Steve was grateful to see his partner enter the bullpen an hour later, carrying several paper bags of groceries along with a pizza carton that raised the young Inspector's spirits after the encounter with Lenny earlier.
Getting off his desk to lend the Lieutenant a hand, Steve couldn't help but smile at the cheery face greeting him.
"I was getting worried you may have gotten lost on the way back…", he teased and grabbed one of the bags as well as the pizza, then followed his partner into his office.
"No, Tony's was packed for some strange reason, so I had to wait longer than usual on the pizza. I knew I should have just done sandwiches, but after that trip to the warehouse I felt like eating a hearty meal."
"Well, you're going to want to eat it fast. I'm still waiting to hear back from our guys downstairs but I did get a hold of Clarence on our two artists."
"Clearance Hoby? How is he back out on the streets again already? I thought he just got busted last week."
"He has his ways…", Steve countered cheekily and set the pizza on his partner's desk, "Anyways, I got an address. Two actually, but he said that Hernandez is dead. Died of a stroke a couple years ago. Which only leaves Seavers as the potential owner of our leg."
"Interesting…", Mike mumbled and set the groceries onto his gray file cabinet before proceeding to strip out of his overcoat and fedora, "Let's see if R&I can give us some more info on him as well. For all we know he might have died a few weeks ago and Hoby's information is…dated."
"I thought about that too."
Smooth as ever, Steve opened the pizza box, relishing the aroma of cheese and pepperoni for a moment, then treated himself to a piece.
"Did you get a call into Vice too, just in case Seavers was doing some…funny business on the side?"
"Sure did.", the young Inspector countered and added a salute, only to watch his partner roll his eyes.
"What about bunko? They might have something on that group if they decided to leave the path of righteousness behind. Or, if nothing else, they might have some complaints from other venues perhaps, just like Huck said."
"Already done."
"Then why are you standing here as if you're waiting for me to give you advise?", Mike asked in unmasked irritation and slipped behind his desk to search for additional napkins.
"I came to fill you in on my progress, Kemosabe.", Steve countered, then reached for another slice, "And I decided to stay for the pizza."