A/N: Thanks to all the lovely folks still reading and reviewing, I really appreciate your support.
"So you really think he knows something?" Steve asked between bites of his sandwich.
"I'd bet on it," Mike replied while he continued on the bowl of chili in front of him.
"Do you want me to call him? You have to admit, I have a better chance of getting something out of Randolph than you do after your last little confrontation."
Mike thought back to his encounter with Randolph at the Palace of Fine Arts "I guess it couldn't hurt. Maybe dangle a promise of a few details we haven't released yet in exchange for information." Mike smiled slyly. "But don't tell him anything important. It just might work."
"That's really underhanded, even for you, Lieutenant. I love it." Steve grinned and swatted Mike on the arm."Serves him right for all the trouble he stirred up."
Mike's prediction about the outcome of his meeting with the mayor had been spot on. Despite his strenuous objections and incomplete lab results, the mayor, with Rudy and the Commissioner's blessings, had declared the late Todd Walters the Da Vinci Killer. The news was released to the press, amid much back slapping and hoopla. Reporters had swamped Steve and Mike's phones all Monday afternoon. Even though two days had passed, the attention had intensified to the point where Mike had quit answering the phone. Curiously absent amongst the callers was Joe Randolph.
Neither detective was happy with the quick denouement of the case, but without evidence or leads to contradict the find at the studio, there wasn't much they could do about it officially. Fortunately, they hadn't caught another case as yet and were still poking around on the down low, awaiting the final report from Charlie in the Crime Lab.
"If I can't hook up with Randolph this afternoon, it's going to have to wait until later tomorrow. I promised Lizzy I'd go with her to Pam's funeral. With the case officially wrapped, her body had been released to her parents.
"That's good, buddy boy. She's been a real trooper through all of this. Is she still staying with her friend or has she moved back into her apartment?"
Steve was a little confused. He seemed to recall telling Mike what happened Sunday night, but on second though realized he had been so tired, he didn't have a clue what they had talked about. "No, I took her to the apartment Sunday night. When I told her about Walters, she decided she wanted to go home. Can't say as I blame her. Funny thing, the friend was kind of hacked off about the change of plans. Weird."
00000
When they got back to the office, Mike had a message from Charlie. The final report was ready. Steve put in a call to The Chronicle before they went down to the lab.
As opposed to when they had come down a few days previous, Charlie seemed less than thrilled with the report he had in his hand.
"Do you want the good news or bad news?"
"Lay it on us, Charlie, what do you have?" Steve was hopeful his lack of enthusiasm didn't present a problem in the prematurely shelved case.
"Well, the good news is that Walters' prints are on the wallets and pocketbook. We have blood trace on the floor of the darkroom, despite the copious amount of bleach used in the attempted cleanup. We also found blood on the drop cloths. Two male, two female, consistent with the blood types for all four victims. Ballistics proved the .22 you found was the murder weapon of the first three victims." Charlie paused.
"But?" Mike knew there was a but. The feeling in his stomach was the same as being at the top of a roller coaster, the nanosecond before it descends.
"But, we found another set of prints in blood on the drop cloth. Didn't belong to any of the victims, but they matched one of the sets we found in the school van. Honestly the prints were what took so long. We found so many on the van, it took us a while to process them all."
"What about the gun? Any prints on it?" Mike interrupted before Charlie could continue.
"We might have a partial on the gun, but it's inconclusive, almost like the gun had been wiped."
"Walters' prints weren't on the gun?" Mike was verifying his trepidation.
"Not that we could find, like I said, it looked like it had been wiped."
Steve looked at Mike. "An accomplice?"
"Or a frame. This is exactly what I was afraid of when I went to city hall. Now the question is who."
"And why." Steve added. Walters' motive was money. Did their new unknown suspect have a different agenda, or was it still all about the cash. His meeting with Randolph suddenly seemed a whole lot more important.
Mike and Steve walked back up to the bull pen. "I guess I'm going to have to break the news to Rudy. What do you have on tap this afternoon?"
"I'm hoping to get a call back from Randolph. When we meet, what should I offer up to him?"
00000
Lizzy sat at the counter of the deli, playing with a sandwich that she was supposed to be eating. She could hear Nonna banging around in the back room and was glad the older woman had found something to do. She really didn't want to talk to anyone right now. This wasn't her usual routine for lunch on a school day, but she needed to get away from the institute and all the questions and condolences for at least a half hour. Tomorrow was a day off from school for her, the Institute had yet to replace Todd Walters. The day wasn't going to be easy, she knew Pam's funeral would be an ordeal. The only comfort was Steve had said he would accompany her.
