"I think you're right. It sounds like they're trying to throw you off guard, get you nervousā¦"
"Yeah, I know. I checked and re-checked the lock. I even checked my gardens for footprints but found none. I checked the backdoor and roof access. Seems like somebody was just rattling the door knob and then they ran off. But I swear they were watching me as I circled the house. I could feel it. Sense it."
Well on his way to a more subdued mood, Mike had sat down on Steve's couch, absent-mindedly sipping on a glass of water while the young Inspector was fixing himself a PBJ sandwich in the adjacent kitchen.
"Cassidy knows you live alone. He might think that this makes you an easy target. From what I can guess, nobody was here. Maybe he just thinks you're a lot smarter than I am and that's why he singled you out."
Meeting the Lieutenant's frown with a genial smile, Steve parked his sandwich on a small plate, before joining him in the living room.
"Maybe you're up tomorrow night.", Mike speculated, then let his eyes drift over the magazine-filled dining room table, before they became stuck on a copy of the Telegraph, the crossword puzzle only half-finished, "I think his arrogance is starting to get the better of him."
"Let's hope it's enough for him to make some startlingly bad decisions in the near future, mistakes that will get him and his crew indicted."
His words meant to assuage his partners concerns that evening were met by Mike's stern glare, and a decisive shake of the head.
"Cassidy might be arrogant but he's not dumb. And I can guarantee you right now that he's not going to go down without a fight, Buddy Boy. It's going to take everything we have to bring him to justiceā¦and speaking of which, in that crossword puzzle right here, 46-down is conglomerate, you got the C and O right, the rest is all wrong. Haven't you learned anything yet? "
By the next morning, the tension radiating from the two San Francisco homicide detectives spread beyond their work area and into every crevice of the busy bullpen.
Several murders had popped up across the city overnight, straining resources to the absolute max and causing even Devitt to follow up on a dispatch call first thing in the morning, when no other Inspector was available. It was a rarity Mike hadn't witnessed in several years, and a concerning trend when it came to violent crimes across the city.
"Jimmy is all set, in case we get to roll on a call today."
His cryptic comment was answered by a fleeting nod from Steve's direction, the young Inspector having his head buried in Chelsea O'Conner's file, trying to find the needle in the haystack for the umpteenth time in one week.
"I gotta admit, that was a fantastic idea.", the young Inspector mumbled, trying to put as much emphasis on the statement as possible, but unable to take his eyes off the information ahead.
Growing increasingly intrigued by his partner's focus on one of their three victims, Mike rose from his chair and slowly meandered toward his desk, using the opportunity to glance across the bullpen.
Tanner and Lessing were bent over a coroner's report, while Haley and Haseejian's desks were still empty, the seasoned duo presumably busy bird-dogging clues across the northwest side of town where a floater had washed up along Ocean Beach.
Several of the junior Inspectors were feverishly digging through file cabinets, trying to assist as best as possible, while Sekulovich presided over the Telex machine as a printout was coming through.
All in all, it was a chaos-like atmosphere that was indeed a well-choreographed all-aboard investigation effort Mike was proud to call his department.
"And just what is on your mind?", he asked when he arrived at Steve's desk, one hand resting on his younger partner's upper back as he leaned over his shoulder to look at the R&I info on O'Conner he had nearly memorized by now.
"I am looking for the last connection."
"The last connection?"
Sensing his confusion, Steve glanced up from his work, a weary sigh escaping his lips before he spoke up.
"O'Conner has no connection to our four guys to date. At least none that I found.", he whispered, before pointing at the file, "We've got Milan covered on two ends, Vasquez and Sawyer, respectively. Visari could tie in through Davis. But what about O'Conner? She was their first victim. How did they pick her? And why?"
Patting his partner's back in mutual concern, Mike hesitated, his eyes drifting back to the R&I report.
"Something tells me that until we can answer that question, we won't know who our fourth guy truly is."
