ACTII
The stout man in his mid-sixties had eyed Mike suspiciously the moment he came off the arrival gate of his direct flight from Boston to San Francisco International. His bald head was hidden beneath an unmarked blue baseball cap, a color-matching windbreaker, polo shirt and corduroy jeans making up the rest of his casual attire.
Mike had gone through his formal greeting, welcoming the man to the City by the Bay and thanking him for the gracious offer to come out to help solve their case. And yet, their drive back north toward downtown was spent mostly in silence except for an assortment of remarks that typically started with "Oh. I am surprised they are still doing that here…"
It was quite obvious that Arthur Forester was used to a more sophisticated network of law enforcement professionals and equipment alike, his comments circling back to his homebase and their state of the art technology on several occasions.
By the time they'd pulled into the parking garage of the Hall of Justice Building, Mike was dreading the introductions to his men and the resources at their disposal, already imagining the frowns and disapproving grunts that would come from the seasoned Captain.
And he didn't disappoint.
"Seems to me this city could spend a little less on the marble floors and a little more on newer elevators, Lieutenant."
The smile he'd been forcing since leaving the airport was makings his jaws cramp by now, as Mike pushed the up-button, before courteously letting the other man enter first.
"Well, so far, the elevator hasn't let us down yet. I always say, why fix something that isn't broken."
As he watched the numbers tracking their ascend, Mike was surprised when Forester turned toward him, grabbing his shoulder with unexpected intensity.
"That's called complacency, Lieutenant, and you ought to be very afraid of it. That kind of thinking will cripple any investigation and slow down progress. You must always keep your mind open to new technologies, inventions, processes. We're never done learning, no matter how old we are. Especially a man in your role of having an entire staff of Inspectors under your belt."
Deciding to ignore the passionate plea for the time being, Mike nodded soothingly, thankful when the elevator doors opened to the 4th floor.
"I have all the information on our case prepared for you and my partner is out and about right now, tracking down possible surveillance footage of the shooter. In the meantime, I want to head to the China Basin, a few of my stoolies might be able to point us into the direction of somebody capable of this hate crime."
Much to his surprise, the seemingly harmless comment caused a volatile reaction when Forester gasped, even surprising the two unformed patrol officers crossing their path down the long hallway.
"You have a partner too, Lieutenant Stone? How are you supposed to do your job properly with that kind of distraction? You should be sitting at your desk all day and night managing your staff, not running around town chasing after clues."