Just a shorty today. Overnight storms have wreaked havoc on the farm. Be back soon!
"What are you guys trying to pull now?"
What little respect found before was now completely gone from Ethan Morris's voice, as the stout Homicide Captain made his way through the assortment of lab techs Bernie had graciously sent their merry way so late in the day.
It had taken them over an hour to locate the body once again and set up camp, the onset of dusk slowing the lab crew's efforts significantly.
Nonetheless, everyone was in position by now, a yellow tape stretched halfway through the forest creating an easy-to-see trail of breadcrumbs that would hopefully speed things up a bit.
As the experienced technicians began to expose the body, Steve had retreated to the impressive pool of cars parked along the highway, their flashing lights illuminating the entire vicinity.
As such, it wasn't a surprise at all that Morris would hear of the commotion sooner rather than later- which happened just a couple hours into their work.
Mike and he agreed to keep the information about their findings as vague as possible, both men sharing the disturbing notion that the Captain knew of the whereabouts of the body too well.
It would also serve as an additional stab at the other man's blown-out-of-proportion ego, hopefully causing him to trip up, released pertinent information and make mistakes that would aid in their ongoing investigation.
But, and that was a significant but, Steve couldn't help but feel slightly outnumbered when the Captain stormed his way, two of his officers flanking him on either side.
"We're having our lab techs check out the area.", Steve replied evenly, keeping his features professional and unreadable.
"Our lab techs weren't good enough? You had to bring your guys in all the way from San Francisco?"
Smiling at the undisguised hostility, he ignored the testosterone-fed posing when Morris stepped in front of him, his massive chest nearly touching Steve's.
"We took over the case. We like to work with the people who support us on a daily basis. They're our Coroner's team and this way we can create an efficient flow of information for our internal purposes."
Mike would be proud of the way he was handling himself, Steve thought, never losing that lighthearted expression despite the set of six angry eyes staring back at him.
"Did you find a body? Did you find the boy?", Morris then asked, his voice slowly turning into a throaty growl.
"We can't make any determination on the nature of our discovery until forensics has done their job.", Steve continued undisturbed, shamelessly enjoying the game of filibuster he was playing with the angry locals.
"You wouldn't have such a consortium here if you hadn't found a body.", Morris argued, his brown eyes scanning his for any cracks in the professional façade and yet finding none, "You guys may have taken over this case, but this isn't your jurisdiction. We're in San Mateo County here."
They both had expected that argument and the validity thereof. It was one of the reasons they'd put a rush order on the lab techs to expose the body and return it to San Francisco, before local red tape would rip the remains right out from under their fingers.
It wouldn't give them much time, but it would be enough for Bernie to examine the body, take as many samples as he wanted and document every single detail for the viable possibility that this case would begin casting some troublesome shadows over the Burlingame police department; a strong motive to keep it here and tamper with anything that might link directly to the killer.
Luckily, Kevin's remains left just over ten minutes ago, hopefully arriving at the San Francisco Medical Examiner's Lab within the hour.
"We were under the impression that you wanted this case off your desk by handing it over to us. Informing you of any progress until it is solved seemed unimportant. If we do find something definite, we'll be sure to let you know though."
By now he could see the veins on Morris's neck pop out beneath the collar of his white dress shirt. Both of the officers flanking him moved in just a few inches, making it look as though they were ready to corner Steve.
Wishing he had Mike by his side more so than ever despite not showing it, he continued to hold stern eye contact with the Homicide Captain, seeing the unbridled fury beneath the angry glare.
Then, with a low growl, Morris pointed his chin toward the woods.
"Let's just assume you found a body back there…", the Captain said and leaned close enough that Steve could smell stale coffee and cigarettes on his breath, "Be sure to reel in your buddy Carl for questioning. If he has anything to do with this, I will see to it that he gets thrown in jail and the key tossed away."
Nodding slightly, Steve watched the parade turn around and march back to the black patrol car sitting by the side of the road, grateful they couldn't see his shaking hands.