"So, do you want to head back to Big Al's and rattle some cages?"

Reducing his answer to a faint shake of the head for the time being, Mike climbed back into the passenger bench of the Galaxy, and reached for their case file with a deep sigh.

"Not yet, Buddyboy, not until we have looked into any potential credit card receipts or cash records from Big Al's that coincide with David Forney's work schedule. If we go in there guns blazing, all Forney is going to do is clam up more. We still have nothing that ties him directly into this. Quite honestly, by now I am beginning to get the feeling that he may not have anything to do with this after all, that our killer just wants us to believe that it's him because of the common location."

Pulling the black-framed reading glassed out of his coat pocket, the Lieutenant double-checked a few reference points in the file ahead, before closing it again and putting it back on the dashboard.

"Which goes back to my Theresa Summers theory…"

Unable to meet Mike's eyes when he said that, Steve glanced straight ahead, pretending to get ready to start the car and head back downtown.

"Except that it's not her.", the Lieutenant shot back curtly and reached for his partner's shoulder to get his attention, "She may have taken McMillan's payouts, but she wouldn't kill anybody over power. It's not her. You just have to trust me on that one."

"Ok, so who do you think it is?"

Turning around to face his partner, Steve was surprised to find Mike shrug, something that was very unusual once they'd dug that deep into a case.

"Quite honestly, I don't think we've met our killer yet. I think we've been following a very carefully laid out trail. And we've been spinning our wheels doing so."

Glancing down, the Lieutenant seemed to struggle with the right thing to say for a moment, and yet, his hand remained on his partner's shoulder, squeezing it tightly.

"Let's reconvene with Dan and Norm downtown, see what they found out, then let's prepare for the stakeout. It's time we ask Horatio about his involvement in this whole mess."