"As I mentioned earlier, we have every available resource on this case, three teams from Homicide alone, several teams from Vice and Robbery as well as Narc. Street Patrols are canvassing the area along Market, VanNess and Broadway around the clock, hoping to find a trace of our suspect."
John Condon's voice was quiet, albeit shaky, as they faced the piranhas from the local press. Mike squinted against the bright overhead camera lights that nearly blinded him, then sighing in defeat when he sorted through the collection of reporters. He knew all of them by name, most of them personally, and some, he wished they'd simply fall into a deep well and get buried for good.
As an old dog when it came to dealing with the press, Mike knew that all eyes were on him, desperate reporters hoped to catch a glimpse of some of the inner turmoil tearing him apart at the face of his partner's violent kidnapping. So far, Condon had taken over all the questions, keeping him safe behind his protective cover of unquestionable authority.
"Chief Condon, would it be fair to speculate that now, with Inspector Keller missing, the Bay City Strangler has upped his game a bit, possibly even taunting the police?"
Roger Williams glanced up at Mike when he asked the question, carefully tiptoeing around everybody's feelings and yet wanting to get a good story for his nightly news. Twenty years of respectful co-existence with law enforcement had forged a strong bond between most of the officers at headquarters and the seasoned reporter.
"It's hard to say at this point. We believe that it's a combination of both, Inspector Keller fitting into the victim criteria of our suspect, as well as perhaps even just…bad timing of our detective being at the wrong place at the wrong time. You have to understand that we are dealing with one, possibly two mentally ill suspects here. You cannot use rational thinking when trying to speculate on their next moves. At this point, our main priority lies in finding both, Mister Anderson as well as Inspector Keller, safe and unharmed, as soon as possible and put an end to this startling case."
A deep mumbling went through the group of reporters, notes were eagerly scribbled down, before somebody in the back cleared his throat. It was be the very person Mike had hoped would be missing that day.
"Chief Condon, Salvador Tidari with Channel Twelve News here…"
Sharing an ominous glance with his superior, Mike drew in a deep breath, forcing his features to remain neutral.
"Chief Condon, with four bodies so far, and now two men missing, do you believe that a lot of this…this bloodshed could have been prevented had the police rolled out the same amount of effort in finding this killer right away, rather than waiting until now, that one of their own has been kidnapped? Do you believe that better, earlier intervention could have prevented some of these murders from ever happening?"
Mike felt his blood pressure spike at Tidari's uncalled-for rudeness and sheer disregard to a very sensitive situation. With his hands behind his back, he clenched his fists, then stared at the floor, careful not to show the unbridled fury quickly rising within.
Next to him, Condon shook his head and chuckled and the ludicrous suggestion, before clearing his throat.
"Mister Tidari, I cannot help but find myself deeply surprised by your question, being that two weeks ago, you challenged a millage request submitted to the Mayor's office for additional staffing at our police headquarters in downtown, claiming that, quote on quote, there are too many blue uniforms roaming around town as it is and that taxpayers should consider their upcoming votes wisely to avoid a police state."
Not waiting for the uppity reporter to make another rude remark, Condon raised his hand to quiet down the mass of reporters.
"At any rate, to appease your interest, Mister Tidari, we had every available unit assigned to this case since the beginning, giving it the same, if not higher priority than other murder cases we are currently handling. That said, now that we have two, not just one missing person, it is our deep concern that this suspect might be spiraling out of control, his actions becoming more volatile, causing an increased risk to public safety. Captain Olsen of Homicide and myself have spent countless hours over the past night talking to the Captains and Lieutenants of the rest of the force, scraping together every available unit, pulling officers out of vacation, even retirement, to help tighten the net around this man and his accomplice. You have to understand that this is a large city with plenty of hiding spots for somebody with questionable intentions."
"I see.", Tidari said curtly, before making some notes, "In that case, Chief Condon, can you explain why there haven't been any alternative, non-traditional ways used by your department, for example an open plea for the killer to release his victims? It worked in the '69 kidnapping of SFU student Marlene Getwick. The Sausalito police was able to establish telephone contact with the kidnapper by using defensive approaches, even offer trading goods and money in exchange for the victim. Unlike your other victims, Marlene is still alive and well today."
Mike could hear Condon release a deep breath, clearly having an increasingly hard time containing his temper.
"Listen, Tidari…", John began, before hesitating to calm down, "It's obvious that you have not grasped the severity of this situation quite yet. It has been confirmed that our suspect is mentally unstable. He has proven several times now that he is also violent, and homicidal. San Francisco Police will not negotiate with people like him. We are not interested in trading a fruit basket for our victim's lives, we're interested in saving our victims lives and apprehending the person or persons responsible for the previous four deaths. The case you referred to was an exception to the rule, a very rare one. It worked once, but many other times it did not. And those other times the victims ended up dead. It is not our protocol to negotiate with kidnappers as it will only encourage a re-occurrence. Now, if you wish to publicly offer candy apples or a nice bouquet of flowers in exchange for my victims, I can't stop you. But unless you have any valuable questions pertinent to this current case left in your arsenal, I am calling this press conference to an end. We have a lot of work to do."
"I just have one question left, Chief."
The pitch in Tidari's voice was raised, as if the reporter gleefully awaited their reaction to his next curveball.
"How many more people are going to have to die, before you will admit that you lost control of this case?"