Balboa Cafe
Previously: The Investigators chat with MJ Wong and Charlie Dagonet.
1:20 PM - Sunday, November 2, 2014
Balboa Cafe, Fillmore and Greenwich Streets, San Francisco
The team folded up everything at Holy Heart double-quick, with everyone wanting to get on with their weekends. Raj left saying he’d start flagging anything that stood out to him among the texts and photos. Owen left to meet up with friends to watch the football game, while Steph suggested the rest of them try the Balboa for lunch since she knew the Sunday bouncer. Paco knew enough about the Balboa Cafe to know that knowing the bouncer was probably a good thing. He and his team often came by for burgers to celebrate birthdays, or just for fish & chips on Fridays.
A San Francisco classic, the Balboa — which the locals sometimes called “The Balbs”— featured its original long bar from the early 1900s, white-jacketed bartenders whose skill was legendary, and one of the best hamburgers in the city. The crowd came for the burgers, but insiders knew it was one of the last places in the city where there was still an eclectic mix of people. Affluent tech lords, trophy wives, shaggy surfers smelling of weed, collegiate girls with too-tight tops and too many extensions, soigné society doyennes, white-haired old-timers migrating over from the yacht clubs nearby — all of these and more sat shoulder to shoulder at its long bar for decades. Depending on the day and the hour it could be friendly and fun or a totally raucous Marina scene, sometimes both together. On a Sunday with a football game, it offered a lively brunch with patrons seeking the famous Bloody Marys and Espresso Martinis to stave off the previous night’s hangover.
Steph chatted up the bouncer who spoke to the host, and they were seated at a table in the back room, far from the football-watching crowd at the bar.
“I may have gone on a date with him at some point,” Steph confessed in a whisper as they all sat down. Jeannie gave her a sly smile.
“So Mark,” Jeannie started, “in case you’ve never been here, they’re famous for their burgers but everything else is pretty good too.”
“Burger it is then.” Mark said, glancing over the menu. “I think I heard about this place on a Top 10 list at some point - I think it was right up there.” Paco saw Jeannie nod as she sipped her water.
“For me it’s number three, behind Spruce and Zuni. The Zuni burger is elite.” Paco chuckled at Mark as he made a point to write that down in his running list of food notes on his phone. No one seemed to want to discuss the morning, or perhaps felt they could with Steph there; she still only knew the most top-level information. Once food arrived everyone was too busy gobbling to consider any part of what went on. Paco felt like he couldn’t eat fast enough to fill himself.
“Oh man,” Jeannie sighed, pushing her plate. “Now that I’ve eaten I’ll probably fall asleep and I have to get home and make dinner.”
“Family dinner tonight?” Steph asked.
“Yup, first Sunday of the month.” She looked to Paco. “We usually do a family dinner on the first Sunday - either I cook or we order take-out, but I did a porchetta on Friday night so it’s just waiting to go in the oven. Feels like that was days ago now.”
“What did you put in the porchetta?” Mark asked, the noise of the football game almost drowning him out as he chewed. Jeannie shrugged.
“Garlic, fennel, rosemary, sage…some lemon zest - the usual.”
“Side dish?” Mark asked again.
“I’m doing mushroom risotto, which is really what I need to prep, but I have it down so it’s pretty easy at this point. And I’ll do some roast broccoli with chili flakes. I think my sister-in-law is bringing salad and some kind of dessert.” Jeannie seemed relaxed even though this sounded like a mountain of work to Paco, especially after today. “It’ll be easy. After how rainy it was on Friday I wanted a nice autumn roast. Little did I know…” She faded with a rueful look on her face.
“Are you guys holding up okay?” Steph ventured, looking around the table.
“It’s not easy.” Paco said simply.
“It never is.” Mark added quietly, wiping his mouth. “I think we’ll be in better shape once we start putting it all together tomorrow.” Jeannie nodded at him.
“Okay. Good.” Steph said. “Well, let me know if you need anything else - I’m going to take off. I have a ton of laundry to do.” She gave Jeannie a kiss on the cheek and shoulder pats for Mark and Paco. Jeannie sighed, watching Steph leave.
“She’s always so chipper.” She said, making Paco chuckle. “I think she knew we needed a minute.” Mark nodded.
“First impressions?” Paco asked.
“Of the burger? It’s a good one. I like the baguette.” Mark joked.
“What are yours, Paco?” Jeannie asked him. He could see her fatigue all over her - the slant of her shoulders, her tired eyes. He knew he felt the same.
“Well, so far we know two people are lying, and neither one is likely to be Charlie Dagonet.”
“Tally.” Mark began. “She told us she walked over to Inspiration Point with Alexa, but she was still at Tripp’s house. Plus, Carolina said she’d walked over with Alexa alone.”
“Yeah, and Ryan.” Paco countered. Mark’s eyes grew wide.
“Oh yeah, Ryan. That thing about the Uber.”
“It’s a sloppy cover,” Jeannie tossed out, “we can look at his Uber history right on his phone. He won’t be able to fake that, unless Alexa called one for him. Or someone else. But Charlie’s version makes a lot of sense. The timing’s right too.”
“But why would he lie about Charlie?” Mark asked her, leaning back in his chair, flagging the waitress with his credit card to pay. “He lied about the Uber, but he also lied about the drugs. Why did he want us looking at Charlie?” Jeannie’s eyes narrowed, considering. She shook her head slightly as a roar went up with the football crowd in the next room. Paco saw her look up and do a double take, eyes wide.
