"Buddy boy, we need to talk," Mike said with a forced calmness. His blue eyes looked sharply at his partner.

Steve knew he was in trouble with his boss and simply nodded his head. "Sarah, I have to go, but I'll be back." He squeezed Sarah's hand and looked over to the couple sitting across from him.

"We'll take care of her," the woman replied.

Steve followed Mike and Ed through the apartment and down to the lobby where they found a quiet corner to speak. Sitting, facing the two officers, he nervously pulled the yamaka from his head and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Steve," Ed started, "I owe you an apology. I had assumed some other reason for you leaving the hospital like you did. Tell us about her." Mike was relieved to hear the Chief's right hand man go easy on his partner.

Steve hid a smirk as he pondered what 'some other reason' could be. He was well aware of his reputation with the ladies and regretted that had somehow become part of his professional profile. He decided to play it cool. "Well, I guess you know she's Dr. Goldman's daughter. Sarah's a special girl."

Ed continued, "Did you think Sarah was in danger?"

"No, that's not why I came here. I wanted to be here for her. I knew she'd take the news of her mom's murder hard. Ruth was all she had."

"But you were in danger. They could have followed you here." The tall, slim police sergeant became more stern in his delivery.

"As soon as Ruth's body was released by the coroner, the funeral and burial process began. I couldn't let her face that alone." Steve knew that he had breached his own good judgment, but he still defended his actions.

Ed nodded his head, but Mike was still angry at his partner's recklessness. "I don't know what the hell you were thinking, Steve. You are a target and apparently you knew that and yet, you left the hospital where at least we could keep an eye on you."

Ed let Mike vent at this partner, but then wanted to redirect the conversation back to the case. "Mike's right. You know who's behind this, don't you? With Dr. Goldman's death, you've connected the dots."

Steve nodded his head. "It has to do with the trip we took in the early summer of 1964. Dr. Goldman and several of her students took a bus down to Mississippi to help with voter registration."

Ed interrupted, "And you were one of her students?"

"No, actually I wasn't. But Joe was."

"So you were a friend of Joe's" Mike figured.

"No, I only met him on that trip. We sat together. You see, it was funny. When we all first got on the bus, the whites sat with the whites and the black sat with the blacks. Dr. Goldman didn't put up with that, so she made sure we mixed it up a little bit. So, Joe and I ended up sitting together and really got to know one another."

Mike was interested and wondered what a nineteen year old was doing on such a trip if he were not a student of the sponsoring professor or already a friend of Joplin's. But he was also impatient. "So you arrive in Mississippi. Then what?"

"Well, then Joe gets himself arrested after slugging me. You know that part of the story."

"Yes, I do." Mike flashed back to the photo he saw of a teenaged Steve with a black eye and swollen jaw.

Steve continued. "So that was the tip of the iceberg. Dr. Goldman had planted a wire on Joe and that's how they found out that one of the cops was intimating the prisoners, forcing confessions and the like. It wasn't like the whole department was in on it. It was one man who was intimidating not only the prisoners, but he was also a hired henchman of some business owners who wanted to scare people away from the registration sites."

"What happened to him?"

"The wire was the reason that he got caught. You see, Dr. Goldman turned the wire over to the FBI and not the local authorities."

"How did she get an audience with the FBI?" Ed asked.

"She had connections."

"Like who?" Ed pressed.

"At one time, she worked for a Superior Court judge. He had recognized her passion for the law and for equality. In fact, they worked together on writing briefs and opinions on civil rights cases that came up through the State of California. She got her law degree and when a spot at Berkeley became available, she was a shoo-in. One of the first female professors in her area. Through the years, she had quite a network."

"Wonderful, so the Fed gets the wire and makes an arrest." Mike studied his partner as he continued filling in the picture of the freedom trip.

"Yes, the guy was sentenced to 15 years on several charges, including voter intimidation, assault, and conspiracy"

"Do you remember his name?"

"I won't ever forget it. Harper Dean."

"And when were you going to tell me this?" Mike demanded in an authoritative manner.

"I was working on a speech…" Steve responded rather defiantly.

"Buddy boy, you have no idea…"

Steve backed off quickly. "I called Lee on my way out of the hospital. He's checking out whether he was paroled or not."

"So, Lessing is already working the lead," Ed reasoned as he tried to diffuse the time bomb ticking between the two partners.

"Sure, I wouldn't keep that to myself. I called and told him. He's the one assigned to the case, right?"

"Right," Mike said feebly. "But you should have called me anyway."

"Yes, sir," Steve responded genuinely. "But I had to come over here. I didn't want Ruth's daughter to be alone."

"You were friends with the doctor and her daughter?" Ed asked.

"The Superior Court judge she worked for was my grandfather when he was in Sacramento. She was a paralegal back then. She's known me since I was a little kid. Sarah is a little bit older than me, but really, she and I grew up together."

"So, at least you weren't coming over here because, well, you're pants were on fire." Mike regretted the question the minute he asked it.

"Oh, good lord, Mike, no. You must think all I think of when it comes to women is that."

"If the shoe fits…" Mike's voice raised slightly and Steve rolled his eyes.

"You're mad because I left. I'm sorry about that. I just needed to get here. She doesn't have anyone else."

"Looked like she has a whole apartment full," the senior detective countered.

"Those are some people from the synagogue and some of Ruth's coworkers. But as far as a good friend, especially a good childhood friend who's local, there's just me."

"What's wrong with her?" Ed asked rather bluntly.

"She has had a tough life. She was born with a muscular disorder. She also had some developmental delays that came from other problems."

"Where's her dad?" Ed asked, this time in a gentler tone.

"He was killed in the war, at Pearl Harbor. Ruth was stateside and pregnant with Sarah. Can you imagine losing your husband and then giving birth to a child who had birth defects? The polio came later. They think she got that from being in and out of the hospital so much."

Mike sat stoically. Selfishly, things did not sound as bad as it could have been. Steve had reason to do what he did. It's not that he thought his partner did the right thing, but at least he could understand it.

The next thing would be to call Lessing to see if he found out anything about Harper Dean. His whereabouts was now key to the entire case.