"Why do I feel like we just paid for Vice to work overtime tonight?"
Steve's half-hearted question was met with a faint smile as they sat back down in the Galaxie, a few interesting tidbits of information richer, and forty bucks poorer, all at the same time.
"Let Vice do what they need to do. We have bigger fish to fry.", the Lieutenant muttered dismissively, then gestured toward the Mission Dolores Basilica.
"Head back over there. Let's ask Father Tenpenny about this…this Reverend Joe. Maybe he'll be more open with me than he was with you and Tanner."
Pulling the large sedan away from the curb, Steve shook his head.
"If my charming smile didn't do the job, what makes you think you can get him to talk?"
"A shared past.", Mike countered without skipping a beat and rested their paperwork on the dash of the Galaxie, "I crossed his path a few times over the years, mostly when I was working the Tenderloin. He's a good man. He's made a big difference in the lives of many people around here. I think that maybe…with the right words…we can get him to open up about what's really going on."
"What if he clams up again?"
With a decisive headshake, Mike turned his attention back to the dense lunch hour traffic ahead, his eyes travelling back and forth between the street and the packed sidewalks.
"Not with me, Buddy Boy. He wouldn't try that."
# # #
"I already told you I don't know what you are talking about. How much longer will I have to endure this…harassment before you finally believe me?!"
Father Tenpenny's face had taken on an unhealthy shade of red, the crimson lines along his neck disappearing beneath his clerical collar as he huffed a few more complaints before heading down the aisle toward the altar.
Unable to hide a gleeful smirk, Steve followed Mike, as the two San Francisco Homicide Detectives tried to keep up with the distressed man, hoping to diffuse the situation as best as possible to see if any tangible piece of information could yet be gathered.
"We are simply trying to figure out who this Reverend Joe was and who would have had a motive to kill him, Father.", Mike tried again and slowed down when Tenpenny came to a stop and turned back around to face them, "By the sounds of it, he was a charitable character around this neighborhood, helped a bunch of the kids and the homeless population. He even did a charity car wash to help a few seniors pay their rent. You had to have heard about him."
With a frustrated sigh, the lanky man looked back and forth between both detectives and shook his head once again.
"Lieutenant Stone, how many years have you known me now?"
"For almost twenty-five years.", Mike answered with his best Altar Boy smile, while keeping his suspicion about the situation carefully guarded.
"Then you should know that I don't lie. I never have and I never will. I do not know the man you are talking about, nor do I have any clue as to why somebody placed his body on top of Don Francisco De Haro's grave, I swear. You two gentlemen must believe me."
Unable to hide his disappointment, Mike cocked his head in acknowledgement, his right hand instinctively reaching for the leather case that held his badge and business cards but stopping midway when he realized the Catholic Priest knew his number by heart.
"Very well, Father Tenpenny. If you do happen to hear anything on the streets about this man, we'd greatly appreciate it if you could let us know."
"I will…as I always have.", the other man replied curtly and nervously straightened out his cassock, before gesturing toward the massive oak doors of the Basilica, "Now, if you gentlemen don't mind, I have to prepare for tomorrow's Mass. The topic will be unconditional trust. I suggest you join us if you find the time."