“Oh shit.” She barely whispered as two men approached the table. Jeannie’s phone buzzed on the table and Paco saw it was from Steph. Jeannie’s eyebrow raised as she read in a whisper: “Incoming, saw them outside, sorry.” Jeannie stood quickly, pocketing her phone. Both tall and preppy-looking, the first one with dark hair immediately wrapped an arm around Jeannie, pulling her into a long kiss. Paco glanced at Mark and they both stood. The second turned to them with a smile, and Paco immediately saw the resemblance.
“Hi - I’m Brandon Hagen. Jeannie’s brother.” He offered both of them his hand to shake.
“Um - ah, wow. You guys came out of nowhere.” Jeannie stammered, extricating herself from the dark-haired one. Even Paco saw the attraction: tall and fit, dark hair, just starting to salt-and-pepper, deep blue eyes, angular nose, and what his grandma would have called a roguish smile. He and Jeannie made a very attractive pair.
“Yeah, just arrived. Saw Steph outside.” Brandon said. The other thing Paco knew about the Balboa Cafe was that everyone ran into everyone else there. It’s just one of those kinds of places. “We were out at Lakeside1 this morning. I beat Rossi for a change, so he’s buying me a beer.” The dark-haired one with Jeannie rolled his eyes, until they landed back on her face. Paco knew that look: the awe and affection of a kid finding a magic penny in his pocket. He knew it because it’s how he felt every time he looked at Imogen.
“I’d bet you’ve probably already had some out at Lakeside.” Jeannie suggested, eyebrows raised. The one called Rossi shrugged in answer while Brandon scanned their table.
“Are you guys drinking? Anyone need a beer?” He offered, jovially. Jeannie smiled at him weakly.
“Um, this is work.” Jeannie swallowed, gesturing to the table. Both Brandon and the one he called Rossi looked at all of them, confused. Paco noticed how Jeannie subtly removed herself from his grasp so she could make introductions.
“It’s Sunday.” Rossi said flatly.
“Yeah.” Jeannie said in a simple return. “May I present, my brother Brandon, and this is Chris Rossi, my boyfriend.” She whispered this last part. “This is Paco Mayfield from the US Park Police, and Mark Greenberg from the FBI.” Chris reached out to shake hands, a vague look of disbelief on his face.“I, um, I’ve been detailed to a case - we’re working together.”
“What kind of case?” Chris asked, assessing Mark and Paco top to toe.
“Nothing I can talk about.” She said quietly. Paco saw Chris’ eyes snap back to her at this while his eyebrows raised in a silent question. Jeannie just stared at him in return. A long pause followed, and Paco glanced at Mark again.
“Wow - well, great to meet you.” Brandon said. He too seemed stunned. The waitress returned with the check for Mark to sign who wasted no time in doing so.
“You too. Um. Well, we should probably get going?” Paco ventured awkwardly.
“Yeah - I need to get home.” Mark added, “but, let’s just convene outside for a minute, Hagen? Game plan tomorrow?” Jeannie nodded at him.
“Yeah, sure. Be right there.” Mark headed for the side door and Paco saw her look at her brother and boyfriend. “I’ll be back in just a minute.” He heard her say quietly. Paco glanced back at the pair who stared after them with puzzled faces.
On the street, the three of them crossed Greenwich to get away from the sidewalk tables of people.
“I’m so sorry about that.” Jeannie started. “That was totally unexpected, and Chris is probably mad because I’ve been putting him off all week, and…” she exhaled fully, “and it’s kind of a mess. I’m sorry.”
“No worries.” Paco said simply.
“Yeah, none at all.” Mark added. “You alright?”
“I’m fine. A little rattled. And tired.”
“Okay, same. We should all try and rest today.” Paco and Jeannie nodded. “So, tomorrow. I’m going to start digging into the phone stuff with Raj, Pac - why don’t you head up the evidence side with Amanda and McGuinness, does that work?”
“Yeah sure.” Paco was gratified he trusted him with this effort.
“I figured, you know them, and you know the park and the area, so it would make sense.” Mark added.
“Yeah, man. I’m into it - thank you.”
“Thank you,” Mark smiled a little. “Hopefully we’ll hear more from the Coroner too. Jeannie, I want you to start building a timeline based on the interviews, and see what pockets of information we need to fill in. Where are there discrepancies and what do we need confirmation on, that kind of thing. I also want you to get to the school, see if there’s anything there: her locker, what her teachers have to say, all that. And, I’ll need you to check out her room at home at some point, but I think that can wait a few days until we sort of know what we need to look for. Does that work?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I’ll start figuring out what our legal process is, and who we’ll be working with at DOJ. If I can get that Costco receipt, I think we may have probable cause for a search of the Hartman house, but I don’t want to play that card until we have more lined up. If there’s a search warrant served in that neighborhood I feel like it will explode everything.”
“You’re probably right.” Jeannie agreed.
“I’m also going to call the family right now - I want them to know what we’re working on.”
“Can you ask them to give us the information on the boy Carole mentioned - the one Alexa was spending time with on Nantucket? I feel like we may need to talk to him. Like, if they were friends she may have told him about the Tahoe thing, asked for advice…?” Mark nodded at her.
“Yeah I’ll ask them. That’s a good idea.” Mark nodded, and looked at both of them. “Anything else?”
“I think we all did good today,” Jeannie said, offering them both a small smile.
“I agree. And we still got to have lunch.” Mark added. Paco chuckled. They parted, agreeing to meet at the office at 9. Paco saw Jeannie head back across the street to the Balboa, while he walked to his truck. It wasn’t until he was on the bridge again that he felt like he could breathe. The last two days had shown him more than he’d ever even considered about this city, and he knew this was likely only the beginning.
A clubhouse of the Olympic Club on Skyline Boulevard, home of their famous golf courses.