Back at his desk, Steve had gone through his rolodex, hoping to dig up a few resources he felt might help them learn more about Roy Sullenger's life, especially the parts somebody as famous as the talk show host wouldn't want the public to know.
And thanks to his time in Vice, short as it may have been, he had a vast assortment of contacts who specialized in the darkest of human desires.
Throughout his search, his eyes fell back onto Andrea's business card, the mere thought of her making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He hadn't told Mike about her knowledge of the old scar on his arm, afraid that the Lieutenant would think he'd lost his neutral point of view when it came to the clues they'd received about the murder, no matter how outlandish they were.
The other reason was that he still had trouble believing it himself.
Mike was right that many of the things she'd said could be linked to guesswork, somebody very used to being manipulative and telling people what they wanted to hear.
And it was just as possible that she'd been there this morning, watching him arrive at the crime scene, getting a good description of his car from a comfortable distance.
Then again, it was also possible that she might be the owner of the leather coat he'd found, a thought that caused another shiver to run down his spine.
Deciding to keep that concerning hunch in the back of his mind for the time being, Steve was about to dig for Scooter Briggs' number, a small-time hustler from the Candlestick area, when his phone rang.
Out of habit, he glanced over at Mike, sending out an unspoken message of potential information trickling in, only to see the Lieutenant deeply engrossed in Sullenger's R&I file.
"This is Inspector Keller?"
Immediately recognizing the voice on the other end as belonging to Charlie, the head technician of the crime lab, Steve leaned forward, elbows resting on his desk, chewing his lip in anxious suspense.
"Oh really? You gotta be kidding me...yeah well, we did but we didn't…don't make me explain it, I couldn't do it justice. No, that would be great. Absolutely, I'll let him know. As soon as you find out more, please let us know right away. Perfect, thank you very much!"
Hanging up the phone and feeling his heart pounding in his chest, Steve got up from his desk and ran a hand through his wavy hair, before heading over to his partner's office, knowing that Mike was keenly aware of his presence.
"Lab get back with us?", the Lieutenant asked innocently and glanced up from the file, his reading glasses sitting askew on his nose as he peeked at him over the black frames.
"You better believe it.", Steve countered and rolled up his shirt sleeves as he came closer, "Nothing on the jacket unfortunately. He thinks it was fairly new but got ran over by traffic a few times, causing tears to the material. As far as Charlie is concerned, it was never worn."
With his eyebrows raised slightly, Mike acknowledged the remark, before a faint smile spread on his lips.
"But that's not what has you all on pins and needles, now is it, Buddyboy?"
"Nope, that wasn't the only thing he called about.", Steve said with a broad grin, "They also checked the soles of Sullenger's shoes and found trace amounts of animal feces on them. They're from poultry and small ruminants."