Steve smiled in satisfaction when he saw both interrogation rooms filled with Mavis Johnsons parents.
Her father was on the south end, looking suspiciously into the bullpen while playing with his mustache. The mother was in the other room. Dressed in a lavender blouse, she fidgeted with her shoulder length curly brown hair, but her gaze never left the ground.
Steve took off his beige overcoat and sat down at his desk, stretching his sore lower back along the way.
Mike had been unusually quiet on the drive in and Steve couldn't quite wrap his mind around why. Then again, it had been an exhausting few days and undeniably, their nerves were fried. Having to face parents who not just abused their daughter but also lied about her whereabouts wasn't going to make matters any easier.
He'd watched Mike enter his office, take off his coat and fedora and sit down emotionlessly, despite the expected guests awaiting the two detectives. Something was off with his partner this morning. Perhaps something came up last night after he'd dropped him off at home.
Maybe Jeannie had called again and the two had spent some time analyzing the case? Maybe his knee was bothering him still and Mike was too stubborn to have it looked at?
There was no time to dig deeper right now, but Steve made a point to bring up the subject again later.
Leaning forward in his chair, he quickly scanned his missed calls when he noticed a blue ceramic marble lying by his phone. Eyeing the object suspiciously, he carefully reached for it, playing with it in his hand before inhaling sharply.
"That's it. I knew it.", he cursed before getting up and marching into Mike's office, "She was here last night, wasn't she? And so were you."
Taking aback by his accusatory tone, Mike slowly removed his black reading glasses, before raising an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?"
"Rhonda. She left that marble on my desk. I thought you were going to run errands and then head straight home. But instead you came back to the office. You lied to me."
As a wave of understanding washed over the Lieutenants face, Mike smiled briefly.
"I see. Yes…I came back to the office last night. I couldn't sleep. And when I got here, Rhonda was waiting for me."
"What? She just sat here waiting for us to show up whenever?", realizing he was starting to sound exasperatedly, Steve slowly put the marble onto Mike desk and took a deep breath, "What did she want now? Another vision? Did she solve the murder for us yet?"
Mike grinned and stood up from the desk, before shaking his head. Steve swore he saw a flash of concern wash over his expression, but it disappeared again as soon as he noticed his partner's glance.
"Would you relax? She just came to check in. Scout's honor."
Steve didn't believe a word he was saying. He could practically sense that Mike was holding something from him. The question was what. When he reduced his reaction to a disappointed glare, the Lieutenant decided to change subjects on pointed at the interrogation room.
"Alright, Sunshine, enough talk about Psych Readers for one morning. How about you take on the mother and work her over hard, as hard as you can. I will see what I can squeeze out of the father. Wish me luck."