Chapter 6

Steve drove to the police station to drop off the evidence he had collected at Terri's house. He arranged to have an officer be at the club at 9:00 to take Terri home, brought the letter and envelope to the forensics lab, and put a rush request on the DNA check of the hair. That done, and after checking to make sure there was an APB out on the car that had almost run him down, he headed home.

At the beach house, Steve found his father at his desk in the study, leafing through the file on Pete's murder. Mark looked up as Steve entered, noticing the slight stiffness in his movements as his son came over to join him.

"Are you alright?" he asked in quick concern.

"I'm fine," Steve replied, reflecting that there was no point in trying to hide even a minor injury from a father who was not only a doctor, but an extremely observant one. "Just picked up a bruise or two diving out of the way of a car."

Mark's raised an eyebrow at him. "Careless driving or felonious intent?" he asked.

"Actually, I'm not sure," Steve responded, considering it. "Terri's 'creepy fan' showed up at the club tonight, and when I went to talk to him, he took off on me. I'm not really sure if he was actually trying to run me over or if he was just hell-bent on getting out of there as fast as possible."

"That's interesting," said Mark, considering the implications. "It certainly makes him look like a good suspect." Steve nodded.

"I got a partial plate," he said. "We'll find him and pick him up."

Not to be diverted for long, Mark inspected his son, looking for any signs that Steve required medical attention. Not finding any, he relaxed somewhat.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Positive," Steve said with a reassuring smile. He looked over at the file in front of his father. "Come up with anything new?" he asked.

"Not really," Mark replied. "I was just looking over the photos of the crime scene. If the murderer was waiting for Pete, he must have been hiding in these bushes at the edge of the parking lot. What I was wondering was: how did he know when Pete would be coming back? Surely he wouldn't take the risk of lurking around the parking lot all night!"

"You think he was following Pete?" Steve asked.

"Maybe," Mark replied without conviction. "Or maybe it was someone in one of these apartments that had a view of the lot."

"It'd be a pretty big coincidence if the guy sending the letters to Terri just happened to live in the same apartment complex as Pete," said Steve skeptically.

"Yeah, but we don't know for sure yet that the letter writer and the murderer are the same person," Mark responded.

"We may know soon," declared Steve. "There was a hair caught in the flap of the envelope of the letter Terri got today. It was light brown, just like the ones we found on Pete's jacket. I asked the guys in forensics to rush the test to see if it matches. If it does – and I'm pretty sure it will – then we've definitely linked the writer and the murderer."

"What else did you find out?" Mark asked curiously.

"The envelope the letter came in was addressed and stamped, but the stamp hadn't been cancelled," Steve told him.

"So it might not have been mailed at all!" Mark observed in surprise. Steve nodded.

"I'm going to have some officers visit the neighbors tomorrow and see if anyone noticed somebody putting anything in the mailbox," he said. "And I had someone go over to dust the mailbox for prints. Not that I really think they'll find anything useful," he added, "but we can hope."

"How's Terri doing with all this?" Mark asked.

"She was a bit upset," Steve said, "but she seemed to be handling it all right." He smiled suddenly. "She said her arm's doing better, by the way. She did get the cream you prescribed."

"That's good," Mark replied, smiling back. "Maybe I'll go see her tomorrow anyway. I'd like to talk to her again."

"She'll probably like that." Steve grinned at him. "She seems to be pretty taken with you!" The grin faded. "Apparently her father was a pretty weird guy – all wrapped up in keeping up appearances and laying down the law. She said he never joked around with his kids or anything. And I talked to a girl friend of Terri's at the club, who said Pete was the first real boyfriend Terri had ever had. She indicated that her father had Terri so messed up that she had been seeing a psychiatrist at some point."

"Really?" Mark's eyebrows rose. "That must make it that much harder to deal with Pete being killed in such a way." He thought for a moment. "I think I really will go out to talk to her tomorrow."

"She told me the dancers would be at the club in the afternoon for a rehearsal," Steve said. "Maybe you can catch her there." He yawned suddenly. "I think I'll pack it in for the night – it's been a long day."

"Good idea," Mark replied with a smile. "Good night, son."

"See you in the morning," Steve said, and left his father sitting at his desk, staring thoughtfully at the file in front of him.

Chapter 7

The next day, Steve took Jesse out to Pete's apartment to look around some more. They spent some time going over the inside of the apartment to see if they could find anything that might seem significant. Bearing in mind his father's questions about where the murderer could have waited for Pete, Steve decided to do a thorough investigation of the areas around the parking lot as well. He and Jesse poked around in the bushes near where Pete's car had been parked, looking for signs that someone had hidden there. They found some broken branches, and what could have been an indentation from a shoe, but nothing that could be considered conclusive. They did determine, however, that a person hiding in the shrubbery would have had a clear line of sight to where Pete's car was parked, and would probably not have been visible himself in the darkness. They also found a lot of pricker bushes, prompting some vociferous complaints from Jesse.

