Just a shorty today. It's been a long few hours as we lost the best horse in our stable on Christmas Eve. There was nothing we could do besides easing her pain and putting her down. Our hearts are broken tonight.
Not long after, it was time to return to the office, go through the motions of making sure that no other homicides had popped up in San Francisco overnight, which miraculously held true. It seemed as though even crime in the city was holding off until the ruthless Saunders killer had been caught.
Stepping into the bullpen felt stranger every day, as several sets of eyes discreetly followed their return, somehow sensing that things weren't quite going according to plan.
While Steve resented the notion that they may have bitten off more than they could chew, it did in some aspects hold true.
Scarily enough, there was no telling that the killing spree had stopped with the Saunders and not continued on in some other shape and form, conveniently hidden from their knowledge thanks to the Burlingame PD.
Switching from one brutal mass murder to the next in a matter of a few days had worn on them both, and somehow, the entire office was aware of it by now as well.
With a quiet sigh, Steve acknowledged the dark green file folder resting in his inbox, knowing it came from the coroner's office long before he was close enough to see the logo.
Taking off his grey suit coat before undoing the buttons on his shirt sleeves to roll them up, he peeked into Mike's office, their eyes meeting with the same somber expression of starting out the day on a heartbreaking and gruesome note.
No words were needed for him to join the Lieutenant in the inner office, closing the door behind them as though their conversation wasn't fit to make it past the glass panes and into the ears of the unsuspecting audience in the bullpen.
With undisguised dread, Mike drew in a deep breath and reached for the black rimmed reading glasses in his top right-hand drawer, then grabbed the file.
Ever so slowly, he opened it up, taking a brief moment to scan the information in front of him as though he already knew what was there.
"Bernie says it's definitely Kevin. The dental records are a match. Cause of death is blunt force trauma to the head. It would have killed him instantly.", he said, keeping his explanation as vague as possible as if to spare his partner the gruesome details, "He couldn't find any particles or hairs on the body that didn't belong to Kevin. The lab is going over the stomach contents but that won't help us a whole lot right now."
Steve nodded quietly, then ran a hand across his two-day stubble in nervous agitation.
"I still feel that there's possibly a link between the miscarriage and Kevin's murder. That…or Mears thought that the boy may have witnessed something, or knew something he didn't want to let out. When he couldn't get it out of him, he decided to kill him."
When Mike didn't answer right away, Steve glanced up only to see his superior's eyes drifting to the glass walled vestibule, where a blonde woman dressed in a business outfit was standing insecurely, glancing around as though she wasn't sure who to look for.
Eventually, Sekulovich approached her, then pointed at the inner office.
"Looks like we've got some company…", Mike said and walked past him to open the door and greet the new arrival.
Even from his distance, Steve could sense the tension radiating from the woman, her eyes timid, body language that of somebody who was terribly afraid to be here.
The hand she reached out to shake Mike's was trembling slightly, her grip faint at best.
It didn't take a genius to figure out they were dealing with the walking and talking symbol of domestic violence.
"You must be Lieutenant Stone. We talked on the phone last night.", the woman introduced herself, barely able to retain eye contact, "I am Betsy Morris. I used to be married to Daniel Mears."