Their return journey to the car had been a somber one to say the least.
Halfway back, Carl had excused himself with a brief wave of the hand, then disappeared back into the woods at a hasty pace.
They weren't worried about his testimony at the moment. Not that he'd make it on the witness stand in this condition to begin with.
Rather, Mike had handed him a package of chewing gum while Steve sacrificed some sunflower seeds as a token of gratitude, hoping that it would make locating the illusive hermit a lot easier should they need any more assistance in the near future.
While some of Carl's vocal skills were improving slightly the more time he spent with the two San Francisco Homicide detectives; it still left much to be desired when it came to basic communication.
From what little they had gathered, he had seen a tall man matching the description of the man from the security camera walking Kevin through the woods, then spend some time with the kid near the small pond, before brutally murdering him.
Not just was it the least desired outcome to a disturbing case, it also raised further questions about the ulterior motive of their killer.
Why hadn't he murdered the child in the house? Why walk him to the park to kill him there? Had he planned to do something entirely different with the kid and then decided to murder him instead? Why kill him in the matter he did?
They were haunting questions plaguing both of them on the way back, resulting in prolonged stillness as they conquered the forest and finally arrived at the sidewalk that was still as deserted as it was when they first arrived.
The weather hadn't changed much besides a stiff wind that was howling through the trees, threatening to take off Mike's fedora.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the waiting Galaxie, distraught to find out that all tires had been slashed and the windshield caved in.