Mike had already visited Sarah Young, who must have promptly called her mother to pass on the news of Glenn Malcolm's passing.
Steve established that fact when Melinda Malcolm's bitter greeting was reduced to a snarky "So you found him floating in the bay after all?!"
With a neutral nod, he retrieved his badge, muttering a disheartened "I am Inspector Stephen Keller. I work for-"
"You're a cop? You gotta be kidding me. You're what, eighteen?"
Taken aback by the dismissive tone, he forced himself to remain stoic and held up his badge for another moment, hoping the older lady would acknowledge his credentials. When she just scoffed and walked away, the last of his hope diminished.
Steve sighed before following her to the backyard of the old bi-level house. Dressed in a dark blue skirt and grey blouse, the woman seemed to be the perfect image of a nice grandmother- if it wasn't for that cantankerous attitude.
"Mrs. Malcolm, when was the last time you saw your son Glenn?", he tried cordially, only to earn an angry snort.
A few feet ahead, the older woman sat down in the middle of a small wooden bench that overlooked the garden beds, ensuring there would be no room for him. Keeping his expression neutral, he stopped in front of her instead and reached for his notepad, scrolling through the pages nervously.
"When was the last time I saw him? About two weeks ago.", she huffed with an anger-stricken voice. Eyeing him suspiciously over the purple frames of her thick glasses, she shook her head in undisguised disapproval as she lit a cigarette, "You want one, baby cop? You old enough to smoke?"
Trying to shrug off his growing unease with the difficult woman, Steve feigned a smile.
"No, thank you."
"Suit yourself.", she growled and took a few long puffs before answering.
Contrary to her daughter, Melinda Malcolm was living in the poor Potrero neighborhood. Even though the lawn was mowed and the house looked to be in decent shape, the overall appearance of her clothes, the yard and her rusty sedan spoke of financial hardship.
"Glenn wanted to clear things up, you know. Seemed that his new lifestyle was weighing on his mind. He figured that if I forgave him, it'd make him feel better. Selfish idiot. I told him that he needs to stop that craziness. That I didn't raise a psycho."
"You said his new lifestyle. Could you be a bit more specific?"
The lady stopped in her tracks and eyed the lean Inspector like a nuisance pest. Then, taking a short puff on her cigarette, a brief smile crossed her lips.
"You're not one of those slow kids, are you?"
Ignoring the insult, Steve finally found an empty page in his notepad and pulled the pen out of the plastic rings.
"Misses Malcolm…what kind of lifestyle change are you talking about?"
Looking up when he felt helplessly surrounded, Steve scanned the area. The neighborhood was comprised of small houses and two-story apartment buildings, attracting mostly seniors. As his gaze drifted across the perimeter, he noticed at least three older ladies in nearby residences looking out of their windows, watching the exchange with great interest.
Cursing Mike for the third time, he sighed.
"Well, I am surprised you didn't find him with his new best bud. Would have been good riddance for both of them. Damn fool turned into a faggot."
The unapologetic hatred in her voice disturbed Steve to the core. Never before had he heard a mother claim that she was relieved her own son was dead. It seemed that the deeper they dug into this case, the easier it was to understand why Glenn chose to disappear.
Scribbling down some notes, Steve bit the inside of his cheek, trying to keep his hand from shaking.
"So you are saying…that Glenn was gay?"
"You are a slow one, aren't you?" she fired back and threw her hands up in the air, "Of course I am saying he was gay. Found that bastard locking lips with his buddy in my own kitchen! Can you believe that? That's not what I raised him like. I don't know what they're teaching at the colleges these days, but this is intolerable."
"Do you know the name of his friend?"
"Ludwig or something. Hell, I don't know. The moment I came upon that…that scene, I threw them both out of the house. Disgusting!"
Steve didn't dare to nod, afraid that the woman might misinterpret it as a form of approval to her horrible stance on life.
"And you didn't see or hear from Glenn after that incident?"
"No, and I was pretty happy about that too. Andrew would have turned around in his grave. I even called Sarah to let her know what is going on, and to cut all ties with him. I don't need that kind of…behavior…to tarnish my family. He is sick. Do you see why I wasn't interested in finding out what the hell happened to this loser?"
Sensing that there wasn't a whole lot more to gather from the furious woman, Steve put his notepad away again.
"Thank you…for your time, Misses Malcolm. I will be in touch if we need any further information.", he replied in forced professionalism, not the least bit interested in leaving behind his business card as he turned around to head back to the Galaxy.
He hadn't been this relieved to return to the safety of a police car in a long time. No wonder somebody had left that note in Glenn's Missing Person's file.
"Hey! Baby Cop!", the older woman yelled from her bench as he was about to reach the sidewalk.
Despite his better judgment, he turned around once more to face her, the fingernails on his left hand leaving marks on his palm as he formed a tight fist.
"Yes, Misses Malcolm?"
"You might be slow, but at least you got a nice tight butt!"