Today is such a somber and thought-filled day. It's making me restless. So here are a few more chapters. Enjoy!
"You never hand me a twenty when I give you a good lead!", Steve complained in feigned disappointment as they sat back down in the Galaxie, cherishing the break from the incessant wind chilling everyone in its path to the bone.
"That's because I know you wouldn't spend it on food. You'd spend it on more suits and by God you have enough of them."
As he leaned forward to put the key into the ignition, Steve let his eyes drift over the warehouse and the countless people calling the ruins their home. With a weary sigh, he shook his head, then pulled the gear shaft into drive.
"It's going to be interesting what R&I comes up with on these names. Still doesn't explain the female leg we found, but it's a start…"
"Well, remember that being at the wrong place at the wrong time is still the leading cause of death amongst many of our victims…", Mike cautioned as he sorted their case file, "It's possible that his affiliation with the Happy Artists had nothing to do with the reason he was murdered-if, and that's a big IF, he was truly murdered and somebody didn't just steal body parts for some…morbid reason we don't know yet…which actually is a lot more plausible."
"But why dispose of the limbs in the Bay? And why just cut them off and not do anything else with them? Why no arms? It doesn't tie, Mike. Not one bit."
"And cutting legs off living and breathing human beings does?", the Lieutenant challenged and glanced over at his partner as they left the pot-hole littered dirt lot surrounding the warehouse behind.
"I don't know…", Steve admitted hesitantly, then bit his lip for a second to gather his thoughts, "Maybe…maybe it's some…sick, twisted serial killer getting his rocks off watching his victims suffer. Now that's plausible. Goes along with hiding the body parts in the waters, hoping that scavenging activity and the currents would do their job to hide any tangible evidence. And it almost did."
"You really sank your teeth into this case, didn't you, Buddy Boy?"
There was unmistakable pride in Mike's voice as they left the warehouse sector behind to head back towards 3rd Street.
Meeting his partner's glance for a brief moment, Steve nodded, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"How many times have you told me to follow my gut? This time I am following my gut. Something's very strange about these legs. And we're going to figure it out."
"I'd like that very much.", Mike added, then pointed at a delicatessen store nestled in between the many restaurants, souvenir shops and grocery stores lining the road, "Listen, ehm…could you drop me off here? I want to get some stuff for dinner tonight. Jeannie has been talking about putting on a big…oh, how do you call those things…a charcuterie, you know? With the cheese and the salami. She said she'd grab the bread if I grab the cheese and salami and ham."
"Oh?"
With eyebrows raised, Steve slowed the Galaxie down before pulling it into a parking spot ahead.
"That sounds quite fancy. She never used to make stuff like that. Is it this Eric character getting her into fancy cuisine now?"
"Oh, I don't know, I really don't know.", Mike countered after a few moments and shook his head, "Young people these days. Can't just be happy with a nice homemade meal. Now everything needs to have a foreign name."
"You mean like the time Janine made sous-vide beef and you called it an undercooked prime rib?"
"Something like that, yeah…", the Lieutenant shrugged off, one hand on the door handle, as he glanced back over at his partner, "Get a hold of R&I as soon as you get back to the office. I can't wait to hear if they can dig something up, even if it's just an address. Anything helps. I'll see you in a bit. Be careful."
Nodding obediently, Steve reached over to pat Mike's shoulder, before watching his partner exit and head toward the deli, his black overcoat disappearing amongst a group of tourists exploring the China Basin.
With a smiling headshake, the young Inspector shifted to reverse, then leaned his arm across the front bench to keep an eye on traffic as he backed the large sedan out of its parking spot.
"Let the digging begin…", he mumbled, and began his journey back toward Bryant Street.