It didn't take a genius to figure out that Mike was still brooding about the discussion with Tenpenny long after they crossed town and returned to the Hall of Justice, stopping at a sandwich shop along the way for a much overdue lunchbreak.

The bullpen had returned to its usual busy pace with Haley and Hassejian out on a call and Tanner working on a report while Sekulovich manned the loudly printing Telex machine. Several of the Junior Inspectors were digging through file cabinets along the back wall, hunting for the truth in the many documented cases of crime in San Francisco.

Steve could tell that the controlled chaos helped settle his partner's nerves after the scene at the Mission Dolores Basilica that left them with more questions than answers.

Even the few bits and pieces of information they'd received from the gang kids was vague at best, not helping them narrow down their victim. But at least it gave them more street corners to check out and people to question.

So much for a day of birddogging turning into a weeks' worth thereof.

They arrived at their respective desks and Steve kept his eye on Mike, seeing if assistance was needed to help him out of his overcoat. Thankfully the blisters had begun to heal well enough to give the Lieutenant most of his much-needed independence back when it came to dressing and undressing out of his clothes.

Small steps in the right direction were still considered progress, as far as he was concerned.

Briefly glancing over his inbox full of documents, requests and court notices, it was a handwritten note shoved between two files near the top that caught his attention.

Raising his eyebrows, Steve reached for the note, barely finishing the first few words when he heard Mike scoff from his office.

"You have got to be kidding me.", the Lieutenant growled, never bothering to look over at him as he spun around and stomped back out of the bullpen.

Sensing that the outburst had to do with the note, Steve sighed woefully when he finished reading that Olsen had conducted a press conference this morning, claiming that Osorro was dead and the case officially closed.

# # #

"Rudy, you just made a big mistake."

Having expected the angry outburst, the Captain of Homicide slowly rose from behind his desk and raised his hands defensively.

"It was non-negotiable. Orders came all the way from the top on this one, Michael."

With his breaths coming in short gasps, Mike paced the confines of his superior's office several times, hands balled into tight fists as he shook his head defiantly.

"We have no way of knowing for sure that Osorro is dead. This is a mistake."

"I understand how you feel.", Rudy began again soothingly and walked around his desk to stop Mike's pacing, one hand in the pocket of his grey suitcoat, "But Conden wanted to release it to the press that way. They've been bugging us for days. We can't wait and sit around here for weeks on end without letting the press know what's going on. People have been calling non-stop worrying about this guy."

"They're going to worry a lot more if he's still alive and sets the next building on fire. What the hell was Conden thinking?"

Regretting the harsh words the moment he said them, Mike pursed his lips and shook his head.

"I am sorry Rudy, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's alright. I am not too fond of this decision either. But it is what it is. By the sounds of it, you guys haven't seen or heard from the guy since the fire, right?"

"For now.", Mike corrected anxiously and played with the middle button of his light blue vest, "He could have gotten hurt and went into hiding. Or he might wait things out for a bit, waiting for us to lower our guard enough and become careless before he strikes again. Without definite proof that the body we found belongs to Osorro, it would be foolish to treat this as a closed case. Twelve people are dead already. This guy doesn't play around."

"Maybe so, but there have been no further arson cases since the warehouse fire. No media contact, nothing. At this point I will consider Osorro dead until proven otherwise."

Swallowing hard, Mike shook his head, his stern blue eyes never leaving his superior.

"You see, it's the otherwise I worry about, Rudy."