Mike felt his fingers starting to shake as he dialed the Homicide extension from a payphone on 3rd and Hollister. Watching the dense traffic flow by like a continuous torrent of rain, he waited impatiently for the recipient to pick up the phone.
Sending Lessing and Derek out to Aldarez's apartment a few minutes before he and his team of Inspectors left for the Cow Palace had made a world of a difference as rush hour sat in, slowing them down more than even Mike had envisioned. Their detour to the DA's office for both, a search and an arrest warrant for McAllister had delayed his trip even further.
Two rings into his call, his ever-fading patience would be rewarded, when the phone was picked up.
"Homicide. This is Inspector Tanner?"
"Bill, it's me.", shifting the receiver to the other ear and leaning against the glass of the phone booth, Mike cleared his throat, "Dispatch got a hold of us asking to call headquarters. What did they find at the apartment?"
"Mike, I just got off the phone with Lee. Bernie and he think that Aldarez was murdered but it's pretty circumstantial right now. Sounds like he was doing drugs for quite some time and his death appears to be an overdose. They think it's made to look like an accident, or suicide even, but given the current situation, Bernie is putting a rush on the tox screen to check what exactly is in his veins. Could even be that the drugs were laced with something. No needle at the apartment either. A neighbor said that he saw the gray Jaguar drop Aldarez off last night, around midnight. Judging by the time of death, Bernie thinks that the drugs may have been injected before he got to his apartment."
Pursing his lips, Mike let his eyes drift over to the parked Galaxy where both, Haley and Hassejian waited in anxious suspense.
"I bet McAllister is busy cleaning up his tracks…", he breathed and checked his wristwatch, "Thank you, Bill. Do me a favor; put out an ABP on that gray Jaguar and see if you can have a couple black and whites on standby down at the Cow Palace. Something tells me we're going to need all the help we can get to nail this guy."
