Happy Thanksgiving everyone. May you enjoy your day surrounded by family and friends. I am about to head out and fix the chicken run that was crushed when a huge tree went down a couple of months ago. Good honest work for a dreary day.
"Captain Morris. It's a pleasure to meet you, despite the sad circumstances of my visit."
Cordial as usual, Mike reached forward to shake hands with the stout leader of the Burlingame Homicide Squad, the other man's hazel eyes scanning him wearily.
"I understand you were friends with Sabatino? Good friends perhaps, Lieutenant…Stone?"
"Well, let's just say that Alex and I walked the beat together for quite a few years and eventually, both of us handed in our patrol uniforms to become plain clothed detectives. Me a little earlier than Alex."
Holding the genuine smile that did nothing to change the Captain's demeanor, Mike wondered if the other man's attitude stemmed from misguided grief, or even worse...disdain.
"I see."
With a subtle gesture, Ethan Morris ushered him toward a cluttered office in the west corner of the small bullpen, filled with only three desks and a Sergeant's station.
Compared to the San Francisco equivalent, this office was considerably quiet, reminding him a lot more of their records division.
Morris held the door open until Mike walked through and sat down on the sole chair next to the Captain's desk, then closed it again with a heavy sigh.
"Lieutenant Stone, I won't waste your time. I understand why you came down here and I am sure Francis has voiced concerns regarding Alex's workload lately. But I can fully assure you that if there'd been something I noticed, any sort of warning signs that Alex was in trouble, I would have been the first one to stand by his side and make sure he makes it through the night. This…troublesome incident surprised us as much as it surprised his family."
The passionate words didn't go along with the monotonous tone in Morris's voice and Mike nodded slowly, resisting the urge to pull out his notepad to scribble down some thoughts.
Worse yet, those words most definitely didn't resonate with what he heard from the few other colleagues of Alex in regards to his friend's deteriorating state of mind.
"From talking to Francis, it did sound like Alex had a lot on his plate…", he started, hoping that the open-ended comment would guide the conversation into the direction he desired; the one involving a case that was potentially to blame for this outcome.
"Well, not everything going on in his life was our doing, if that's what you're insinuating.", Morris countered with a hint of hostility in his voice, "We've had a few busy months here, I won't deny that. I am sure you guys go through that a lot in San Francisco. Tensions were running high. Case loads were heavy, mandatory vacation blocks, the works. Things were easing up again though in the past week."
"Francis said that Alex was working on another case as well…a…a cold case."
"The Saunders case, yeah…"
There was a shadow of regret clouding Morris's eyes when he said that, his gaze drifting over the bullpen before ending up on one of his file cabinets.
"The moment he took on the case I could see the toll it was taking on him. Everything about it was just awful. Don't misunderstand, it affected all of us, but it affected Alex the most. Then...eight months of absolutely no headway. We got busy, that case got pushed off to the side to make room for more recent ones. He refused to let it go and went as far as taking the file home with him, working the case in his free time. It was almost as if…as if he'd become obsessed with it. I told him to let it rest for a few months, then look at it with a set of fresh eyes, possibly even hand it over altogether. There were just too many angles to it. Too little information, too little forensic evidence, literally nobody who had a motive for this heinous double murder…triple-murder, if you ask me."
"Triple murder?"
Catching on to the Lieutenant's surprise, Morris shrugged dismissively.
"I find it hard to believe that Francis didn't hand you the box to take over the case. And you're welcome to have it, for all I care. It's been nothing but a curse…and a headache. I don't mind getting it off my plate and have somebody else spin their wheels on taxpayer's time and money.", he said mockingly, then crossed his arms in front of his burly chest, "Here, I've got a few moments before my meeting with the Chief, let me give you the grim details. You might have seen your fair share of gruesome scenes in San Francisco, but I am willing to bet this one will make even your stomach queasy."