As the pair drove back to Bryant, Mike ran through his mental checklist aloud.
"I may send Tanner out to Stockton to see if he can find the gas station and see if anyone remembers anything about Goldman's stop there. At least we have a date stamp and perhaps they can help us figure out a time. At best, perhaps someone remembers Goldman and if he was in a panicked state of mind."
"I'll get Bill a copy of the photo that was used for the missing persons," Steve added.
"And let's touch base with Pete. It's been a few days. I'd like to see if he's seen or heard anything. We'll let him know we found the car."
Steve nodded. "And we can tell him about the keys," the younger detective added. "You know, there's something about the set of keys that puzzles me a little."
"What's that, Buddy boy?" Mike asked as they drove in to the Bryant Street garage.
"Given the job Mr. Goldman had as superintendent, wouldn't you expect a master set that encompassed all the schools?" Steve asked.
"Could be - or perhaps he kept them separately so they wouldn't be so confusing when he needed to show up some where," Mike added. "It'd be a good question to ask Mrs. Goldman. Did he keep a separate set for each school or did he keep a master set?"
The pair walked through the halls to the homicide office in silence. Steve kept his head down, ostensibly in deep thought over their latest findings. As an attractive redhead, eyes lowered reading a file, was headed straight to the young detective, Mike rolled his eyes and grabbed Steve's arm pulling him to the side to avoid a collision. "Excuse us."
"Sorry," Steve said quietly, before taking a double take from behind and checking the form that nearly ran into him.
"Who's she?" Steve asked.
"Never you mind," Mike said with a smirk.
As they entered the bullpen, Tanner got up to greet the pair. "Mike, I just got off the phone with Pete Miller from Amador County PD..."
"What'd he say?" Mike asked.
"Well, he was in a state of shock. He said it was the first in a decade there, but apparently there's been a murder. A staff reporter with the Tyler Times was found dead."
"What?!" Steve asked.
"Yeah, and check this out. The reporter is the same one who wrote an article on your vic's missing persons case. He said they found follow-up notes about the murder on her desk," Bill added.
"Her?" Steve asked.
"Female reporter. A young woman by the name of Jenna Garson."
"Know her?" Mike asked with some trepidation.
Steve shook his head. "No. No, I don't."
"All right. Let's give Pete a call and see what else is going on."