While Steve and Jesse were checking out the murder scene, Mark went down to the Tulip Club to talk to Terri. When he arrived, she was involved in rehearsing a routine with a couple of other dancers. Finding himself on his own, after a patently disinterested staff member let him in and abandoned him, he indulged in his usual curious poking around. He wandered to the 'back stage' area where the dancers changed, taking in the scattered items of costuming, makeup, wig stands, and general paraphenalia that were typically found in such places. As he was looking around, one of the dancers came in. Hastily, he explained that he was just waiting for Terri to finish the rehearsal, but the girl didn't seem the least fazed by his presence. She sat on one of the chairs, slipped off her shoes, and started rubbing her left foot. Mark looked over at her.

"What's the matter?" he asked, his medical instincts aroused.

"I've got the most awful cramp in this damn foot," the girl complained.

"Let me take a look," Mark volunteered. He pulled a chair in front of her, sat down, and took her foot in his hands. "Does this hurt?" he asked, stretching the toes gently downwards. She shook her head, and he continued to carefully manipulate the foot, stretching out the muscles and tendons, chatting sociably as he did so, casually getting her to relax and talk to him about the people at the club. During the course of the conversation, he found out that the girl's name was Tina, that Steve's pursuit of the anonymous fan the previous night had been a source of major excitement in the club, and that everyone was speculating about whether or not the man he chased was the one who had killed Pete Pierello.

"We were all sorry about what happened to Pete," Tina said. "Although, I think Karen was probably sorrier than most," she added with a touch of malice. "Other than Terri, of course."

"Oh?" That piqued Mark's interest. "Why Karen in particular?"

"Everyone knew that she had a thing for Pete herself," Tina replied. "But he was strictly interested in Terri."

"That can cause hard feelings between friends," Mark prompted.

Tina gave him a conspiratorial look. "I have to say she seemed to be taking it okay. She and Terri have always been so buddy-buddy. Terri had her high school yearbook in here one time, and she and Karen looked like they were practically the Bobbsey twins or something in one of the pictures. But I think she was getting a bit jealous."

"Do you think she felt that Terri had taken Pete away from her?"

"Well…you couldn't say Terri had stolen him," Tina temporized; "he never actually asked anybody out before her. It's just that you could tell that Karen was interested in him." She suddenly gave a little pout and added with a touch of humor, "Terri does seem to be getting all the interesting guys lately. Now she's got that hunk of a police detective hanging around her – it just doesn't seem fair to the rest of us!"

Mark's lips twitched at that description of his son, but he managed to keep a straight face. He finished his ministrations to Tina's foot and suggested that, before dancing, she should stretch it out as he had showed her. He waved off her thanks as he heard the other dancers returning.

Terri entered the room and looked surprised to see Mark.

"Dr. Sloan!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd come by and check on that arm," Mark said with a smile. Terri looked slightly embarassed.

"It's fine," she said, holding it out for him to see. "I told Steve I was using the cream you prescribed."

"He told me," Mark assured her. "But I thought I'd just take a peek myself – if you don't mind?"

"I just feel bad you came all the way out here just to check on my arm," Terri replied, allowing him to inspect the fading rash. "You really didn't have to do that."

"It's coming along nicely," Mark said, letting go of the arm. "Keep using the cream until it's all gone. And try to stay away from that cat's claws!"

Terri smiled vaguely at that. Then, looking at him, she abruptly said "I hope Steve is alright after last night. I heard about that guy almost running him down in the parking lot."

"He's fine," Mark responded, smiling at her reassuringly. "Nothing worse than a couple of bruises."

"I hope they catch that guy soon," Terri said. "It looks like he must be the one who killed Pete. It gives me the creeps to think of him sitting there watching me all those nights."

"Well, it's a bit early to jump to conclusions," Mark warned. "But whatever it is that caused him to run, I'm sure they'll pick him up soon." He noticed that Terri's face looked strained. "If you're worried about him coming back, I know Steve's got someone watching the club. You'll be safe here."

"I've been trying to convince her to come and stay with me until they get this guy," said Karen, coming over to join the conversation. "But she won't listen to me." Terri introduced her friend to Mark.

"I just feel better being in my own home," Terri explained. "Besides, you know you've got plans of your own tonight."

"Nothing that can't be cancelled," Karen declared. Terri smiled faintly, but maintained that she'd be fine at her own place. Mark chatted with them a bit longer, then headed back to the hospital.