as he put his can of Coke on the desk. "Nothing that we don't already know. She has a large cut on her forehead where she hit it on the edge of the bathtub, like from a fall, and there was bathwater in her lungs. So she did drown, and she did hit her head. But whether that was really from a fall or if she had a little help, well, that's something he can't tell us yet."

Mike nodded. "That figures."

"But he said he's going to wait, like you asked, for another thirty-six hours to see if any perimortem bruises show up."

The older man frowned. "Perimortem? I thought it was antemortem?"

Steve raised his eyebrows. "That's what I thought too, but I was corrected. Perimortem means at or near the time of death and antemortem means before death."

Mike's gaze unfocused and he made a facial shrug. "Hunh…. Well, 'you say po-tay-to and I say po-tah-to'," he sang briefly then chuckled.

Steve laughed and shook his head. "However, I did find out that that… lawyer that Turley hired called the M.E.'s office this morning, asking for a copy of the death certificate."

Mike's eyes shot wide then he frowned. "Already?"

The younger man nodded. "Guess Turley is hoping to get his wife's body out of town before we put two-and-two together."

Mike chuckled dryly. "Well, I think we're well past the simple addition stage of this investigation. I think we've shot right past long division and have started algebra already, don't you?" There was a chuckle from the other side of the desk. "Did you get the name?"

"Of the lawyer?" The older man nodded. "Yeah, I got it."

The last couple of bites of his sandwich still in his hand, Mike leaned back in his chair and stared at his partner. "But seriously, though, how could this Turley guy possibly think that - not to toot our own horn here - that a couple of big city homicide detectives wouldn't see through his almost amateurish machinations…?" He shook his head almost sadly.

Steve took a deep breath and shrugged, shaking his head. "The only thing I can think of is he's read too many Agatha Christies… or Ellery Queens…"

Mike chuckled. "Yeah, that's a possibility, I guess." He took a bite of his sandwich, chewing for a bit before saying, "Well, I guess we're lucky we get dumb ones once in awhile, hunh?"

# # # # #

"So, you're going to find out about that lawyer?" Mike asked as he crumpled up the waxed paper and tossed it in the wastepaper basket as Steve stuffed his in the paper bag and handed it over for Mike to dispose of.

"Yeah, I'll call around and see what some of his colleagues have to say about him."

"Good." Mike brushed the few and barely noticeable crumbs off the desk. "I'm going to go talk to Charlie, see if he's come up with an idea of how Turley got the towel-ring off the tile without making a mess of the wall."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that too. Crowbar, do you think?"

"Maybe, but where did he get it from and what did he do with it?" Steve chuckled and raised his eyebrows. "I don't know, brought it from St. Louis in his suitcase?"

They both froze and looked at each other. "Do you think -?" Mike started and the younger man nodded.

"In his wife's suitcase? Could that be why they wanted to get back into the room the other night, so they could get it and get rid of it?"

Mike reached for the phone. As he picked up the receiver, he looked at his partner. "You got the number of The Mark handy?"

Steve jogged to his desk, fished his notebook out of his jacket pocket and raced back, flipping it open. He read out the number.

Mike glanced at the younger man as he waited for the call to be answered. "Yes, this is Lieutenant Stone from the San Francisco Police Department. I need to speak to Jonas Charles, please…. Yes, thank you." He looked up again and raised his eyebrows. "Yes, Mr. Charles, this is -… Yes, ah, you know you told me about Turley and his lawyer asking to get back into the room the other night?… Yes…. Yes, do you know if your night manager was with them the entire time they were in the room?…. Okay, that would be great… Yes, I'll be here. I'll wait for his call. You have my number?…. Yes, that's it. Thank you." He hung up and looked at his partner again. "He's going to have the night manager give me a call, if he can get hold of him. He's obviously not at the hotel right now. This might take awhile."

Steve chuckled. "Well, seeing as you're tied to your desk, why don't I make a couple of calls about that lawyer and get the ball rolling, and then I can head down and talk to Charlie?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. Hopefully by the time you get back that night manager will've gotten back to me and we'll know if we have to head over to The Mark again."

"Right." As Steve turned to leave, the older man stopped him.

"Hey… ah, thanks for lunch," Mike chuckled.

"My pleasure," the young inspector laughed as he walked away.

# # # # #

"Well, to tell you the truth, I can't find any marks on this thing that tell me it was pried off the wall with a hammer or a crowbar or anything," Charlie said with a grim smile as he picked up the large clear plastic evidence bag holding the towel-ring. "I mean the base is slightly bent but that's what you would expect if it came off the wall like it did." He looked up at the inspector. "How big was the person who did this?"

"A woman in her thirties, about five-foot-two, hundred-and-ten pounds."

The big man's eyebrows soared towards his hairline. "You've got to be kidding me, right?"

Steve shook his head. "We did a demo this morning in an identical room using someone with a similar build and weight. You haven't seen the video that John shot for us this morning?"

The head of the crime lab shook his head sharply. "No, I've been busy. Homicide may be having it light right now but the other departments are swamped, just so you know."

Steve pretended to recoil, raising both hands placatingly. "Sorry," he chuckled and the big man laughed. "Anyway, Mike and I did a test with a policewoman the same size as Mrs. Turley, and I guess I don't have to tell you that the towel-rack didn't move."

Charlie snorted and looked down at the evidence bag on the counter. "That's not surprising. There's no way a woman that small could've done this." His brow furrowed and he thought for a few beats. "Listen, ah, I want to have a look at that bathroom myself. Any chance I can go over there with you and Mike later today and have a really good look at it." When Steve began to nod, he continued quickly, "Don't get me wrong, Steve, I'm not second guessing my guys on this one. They got great photos and I'm sure the video is good enough to stand up in court, but I want to see things for myself. Maybe I'll have an idea about how he did it. How does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect. Mike's waiting for a call right now that might take us back to The Mark today anyway, so we could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Let me get back to you."

# # # # #

Day Manager Charles opened the door to 1521 then stood back to allow the two detectives and the imposing head of the crime lab to enter the room ahead of him. "Just shut the door after you when you're finished, Lieutenant," he confirmed from the entrance and Mike looked back as he crossed the room.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Charles. We appreciate the cooperation."

The hotel manager smiled and nodded then closed the door. The small procession headed straight for the bathroom. After Steve had told his partner about the lab head's misgivings about the towel-ring being torn from the wall with the aid of an outside source, the urgency to rifle through Mrs. Turley's luggage had abated. But both detectives had clocked the closed but unzippered suitcase on the luggage rack against the far wall as they crossed the room.

As Charlie studied the hole in the tile wall and entire bathtub area, the detectives looked on silently. His hands in latex gloves, the analyst took the towel-ring out of the evidence bag, which he gave to Steve, and placed it against the tile wall where it had hung for so many years without incident. His trained eye studied the base of the ring and the tile, then he took a step back in the tub and studied the wall intently. "How big is Mr. Turley?"

Mike glanced at his partner. "A little bigger than Steve."

Eventually a soft smile spread over Charlie's features and he looked at both detectives. "Well, I can show you how he did it, but that hotel manager might not like it."

The lieutenant frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we're gonna have to record it, so we only have to do it once, and then nobody will be able to contest it in court." Charlie turned to Steve. "We need to get John and his handy videocamera back here," he looked at Mike, "and I need you to talk to Mr. Charles. We're gonna need that other room again."