The chimes on the door sounded. Nonna came from the back room and babbled in ear-splitting rapid-fire Italian at the sight of Father Lombardi and Vince entering the shop. Nonna wrapped her arms around her son and thanked Father Tony profusely, insisting they both sit down for lunch. Leave it to an older Italian woman; the only possible response to life, whether the situation was good, bad or somewhere in between was to feed people.
As Nonna made lunch, Father Tony tried to explain about bail and the upcoming hearing. Lizzy excused herself. She really didn't want to hang around when Vince was in the room, particularly after the drama with Steve and Vince's subsequent arrest. His time in lock-up didn't seem to have adjusted his behavior at all. He sneered, then mouthed a rude comment in her direction as she walked out the door. His mother and the priest were too busy to notice.
It was a cold, grey day in San Francisco and it perfectly matched her mood. She had spent a long time on the phone the past few evenings. Pam's parents had gotten back in town on Monday and for reasons that escaped her, they needed her. They had always been pretty hands off with Pam. Lizzy had only met them a few times and the relationship she observed was strained and distant at best. Now that Pam was gone however, Lizzy was the one piece of Pam's life they could still hold onto.
She walked up the hill towards the Institute and was not surprised to see Jeff waiting at the corner. He had been almost smothering in his attention to Lizzy since she went back to school on Monday. He was a great guy and all, but she had spent the morning trying to ditch him. He had really given her a hard time about not staying with him and now was being a pain in the ass about the funeral.
"Where were you, I thought we were going to grab some lunch?"
"I needed to check on Nonna. Since Vince was arrested, well, she's needed a little more TLC." It was more of an exaggeration than a lie. She just needed to breathe.
"I get that. Have you decided what you're doing about the funeral?"
"Yeah, Steve's gonna pick me up about 8:30 and we'll head to Church and then the cemetery." Lizzy's thoughts wandered. Pam'd be having a cow about the church funeral. A sad smile crossed her face.
Jeff cleared his throat to get her attention. "Earth to Lizzy, I'd be happy to take you. My brother left his car for me."
"No, it's really ok."
"I tell you what, how about we go out and get something to eat after and then I'll bring you home. I know it's going to be rough for you."
"Thanks, but if it's all the same to you, I think I want to be alone. I really need to get my head together and figure out some things. I'm sorry. I would probably be terrible company anyhow."
"You could never be bad company for me." He brushed a dark curl from her face, tucked it behind her ear and looked into her eyes. "I hope you know that by now."
Lizzy shivered. She wasn't so sure it was from the chill in the air.
00000
Steve walked into the dimly lit bar. It wasn't his idea to meet Joe Randolph in an out of the way cocktail lounge, but sometimes it was better to meet up on the opposition's home turf. He coughed from the oppressive cigarette smoke and sat down at the bar, ordering a ginger ale even though it was way past 6 pm. He finished the first soda and ordered a second.
He was just about to give up after an hour of waiting and small talk with the barmaid when the reporter strolled through the door. Randolph motioned to the woman behind the bar and walked over to a booth on the other side of the room. Steve picked up his glass and followed him, dropping onto the bench on the opposite side of the table. The barmaid slid a double scotch on the rock onto the table, smiled at Steve and returned to the bar without a word.
"It's not over, is it?" Randolph said flatly after drinking deeply from his glass.
"And how would you know that?"
"You called me, how about you go first."
Steve sat silently and teased the ice in his glass with a swizzle stick. He was prepared to wait.
Randolph finished his drink and nodded to the bartender for another round. The silence was making Steve a little antsy, but he tried to keep his features neutral. He finally spoke.
"How is it that you were on the Da Vinci scenes so quickly, Mr. Randolph? That is, until the last one on Nob Hill."
"Why should I tell you? What's in it for me?"
Steve and Mike had worked out a game plan after he'd received the call about the meet and knew exactly how much he could reveal. The trick was to get as much as possible in return. He really wished his partner had been the one to deal with Randolph. He was so much better at this. But after their contentious interaction a week ago, the game was in Steve's hands. It was time to bait the hook.
"We know where and how Pam Woodward died," Steve paused dramatically, "and why."
Randolph took out his notebook and waited. And so did Steve. The barmaid brought over another drink for the reporter.
"You know, eventually I will get all this information from my regular sources."
"But will it still be front page worthy when you get it?"
"Touché, Inspector Keller."
"So, Joe, who tipped you off?" Steve could feel a trickle of sweat running down his back as he waited for a reply. He shouldn't have been this nervous, but his instincts told him that what he did in the next few minutes could make all the difference in unraveling this mystery.